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DERKEVEY 

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UNIVLSSITY  OF 
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^.^pynghtcd,  March^  190a,  by  (Jemury  Art  Co.,  Phila. 


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The  Catholic  Church  Alone 
The  One  True  Church  of  Chrisl^ 


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And  1  say  to  thee ;  That  thou  art  Peter  and  upon  this  rock  1  will 
build  my   Church,  and  the   gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. 

— Matthew  xvi.  18-19. 

And  I  will  give  to  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And 
whatsoeyer  thou  shalt  bind  upon  earth,  it  shall  be  bound  in  heaven, 
and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  upon  earth,  it  shall  be  loosed  also 
in  heaven    ...... 


SUMPTUOUSLY  ILLUSTRATED   WITH   FAMOUS   PAINTINGS   BY 
THE  GREAT  MASTERS 

5/^  VOLUMES  IN  ONE 
BY  THE  DISTINGUISHED  EXPONENTS  OF  CATHOLICISM 

REV.  HENRY  DODRIDGE,  D.  D. 

REV.  HENRY  EDWARD  MANNING,  D.D. 

REV.  F.  LEWIS,  of  Granada 

REV.  STEPHEN  KEENAN 

REV.  BERNARD  VAUGHAN,  S.  J. 

REV.  THOMAS  N.  BURKE,  O.  P. 

Introduced  by  Rev.  M.  A.  White,  O  S.  A. 


1903 

CATHOLIC  EDUCATIONAL  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 

PHILADELPHIA 


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LOAN  STACK 


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Copyright,  1899 
By  J.  JOSEPH  STALEV 


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July  a-Itli,  1599. 


Ceiisor  Deputatus. 


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July  S7tl!,  1599. 


^rclibishop  of  I]ew  York. 


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Apaatolic  DalagBtinn 

201  I  Straat.N.W. 

Washington. D.  C. 


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One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism ;  One  God  and  Father  of  all. — Ephes.  iv.  5, 6. 

These  words  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  show  clearly  that  it  is  not  a  matter  of  indifiference 
what  faith  or  religion  we  profess.  We  often  hear  the  expression  from  so-called  enlightened  men :  "It 
is  all  the  same  to  what  religion  we  belong,  we  can  be  saved  in  any  if  we  only  believe  in  G>jd  ?nd  live 
uprightly."  But  this  assertion  is  impious  I  Consider,  my  dear  Christian,  there  is  but  one  God  and 
this  one  God  has  sent  only  one  Redeemer,  and  this  one  Redeemer  has  preached  but  one  Doctrine  and 
has  established  but  one  Church.  Had  God  wished  that  there  should  be  more  than  one  Church,  then 
Christ  would  have  founded  others.  Jesus,  knowing  the  will  of  His  Father,  the  eternal  God,  founded 
only  one  Church — the  Catholic  Church. 


Iragcr    of    Hati« 


OGOD  of  patience,  of  consola- 
tion and  of  hope,  fill  our 
hearts  with  peace  and  joy, 
and  grant  that  we  may  become  per- 
fect in  all  good,  and  by  haith,  Hope 
and  Charity  attain  the  promised  sal- 
vation. 


flB*®**!®©*®******®**** 


"  I  lay  down  my  life  for  my  sheep." — John  x.  IS. 

WHAT  HAS  CHRIST  OBTAINED  FOR  US  BY  HIS  DEATH? 

The  remission  of  our  sins,  the  grace  to  lead  a  life  pleasing  to  God  in  this  world  and  eternal 
happiness  in  the  next,  for  which  we  now  fondly  hope ;  with  secure  confidence  may  we  now  expect 
and  most  assuredly  will  obtain,  if  we  do  not  fail  on  our  part.  What  are  the  means  of  obtaining 
eternal  happiness  ?  The  grace  of  God,  that  is,  His  continual  assistance,  is  the  practice  of  the 
divine  virtues,  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity,  the  keeping  of  God's  commandments,  the  frequent  use 
of  the  sacraments,  and  constant  prayer.  These  means  must  be  diligently  employed,  for  God, 
who,  as  Saint  Augustine  says,  "  created  us  without  us,"  will  not  save  us  without  us,  that  is, 
without  our  co-operation.  We  should  keep  this  lesson  cons<^antly  before  our  minds  as  our  guiding 
star,  pointing  out  the  way  to  heaven. 


»?m^r^^^M 


Omy  God  I  I  love  Thee  above  all 
thin^  with  my  whole  heart 
and  sonlf  because  Thou  art  all- 
good  and  worthy  of  all  love.  I  love  my 
nrighfeor  as  myself  for  the  love  of  Thee. 
1  lorgive  all  who  have  injuied  me  and 
ask  pafdon  of  all  whom  I  have  injured. 


'^Cbaritv  covereth  a  multitude  of  sins** 


Epistle  I  Peter  iv.  7-11.  Dearly  beloved,  be  prudent  and  watch  in  prayers.  But  before  all 
things  have  a  mutual  charity  among  yourselves;    "for  charity  covereth  a  multitude  of  sins." 

Using  hospitality  one  towards  another  without  murmuring ;  as  every  man  hath  received  grace, 
ministering  the  same  one  to  another,  as  good  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God. 

If  any  man  speak,  let  him  speak  as  the  words  of  God ;  if  any  man  minister,  let  him  do  it 
as  of  the  power  which .  God  administereth ;  that  in  all  things  God  may  be  honored  through 
Jesus  Christ.  ^ 

Nothing  renders  us  more  worthy  of  the  snnctifying  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  than  the  practice 
of  this  virtue — Charity.  We  should  always  speak  kindly  of  ou-  neighbor.  Be  generous  towards 
the  poor  out  of  the  means  which  God  has  given  us,  in  imitation  of  De  La  Salle,  Founder  of  the 
Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools,  who  distributed  his  vast  xjrtune  among  the  poor,  and  who  was 
canonized  by  Pope  Leo,  May  24,  1900. 


corporal  distempers  a  total  loss  of  appetite,  which  no  medicine  can 
restore,  forbodes  certain  decay  and  death ;  so  in  the  spiritual  life  of 
the  soul,  a  neglect  or  disrelish  of  pious  readings  and  instruction 
is  a  most  fatal  symptom.  What  hopes  can  we  entertain  of  a 
person  to  whom  the  science  of  virtue  and  eternal  salvation  doth 
not  seem  interesting  or  worth  his  application  ? 

"  It  is  impossible,"  says  St.  Chrysostom,  "  that  a  man  should 
be  saved,  who  neglects  assiduous  pious  reading."  No  less- 
criminal  and  dangerous  is  the  disposition  of  those  who  mis- 
spend their  precious  moments  in  reading  romances,  which  fill 
the  mind  with  a  worldly  spirit,  with  a  love  of  vanity,  pleasure, 
idleness,  and  trifling,  which  destroy  and  lay  waste  all  the 
generous  sentiments  of  virtue  in  the  heart,  and  sow  there  the 
seeds  of  every  vice,  which  extend  their  influence  over  the  whole 
soul.  Who  seeks  nourishment  from  poison  ?  What  food  is  to  the 
body,  that  our  thoughts  and  reflections  are  to  the  mind  :  by  them 
the  affections  of  the  soul  are  nourished.  The  chameleon  changes  its  color  as  it  is  affected  by 
sadness,  anger,  or  joy,  or  by  the  color  upon  which  it  sits;  and  we  see  an  insect  borrow  its 
lustre  and  hue  from  the  plant  or  leaf  upon  which  it  feeds.  In  like  manner,  what  our  meditations 
and  affections  are,  such  will  our  souls  become,  either  holy  and  spiritual,  or  earthly  and  carnal. 

By  pious  reading  the  mind  is  instructed  and  enlightened,  and  the  affections  of  the  heart  are 
purified  and  inflamed.  Reading  religious  books  is  commended  by  St.  Paul  as  the  summary  of 
spiritual  advice.   (2  Tim.  14,  13.) 

Devout  persons  never  want  a  spur  to  assiduous  reading,  or  meditation ;  they  are  insatiable  in 
this  exercise,  and  according  to  the  golden  motto  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  they  find  their  chief  delight 
in  a  closet  with  a  good  book.  Worldly  and  tepid  Christians  stand  certainly  in  the  most  need  of 
this  help  to  virtue.  The  world  is  a  whirlpool  of  business,  pleasure  and  sin.  Its  torrent  is  always 
beating  upon  their  hearts,  ready  to  break  in  and  bury  them  under  its  flood,  unless  frequent  pious 
reading  oppose  a  strong  fence  to  its  waves.  The  more  deeply  a  person  is  immersed  in  its  tumul- 
tuous cares,  so  much  the  greater  ought  his  solicitude  to  be  to  seek  repose,  after  the  fatigues  and 
dissipations  of  business  and  companj"^ ;  to  plunge  his  heart  by  secret  prayer  in  the  ocean  of  the 
divine  immensity,  and  by  pious  reading  to  afford  his  soul  some  spiritual  reflection;  as  the  wearied 
husbandman,  returning  from  his  labor,  recruits  his  spent  vigor  and  exhausted  strength  by 
allowing  his  body  necessary  refreshment  and  repose. 

Our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  has  declared  that  He  was  sent  by  His  heavenly  Father  "  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor."     (Luke  iv.   18.)    "  Let  us  go,"  said  He  to  His  Apostles, "  into  the 

(5) 


f,  PREFACE. 

neigliboring  towns  and  cities,  that  I  may  preach  there  also,  for  to  this  purpose  am  I  come."  (Mark 
i.  38.)  The  mission  of  Jesus  Christ  was  and  is  to  be  continued  by  his  priests:  "As  the  Father 
hath  sent  me,  I  also  send  you."  Immediately  before  ascending  to  heaven.  He  again  laid  and 
impressed  upon  all  pastors  of  souls  that  the  most  important  duty  is  that  of  preaching.  His  last 
solemn  word  to  those  whom  He  charged  to  continue  His  work  is :  "  All  power  is  given  to  me  in 
heaven  and  on  earth.  The  universe  belongs  to  me  by  title  of  heritage.  Already  heaven  is  acquired  by 
my  labors  and  sufferings.  The  earth  remains  to  be  conquered,  and  I  rely  on  you,  my  Apostles, 
my  priests,  to  subdue  it  to  the  empire  of  my  grace :  Go,  then,  and  teach  all  nations,  and 
preach  my  Gospel  to  every  creature." 

Incompliance  with  this  obligation  "the  Apostles  went  forth  and  preached  everywhere"  (Mark 
xxvi.  20),  in  the  face  of  all  kinds  of  opposition.  "They  obeyed  God  rather  then  men."  (Act  v. 
29.)  St.  Paul  would  not  even  allow  any  one  to  regard  as  a  merit  his  zeal  to  announce  the  Gospel. 
To  preach  was  for  him,  as  he  tells  us,  a  necessity.  He  uttered  against  himself  a  kind  of  anathema 
if  ever  he  neglected  so  sacred  a  duty:  "Woe  to  me  if  I  do  not  preach  the  Gospel."  What  he 
most  emphatically  insisted  on,  in  his  Epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  was  the  duty  of  preaching 
the  word  of  God.  He  adjures  his  two  disciples  and  all  pastors  of  souls,  by  all  that  is  most  holy 
and  awful;  he  adjures  them  by  the  presence  of  God,  and  of  Jesus  Christ,  by  his  future  coming, 
by  his  eternal  reign,  to  preach  the  word  of  God,  to  preach  it  in  season  and  out  of  season — to  use 
all  persuasive  means  which  the  most  ardent  charity  inspires:  "I  charge  thee,  before  God  and 
Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  judge  the  living  and  the  dead,  by  his  coming  and  his  kingdom,  preach 
the  word;  be  instant  in  it  in  season  and  out  of  season;  reprove,  entreat,  rebuke  in  all  patience 
and  doctrine."   (2  Tim.  iv.  i,  2.) 

Hence  the  Church  has  never  ceased  to  exhort  her  pastors  to  discharge  most  faithfully  their 
duty  of  preaching  the  word  of  God.  In  one  of  her  canons  she  ordains  that,  if  a  priest  having 
charge  of  souls  shall  fail  to  give  them  the  bread  of  the  word  of  God,  he  shall  be  himself 
deprived  of  the  Eucharistic  Bread;  and  if  he  continue  in  his  criminal  silence,  he  shall  be  sus- 
pended. The  preaching  of  the  word  of  God  has,  indeed,  always  been  the  great  object  of  the 
solicitude  of  the  Church.  The  Council  of  Trent  arms  the  bishops  with  her  thunders,  and  charges 
them  to  inflict  her  censures  upon  those  mute  pastors  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  has  branded  as  "dumb 
dogs,  not  able  to  bark."  (Isa.  Ivi.  10.)  The  all  important  duty  of  giving  religious  instruction 
was  never  more  binding,  and  more  necessary  to  be  complied  with,  than  it  is  in  our  age.  What 
the  Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Trent  say  on  this  duty  applies  more  emphatically  to  our  age  and 
country : 

"As  the  preaching  of  the  divine  word,"  they  say,  "should  never  be  interrupted  in  the  Church 
of  God,  so  in  these  days  it  becomes  necessary  to  labor,  with  more  than  ordinary  zeal  and  piety,  to 
nurture  and  strengthen  the  faithful  with  sound  and  wholesome  doctrine,  as  with  the  food  of  life : 
for  false  prophets  have  gone  forth  into  the  world,  (i.  John  iv.  i),  with  various  and  strange  doc- 
trines (Heb.  xiii.  9),  to  corrupt  the  minds  of  the  faithful,  of  whom  the  Lord  has  said;  I  sent 
them  not,  and  they  ran;   I  spoke  not  to  them,  yet  they  prophesied.    (Jer.  xxiii.  21.) 

"  In  this  unholy  work  their  impiety,  versed  as  it  is  in  all  the  arts  of  Satan,  has  been  carried 
to  such  extremes,  that  it  would  seem  almost  impossible  to  confine  it  within  bounds;  and  did  we 
not  rely  on  the  splendid  promises  of  the  Saviour,  who  declared  that  He  had  built  His  Church  on 
so  solid  a  foundation  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail  against  it,  (Matt.  xvi.  18),  we 
would  be  filled  with  most  alarming  apprehensions,  lest,  beset  on  every  side  by  such  a  host  of 
enemies,  assailed  by  so  many  and  such  formidable  engines,  the  Church  of  God  should,  in  these 
days,  fall  beneath  their  combined  efforts.     Not  to  mention  those  illustrious  states,  which  heretofore 


PREFACE.  7 

professed,  in  piety  and  holiness,  the  Catholic  faith,  transmitted  to  them  by  their  ancestors,  but  are 
now  going  astray,  wandering  from  the  paths  of  truth,  and  openly  declaring  that  their  best  claims 
of  piety  are  founded  on  a  total  abandonment  of  the  faith  of  their  fathers, — there  is  no  region 
however  remote,  no  place  however  securely  guarded,  no  corner  of  the  Christian  republic  into 
which  this  pestilence  has  not  sought  secretly  to  insinuate  itself.  Those  who  proposed  to  them- 
selves to  corrupt  the  minds  of  the  faithful,  aware  that  they  could  not  hold  immediate  personal 
intercourse  with  all,  and  thus  pour  into  their  ears  their  poisoned  doctrines,  by  adopting  a  different 
plan,  disseminated  error  and  impiety  more  easily  and  extensively.  Besides  those  voluminous  works| 
by  which  are  sought  the  subversion  of  the  Catholic  faith,  they  also  composed  innumerable  smaller 
books,  which  veiling  their  errors  under  the  semblance  of  piety,  deceived  with  incredible  facility 
the  simple  and  the  incautious."  (Preface  to  the  Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent.)  "It  is, 
indeed,  incumbent  upon  the  ministers  of  the  altar,"  says  our  Holy  Father,  Pius  IX,  in  his  address 
of  1877  to  the  Lenten  preachers,  "to  lift  up  their  voices  as  loudly  as  possible,  to  save  society 
from  the  abyss."  "Cry,"  says  the  Lord  to  the  pastor,  "cease  not,  lift  up  thy  voice  like  a  trumpet, 
and  show  my  people  their  wicked  doings."  (Isa.  Iviii.  i.)  "  If  thou  dost  not  speak  to  warn  the 
wicked  man  from  his  way,  that  wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity,  but  I  shall  require  hi^ 
blood  at  thy  hand."     (Ezek.  xxxiii.  8.) 

Now,  if  we  see  such  perverse  zeal  in  the  ministers  of  Satan  to  spread,  by  all  possible  means, 
their  doctrines,  with  what  zeal  should  not  Christians,  and  especially  Christian  Pastors,  be  moved 
to  make  known  the  Gospel  truths,  and  repeat  them  in  season  and  out  of  season,  regardless  of 
fastidious  minds  which  are  displeased  when  a  priest  repeats  a  thing  and  goes  over  old,  but 
necessary  ground  again.  "What,"  exclaims  St.  Francis  de  Sales, — "what,  is  it  not  necessary, 
in  working  iron,  to  heat  it  over  and  over  again,  and  in  painting  to  touch  and  retouch  the  canvas 
repeatedly  ?  How  much  more  necessary  is  it  to  repeat  the  same  thing  again  and  again,  in  order 
to  imprint  eternal  truths  on  hardened  intellects,  and  on  hearts  confirmed  in  evil:  St.  John,  the 
Baptist,  and  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  spoke  from  their  prison  walls ;  St.  Peter  spoke  freely  and 
forcibly  before  the  ancients,  saying  that  it  is  better  to  obey  God  than  men ;  and  the  Apostle  St. 
Andrew  spoke  from  the  wood  of  the  cross." 

When  in  Japan,  St.  Francis  Xavier  climbed  mountains,  and  exposed  himself  to  innumerable 
dangers,  to  seek  out  those  wretched  barbarians  in  the  caverns  where  the}'  dwelt  like  wild  beasts, 
and  to  instruct  them  in  the  truths  of  salvation.  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  in  the  hope  of  converting 
the  heretics  of  the  province  of  Chablais,  risked  his  life  by  crossing  a  river  every  day  for  a  year, 
on  his  hands  and  knees,  upon  a  frozen  beam,  that  he  might  reach  and  preach  to  those  stubborn 
men.  St.  Fidelis,  in  order  to  bring  the  heretic  of  a  certain  place  back  to  God,  cheerfully  oflfered 
up  his  life  for  their  salvation. 

The  first  part  of  this  book,  written  by  the  Rev.  Father  Dodridge,  D.  D.,  embraces  the  Twelve 
Articles  of  the  Creed,  The  Ten  Commandments,  The  Seven  Sacraments,  Sin  and  its  Effects  on  the 
Soul,  Death,  Judgment,  Hell  and  Heaven,  The  Lord's  Prayer  beautifully  explained.  The  Hail 
Mary  explained.  The  Ceremonies  of  the  Church  are  clearly  defined.  It  is  very  important  that 
every  Catholic  should  understand  these  subjects  thoroughly,  so  as  to  have  an  enlightened 
knowledge  of  the  real  beauty  of  his  religion.  As  children  we  learned  our  Catechism  in  the  order 
of  question  and  answer,  so  the  author  indulged  the  hope  that  by  adopting  a  similar  style  of 
instruction  he  would  awaken  memories  of  our  youth,  and  thereby  induce  us  to  perfect,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  work  began  in  childhood.  If  we  see  a  builder  lay  the  foundation  stone  of  a  house, 
and  then  throw  aside  his  implements  of  labor,  and  leave  the  house  unfinished,  we  characterize  him 
as  insane.     How  much  more  should  we  condemn  the   young   man  or  wOman,  who  will   endeavor 


8  PREFACE. 

to  persuade  himself  or  herself,  that  having  learned  the  Catechism  that  he  or  she  is  properly 
instructed  in  the  faith.  This  is  a  delusion.  The  Catechism  is  the  groundwork — the  foundation 
stone ;  but  we  must  finish  the  structure.  We  must  enlighten  the  heart  and  soul  by  instructive 
reading.  In  this  part  of  the  book  the  author  proves,  defines  and  explains  the  sublime  truths  of 
our  holy  religion  so  that  we  can  see  them  reflected  as  the  mirror  reflects  our  shadow. 

The  second  part  of  this  work,  written  by  the  distinguished  Rev.  Henry  Edward  Manning,  D.D., 
in  a  profound  and  scholarly  way,  proves  the  Catholic  Church  alone  to  be  infallible.  This  he  makes 
clear  from  the  promise  of  Christ  to  St.  Peter,  in  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  where  he  says, 
"  Thou  art  Peter,  that  is  a  rock,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it,"  Matt.  i6:  i8.  He  shows  how  this  Church  has  withstood  persecution 
from  the  day  of  her  establishment  to  the  present  time,  and  that  although  the  powers  of  darkness 
will  never  cease  to  make  war  upon  her,  their  eff"orts  will  always  be  as  vain  as  the  winds  and  the 
rain  against  a  house  that  is  built  upon  a  rock,  and  as  her  faith  has  stood  the  shock  both 
against  the  attack  of  Jews  and  Pagans,  and  the  deceitful  reasoning  of  Arians,  Nestorians, 
Butychians,  Donatists  and  Pelegians,  so  will  it  remain  immovable  to  the  world's  end. 

The  third  part  of  this  book,  written  by  the  Rev.  F.  Lewis,  points  out  the  motives  which 
should  urge  us  to  lead  truly  Christian  lives.  He  shows  us  the  deep  love  which  our  Divine  Lord 
cherishes  for  each  one  of  us,  so  that  he  became  man,  assumed  our  infirmities,  and  by  his  death 
on  the  cross  satisfied  his  off^ended  Father,  and  thus  opened  heaven  and  purchased  man's  redemption. 
Here  he  points  out,  like  a  guiding  star,  the  way  to  follow  in  order  to  save  our  souls.  He  proves 
that  this  world  is  short,  dangerous,  blind  and  deceitful.  That  it  is  a  barren  soil,  a  wood  full  of 
thorns,  a  green  meadow  full  of  snakes,  a  garden  luxuriant  in  flowers  but  no  fruit,  a  river  of 
tears,  a  fountain  of  cares,  a  sweet  poison  and  a  pleasing  frenzy. 

The  fourth  part  of  this  work,  written  by  the  Rev.  Stephen  Keenan,  is  of  priceless  value. 
This  profound  scholar  conducts  the  reader,  step  by  step,  through  the  sublime  mysteries  of  our 
holy  religion,  from  the  morning  of  creation  to  the  present  day.  The  questions  are  asked,  and 
the  answers  and  proofs  follow,  so  that  the  simplest  child  can  understand  his  religion  by  making 
a  study  of  it.  This  eminent  divine,  who  spent  his  whole  life  in  acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  our  faith,  gives  us  in  this  work  the  embodiment  of  his  masterly  knowledge  in  expounding  our 
religion,  so  that  the  reader  having  made  a  studjj^  of  this  part  stands  prepared  to  answer  all 
questions  put  him  by  non-Catholics.  Here  too  we  find  this  learned  priest  reviewing  both  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  explaining  their  sacred  mysteries  in  the  plainest  manner,  and  as  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  are  written  in  mystery  as  laid  down  by  St.  Peter ;  this  is  an  important  part 
of  the  book — a  guide  and  key  to  our  religion. 

The  fifth  part  of  this  book  is  by  the  Rev.  Father  Vaughin,  S.  J.  His  subject  is  one  of 
peculiar  interest.  In  his  own  masterly  way  he  reviews  Protestantism  from  its  birth  to  the  present 
hour.     This  contribution  I  regard  as  of  rare  value. 

The  sixth  part  of  this  book  is  from  the  pen  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  on  Americanism.  The 
controversy  which   has  been  going  on  for  some  time,  has   been  set   at   rest   by  the  Holy  Father. 


PREFACE.  9 

The  life  of  Father  Hecker,  the  Paulist,  recently  translated  into  French,  advocated  the  philosophy 
of  making  some  concessions  to  Protestantism,  to  wean  them  over  to  the  True  Church  of  Christ, 
and  on  this  point  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  in  this  country  were  somewhat  divided  and  His 
Holiness  seeing  this,  speaks  with  the  power  and  authority  of  Christ,  that  he  cannot  yield  up  any 
portion  of  that  divine  treasure  handed  down  to  him,  step  by  step,  from  Christ  himself. 

The  last  chapter  of  this  work  is  taken  up  with  priceless  gems  selected  from  the  sermons  of 
the  immortal  Father  Thomas  N.  Burke,  the  Dominican.  One  of  these  sermons  is  worth  more 
than  the  entire  book  costs,  composed  by  him  who  electrified  the  Catholic  world  by  the  charm 
of  his  eloquence,  and  vanquished  England's  boasted  historian,  James  Anthony  Fronde.  I  consider  this 
book,  "  The  One  True  Church,"  one  of  the  most  useful  and  instructive  ever  published  in  this 
country,  and  therefore  I  trust  it  will  find  its  way  into  every  Catholic  family.  This  book  strips 
schism  of  her  mask,  and  stops  the  mouth  of  heresy.  It  points  out  with  an  evidence  not  to  be 
impeached  the  day  of  separation ;  when  Protestantism  was  born,  and  the  hour  of  revolt  and  rebellion; 
when  the  heretic  said,  like  Lucifer,  in  the  pride  of  his  heart,  "  I  will  not  serve."  If  there  ever 
was  a  work  which  rendered  almost  visible  and  tangible  to  men  that  promise  of  the  Redeemer  to 
this  Church,  "  And  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her,"  surely  this  work  is  "  The 
One  True  Church."  If  infidelity,  immorality  and  heresy  have  opened  wide  their  mouths  and  are 
everywhere  devouring  their  victims,  is  it  not  a  blessing  from  God  that  the  children  of  the  Church 
should  be  preserved  from  them,  and  fed  with  the  wholesome  food  of  pious  reading  ?  The  reader 
will  see  that  the  Catholic  Church  has  withstood  the  persecutions  of  1900  years.  The  Catholic 
Church  having  triumphed  over  her  enemies,  stands  to-day  more  proud,  more  vigorous  than  ever, 
having  the  laurel  wreath  of  victory  entwined  around  her  virgin  brow. 

REV.  M.  A.  WHITE,  O.  S.  A. 


PAOB. 

THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION  EXPOUNDED 17 

The  Creed  Defined 17 

The  Second  Article  of  the  Creed .  23 

The  Third  Article  of  the  Creed 29 

The  Fourth  Article  of  the  Creed 30 

The  Fifth  Article  of  the  Creed ' 32 

The  Sixth  Article  of  the  Creed 34 

The  Seventh  Article  of  the  Creed 35 

The  Eighth  Article  of  the  Creed 37 

The  Ninth  Article  of  the  Creed , 40 

The  Tenth  Article  of  the  Creed 64 

The  Eleventh  Article  of  the  Creed 66 

The  Twelfth  Article  of  the  Creed 68 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS 70 

The  First  Commandment 70 

The  Second  Commandment      81 

The  Third  Commandment 82 

The  Fourth  Commandment 83 

The  Fifth  Commandment 85 

The  Sixth  Commandment 87 

The  Seventh  Commandment 88 

The  Eighth  Commandment 91 

The  Ninth  Commandment      95 

The  Tenth  Commandment 95 

COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH  EXPOUNDED 97 

SACRAMENTS  IN  GENERAL  EXPOUNDED 106 

Baptism  Expounded      no 

Confirmation   Expounded 113 

The  Eucharist  Expounded      115 

PENANCE  EXPOUNDED 133 

Extreme  Unction  Expounded 140 

Holy  Orders  Expounded 141 

Matrimony  Expounded 144 

EXPOUNDING  OF  SIN 148 

The  Seven  Deadly  Sins  Expounded 151 

The  Three  Theological  Virtues  Expounded 155 

The  Four  Cardinal  Virtues  Expounded 160 

Religion  Expounded 162 

Laws  Expounded 162 

SCRIPTURE,  TRADITION,  COUNCILS,  AND  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH  EXPOUNDED •    .   .  164 

The  Four  Last  Things  Expounded 170 

The  Lord's  Prayer  Expounded 174 

The  Hail  Mary  Expounded 176 

Ceremonies  in  General  Expounded 178 

Particular  Ceremonies  Expounded 179 

SHORTEST  WAY  TO  END  DISPUTES 191 

Chapter  I. — Section  I. — Infallibility  Promised  by  Christ  to  His  Church     . 191 

Section  II. — The  Means  Promised  by  Christ,  to  Render  His  Church  Infallible 194 

Section  III. — The  Faith  of  the  Ancient  Church  Relating  to  the  Matter  Under  Debate 197 

Chapter  II. — Section  I. — The  Distinction  between  Fundamentals  and  Non-Fundamentals,  Examined     .    .  200 
Section  II. — The  First  Part  of  the  Distinction  Renders  the  First  Reformers  and  Their  Respective 

Churches  Inexcusable 203 

(") 


la  CONTENTS. 

PAOB. 

Section  III. — The  Second  Part  of  the  Distinction  Contradicts  the  Word  of  God 207 

Section  IV. — It  Gives  the  Lie  to  the  Nicene  Creed 209 

Section  V. — It  Destroys  All  Certainty  in  Matters  of  Faith 210 

Section  VI. — It  Renders  All  Church  Authority  Precarious 213 

Chapter  III. — The  Church  in  Connnunion  with  the  See  of  Rome,  Has  Alone,  a  Just  Title  to  Infallibility  .    216 

Chapter  IV. — The  Church  of  Rome  Vindicated 221 

Section  I. — ^The  State  of  Religion  in  Christendom  Before  the  Pretended  Reformation 221 

Section  II. — The  Antiquity  of  the  Doctrine  Called  Popery  Proved  from  Protestant  Writers     ....    224 

Chapter  V. — Popery  as  Ancient  as  Christianity 228 

Section  I. — No  Christian  Church  Teaching  a  Doctrine  Opposite  to  Popery,  Ever  Appeared  in  the 

World  Before  It 228 

Section  II. — Thfc  Same  Arguments  Continued 232 

Section  III. — Objections  Answered 237 

Section  IV. — The  Adviser's  System  Concerning  the  First  Establishment  of  Popery ,    .    241 

Chapter  VI. — The  Character  of  the  Capital  Reformer  Considered 246 

Section  I. — He  Had  No  Ordinarj'  Mission 246 

Section  II — I^uther  Had  No  Extraordinary  Mission      251 

Section  III. — His  Doctrine  Concerning  Free- Will,  Repentence,  and  Good  Works 253 

Section  IV. — His  Doctrine  Concerning  the  Legislative  Power 254 

Section  V.— Luther  No  Slave  to  Truth 254 

The  Declaration  of  the  Duchess  of  York,  Concerning  the  Occasion  and  Motives  of  Her  Conversion    .    256 

HOW  TO  SHUN  EVIL ;  OR,  THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE 261 

Chapter  I. — Of  the  First  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  Virtue  and  the  Ser\'ice  of  God,  Considering  in  Itself ; 

and  of  the  Excellency  of  His  Divine  Perfections 261 

Chapter  II. — Of  the  Second  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  Virtue  and  the  Service  of  God,  Which  Is,  the 

Benefit  of  Our  Creation 267 

Chapter  III.— Of  the  Third  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  Serve  God,  Which  Is,  the  Benefit  of  Our  Preserva- 
tion and  Direction 272 

Chapter  IV. — Of  the  Fourth  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  the  Pursuit  of  Virtue,  Which  Is,  the  Inestimable 

Benefit  of  Our  Redemption 277 

Chapter  V. — Of  the  Fifth  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  Virtue,  Which  Is,  the  Benefit  of  Our  Justification  .    .    283 
Chapter  VI. — Of  the  Sixth  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  the  Love  of  Virtue,  Which  Is,  the  Benefit  of  Divine 

Predestination 290 

Chapter  VII. — Of  the  Seventh  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  the  Pursuit  of  Virtue,  Which  Is,  Death,  the  First 

of  the  Four  Last  Things 293 

Chapter  VIII. — Of  the  Eighth  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  the  Pursuit  of  Virtue,  Which  Is,  the  Last  Judg- 
ment, the  Second  of  the  Last  Four  Things      300 

Chapter  IX.— Of  the  Ninth  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  Virtue,  Which  Is,  Heaven,  the  Third  of  the  Four 

Last  Things 304 

Chapter  X. — Of  the  Tenth  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  Love  Virtue,  Which  Is,  the  Fourth  of  the  Four 

Last  Things,  That  Is,  the  Pains  of  Hell 311 

Chapter  XI. — Of  the  Eleventh  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  the  Pursuit  of  Virtue,  Which  Is,  the  Inestimable 

Advantages  Promised  It  in  This  Life 319 

Chapter  XII. — Of  the  Twelfth  Motive  that  Obliges  Us  to  the  Pursuit  of  Virtue,  Which  Is,  the  Particular 
Care  the  Divine  Providence  Takes  of  the  Good,  in  Order  to  Make  Them  Happy,  and  the  Severity 

with  Which  the  Same  Providence  Punishes  the  Wicked. — The  First  Privilege 324 

Chapter  XIII. — Of  the  Second  Privilege  of  Virtue,  that  is,  the  Grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  Bestowed  upon 

Virtuous  Men      332 

Chapter  XR\ — Of  the  Third  Privilege  of  Virtue,  Viz.,  Supernatural  Light  and  Knowledge 334 

Chapter  XV. — Of  the  Fourth  Privilege  of  Virtue,  That  Is,  the  Consolations  Which  Good  Men  Receive  from 

the  Holy  Ghost 339 

Chapter  XVI.— Of  the  Fifth  Privilege  of   Virtue,  Viz.,  the  Peace  of  Conscience,  Which  the  Just  Enjoy 

and  of  the  Inward  Remorse  that  Torments  the  Wicked 347 

Chapter  XVII. — Of  the  Sixth  Privilege  of  Virtue,  Viz.,  the  Hopes  the  Just  Have  in'God's  Mercy,  and  of 

the  Vain  Confidence  of  the  Wicked 352 

Chapter  XVIII. — Of  the  Seventh  Privilege  of  Virtue,  Viz.,  the  True  Liberty  Which  the  Virtuous  Enjoy, 

and  of  the  Miserable  and  Unaccountable  Slavery  the  Wicked  Live  in 358 

Chapter  XIX. — Of  the  Eighth  Privilege  of  Virtue,  Viz.,  the  Inward  Peace  and  Calm  the  Virtuous  Enjoy, 

and  of  the  Miserable  Restlessness  and  Disturbance  the  Wicked  Feel  Within  Themselves 369 

Chapter  XX. — Of  the  Ninth  Privilege  of  Virtue,  Viz. ,  that  God  Hears  the  Prayers  of  the  Just,  and  Rejects 

Those  of  the  Wicked 376 

Chapter  XXI. — Of  the  Tenth  Privilege  of  Virtue,  Which  Is,  the  Assistance  Good  Men  Receive  from  God 
in  Their  Afilictions;  and  of  the  Impatience,  on  the  Contrary,  with  Which  the  Wicked  Suffer 
Theirs 380 


CONTENTS.  13 


PAGE. 


Chapter  XXII.— The  Eleventh  Privilege  of  Virtue,  Which  Consists  in  the  Care  God  Takes  to  Supply  the 

Temporal  Necessities  of  the  Just      385 

Chapter  XXIII.— The  Twelfth  Privilege  of  Virtue,  Which  Is,  the  Quiet  and  Happy  Death  of  the  Virtu- 
ous: and,  on  the  Contrary,  the  Deplorable  End  of  the  Wicked 390 

Chapter  XXIV. — Against  the  First  Excuse  of  Those  Who  Defer  Changing  Their  Lives,  and  Advancing 

in  Virtue,  till  Another  Time 399 

LIFE  OF   POPE   LEO   XIII   AND   IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING   HIS   PONTIFICATE     .  401 

The  Pope's  Birthplace 403 

At  Benevento  and  Perugia        ' 404 

Archbishop  Pecci  at  Perugia 405 

Cardinal  Pecci  is  Elected  Pope ■ 407 

Tlie  Coronation 408 

Encyclical  on  Socialism  and  Communism ,  410 

Pope  Leo's  Homage  to  St.  Thomas 415 

Encyclical  on  Marriage  and  Divorce       415 

His  Success  with  European  Governments       415 

His  Appointments  in  America        415 

Letters  of  Condolence 416 

The  Holy  Father's  Love  for  Ireland       417 

The  Boston  Committee  to  the  Clergy  and  People  of  Ireland 418 

Pope  Leo's  Private  Mass 420 

The  Holy  Father's  Faith  in  Ireland        423 

The  Plenary  Council  at  Baltimore  (1884)         ....  424 

Important  Events 430 

Pope  Leo  XIII  Mediates  between  Germany  and  Spain 430 

Pope  Leo  and  Italy        431 

Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  Pope  Leo's  Priesthood        432 

The  Golden  Rose 433 

Pope  Leo  and  the  French  Republic        433 

Death  of  Cardinal  Pecci        434 

Encyclical  on  the  Labor  Question        435 

The  Pope's  Golden  Jubilee — Sixty  Thousand  Persons  Crowd  the  Great  Cathedral 436 

Ireland's  Congratulations 437 

England's  Congratulations 437 

America  to  the  Pope       . 437 

Pope  Leo  on  "Americanism" 437 

The  Underlving  Principle 438 

All  Things  to  all  Men         , 438 

Teaching  and  Governing 438 

Differences  Pointed  Out 439 

Liberty  not  License 439 

No  Thought  of  Wrong  or  Guile 440 

Law  of  God's  Providence 440 

Those  Liable  to  Stray 440 

Virtue,  Nature  and  Grace 441 

No  Merely  Passive  Virtue 441 

Contempt  of  Religious  Life 442 

A  Fuller  and  Freer  Liberty 442 

No  Difference  of  Praise 442 

Let  Those  be  Set  Apart 442 

The  Question  of  Americanism 443 

Pope  Leo  and  the  Spanish-American  Difficulty 444 

Rome  in  the  Holy  Year  1900 444 

How  the  Pontiff  Spends  the  Day 445 

The  Pope's  Body  Servant   ..'....' 445 

The  Pope's  Personality 446 

Where  He  Seeks  Solitude .  446 

Our  Holy  Father's  Great  Endurance 447 


14  CONTENTS. 

PACK. 

THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION  DEFINED 453 

Preliminary  Chapter. — General  Idea  of  Religion 453 

Chapter  I. — On  God ■. 456 

Section  I. — On  the  Existence  of  God 456 

Section  II. — On  the  Nature  of  God  and  His  Perfections 457 

Section  III. — On  the  Unity  of  God 458 

Section  IV. — On  the  Trinity  of  Persons  in  God •    ■ ,    .  459 

Chapter  II. — On  the  Works  of  God 460 

Section  I. — On  the  Creation  of  the  World 460 

Section  II. — On  the  Creation  of  Angels 461 

Section  III. — On  the  Creation  of  Man 462 

Section  IV. — On  theTerrestrial  Paradise  and  the  State  of  Innocence 463 

Chapter  III. — On  the  Sin  of  Man,  and  Its  Consequences 464 

Section  I. — On  the  Sin  of  Our  First  Parents 464 

Section  II. — On  the  Punishment  of  the  First  Sin  of  Man,  and  on  Original  Sin 465 

Section  III. — On  the  Necessity  and  the  Promise  of  a  Redeemer 466 

Chapter  IV. — Abridged  History  of  Religion  from  the  Fall  of  Man  till  the  Coming  of  the  Messiah  ....  467 

Section  I. — In  What  Way  Men  Were  to  be  Sanctified  Before  the  Coming  of  the  Messiah 467 

Section  II.— The  Lives  of  Adam,  Eve,  and  Their  Children,  After  the  Fall 468 

Section  III. — On  the  Corruption  of  the  Human  Race,  and  the  General  Deluge 469 

Section  IV. — On  the  State  of  the  World,  from  the  Deluge  to  the  Vocation  of  Abraham 470 

Section  V. — On  the  Promises  of  God  to  Abraham,  and  on  the  Posterity  of  that  Holy  Man      ...  471 

Section  VI. — On  Isaac  and  Jacob,  from  Whom  All  the  Jews  Have  Descended 472 

Section  VII. — The  Servitude  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  and  Its  Cause ......  473 

Section  VIII. — The  Deliverance  of  the  Israelites  by  Moses,  the   Paschal  Lamb,  and  Passage  of  the 

Red  Sea 474 

Section  IX. — The  Journey  of  the  Israelites  to  Mount  Sinai;  the  Bitter  Waters;  the  Manna,  etc      .    .  476 

Section  X. — The  Law  Given  to  the  Israelites,  and  the  Blood  of  the  Covenant 478 

Section  XI. — Moses  on  Mount  Sinai , 479 

Section  XII.— The  Golden  Calf,  the  Punishment  Whiclr  Followed;  the  Veil;   the  Choice  of  Aaron 

and  the  Levites 480 

Section  XIII. — The  Spies  ;  Murmur  and  Sedition  of  the  Israelites  ;  Their  Punishment ;  Reward  of 

Caleb  and  Josue 48 1 

Section  XIV. — The  Waters  of  Contradiction  ;  the  Brazen  Serpent ;  Prediction  of  Baalam ;  and  Death 

of  Moses , 482 

Section  XV. — Conquest  and  Distribution  of  the  Land  of  Promise,  Under  the  Guidance  of  Josue,  and 

State  of  the  Israelites  Under  the  Judges 483 

Section  XVI. — The  State  of  the  Israelites  Under  the  Kings,  and  on  Saul  and  David 484 

Section  XVII. — On  Solomon  and  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem 485 

Section  XVIII. — Division  of  the  Tribes  Under  Jeroboam,  and  State  of  the  People  of  God  Under  the 

Kings  of  Juda  and  Israel .- 486 

Section  XIX. — On  the  Prophets  and  Their  Prophecies 487 

Section  XX. — Dispersion  of  the  Ten  Tribes — Babylonish  Captivity — Return  and  Re-Establishment  of 

the  Jews 489 

Section  XXI. — State  of  the  Jews,  from  the  Babylonish  Captivitj'  till   Their  Total   Ruin  by  the 

Romans 490 

Section  XXII. — The  Morality  and  Religion  of  the  Jews,  from  the  Babylonish  Captivity  till  the  Coming 

of  the  Messiah 492 

Section  XXIII. — On  the  State  of  the  Gentile  People,  from  the  Vocation  of  Abraham  to  the  Coming 

of  the  Messiah 493 

Chapter  V. — On  the  State  of  Religion  after  the  Coming  of  the  Messiah 494 

Section  I. — On  Jesus  Christ.     Proofs  of  the  Coming  of  the  Messiah,  by  the  Accomplishment  of  the 

Prophecies  in  the  Person  of  Christ 494 

Section  II. — On  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  Messiah 498 

Section  III. — Historj'  of  the  Incarnation      499 

Section  IV. — History  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  His  Temporal  Birth  till  His  Retirement  into  Egypt     .    .  500 

Section  V. — Life  of  Christ  till  His  Baptism,  and  the  Life  of  St.  John  the  Baptist 502 

Section  VI. — Continuation  of  the  Life  of  Christ  till  the  End  of  the  First  Year  of  His  Preaching  .    .    .  503 

Section  VII. — The  Second  Year  of  Christ's  Mission 504 

Section  VIII. — Continuation  of  the  Life  of  Christ 505 

Section  IX. — Transfiguration  of  Jesus  Christ 506 

Section  X. — Life  of  Christ  Continued  till  the  End  of  the  Third  Year  of  His  Mission 507 

Section  XI. — Life  of  Christ  Continued  till  After  the  Institution  of  the  Holy  Eucharist 508 


CONTENTS.  ■  15 


PAGK, 


¥ 


Seotion  XII. — On  the  Discourse  Delivered  by  Jesus  After  His  Last  Supper 509 

Section  XIII. — ^Jesus  in  the  Garden  of  Olives 509 

Section  XIV. — ^Jesus  Before  Caiphas 510 

Section  XV. — Jesus  Condemned  to  Death  by  Pilate 511 

Section  XVI. — On  the  Prophecies  Which  Regard  the  Death  of  Jesus 512 

Section  XVII.— Why  and  for  Whom  Did  Christ  Die,  and  How  Did  He  Satisfy  for  Sin— the  Descent 

into  Hell      513 

Section  XVIII. — The  Resurrection  of  Christ,  His  Appearances  Afterwards,  and  His  Life  till  His 

Ascension 514 

Section  XIX. — The  Ascension — A  General  Notion  of  the  Qualities  of  Christ  in  Heaven 515 

Section  XX. — The  Qualities  of   Jesus  with  Relation  to  His   Father  and   with  Relation    to  His 

Creatures 516 

Section  XXI. — The  Qualities  of  Jesus  with  Relation  Men 517 

Section  XXII.— Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost 519 

Section  XXIII. — The  Preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  Samaritans  and  the  Gentiles 520 

Section  XXIV. — List  of  the  First  Persecutions 521 

ChvpTER  VI. — On  the  Church 523 

Section  I. — The  Church  of  Chrisi;  Her  Visibilitj- ;  General  Idea  of  Her  Distinguishing  Marks    .    .    .  523 

Section  II. — The  Unity  of  the  Church 524 

Section  III. — The  Union  of  the  Members  of  the  Church;  the  Communion  of  Saints 525 

Section  IV. — The  Sanctity  of  the  Church 526 

Section  V.— The  Catholicity  of  the  Church 528 

Section  VI. — On  the  Title  of  Apostolicity  Given  to -the  Church 528 

Section  VII.— The  Church,  Called  Roman  and  Catholic,  Is  the  Only  True  Church  of  Christ  ....  529 

Section  VII. — On  the  Combats  and  Struggles  of  tlie  Church  Against  Her  Enemies 532 

Section  IX. — Combats  of  the  Church  Against  Infidels,  Jews,  Heretics,  etc 533 

Section  X. — The   Principal  Sects,  the  Fathers  Wlio  Refuted  Their  Errors,  and  the  Councils  Which 

Condemned  Them 534 

Section  XI. — The  Struggles  of  the  Church  Against  Bad  Christians 541 

Section  XII. — On  the  Advantages  We  Derive  from  the  Church , 541 

LIFE  AND   LABORS   OF  SAINT  DE   LA  SALLE 543 

PROTESTANTISM   UP  TO   DATE 555 

HEADLESS   CHURCHES 559 

THE   FIRST  PRIEST  OF  AMERICA 562 

PLEDGES   AND   PERFORMANCES 570 

THE   HOLY   CATHOLIC   CHURCH -575 

THE  GROUPINGS  OF  CALVARY 588 

CHRIST   ON   CALVARY 598 


inM»BBM>8>:^  ^  ^:coo»coc«<e«w 


Tlic  Madonna  of  the  Scapular. 

Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary. 

The  Queen  of  Heaven. 

Guardian  Angel. 

St.  Charles  Borromeo. 

St.  Anthony  of  Padua. 

The  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary. 

The  Immaculate  Conception  of  Mary. 

The  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary. 

The  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus. 

The  Tomb  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

The  Tomb  of  Christ. 

The  Holy  Way  of  the  Cross. 

St.  De  La  Salle. 

St.  Teresa. 

St.  Cecilia. 


Pope  Leo  XIII. 

The  Holy  Family. 

Faith,  Hope,  Charity. 

The  Good  Shepherd. 

The  .Apparition  of  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes. 

Christ  Blessing  Little  Children. 

The  Queen  of  the  Rosary. 

The  Blessed  Eucharist. 

The  Descent  from  the  Cross. 

Vision  of  Our  Lord  to  St.  Francis  of  AssisL 

St.  Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Paris. 

St.  Dominic. 

The  Resurrection. 

The  Crucifixion. 

The  Last  Supper. 

Purgatory. 


TYPOGRAVURES. 


The  Holy  Father. 

Dedication. 

The  Plenary  CounciL 


Life  of  Christ  in  48  pictures. 
(16) 


The  Holy  Face. 

The  Prayer  to  St.  Peter. 

St.  De  La  Salle. 


PICTORIAL  ILLUSTRATION  OF  THE   LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


The  Annunciation. 

Wlieu  the  lime  whs  eonie  fixed  by 
God  from  all  c'leriiity  to  sliower  ditvvu 
His  ble^ugs  upuii  mankind  by  giving 
tliema  l{cdeemer.  lie  sent  from  lieavcn 
tlie  aii^el  (Gabriel  to  Slary,  a  virgin 
living  in  Ntukiretli.  The  angei  greeted 
her,  saying:  Hail,  full  uf  grace;  llie 
li4tid  Is  witli  thee :  blessed  art  thou 
amongst  women.  Then  he  a;>sured  her 
that,  by  the  iiiefTable  virtue  of  the 
Holy  lihost,  she  should  conceive,  bear 
a  son,  and  still  remain  a  virgin  And 
Mary  said :  Heh«>ld  the  handmaid  <t{ 
the  Lord,  be  it  done  to  me  ai-cording  to 
thy  word.  (St.  Luke,  1 )  ' 


The  Birth  of  Christ. 

When  tile  night  had  finished  half  its 
course,  and  ttie  wiiole  creation  lay 
hushed  in  silence.  » hen  the  hour  wus 
come  foe  the  eternal  Wortl  to  be  boi  u 
in  tim6,  the  nnileiilk;.l  and  ever  im- 
maculate Virgin  brought  forth  her 
flist-born  son,  wr.i,ipj.l  him  up  in 
swaddling-clothes,  an  1  laid  him  in  the 
manger  There,  unknown  to  the  world, 
shivering  with  the  cold,  and  destitute 
of  the  common  solaces  of  life,  Jesus  liiy 
in  an  open  stable.  He  began  to  dwell 
amongst  us  in  a  state  of  hinuility,  pov- 
erty and  sutt'erings,  and  by  that  has 
shown  us  what  judgment  we  are  to 
form  of  the  riches  and  pleasures  of  the 
world.  (St.  Luke,  U.) 


Presentation  of  Jesus  in  the 
Temple. 

At  the  end  of  forty  days  Mary  re- 
paired to  Jerusalem  that  she  might 
there  Siitisfy  Llie  twofold  precept  of  her 
own  puritication  and  of  the  child's  pre- 
sentation in  the  Temple,  though  they 
Iwtli  were  excitipi  fr4)m  the  law.  There 
lived  at  that  linu-  in  Jerus<ilein  a  good 
old  man  called  Si. neon,  who  had  re- 
ceiveil  u  promise  that  lie  should  not  de- 
tail out  of  life  before  he  iuul  seen  the 
Messias.  Inspired  to  visit  thel'einple  at 
the  lime  of  our  Lord's  presentation,  he 
took  the  Divine  Infant  into  his  arms, 
and  praised  the  Lord,  saying ;  "  Now 
dost 'fhou  dismiss  Thy  servant  in  peace, 
since,  according  to  Thy  word,  mine 
eyes  have  seen  Thy  salvation,  which 
Thou  hast  prepared  before  the  face  of 
all  peoples."  (St.  Luke,  IL) 


Adoration  of  the  Kings. 

Led  on  by  a  star,  the  Wise  51en  ol  the 
East  cftiiie  to  Hethlehem,  iifler  ha^'illg 
vainly  inquired  at  Jeru^ilem  lor  the 
new-born  Saviour.  They  ■  found  the 
child,  with  .Mary  His  mother.  They 
fell  upon  their  knees,  oiiened  their 
trciisures  and  presented  to  Him  their 
olfeiings  of  gold,  finnkiiieeiise  and 
myrrh.  When  Ihey  hud  /inislied  their 
ads  of  adoniliou,  (.iod  admonished 
them  not  to  rcluni  to  Jeru.salem.  where 
Ileroii  songlit  the  life  of  the  child,  and 
they  returned  l)y  another  way  to  their 
country.  If  we  imitate  the  Wise  lien 
in  seeking  the  Saviour,  we  shall  surely 
find  llim.  (St.  .Matt.,  11  > 


The  Flight  into  Egypt. 

An  angel  in  the  night  informed  Joseph 
that  Herod  intended  to  destroy  the 
child,  and  admonished  him  to  save 
both  Jesus  and  Ills  mother  by  a  speedy 
flight  into  Egypt.  He  rose  n|>on  the 
first  notice  that  was  given  him,  took 
the  child  and  His  mother  and  ml  out 
on  the  perilous  journey,  uncertain  wlien 
or  whether  he  should  ever  return  or 
not.  The  love  he  bore  to  Jesus,  the 
desire  he  had  of  serving  llim  to  the 
extent  of  his  power,  softened  every 
hanlsbip,  and  made  him  forget  the 
labors  of  an  unexiieoted  banishment 
If  once  assurol  of  the  divine  wiU,  let 
us  follow  it  without  fear.     (Matt.  U.) 


Rest  During  the  Flight. 

Jesus  might  have  rendered  Himself 
invisible,  or  by  a  visible  exertion  of  His 
power  might  have  disarmed  Hetod ; 
but  He  chose  to  fly,  for  the  encoumge- 
uient  of  those  who  were  afterwards  to 
sulTer  bunishment  for  His  sake.  liy  His 
own  example  He  would  instnict  His 
followeisthat  in  theheatof  iiersecuUon 
they  may  laudably  fly  to  save  their 
lives,  in  the  hope  of  some  future  good. 
We  may  venture  to  acivpt  with  devout 
belief  the  pious  and  beautiful  legends 
of  the  miraculous  interposition  of  tiod 
in  behalf  of  His  beloved  pilgrims. 
"  He  hath  given  Ills  angels  charge  over 
thee:  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  waj-s." 
(I's  90.  11.) 


The'  Holy  Family. 

St.  JOdeph  Is  the  bead  of  the  Roly 
Family  :  he  earns  a  livelihuo<l  for  Jesus 
anil  Mary  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow. 
Mary  is  the  heart;  .She  ke|>t  all  the.se 
words,  iionderiug  them  in  their  heart 
(Luke  II.  l;i.)  Bill  this  meditation  dues 
not  iniiiede  her  in  the  discharge  of  her 
hoiischiild  duties,  for  Jesus  occupies 
both  her  heart  and  her  hands  Three 
times  a  year  tlie  Jews  were  obliged  to 
visit  the  Temple  at  Jerusnlein,  The 
parents  of  Jesus  willingly  complied 
with  this  requirement  of  the  law,  Jesus 
did  not  ai'comiuiny  them  on  these  pil- 
grimages till  He  was  twelve  years  old, 
and  then  the  journey  brought  tl}eni 
great  sorrow. 


Jesus  Amidst  the  Doctors. 

"  His  parents  went  every  year  to  Je- 
rusalem, at  the  solemn  day  of  the 
I>a.sch  And  when  lie  was  twelve  years 
old,  they  going  up  into  Jerusalem  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  the  feast,  and 
having  fullilled  the  days,  when  they 
returned  the  Child  Jesus  remained  in 
.leriisideiii.  and  His  parents  knew  it  not. 
And  thinking  that  He  was  in  the  com- 
I>any,  they  came  a  day's  journey,  and 
sought  II nu  among  their  kinsfolk  and 
uoqiiaintani'e.  .\ui\  not  (Indinj;  Hiin, 
they  returned  into  Jerusalem,  seeking 
Him.  And  it  came  to  puss  that  after 
three  days  they  found  llim  in  the 
Temple,  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the 
dix'tors,  hearing  them,  and  tusking  them 
questions.  And  all  that  heard  llim 
were  a.stonished  at  His  wisdom  and  at 
His  answers"  (St  Luke,  II  ) 


Jesus  Assists  St.  Joseph  at 
Work. 

"And  seeing  lliin.  they  wondered. 
And  His  mother  said  to  llim  :  Son, why 
hast  Thou  done  so  to  us?  Behold  Thy 
father  and  I  have  sought  Thee  sorrow- 
ing. .\nd  he  said  to  them :  How  is  it 
that  you  sought  me?  Did  you  not 
know  that  I  miBt  be  about  my  Father's 
business?  .\nd  they  understool  not 
the  word  that  He  spoke  unio  them. 
And  He  went  down  with  them,  and 
came  to  Nazareth,  and  was  subject  to 
them."    (Luke  II,  iS-^1  ) 

From  His  twelfth  to  His  thirtieth 
year  Jesus  dwelt  with  Mary  and  Joseph 
in  their  humble  hone  at  Xazareth.  a  I- 
vancing"  in  wisd  rnandaTe.  and  gr.u-e 
with  God  and  men."  helping  ■'t.  Joseph 
at  his  work.  "  Is  not  this  the  i-arpeii- 
ter's  sou?"  (Matt  .  XIII.  5.5  i 


Baptism    of  Jesus- 

"Then  cometh  Jesus  from  Galilee  to 
the  Jordan  unto  John,  to  be  baptized 
by  him  But  John  stayed  Uim, saying; 
I  ought  to  be  baptized  by  Thee,  and 
Thou  comest  to  me?  And  Jesus  an- 
swering, said  to  him  :  Suffer  it  to  be  so 
now:  for  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all 
justice.  Then  he  suffered  Him  .^iid 
Jesus  being  baptized,  forthwith  came 
out  of  the  water  ;  and  Ip,  the  heavens 
were  opened  to  llim  ;  and  He  saw  the 
Spirit  of  tiod  descending  as  a  dove, 
and  (»>ining  upon  Him.  And  behold 
a  voice  fmm  heaven,  saying:  This  is 
my  beloved  8on.  in  whom'  1  am  well 
pleaseii  "  By  (iisbaptismin  the  Joi-ilan 
Jesus  consecrated  and  sanctioned  Hie 
baptism  of  the  New  Law. 

(St   .Matthew.  Ill ) 


The  Miracle  at  Cana. 

After   His  baptism.  Jesus   began    to 

f  reach  and  chose  Ilisdisciples.  Though 
le  had  not  yet  wrought  any  public 
miracle  in  testimony  of  His  divine  mis- 
sion. His  name  was  much  talked  of  in 
the  country  Being  at  (ana,  a  town 
in  (ialilee.  He  and  His  disciples  were 
invited  to  a  marriage  fea-st.  Mary,  His 
mother,  was  also  there.  Piiring  the 
entertainment  the  wine  failed,  which, 
being  oi)serveil  by  the  llleKsed  Virgin, 
she  mentioned  It  to  Jesus,  whose  iiower, 
she  knew,  wius  eqiiiil  to  His  charity. 
The  answer  she  received  might  be  cun- 
stniKl  into  a  refusal  by  any  one  less 
acquainted  than  Mary  was  with  the 
designs  of  her  divine  Son  :  she  told  the 
waileistodo  what  Jesus  would  direct 
them  ;  which  having  been  done  it  ap- 
peared that  Jesus,  at  the  instance  of 
His  mother,  had  changed  water  inio 
wine  This  was  the  first  mimcle  by 
which  Jesus  manifested  His  glorv 

(M.  John.  II.) 


Jesus  Purges  the  Temple. 

■'.Vfter  this  He  went  down  to  Car- 
pharnauin.  He  and  His  mother,  and 
Ills  brethren  and  Mis  disciples:  and 
tliey  remained  there  nut  many  days. 
And  the  Pascli  of  the  Jews  was  at 
hand,  and  Jesns  went  up  to  Jerusalem: 
and  He  found  in  the  Temjile  them  that 
soUl  oxen  and  sheepand  doves,  and  the 
cliiingeis  of  imiiiey  sitting.  And  when 
He  had  made  as  it  were  a  scourge  of 
little  cords.  He  drove  them  all  out  of 
the  Temj'le.  the  sheep  also  and  the 
oxen  ;  and  the  money  of  the  chiingeis 
He  fioured  out.  and  tiie  tables  lie  over- 
threw. And  to  them  that  sfild  doves 
He  .said  :  Take  these  things  hence,  and 
make  not  the  house  of  mv  Father  a 
house  of  tmflic.  And  Ilisdisciples  re- 
membered that  it  was  written  :  The  zeal 
of  Thy  liouse  hath  eaten  me  uji." 

(,St.  John,  II.) 


Jesus   and   the    Samaritan 
Womati. 

On  His  wav  from  Jiidea  into  t^lilee. 
Jesus  passed  through  .Samaria.  Near  the 
town  of  Sichar  he  was  resting  at  a  well 
when  a  W'lman  came,  whom  he  asked 
to  let  Him  drink  .At  this  the  woinin 
was  surtmseil.  for  the  .lews  had  noco-n- 
muuicntion  with  the  Samaritans  Jes'is 
explaine't  to  her  His  mission,  saving: 
The  water  I  shall  give  shall  beco'ne  a 
living  fountain  of  life  everlasting  He 
raention?d  some  past  actions  of  her  life. 
and  to  her  question  which  temple,  that 
in  Jerusalem  ortnat  on  Mount  Garizim. 
was  the  tni»  niace  of  dirine  worship. 
He  answetwl  thit  the  time  was  at  hand 
when  both  were  to  he  aixilished.  and 
the  tnie  adorers  would  adore  the  Father 
in  spirit  and  in  truth  Then  the  woman 
hastened  into  the  town  to  inform  the 

Eeople  of  the    wonderful   prophet  she 
ad  found.  (St  John,  IV.) 


Jesus  Heals  the  Sick. 

"  He  hath  done  all  things  well :  He 
hath  made, both  the  deaf  to  bear,  and 
the  dumb  to  speak  "  fMark  VII.  X  ) 
What  motive  had  Jesus  in  nerforming 
the  astounding  miracles  relnted  in  the 
Gosnels?  Thev  manifested  His  elorv. 
and  showed  Him  to  be  the  Son  of  God. 
Because  Jesusdid  these  miracles  before 
His  disciples,  "thev  believed  in  Him  " 
Here  we  have  the  utility  of  miracles, 
namely  to  confirm  in  our  hearts  the  be- 
lief in  Christ  How  can  anv  unpreju- 
diced and  reasonable  mind  call  in  ques- 
tion the  miracles  of  our  bles!<e<I  Ixird? 
If  their  falsity  could  have  lieen  proven, 
the  enemies  of  Jesns  would,  have  has- 
tened to  do  so.  Well  may  we  be  proud 
as  Christians,  that  the  doctrine  of  our 
divine  Master  is  attested  by  tiountless 
undeniable  miracles. 


The  (^Miraculous  Draught  of 
Fishes. 

"And  sitting.  He  taught  the  multi- 
tudes out  of  the  ship  Now  when  He 
had  ceased  to  speak.  He  said  to  Simon  : 
I.annchout  into  thedee)*.  and  let  down 
your  net.s"  for  a  dmnght.  And  Simon 
answering,  said  to  Him:  Master,  we 
have  labored  all  the  night,  and  have 
taken  nothing:  but  at  Thv  word  I  will 
let  down  the  net  And  wh^n  they  hnd 
done  this,  thev  enclosed  a  very  great 
multitude  of  fishes,  and  their  net  broke. 
And  they  beckoned  to  their  partners 
that  were  in  the  other  ship,  that  they 
should.come  and  help  them  And  they 
came  and  filled  iMith  the  shiiis.  so  that 
they  were  almost  sinking  Which  when 
Sinion  Peter  saw.  he  fell  down  at  Jesus' 
feet,  saving;  Depart  fiom  me.  fori  am 
a  sinful  man.  O  l/>ni.  And  Jesus  saith 
to  Simon  ;  Fear  not;  from  henceforth 
thou  Shalt  catch  men  "      (St  Luke,  V.) 


The  Sermon  on  the  Mountain. 

Jesns.  in  His  discourse  uiioii  the 
mountain,  specifies  the  virtues  which 
He  expects  to  see  in  His  faithful  follow- 
ers ;  piiritv  of  inteiilion,  a  desire  of 
)ileasing  <;od  in  all  things,  (laternal 
love,  meekness,  pardon  ot  injuries, dili- 
gence in  I'rayer.  a  seritais  endeavor  at 
salvation,  a  perfect  observance  of  His 
commiiudments,  and  a  cleanness  of 
lieart  free  not  only  from  grievous  sins, 
but  also,  as  much  as  may  t>e.  from  those 
les,ser  transgressions  which  tarni'h  the 
heautv  of  the  sfiul.  and  lead  by  degrees 
to  Tierditiou  For  whoever  is  unfaithful 
in  little  things  will  be  likewise  unfiiith- 
fiil  in  greater  things  Jesns  closes  Mis 
summary  of  Christian  duties  witli  the 
injunction  :  Judge  not.  that  yon  may 
not  he  judged,  and  with  the  paratile  of 
the  firihity  of  His  Church. 

(St  Matt.,  IV.) 


The  Annunciation. 


The  Birth  a:   Ciuiat. 


Presentation  of  Jesus  in  the 
Temple. 


Adoration  of  the  Kings. 


The  Flight  Into  Egypt.  Rest  During  the  Flight. 


The  Holy  Family.  Jesus  Amidst  the  Doctors. 


M 

wKB'"*  jSm 

tj#vdip 

t^miomi 

bUm 

Jesus  Assists  St.  Joseph  at 
Work. 


Baptism   of  Jesus- 


The  IVIIracle  at  Cana.  Jesus  Purges  the  Temple. 


Jesus  and  the    Samaritan 
Woman. 


Jesus  Heals  the  Sick.  The  Miraculous  Draught  of 

Fishes, 

Copyrighted,  March,  190a,  by  Century  Art  Co.,  Phila. 


The  Sermon  on  the  Mountain, 


Jesus  Raises  the  Youth  of 
Nairn. 

'And  it  oarae  lo  nass  afterward  that 
He  went  into  a  city  tnat  is  called  Nairn, 
and  there  went  with  Him  His  dis- 
ciples and  a  greai  raultitnde  And 
when  He  oauie  nigh  tu  tlie  giite  of  llie 
city,  behold  a  dead  man  was  carrie»l 
out,  the  ontysonof  his  motlier,  and  she 
was  a  widow  :  and  a  great  multitude  of 
the  city  wils  with  her  Whom  the  Lord 
had  seen,  being  moved  with  mercy  lo- 
wanl  her.  He  said  to  her:  Weepnot. 
And  He  came  near,  and  touched  the 
bier  (And  they  that  cHrried  it  stood 
still.  \  And  He  said  :  Young  man.  I  say 
to  thee,  arise.  And  he  that  was  dead 
sat  up,  and  began  to  speak  And  He 
gave  him  to  his  mother.  And  there 
camea  fear  on  them  :  and  they  gloritieil 
(.iml.  saying :  A  great  propitet  is  risen  up 
among  us,  and  God  hath  visited  His 
(keople."  (St.  Luke.  VII ) 


The  Woman  Taken  in  Adultery. 

Jealous  of  the  great  fame  of  .lesu.s 
the  Pharisees  watched  every  opjK>r- 
tunity  to  destroy  Hiscredit  and  slander 
His  reputation'  amongst  the  peonle. 
They  Jmd  surprised  a  woman  in  aiiul- 
lery.  They  led  her  to  Jesus  and  asketl 
Uim  what  lie  would  have  done  lo  her. 
Their  intention  was.  to  accuse  him  of 
cruelty  if  He  condemned  her.  and  of 
violating  the  Iaw  if  He  acquitted  her. 
For  the  law  of  Moses  onlained  that 
every  woman  convicted  of  adultery 
should  be  stone<l  to  death.  They  in- 
sisted on  an  answer.  Jesus  said  :  "  Let 
him  who  is  without  sin  amongst  you 
cast  the  tirst  stone  on  her."  The  Phari- 
sees sneaked  away  Jesus  asked  the 
woniiiu  if  any  one  had  condemned  her. 
and  she  answere<l.  "No  one"—"  Neither 
shall  1,"  replied  He.  "liepart  iu  peace, 
and  beware  thou  sin  no  more  " 

(St.  John,  VUI.) 


Jesus  Raises  Jairus'  Daughter. 

"  Behold  a  certain  rulercame  up  and 
adore*!  Him, saying:  Lord,  my  daughter 
is  even  now  dead:  but  come,  lay  Thy 
hand  upon  her  and  she  shall  live.  And 
Jesus  rising  up  followed  llim  with  Ills 
disciples  .  .  .  And  when  Jesus  was 
come  into  the  house  of  the  ruler,  and 
saw  the  miustreU  and  the  multitude 
making  a  rout.  He  said  :  Give  place,  for 
the  girl  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeih.  And 
they  laughed  Him  to  scorn.  And  wlieu 
the  muUitnde  was  put  forth,  He  went 
in,  and  took  her  by  the  hand.  And  the 
maid  an>se  And  the  fame  thereof 
went  abroad  into  all  that  country." 
(St.  Matt.,  IX.) 


The  Miracle  of  the  Loaves  and  Fishes. 

.U'Mis  having  retired  to  the  sea  of 
Tiberias.  He  crossed  it.  Coniinglo  the 
oi)t>().sito  shore.  He  foundamultiiude  of 
peoplji  who  had  come  to  hear  his  in- 
structions and  see  His  miracles.  Theday 
began  to  ilecline.  The  apostles  advised 
llieir  divine  Master  to  dismiss  the  mul- 
titude, for  the  place  was  a  desert,  and 
ti>e  pet)ple  liad  brought  no  provisions 
witli  them.  •'  But  Jesus  said  to  them  : 
They  have  no  nee<l  togo:  give  you  them 
to  eat  They  answered  Hum  :  W'c  have 
here  but  hve  loave.s  and  two  fishes. 
He  sjiid  to  them  :  Bring  them  hither 
to  me  And  when  He  had  comniaiided 
the  muliitndes  to  sit  down  upon  the 
griuss,  lie  took  the  Hve  loaves  and  the 
two  lishes,  blessed  and  bnike  and  gave 
the  hmves  to  His  disciples,  and  the  dis- 
ciples to  the  mnllltude.  And  they  did  all 
eat  and  were  filled.  And  tliey  "took  up 
what  remiiined.  twelve  full  Imskels  of 
fragments.  Andthenumberoftliem  that 
did  eat  was  five  thousand  men.  besides 
women  and  children.   (."^t-Matt.,  XIV.) 


St.  Peter  Upon  the  Waters. 

The  wonderful  uiiiltiplication  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes  filled  the  people  with 
such  gratitude  towards  Jesus,  tnat  they 
wished  to  crown  him  king.  But  He 
Uedand  hidinaneiKhtx>riugmountata. 
Meanwhile  the  apostles  hml  put  to  sea. 
A  storm  arose  during  the  night.  To- 
wards monilug  Jesus  a^lvanceitovvanls 
them  walking  <iu  the  water.  The  ajH»- 
ties  were  terrified  at  the  apparition 
Jesiu  spoke  to  them,  saying:  "Fear 
not:  it  IS  I."  Peter  was  fii-st  to  know 
his  Master's  voice,  and  replieil :  "  I»rd. 
if  it  fa  yon  bid  me  come  to  you  upoa 
the  waters."  Jesus  said.  "Come  "  Pe- 
ter wa  I  keil  boMly  on  the  water  till  he 
came  near  to  our  LonL  when  he  begaa 
to  lose  courage  and  sink.  Terrified,  be 
cried  out.  "  Save  me  :"  and  Jesus  siret- 
cheil  forth  IHs  hand,  took  hi>ld  of  him, 
saying  ;  "  Thou  man  of  little  faith,  wh  v 
didst  thou  doubt?"  He  entered  with 
him  into  the  boat ;  the  wind  fell,  and 
they  rowed  ashore.    (St.  Matt..  XIV.) 


Jesus  Gives  to  St.Peter  the  Keys. 

"And  Jesus  came  into  the  quarters  of 
Csesarea  Philippi.  and  He  asked  His 
disciples,  saying :  Who  do  men  say  that 
the  8on  of  man  is?  But  they  said: 
Some  John  the  Bupiist.and  other  some 
Klias,  and  others  Jeremiad,  or  one  of 
the  prophets.  Jesus  saith  to  them ; 
But  who  do  yon  say  that  I  am?  Simon 
Peter  answere*!  and  said:  Thou  art 
Christ  the  Son  of  the  living  Cod.  And 
Jesus  answering,  said  to  Him  :  Blessed 
art  thou,  Simnii  Itar-Jona :  because 
flesh  and  bhuid  hath  not  revealed  it  to 
thee  but  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 
And  I  say  to  thee,  that  Ihon  art  Peter, 
and  upon  this  nnrk  I  will  build  my 
ChunTh,and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  ngainst  it.  And  I  will  give  to 
thee  the  keysof  the  king<lom  of  heaven. 
And  whatsoever  thou  shall  bind  upon 
earth,  it  shall  be  boinidals<^>  in  heaven: 
and  whatsoever  thou  shall  loose  upon 
earth,  it  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven. " 
^St.  Malt.,  XVI,) 


The  Good  Shepherd. 

"And  He  spoke  to  them  this  parable, 
saying:  What  man  of  you  that  hath  an 
hundred  sheep:  and  if  he  shall  lose 
one  of  them,  doth  he  not  leave  the 
ninety-nine  in  the  desert,  and  go  after 
that  which  was  lost  until  he  find  it? 
And  when  he  hath  found  it,  lay  it  upon 
his  shcmlders  rejoicing;  and  coming 
home  call  together  his  friends  and 
neighbors,  saying  to  them :  Rejoice 
with  me.  l^K-anse  I  have  found  my 
sheep  that  was  lost.  I  sjiy  to  y(Hi,  that 
even  so  there  shall  be  joy  in  heaven 
upon  one  sinner  that  doth  )>enftnce, 
more  than  upon  ninety-nine  just  who 
need  uoi  penauce." 

(St.  Luke.  XV.) 


Jesus  Blesses  the  Children. 

One  day.  after  teaching.  Jesus  sat 
down  to  rest,  u  hen  the  mothers  brought 
their  children  to  Him,  that  He  might 
bless  them.  The  disciples,  anxi(ms  to 
Sparc  Him,  rebuked  them,  and  tried  to 
keep  them  back.  But  Jesus  said  to 
them:  "Suffer  the  little  children  to 
come  unto  me.  and  forbid  them  not: 
for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Amen  I  say  to  you,  whosoever  shall 
not  receive  the  kingdom  of  (iod  as  a 
little  child,  shall  not  enter  into  it." 
And  embracing  them,  and  laying  His 
hands  upon  them,  He  blessed  them. 
(St.  Mark,  X.) 


The  Resurrection  of  Lazaru«. 

Tuizarus  was  taken  dan^nmslv  ill  in 
Bethanla.  and  his  two  sisters,  Martha 
and  Mary,  notified  Jesus,  hoping  thai 
He  would  eoine  and  heal  him  .lesus 
answered,  that  this  sickness  was  not  to 
death,  but  for  the  manifestation  of  His 
and  His  Father's  glory.  After  some 
days  Jesus  went  to  Bethania.  I^zariis 
had  died  meanwhile,  and  had  t>eHn 
fourdays  in  his  gruve.  He  aske<l  the 
sisters  where  they  had  laid  him.  and 
went  with  them  lo  the  tomb,  which 
was  chised  with  a  stone  This  was  re- 
moved. Jesus  lifted  His  eyes  to  heaven, 
and,  after  a  short  but  fervent  prayer, 
cried  with  a  loud  voice:"  Ijazarus.come 
forth  !"  And  thedead  man  came  forth, 
bound  as  he  was  "Loose  his  liands." 
said  Jesus,  "and  let  him  go."  And 
iAians  went  home  with  his  sisters. 

(St  John,  XL) 


Jesus  Enters  Jerusalem. 

The  lime  drawing  near  when  Jesus 
was  lo  begin  His  sufferings  for  the  re- 
demption of  mankind.  He  went  with 
His  apostles  towanl  Jerusalem.  At  the 
village  of  Bethphage  he  sent  two  of  His 
disciples  for  an  tu«  and  a  colt.  They 
brought  them,  laid  their  garments  on 
them,  and  He  sat  on  the  colt.  Mean- 
while news  had  reached  Jerusalem 
that  Jesus  was  about  to  enter  the  city 
in  triumph,  and  a  great  multitude  went 
out  to  meet  Him.  They  spread  their 
garmentson  the  way.  cut  branches  from 
the  palmsand  olive  trees,  strewed  them 
before  Him.  and  cried:  "  Hosanna  to 
the  Son  of  David  !  Blessed  is  He  that 
Cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Ix)M  Ho- 
sanna in  the  highest !" 

fSt.  John,  XII) 


The  Last  Supper. 

The  promise  of  Jesus,  that  He  would 
give  us  His  body  lo  eat  and  His  blood 
t«>  drink,  which  He  had  made  after  the 
miraculous  multiplication  of  loaves  in 
the  desert,  was  fuUilleil  by  Him  at  the 
I-ast  Snpi)er.  Whilst  silting  at  the  table 
with  IHsa;K*tles,Jesusl(Ktkof  the  bread 
that  was  before  Him,  and,  holding  il  in 
Mis  sacred  liands,  lifted  up  His  eyes  to 
heaven;  then  He  gave  than  ks.  and,  bless- 
ing the  bread, gave  it  to  His  ai>osiles, 
saying,  "  Take  ye  and  eat :  This  is  my 
Body,  which  is  given  for  you."  By  these 
words  Jesus  changed  the  bread  into 
His  adorable  UkK  .  Taking  then  the 
chahce.  He  said  :  '•  Drink  ye  all  of  this, 
for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testa- 
ment, which  shnll  be  shed  for  you  and 
for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Do 
this  for  a  commemoration  of  me."  By 
these  words  Jesus  changed  the  wine 
into  His  blood  ;  and  by  the  words,  "  Do 
this  in  commemoration  of  me,"  He  or- 
dained the  afxwtles  priests,  and  insti- 
tuted for  all  time  the  adorable  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Altar.  (St.  Matt..  XXVI.) 


Jesus  at  Gethsemani. 

Poor,  ami  exercised  in  lalx^rs  from 
His  youth,  Jesus  is  ready  to  do  and 
sufler  still  more,  according  to  the  di- 
vine decrees.  "  My  Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  chalice  pass  from  me  ; 
nevertheless  not  as  1  will,  but  as  Thou 
wilt  "—"  And  His  sweat  became  as 
drops  of  blood  trickling  down  ujx)n 
the  ground.  And  there  appeared  to 
Him  an  angel  from  heaven,  strength- 
ening Ilim.  And  being  in  agony.  He 
prayed  the  longer."  Encouraged  by 
His  exiimj)k'.  and  strengthened  by  His 
grnce.  the  zealous  Christian  humbly 
submits  to  hardships  and  distress,  as 
He  has  seen  his  Redeemer  do  before 
him.  Prayer  is  his  best  and  only  com- 
fort ;  it  is  taught  him  by  the  example 
of  Je.sus  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemani. 
{St.  Matt.,  XXVI.) 


Jesus  Condemned  to  Death. 

From  Gethsemani  Jesus,  abandoned 
by  His  disciples,  was  led  captive,  after 
His  betrayal  by  Judas,  to  Annas  and 
Caiphas.  and  then  to  the  tribunal  of 
Pilate,  the  Roman  governor  Pilate 
asked  what  accusation  they  brought 
against  Jesus .'  and  .seeing  that  the  Jews 
had  accused  Him  out  of  mere  spue  and 
envy.  trie<l  to  release  Him  There  was 
in  prison  a  notorious  criminal  named 
Bambbas,  and.  in  the  hope  of  saving 
Jesus.  Pilate  asked  the  Jews  whom  of 
the  two  he  should  release,  as  was  cus- 
tomary on  the  fea-st  of  the  pasch  They 
cried:  ".Away  with  Jesns!  Give  us  Ba- 
rabbasl"  In  hopes  of  moving  them  to 
compassion,  he  had  Jesus  cruelly 
scourged  N*ot.  appeasing  thereby  the 
hatred  of  the  Jews,  he  delivered  Jesus 
unto  them  to  be  crucified. 

(St.  MaU.  XXVII.) 


Jesus  Carries  His  Cross, 

The  Jews,  having  at  length  extorted 
the  sentence  which  they  had  so  obsti- 
nately been  bent  upon,  carried  it 
Into  immediate  execution.  They  had 
already  prepared  a  huge  cross  This 
they  laid  upon  the  shoulders  of  our 
divine  I-ord.  to  carry  to  Calvary,  the 
place  of  executions  Two  thieves  were 
condemned  to  be  cnicified  at  the  same 
time.  Jesus,  therefore,  went  forth,  bear- 
ing His  cross,  burdened,  as  the  nrophet 
had  said,  with  our  iniquities,  and 
carryingall  the  grief  that  a  sinful  world 
had  heapetl  upon  Him.  He  went  forth 
towards  Mount  Calvary,  amidst  the 
insults  of  the  multitude  that  crowded 
round  to  be  spectators  of  His  sufferings. 
(St.  Matt.,  XXVII.) 


Jesus  Falls  the  First  Time, 

Jesus  carrying  the  cross  was  so  weak- 
ened by  its  heavy  weight  as  to  fall  ex- 
hausted to  the  ground.  The  sins  and 
misdeeds  of  the  world  were  the  heavy 
burden  which  oppressed  Ilim.  The 
cross  was  lo  Him  light  and  sweet,  but 
our  sins  were  so  galling  and  insuptwrt- 
able  that  he  fell  under  their  weight. 
Jesus  thus  bearing  our  burden,  should 
we  not  then,  bear  in  union  with  Him 
our  easy  burden  of  suffering,  and  the 
sweet  yoke  of  His  commandments? 


Jesus  Meets  His  Mother. 

How  painful  and  how  sad  it  must 
have  been  for  ^lary,  the  sorrowful 
mother,  to  behold  her  beloved  Son  laden 
with  the  burden  of  the  cross !  What 
unspeakable  pangs  her  most  tender 
heart  experienced  !  IIow  earnestly  did 
she  desire  to  die  in  place  of  Jesus,  or  at 
least  with  Him  !  Let  us  particrpate  in 
the  suflTerings  of  Jesus  and  Mury,  to 
that,  afflicted  with  them  on  earth,  we 
mayenjoy  their  consolations  at  the  hour 
of  our  death  and  their  blissful  presence 
in  heaven. 


Jesus  Raises  the  Youth  of 
Nairn. 


The  Woman  Taiien  In  Adultery,       Jesus  Raises  Jairus'  Daughter. 


The  Miracle  ot  the  Loaves  and 
Fishes. 


St.  Peter  Upon  the  Waters.  Jesus  Gives  to  St.Peter  the  Keys. 


The  Good  Shepherd. 


Jesus  Blesses  the  Children. 


The  Resurrection  of  Lazarus.  Jesus  Enters  Jerusalenit 


The  Last  Supper. 


Jesus  at  Gethsemani. 


Jesus  Condemned  to  Death. 


5-.,>- 


'  Wt\ 

^^^^^^fm^p^^^^r^ 

1 

..   ^^ 

Jesus  Carries  His  Cross.  Jesus  Falls  the  First  Time, 

Copyrighted,  Marcli,  1902,  by  Century  Art  Co.,  Phita. 


Jesus  Meets  His  Mother. 


Simon  of  Cyrene  Helps  Jesus. 

The  cniel  sulleriiigs  of  Jesus  drained 
His  slruiigth.  lie  was  too  enfeebled  to 
bear  the  heavy  weight  uf  the  cross,  and 
to  go  on  as  fast  as  His  executioners 
would  have  Itim.  Therefore,  laying 
hold  of  Simon  of  Cyrene,  they  made 
liini  take  and  carry  the  cross  after  Jesns. 
At  tlrst  he  did  it  unwilliut;ly.  bnt  sw>n 
made  a  virtue  of  ueceK^ty.and  therehy 
changcil  what  was  a  disgme«ful  imjMV 
sitiou  into  a  Sininv  tif  merit  an*!  sal- 
vation. 1-et  the  example  of  Simon  fur- 
nish lis  with  an  additional  reastai  for 
|>altenily  enduring  ihe  trials  and  con- 
tradictions of  life,  thus  bearing  the 
erofis  with  our  \Ain\  and  atoning  for  our 
Mils. 


Veronica  Wipes  Jesus'  Face. 

Among  the  tender-hearted  womct» 
who  followed  the  crowd  to  be  near 
Jesus  and  to  offer  Uim  symi>athy,  was 
one  named  Veix>nica.  Seeing  Him  sit 
weak  and  suffering,  covereii  with  per- 
spiration and  blood,  she  offered  Uim  a 
handkerchief  to  wipe  I!i»  face.  Jesus 
t(N>k  thtt  cloth,  applietl  it  to  His  face  and 
bunded  it  back  to  the  go>Kl  woman 
On  looking  at  the  handkerchief,  she 
saw  impnnteil  np(m  it  the  likeness  of 
the  divine  countenance.  Thus  did  our 
Lord  repay  the  kindness  of  His  servant. 


Jesus  Falls  the  Second  Time. 

Jesus.  sutVering  under  the  weight  of 
His  cross,  again  falls  to  the  ground; 
but  His  cruel  executioners  do  not  ptM'- 
mit  Him  to  rest  a  momeiu.  Pushing 
ami  striking  Uim,  they  urge  Him  on- 
wanl  It  is  the  fre<iuent  repetition  of 
our  sins  which  oi)presses  Jesus.  Let  us, 
therefore,  firmly  resolve  never  again  to 
fall  intoonr  formersins.  Let  usask  our 
Lord,  without  whose  grace  we  can  <lo 
nothing,  to  sti-engthen  us  that  we  faith- 
fully carry  out  this  resolution. 


Jesus  Consoles  the  Women. 

"And  there  followed  Uim  a  great 
multitude  of  i>eople  and  uf  women, 
who  l)ewailed  and  lamented  lUm.  Hut 
Jesus,  turning  to  them,  said  ;  'I'augh- 
ters  of  Jerusalem,  weep  not  over  me, 
but  weep  for  yourselves  and  for  your 
children.  For  Iwliold  the  days  shall 
come  wherein  they  will  say:  Blessed 
are  the  barren  ami  the  wombs  that 
have  not  l>orne.  Then  tliey  shall  be- 
gin to  say  to  the  mouniains :  Fall  upon 
us;  and  to  the  hills:  Cover  us.  For  if 
in  the  green  wood  they  di»  these  things, 
what  shall  \Hi  done  in  the  dry  ?"— These 
woids  teach  lis  that  our  sorrow  must 
not  spring  from  mere  sentiment,  but 
from  grief  at  the  cause  of  our  Lord's 
sufferings.  (St.  Luke,  XXHL) 


Jesus  Falls  the  Third  Time. 

Jesus,  arriving  e.xhansteil  at  the  foot 
of  Calvar>'.  falls  for  the  third  lime  to 
the  gnmnd.  Fix  ytmr  eyes  well  on 
Him  That  s^teetacle  will  give  you 
courage  to  bear  your  tm-n  j»etty  crosses : 
it  will  give  you  strength  to  folUiw  in 
the  footsteps  of  our  1^1  d.  And  should 
you  ever  grow  weary  and  be  well-nigh 
fainting  under  your  burden,  look  at 
Jesus  and  jjersevere.  iNiy  to  yourself: 
Can  I  not  bear  this  light  and  easy 
weight  for  the  love  of  Ilim  who.  be- 
neath the  crushing  weight  of  the  cross, 
likoks  at  me  with  weary  eyes,  and  asks 
me  to  keep  Ilim  company ?— Surely, 
after  all  that  He  has  suffered  for  you, 
you  will  not  refuse  Him  this  little  con- 
solation. 


Jesus  is  Stripped  of  His 
Garments. 

After  arriving  on  Calvary,  Jesus  was 
cruellydesiiuiledof  His  garments.  This 
inflicted  uimju  Him  a  twofoht  torment : 
one  of  physi»il  |iain.  by  re-ot>ening 
once  more  all  the  wounds  He  hud  re- 
ceived in  IHs  cruel  scourging:  the 
other  of  niitrul  toriure,  by  ex)<osing 
HimtotliegazeofthemuUitude  —Jesus 
is  siripjif*!  of  His  garments  that  He  may 
die  poosesseil  of  nothing:  how  happy 
will  I  also  die,  after  laying  aside  all 
those  evil  desirvs  and  sinful  inclina- 
tions which  adhere  to  me  closer  than  a 
garment !  I  w  ill  not  spare  myself,  how- 
ever {Miinful  this  should  be  for  me: 
despoiled  of  my  own  will  I  desire  to 
die,  in  order  to  iive  with  Jesus  for  ever. 


Jesus  is  Nailed  to  the  Cross. 

Jesus,  being  St ripiu'd  of  11  is  garments, 
was  violently  thrown  ui»ou  the  cross, 
and  His  hands  and  feel  were  most 
cruelly  nailed  theivto.  In  such  ex- 
cruciating )tains  He  remained  silent, 
beeause  it  pleased  His  heavenly  Father 
There  He  lay,  ihe  victim  of  the  world's 
iniquity,  siteiit  and  uncomplaining 
AHer  a  few  moments  the  soldiei-s  came, 
and,  raising  the  cross  aloft,  carried  it  to 
the  hole  made  in  the  ground  to  receive 
it.  There  it  was  finally  secured,  and 
the  disfigured,  sconrgetorn.  bleeding 
form  of  our  I-ord  appeared  higli  above 
the  heads  of  all,  a  spectacle  unto  angels 
and  men. 


Jesus  on  the  Cross. 

L4K)k  at  your  Lord  and  Master  as  He 
hangs  upon  the  cross,  an<l  learn  from 
Him  a  lesson  of  patience  and  resigua- 
tion.  No  word  ot  repining,  no  murmur 
of  complaint  will  ever  break  from  the 
lips  of  him  who  fixes  his  eyes  upon  that 
lorn  and  bleeding  Victim.  It  mutters 
not  how  sorely  he  may  be  tried,  either 
by  anguish  of  mind  or  pain  of  body; 
his  sum  of  wix*  cannot  even  be  com- 
pared with  that  ocean  of  sorrow  which 
deluged  the  henrt  of  Jesus.  '■  O  all  ye 
that  pass  the  way,  attend,  and  see  if 
there  beany  sorrow  like  to  my  sorrow.'* 
(lament.  L.  12) 


Jesus  Between  the  Thieves. 

"There  were  crucified  with  Him  two 
thieves,  one  on  the  right  hand,  and  one 
on  the  left."  as  the  prophet  had  fore- 
told: "  He  was  reputed  with  the  wicked, 
and  He  hath  borne  the  sins  of  many  " 
(Js.  L  III,  l^)  As  if  lie  were  of  all 
malefactors  the  most  no'orious.  He 
hung  in  the  middle,  an  adorable  spec- 
tacle to  the  world,  to  men  and  to  the 
angels— Jesus  'hrisi.  the  Redeemer  of 
^  mankiml.  the  Mf<lialor  of  peace  be- 
tween heaven  and  earth,  billing  and 
dying  for  love  of  mun  The  people 
with  unfeeling  hearts stooil  looking  on, 
and  the  rulers  with  them  derided  Uim 
in  His  torments.    (St.  Matt ,  XXVII ) 


Jesus  Dying  on  the  Cross. 

Jesus,  having  faithfully  accomplished 
the  work  appointed  for  Him  by  His 
Heavenly  Father,  now  gathered  up  all 
His  remaining  strength  to  utter  a  last 
farewell.  "And  Jesus,  crying  with  a 
loud  voice,  said :  Father,  into  Thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit.  .Xml  say- 
ing this.  Hegave npthe ghost  "  Solemn 
and  terrible  moment  Since  the  tlawn 
of  ereation  the  woild  has  never  wit- 
nessed such  a  scene  of  horn>r  The 
rocks  are  rent  asunder.  darkne:«  is 
spn-ad  (tver  the  face  of  the  earth,  the 
dead  come  forth  from  their  graves  But 
in  heaven  the  scene  is  different  The 
choirs  of  angels,  rejoicing  at  the  com- 
pletion of  the  work  of  redemption, 
burst  forth  into  a  chant  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving.      (St.  Luke.  XXXIII j 


The   Precious  Blood  of  Jesus. 

I^t  us  look  upon  Jesus,  how  willingly 
He  shed  His  precious  blood  for  us  He 
has  given  sight  to  the  blind,  hearing  to 
the  ilea f.  He  consoled  the  afflicted,  re- 
lieved the  |K)or.  gave  life  to  the  dead 
And  now  liehold  Him  on  the  cross,  a 
bleeding  victim,  bleeding,  yea.  dying 
for  love  of  man  !  Tiie  last  drop  of  blood 
left  His  sacred  veins,  and  in  virtue  of  its 
intinlte  efficacy  it  washed  us  fi-ee  from 
all  sin.  provided  we  avail  ourselves  of 
the  means  established  hy  our  divine 
Redeemer  for  the  application  of  its  in- 
finite merits,  *'  Therefore  we  beseech 
Thee,  come  to  the  assistance  of  Thy 
servants.whom  Thou  hast  redeemed  by 
Thy  precious  blood." 


Jesus  Taken  Down  from  the 
Cross. 

Since  Jesus  had  now  fully  accom- 
plished the  end  for  which  He  came  into 
llie  world,  the  hnnds  of  His  enemies 
could  never  be  laid  on  Uim  again, 
'■•'oseph  of  Arimathea,  a  noble  coun- 
selor, who  was  also  himself  looking  for 
the  kingdom  of  (iml,  came  and  went  in 
Imldly  to  IMIale.  and  beggetl  the  b<xly 
of  Jesus.  Hut  Pilate  wondered  that  He 
should  he  already  dead.  And  when  he 
understiMHl  it  bv  the  centuri<m.  he  gave 
thelMMly  t.)Josepli  "  (Mark.  XV.)  "And 
Nic(Hlennis  also  came,  he  who  at  the 
tin-t  came  to  Jesus  by  night,  bringing  a 
mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  about  an 
hundre<l  pound  weight.  They  took 
therefore  tne  body  of  Jesus,  andbound 
it  in  linen  cloths  with  the  spices,  as  the 
n  annerof  the  Jews  is  toburv." 

(St.  John,  XIX.) 


Jesus  in  the  Arms  of  His 
Mother. 

What  are  the  thoughts  suggested  to 
us  by  the  contemplation  of  Jesus  lying 
in  the  arms  of  His  mother.  bruise<1,  dis- 
figured, dead?  Are  they  not  bitter  re- 
collections of  the  share  we  had  in 
making  Him  what  He  is?  Our  sinful 
acts  have  been  unto  His  fle>h  as  the 
thongs  of  the  scourge,  as  the  sting  of 
the  crow  n  of  thorns,  as  the  nails  which 
pierced  His  hands  and  feet.a<i  the  point 
of  the  lance  which  drank  the  last  drop 
of  His  heart's  blood.  But  thou,  Os^ir- 
rowful  mother  Mary,  what  were  Ihy 
sentiments  and  feelings  in  that  solemn 
hour?  How  lovingly  didst  thou  press 
thy  Son*s  disfigured  form  to  thy  breast ! 
O  Mary,  mother  of  sorrows,  permit  me 
to  weep  with  thee,  to  love  with  thee,  to 
adore  with  thee ! 


The  Burial  of  Jesus. 

*'Now  there  was  in  the  place  where 
He  wascrucifiod  a  garden:  and  in  the 
garden  a  new  sepulchre,  wherein  no 
man  hail  yet  been  laid.  There,  therefore, 
because  of  the  Parasceve  of  the  Jews, 
they  laid  Jesus,  because  the  sepulchre 
was  nigh  at  hand  "  Before  consigning 
the  body  of  our  Lord  to  the  tomb,  Joseph 
and  Nicodemus,  assisted  by  the  holy 
women.  Mary  and  Salome,  performed 
for  it  all  lho<e  offices  of  piety  which 
their  faiih  and  love  prompted.  The 
lifeless  form  was  wrapped  in  spices nnd 
fine  linen,  and  bonie  to  the  grave  w  hich 
Joseph  had  causeil  to  be  hewn  out  of 
the  rock  as  a  resting-place  for  himself. 
And  having  closed  the  eutranceof  the 
sepulchre  with  a  rock,  all  withdrew. 
(St.  John,  XIX.) 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus. 

"And  when  the  Sabbath  wa*;  past. 
Mary  Magdalen.  Mary  the  mother  of 
Janies.and  ."^alome,  bought  sweet  spices. 
that  coming  they  might  anoint  Jesus. 
And  very  early  in  the  morning,  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  they  came  to  the 
sepulchre,  the  sun  being  now  risen. 
And  they  said  to  one  another:  Who 
shall  roll  us  back  the  stone  fnun  the 
door  of  the  sepulchre?  And  looking. 
they  saw  the  stone  rolled  back.  For  it 
was  ver>-  great  And  entering  into  the 
sepulchre,  they  saw  a  young  man  sit- 
ting on  the  tiirht  .side,  clothed  with  a 
white  rolMi:  and  they  «eie  astonished. 
Whosaith  to  them  :  He  notaflrighled  ; 
you  seek  Jesus  of  Xnzareth.- who  was 
crucified.  He  is  risen.  He  is  not  here. 
Beiioltl  the  place  where  they  laid  Him. 
Bui  i:o.  tell  His  disciples,  and  Peier, 
that  Hegoeth  before  yon  into  (.'alilee: 
there  you  shall  see  him.  as  Ue  told 
you." 

(St  Mark,  XVI-) 


Jesus  Ascends  into  Heaven. 

After  His  resurrection  our  blessed 
Lord  remained  forty  days  here  on  earth, 
appearing  to  His  aj:K)stles  and  instruct- 
ing them  III  Ihe  natureand  use  of  those 
spiritual  jrfjwers  which  Me  had  im- 
parted to  them  for  the  good  of  iniin- 
kind.  On  ihe  fortieth  day  Heas.'-embled 
Uis  apostles.  "And  he  led  them  out  as 
far  as  Be'hania,  and  lifting  up  His 
hands.  He  blessed  them.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  whilst  He  blessed  them,  He 
departed  from  them,  and  was  carried 
up  to  heaven."  (John,  XXIV.)  The 
ascension  of  Jesns  took  place  from 
Mount  Olivet.  This  mountain  having 
been  the  scene  of  His  agony  and  hu- 
miliation, was  chosen  hy  Him  as  the 
scene  of  Uis  final  glorification. 

(Acts.  I.) 

"Now  to  the  King  of  Ages,  immortal. 
Invisible,  the  only  dod,  be  honor  and 
glorv  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen." 

(I  Tim   I.  17.) 


>  ^^^^^^^^^^B 

.J^^ak  //^^^^[ 

Simon  of  Cyrene  Helps  Jesus.         Veronica  Wipes  Jesus'  Face.  Jesus  Falls  the  Second  Time.  Jesus  Consoles  the  Women. 


Jesus  Falls  the  Third  Time. 


Jesus  is  Stripped  of  His 
Garments. 


Jesus  is  Nailed  to  the  Cross. 


Jesus  on  the  Cross- 


^^'               1 

«B^tes 

■ 

"A 

L 

^^■S^^^^^LUbI'  m    ^  ' 

P 

HHb^hm^ 

■E^4 

Jesus  Between  the  Thieves. 


Jesus  Dying  on  the  Cross.  The  Precious  Blood  of  Jesus.  Jesus  Taken  Down  from  the 

Cross. 


,mW 


Jesus  in  the  Arms  of  His 
IVlother. 


The  Burial  of  Jesus.  The  Resurrection  of  Jesus. 

Copyrighted,  March,  igo-^,  by  Century  Art  Co.,  Phila. 


Jesus  Ascends  into  Heaven. 


HE  Catholic  Peligion 
Expounded. 


By  Rev.  HENRY  DODRIDGE. 

fii  fji  A  dU  Ju  id  m  m 

W  W  rtj  ^J^  rj^  rH  fit  KB 

THE  CREED  DEFINED. 


Q.  What  is  the  Creed? 

A.  It  is  a  short  collection  of  articles,  and 
the  sum  of  what  Christians   ought  to  believe. 

Q.  By  whom  were  they  drawn  up,  and  to 
what  purpose? 

A.  By  the  twelve  Apostles,  to  the  end  they 
might  be  more  easily  retained  by  the  faithful, 
and  to  distinguish  them  from  all  societies  of 
unbelievers. 

Q.  Do  they  contain  the  whole,  of  what  a 
Christian  ought  to  believe  ? 

A,  No,  only  the  general  heads,  yet  so,  that 
all  other  particular  articles  are  deducible  from 
them ;  especially  if  we  believe  the  ninth  article, 
viz. :    The  holy  Catholic  Church. 

Q.  How  many  are  these  heads,  and  in  what 
order  are  they  disposed  ? 

A.  They  are  twelve,  distributed  with  respect 
to  the  three  Persons  of  the  blessed  Trinity. 
The  first  part  has  a  relation  to  God  the  Father, 
and  the  creation ;  the  second  to  God  the  Son, 
and  man's  redemption ;  the  third  to  God  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  man's  sanctification,  and  glori- 
fication. 

Q.  Which  is  the  first  article? 

A.  I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty, 
creator  of  heaven  and  earth. 

Q.  What  is  God? 


A.  I  conceive  him,  as  a  Being  eternal,  self- 
existent,  independent,  from  whom  all  other 
things  are  derived,  and  upon  whom  all  and 
every  thing  entirely  depends. 

Q.  What  inducement  have  you  to  think  there 
is  such  a  Being? 

A.  Faith,  reason,  conscience,  the  testimony 
of  my  senses,  and  the  general  concurrence  of 
all  mankind  oblige  me  to  be  of  that  persuasion. 

Q.  In  what  manner  does  Faith  convince  you 
of  God's  existence  ? 

A.  Because  he  has  revealed  his  existence, 
and  confirmed  the  truth  of  the  revelation,  by 
undeniable  proofs,  and  motives  of  credibility ; 
fully  declared  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament. 

Q.  How  can  your  reason  prove  the  existence 
of  God,  who  appears,  by  your  description,  to 
be  an  incomprehensible  Being,  above  the  reach 
of  man's  reason  ? 

A.  My  reason  tells  me,  that  he  is,  but  not 
what  he  is ;  my  reason  informs  me  of  some 
of  His  perfections :  others  I  learn  by  Faith ; 
but  as  to  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  that 
great  Being,  he  would  not  be  God,  could  we 
comprehend  the  whole  that  belongs  to  him. 

Q.  Let  me  hear  your  proofs  from  reason  of 
God's  existence  ? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  demonstrable  from 


(17) 


i8 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


the  eflfects.  I  see  a  multitude  of  things  in  this 
visible  world,  which,  not  being  capable  of  pro- 
ducing themselves,  recourse  must  be  had  to 
some  self-existent,  and  original  cause,  which 
gave  them  being ;  for  without  such  a  necessary 
and  self-existent  Being,  all  things  would  remain 
in  the  state  of  indifferency,  and  nothing  could 
receive  a  being.  Again,  I  have  within  me  a 
silent  monitor,  which  is  that  fear  I  am  seized 
with,  as  often  as  I  commit  a  wicked  action, 
which  can  proceed  from  nothing  else,  but  an 
apprehension  of  being  called  to  an  account, 
and  punished  by  some  power  I  ought  to  have 
obeyed. 

Q.  What  do  your  senses  declare  in  proof  of 
a  Deity  ? 

A.  Those  surprising  great  bodies,  the  earth, 
the  sea,  and  air ;  with  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars, 
as  they  could  not  be  produced  by  any  mortal 
hand,  make  me  conclude,  they  are  the  eflFect 
of  some  great  and  omnipotent  power ;  to  which, 
if  we  add  the  beautiful  variety  of  trees,  fruits, 
herbs,  and  flowers,  which  cover  the  earth,  the 
rich  mines  which  are  lodged  within  its  bowels, 
the  several  species  of  beasts,  and  insects,  which 
range  and  creep  upon  it,  with  the  various  kinds 
of  fish,  which  swim  in  the  waters  ;  and  birds 
that  fly  in  the  air,  they  all  inform  me  of  some 
wise  and  omnipotent  power,  which  gave  them 
being,  which  I  am  still  further  convinced  of, 
when  I  consider  the  admirable  structure  of  their 
bodies,  the  regularity  of  their  motions,  their 
specific  propagation,  their  wise  economy,  and 
how  dextrously  they  labor,  to  obtain  their 
respective  ends. 

Q.  Do  all  mankind  join  in  a  belief  of  this 
supreme  Being? 

A.  No  nation  was  ever  so  ignorant  or  bar- 
barous, as  not  to  acknowledge  some  sort  of 
Deity,  though  they  were  involved  in  many 
errors,  as  to  the  qualities  belonging  to  him. 

Q.  You  seem,  then,  not  to  allow  there  were 
ever  any  atheists.  What  do  you  say  to  the 
objections  which  those  sort  of  people  are  said 
to  make,  against  your  proofs  of  a  Deity  ?  Why 
might  not    the    visible   world    be    produced  by 


chance  ?  We  may  conceive  things  producing 
one  another,  by  an  infinite  succession  of  causes 
and  efiects,  without  arriving  at  a  necessary  and 
self-existent  Being.  Is  not  this  as  conceivable, 
as  a  self-existent  and  eternal  Being?  Again, 
atheists  will  tell  you,  that  there  is  no  real  dis- 
tinction between  good  and  evil,  but  what  is 
learned  from  education,  especially  by  human 
polic}'  and  priestcraft. 

A.  I  cannot  be  persuaded  there  was  ever  any 
such  person  as  a  real  atheist ;  who  denied  a 
supreme  Being,  interiorly,  to  whom  he  owed 
obedience.  I  own,  some  have  attempted  to  bring 
arguments  for  that  piirpose,  but  it  was  rather 
to  show  their  pretended  wit,  or  from  the  cor- 
ruption of  their  morals,  which  prompted  them 
to  wish  there  was  no  God  to  punish  them  for 
their  sins ;  which  the  royal  prophet  alludes  to 
when  he  says,  the  fool  said  in  his  heart  there 
is  no  God.     Ps.  xiii.  i. 

Q.  What  answer  do  you  make  to  the  objec- 
tions of  those  pretended  atheists  ? 

A.  To  say  that  the  world  was  produced  by 
chance,  is  a  manifest  contradiction  to  the  com- 
mon reason  of  all  mankind.  What  happens  by 
chance,  has  nothing  of  regularity,  either  as  to 
time,  place,  or  disposition  of  parts  :  whereas  the 
world  is  a  regular  subordination  of  causes  and 
efiects.  Can  chance  produce  a  book  by  shufiling 
together  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  ?  When  we 
behold  a  watch,  a  house,  or  ship,  we  conclude 
they  were  the  efiects  of  some  intelligent  and  . 
skillful  operator,  who  joined  their  parts  together ; 
and  by  consequence,  the  parts  of  this  visible 
world  are  so  artfully  united,  that  they  are  a  con- 
vincing proof  of  some  wise  and  powerful  opera- 
tor, who  brought  them  under  that  regularity.  As 
to  what  is  alleged,  concerning  things  making 
one  another,  that  can  have  no  reference  to 
several  parts  of  the  universe,  viz. :  The  earth, 
sea,  sun,  moon,  stars,  and  many  other  bodies, 
which  receive  not  a  being  by  generation^  but  are 
single^  and  incapable  of  multiplication.  As  for 
other  creatures,  viz. :  The  fruits  of  the  earth, 
birds,  beasts,  fishes,  and  the  rest,  which  seem  to 
produce  one  another,  they  cannot  be  conceived 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


19 


to  act  as  principal,  but  only  as  instrumental 
causes  ;  because,  as  some  are  void  of  sense,  and 
others  of  reason,  they  cannot  be  conceived  as 
principal  authors  of  those  artificial  parts,  and 
wonderful  properties,  which  are  produced ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  they  manifestly  point  out,  a 
wise  and  all-powerful  author,  who  acts  as  princi- 
pal. The  like  inconvenience  and  contradiction 
appears,  in  an  infinite  succession  of  causes  and 
effects,  without  arriving  at  some  necessary  and 
self-existent  being ;  for  no  effect  we  know  of,  is 
producible  originally,  without  a  wise  and  omnipo- 
tent power :  and  though  we  cannot  have  a  com- 
prehensive idea,  that  there  is  such  a  power  as  to 
all  its  perfections,  yet  without  having  recourse 
to  that  necessary  being,  we  cannot  account  for 
the  existence  of  the  world,  and  the  parts  which 
compose  it.  Whereas  an  infinite  succession  is 
not  only  inconceivable  in  itself,  but  leaves  us  in 
the  dark,  how  the  parts  of  the  universe  were 
capable  of  being  produced  with  so  great  beauty 
and  variety. 

Q.  What  is  God's  will,  how  are  we  to  con- 
ceive it,  and  in  what  manner  is  it  fulfilled  ? 

A.  God  has  only  one  will,  though  accord- 
ing to  our  way  of  conceiving  it,  we  distinguish 
several  kinds;  for  example,  first,  we  conceive 
that  nothing  happens  contrary  to  his  absolute 
will :  now,  his  will  is  made  known  to  us  by 
certain  outward  tokens,  viz. :  By  precepts,  pro- 
hibition, permission,  advice,  etc.  Hence,  a 
good  life  consists  in  obeying  the  will  of  God ; 
his  absolute  will  is  always  fulfilled,  but  his 
conditional  will  is  not,  as  in  the  reprobate 
whom  he  permits  to  follow  their  own  free  will ; 
though  he  has  a  real  will  that  they  should  be 
saved ;  as  a  merchant  when  he  casts  his  goods 
overboard,  has  a  will  to  save  them,  but  per- 
mits the  mariners  to  destroy  them. 

Q.  What  is  love  and  hatred,  and  how  is 
God  capable  of  such  affections? 

A.  Love  is  a  desire  of  good,  either  in  itself 
or  to  ourselves  or  others.  There  are  several 
kinds  :  a  love  of  complacency,  that  is,  when 
we  love  a  thing  for  itself;  a  love  of  concupi- 
scence, when  we  desire  it   for  our    own  sakes ; 


a  love  of  benevolence,  when  we  desire  it  for 
the  sake  of  others ;  a  love  of  beneficence,  when 
we  actually  confer  the  good  we  desire ;  a  love 
of  friendship,  is  a  reciprocal  love  of  benevolence. 
God's  love  for  man,  is  of  complacency,  benevo- 
lence, beneficence,  and,  in  the  just,  of  friend- 
ship. Hatred  is  an  aversion  to  evil,  either 
grounded  in  the  thing  or  personal ;  one  is 
called  abomination,  which  God  has  against  sin  ; 
the  other  of  enmity,  which  God  is  incapable  of 
because  he  cannot  wish  evil  to  man. 

Q.  What  is  providence,  and  after  what  man- 
ner does  God  govern  the  world  ? 

A.  It  is  a  direction  of  all  things  to  their 
proper  end,  by  suitable  means  :  all  things  I  say, 
both  great  and  small,  natural  and  supernatural ; 
so  that  he  concurs  immediately  both  to  neces- 
sary agents  and  free  agents.  Hence,  predestina- 
tion and  reprobation  belong  to  God's  provi- 
dence. 

Q.  What  is  predestination,  and  in  what 
manner  are  we  to  speak  of  it  ? 

A.  Predestination  is  an  eternal  purpose  of 
saving  some  persons :  reprobation  is  an  eternal 
purpose  of  permitting  some  persons  to  be 
damned :  they  both  are  inclusive  of  merits  and 
demerits ;  yet,  with  this  difference,  a  foresight 
of  sin,  or  the  ill  use  of  grace,  is  the  motive  of 
reprobation  ;  but  whether  persons  are  predesti- 
nated upon  a  foresight  of  merit,  or  good  use  of 
grace,  is  not  determined  by  the  church  ;  'tis  more 
conformable  to  the  Scriptures  to  saj'-,  predestina- 
tion is  gratuitous ;  and  as  predestination  in- 
cludes the  preparation  of  means,  especially  the 
first  grace,  it  is  a  point  of  faith  that  is 
gratuitous. 

Q.  What  errors  are  condemned  by  the  church 
concerning  predestination  and  reprobation  ? 

A.  First,  that  of  Origen,  who  afiirmed  that 
men's  souls  were  created  before  the  world,  and 
were  predestinated  upon  account  of  the  good 
works  they  had  performed  before  they,  were 
united  to  bodies.  Secondly,  the  Pelagians,  who 
taught,  that  good  works  without  grace,  by 
nature  alone,  might  be  a  motive  of  predestina- 
tion.    Thirdly,  the  Semipelagians,  who  though 


20 


•THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


they  owned  salvation  could  not  be  obtained 
without  gfrace  (wherein  they  differed  from  the 
Pelagians)  yet  they  affiimed,  God  predestinated 
mankind,  upon  a  foresight  of  some  natural 
endeavors,  toward  obtaining  grace.  Fourthly, 
the  Calvinists,  who  think  themselves  infallibly 
certain  of  their  predestination.  Fifthly,  Calvin- 
ists, Lutherans,  Jansenists,  and  others,  who  say 
God  has  not  a  will,  or  gives  not  sufficient 
grace  to  all  persons  to  be  saved.  Sixthly, 
Calvinists,  etc.,  who  affirm  that  God  has  an 
absolute  will  to  damn  some  persons,  without 
an}'  foresight  of  their  sins. 

Q.  Which  are  the  principal  effiscts  of  pre- 
destination? 

A.  I.  An  efficacious  call.  2.  Justification 
and  perseverance.     3.     Glorification. 

Q.  What  difference  do  you  make  in  believing 
a  God,  believing  God,  and  believing  in  God  ?  * 

A.  To  believe  a  God,  is  to  believe  there  is 
such  a  being.  To  believe  God,  is  to  believe  all 
to  be  true  that  he  has  revealed.  To  believe  in 
God,  is  to  love  him,  and  to  put  our  trust  in 
him,  as  our  last  end. 

Q  Having  explained  what  belong  to  the 
divine  attributes,  we  are  to  proceed  to  some 
other  matters;  and  first,  why  do  you  call  God 
Father  ? 

A.  A  Father  is  he  who  begets  children,  and 
gives  them  a  being:  in  which  sense  God  is  the 
Father  of  all  mankind,  whom  he  produced  by 
creation,  preserves  their  being,  and  provides 
them  with  all  necessaries  and  conveniences^ 
which  is  the  character  of  a  kind  father,  but  in 
a  more  particular  manner,  he  is  the  father  of 
all  good  Christians,  whom  he  has  adopted  and 
made  heirs  of  his  kingdom. 

Q.  What  further  instructions  can  you  draw 
from  the  word  father? 

A.  Several  very  useful,  in  order  to  pay  a 
grateful  acknowledgment  to  the  Divine  Majesty 
for  all  the  benefits  we  are  made  partakers  of. 
Creation,  in  the  first  place,  is  so  surprising  a 
meditation,  that  words  cannot  express,  what  we 
are  indebted  to  him  on  that  account.     There  is 

•  I.  Credo  Deutn.     2.  Credo  Deo.     3.  Credo  in  Deutn. 


nothing  that  happens  between  man  and  man,  in 
the  way  of  being  obliged  to  one  another,  that 
can  have  an}'  resemblance  to  it ;  it  is  so  extra- 
ordinary a  subject  of  humility,  that  it  strikes 
us  dumb,  and  in  a  manner  thoughtless  with 
confusion ;  preservation  has  in  a  manner  the 
same  influence  upon  us,  for  as  we  were  created 
out  of  nothing,  so  we  should  in  an  instant  be 
reduced  to  nothing,  unless  the  same  hand  which 
created  us  continued  to  support  us:  this  reflec- 
tion obliges  us  to  have  recourse  to  him  upon 
all  occasions.  I  might  descend  to  many  more 
particulars,  as  his  providential  care  in  supplying 
us  with  all  things  we  want,  our  redemption, 
vocation,  justification,  perseverance,  and  ever- 
lasting happiness,  which  are  the  effects  of  his 
being  our  Father. 

Q.  You  have  given  rather  the  moral  and 
metaphorical  sense  of  the  word  father:  what  is 
the  literal  meaning  of  the  word  as  it  stands  in 
the  creed  ? 

A.  Literally  the  word  father  points  out  the 
mystery  of  the  Trinity,  and  namely  the  first 
person,  who  is  called  father,  upon  account  of 
his  begetting  the  second  person,  by  an  eternal 
generation. 

Q.  A  father  is  prior  to  his  son ;  how  does 
this  agree  with  the  son's  eternal  existence? 

A.  We  are  not  to  conceive  any  priority  among 
the  divine  persons,  as  to  time,  or  dignity,  but 
only  as  to  origin,  so  that  the  Father  is  called 
the  first  person,  because  he  is  unbegotten  and 
proceeds  from  no  other  person;  whereas  the 
second  person  is  begotten  by  the  Father,  and 
the  third  person  proceeds  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son. 

Q.  Pray  explain  in  a  few  words,  what  we  are 
obliged  to  believe  concerning  the  Trinity,  and 
how  the  learned  explain  their  thoughts  upon 
this  high  subject  ? 

A.  The  mystery  of  the  Trinity  is  one  God, 
in  three  persons ;  or,  more  distinctly,  three 
persons,  that  have  the  same  nature,  essence, 
or  substance;  which  are  equivalent  terms,  accord- 
ing to  the  use  that  is  made  of  those  words  upon 
the  present  occasion. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


21 


Q.  Are  there  no  more,  nor  less,  than  three 
persons  in  God,  and  how  are  they  distinguished 
from  one  another,  and  from  the  divine  essence? 

A.  It  was  an  error  against  faith,  of  the 
Sabellians  and  others,  that  in  God,  as  there 
was  only  one  essence,  or  nature,  so  there  was 
only  one  person,  and  that  the  three  names 
given  to  God  in  the  Scriptures,  did  not  import 
diflferent  persons,  but  took  their  appellations 
from  diflferent  operations  of  the  same  person. 
Other  heretics,  among  which  were  the  Arians, 
held  that  as  there  were  three  persons  in  God, 
so  there  were  three  natures,  not  substantial. 
Now  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  church  is, 
that  the  three  persons,  though  really  distinct 
in  themselves,  are  not  distinct  as  to  the  same 
natiire  wherewith  they  are  identified. 

Wherein  the  error  of  Gilbert  of  Poiree,  bishop 
of  Poictiers,  is  condemned,  in  the  council  of 
Paris  in  the  year  1147;  as  likewise  in  the 
council  of  Rheims  in  the  following  year,  who 
was  of  opinion,  that  the  three  persons  were 
really  distinct  from  the  divine  essence,  whereby 
he  seems  obliged  to  assert  a  quatemity  of 
persons. 

Q.  What  do  divines  mean  by  processions? 

A.  By  procession  they  understand  the  emana- 
tion or  flowing  of  one  thing  from  another. 
Hence,  they  distinguish  in  God  two  proces- 
sions, one  whereby  the  Son  proceeds  from  the 
Father,  the  other  whereby  the  Holy  Ghost 
proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.  And 
it  is  an  article  of  faith  that  there  are  neither 
more  nor  less. 

Q.  Why  is  God's  omnipotency  inserted  in  this 
article,  rather  than  any  other  of  the  divine 
attributes  ? 

A.  Chiefly  for  two  reasons.  First,  because, 
mention  is  there  made  of  the  world's  creation, 
which  requires  an  omnipotent  power.  Secondly, 
because  the  first  person  is  the  origin  of  all 
power. 

Q.  Are  not  the  second  and  third  persons  like- 
wise omnipotent  ? 

A.  Yes,  equally,  they  all  having  the  same 
essential  and  absolute  perfections.     Yet  works 


of  power,  are  commonly  attributed  to  the  first 
person,  upon  account  of  his  being  the  origin 
of  power ;  works  of  wisdom  to  the  second  per- 
son, on  account  of  the  wisdom  he  showed  in 
our  redemption  :  works  of  goodness  to  the  third, 
on  account  of  our  santification  and  divine  assist- 
ance ;  though  at  the  same  time  all  the  three 
persons  are  equally  concerned  in  all  outward 
works  of  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness. 

Q.  In  the  next  place  you  call  God  the  Father 
Creator,  may  not  each  person  be  called  Creator? 

A.  Yes,  but  creation  is  there  attributed  to  the 
first  person,  for  the  reasons  above  recited. 

Q.  What  is  Creation  ? 

A.  It  is  the  prodiiction  of  a  thing  out  of  noth- 
ing. 

Q.  What  errors  have  men  fallen  into  con- 
cerning the  world's  creation  ? 

A.  Aristotle,  and  several  other  of  the  heathen 
philosophers  had  no  notion  of  creation :  and 
hence,  they  established  the  principle*  nothing 
is  made  out  of  nothing.  And  further,  those  who 
believed  God  was  an  eternal  Being,  conceived 
the  material  world  to  be  also  eternal ;  and  as  it 
were  an  essential  property  belonging  to  God. 
But  we  have  a  more  perfect  account  of  the 
Deity  from  the  Scriptures,  which  gives  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  world's  creation,  and  reason  tells 
us  that  no  material  thing  can  belong  to  God 
essentially,  only  originally  as  a  first  cause. 
Gen.  i. 

Q.  What  do  you  itnderstand  by  heaven  and 
earth,  which  you  say  was  created  ? 

A,  By  heaven  I  understand  every  thing  in 
heaven ;  by  earth  every  thing  on  earth. 

Q.  What  are  angels,  and  what  properties  be- 
long to  them  ? 

A..  Angel  is  a  word  according  to  its  etymology 
which  signifies  a  messenger :  as  the  word  apostle 
signifies  a  public  messenger;  so  that  thej'  imply 
not  a  nature  but  a  power  or  oflfice.  If  an  angel 
be  considered  as  to  its  nature,  it  is  a  spiritual 
substance  created  by  God  without  a  body. 

Q.  Is  it  an  article  of  faith  that  the  angels 
have  no  bodies  ? 

*  Ex  niliilo  nihil  fit. 


22 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


A.  I  cannot  say  it  is ;  but  it  is  approaching 
that  way,  and  generally  held  by  the  church. 

Q.  Are  they  not  commonly  painted  with  bodies 
and  wings  ? 

A.  Yes,  not  that  they  reallj'  have  bodies,  but 
because  they  assume  them,  when  they  appear 
to  men.  They  are  represented  with  wings,  to 
signify  that  their  motions  are  as  quick  as 
thought. 

Q.  What  other  properties  belong  to  them  ? 

A.  They  have  a  clear  knowledge  of  nature, 
both  as  to  causes  and  effects :  they  have  also 
great  power  proportioned  to  their  vast  knowl- 
edge, and  were  created  in  grace  with  free  will, 
which  some  made  a  good  use  of,  but  others 
abused  it. 

Q.  Who  are  they  who  abuse  it? 

A.  The  wicked  angels,  we  call  devils. 

Q.  Have  these  also  still  great  knowledge  and 
power  ? 

A.  They  lost  not  their  natural  perfections  by 
their  rebellion  against  God,  but  only  such  as 
were  supernatural ;  so  that  their  knowledge  still 
extends  to  all  the  secrets  of  nature ;  and  God 
permits  them  to  exercise  great  power  over  men, 
so  as  to  tempt  them  to  sin,  possess  their  bodies, 
but  not  force  their  will ;  which  is  always  free, 
and  out  of  their  power. 

Q.  Divines  tell  us,  there  are  several  orders, 
and  degrees,  among  those  spiritual  beings ;  pray 
give  an  account  of  them,  and  the  grounds  you 
have  to  make  a  distinction  among  them  ? 

A.  Divines  gather  this  distinction  of  spiritual 
beings  from  the  Scriptures,  especially  from  the 
prophets.  Isaiah,  and  Ezekiel,  which  are  particu- 
larly described  by  St.  Gregory  the  Great  in  his 
34th  Homily  upon  the  Gospels,  where  he  tells 
us  the  Scriptures  make  mention  of  nine  orders, 
or  degrees  of  those  blessed  spirits,  viz.:  Sera- 
phims,  cherubims,  thrones,  dominions,  princi- 
palities, powers,  virtues,  archangels,  and  angels. 
Isaiah,  vi.  i.  Gen.  iii.  24.  Heb.  ix.  5.  Ephes. 
i.  21.     Colos.  i.  16.     Thessal.  iv.  15. 

Q.  Has  every  man  an  angel-guardian  allotted 
Wm? 

A.  Yes,  all  mankind,  but  especially  Christians, 


who,  after  baptism,  has  a  particular  care  of,  and 
protects  them  from  the  devil's  power  and  strata- 
gems. As  also  our  augel-guardian  is  appointed 
to  hinder  us  from  falling  into  temporal  calami- 
ties, or  any  misfortune.  This  doctrine  of  hav- 
ing an  angel-guardian  appointed  for  every  one, 
is  a  certain  truth,  universally  held  by  the  church 
against   Calvin   and  others ;  who  contradict   it. 

Q.  Can  you  produce  any  proof  from  the  Scrip- 
tures and  fathers,  that  every  one  has  an  angel- 
guardian  appointed  him  ? 

A.  Yes,  I  can  from  the  i8th  chapter  of  St. 
Matt.  ver.  10.  Where  Christ  saith,  "5^^  that 
you  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones:  for  I 
say  unto  you^  their  angels  in  heaven  ahvays  see 
the  face  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.''''  Again, 
out  of  the  i2th  chapter  of  the  Acts,  ver.  15, 
'•''And  they  said  it  is  his  angelP  Also,  out  of 
the  33d  and  90th  Psalm,  ver.  8.  ver.  11.  Now 
as  to  the  fathers,  nothing  can  be  more  clear 
and  fully  expressed,  than  what  St.  Basil,  St. 
Ambrose,  and  St.  Chrysostom  write  in  confirma- 
tion of  this  doctrine.* 

Q.  What  account  have  we  in  the  Scriptures 
concerning  man's  creation  ?  When  was  he 
created  ?  What  does  his  nature  consist  of  ? 
What  conditions  or  state  was  he  in,  upon  and 
after  his  creation  ? 

A.  Adam  and  Eve,  were  made  on  the  sixth 
day,  his  body  formed  from  clay,  and  hers  from 
one  of  Adam's  ribs :  man  in  the  whole  consists 
of  a  body  and  soul  united  together,  in  such  a 
manner,  that  the  body  was  in  subjection  to 
the  soul.  As  to  the  condition,  and  state  man 
was  in,  it  was  far  different  at  his  creation,  from 
what  he  found  himself  in  afterwards. 

Q.  What  condition  was  man  placed  in  at  his 
creation  ? 

A.  It  was  in  his  power  not  to  die,  had  he 
made  use  of  the  means :  his  soul  was  created 
in  grace,  accompanied  with  other  supernatural 
gifts  :  his  body  was  entirely  submissive  to  his 
soul,  free  from  concupiscence,  or  any  irregular 
appetites  ;  and  no  creature  whatever,  was  capable 

*  vide  St  Bas.  Serm.  3.    Adver.  Eunomium.     St.  Ambr.  expo,  in 
Psal.  118.  H.  9.  St.  CHrys.  Horn.  60.  cap.  18.  Mat. 


THE   CATHOLIC  RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


23 


of  giving  him  any  pain  or  affliction.  Again, 
his  soul  was  an  immortal  being,  created  accord- 
ing to  God's  likeness,  with  a  will,  memory, 
and  understanding,  and  entirely  free  in  his 
actions,  which  are  prerogatives,  that  other  crea- 
tures could  not  pretend  to,  who  were  either 
inanimate,  or  animal  beings. 

Q.  Do  men  still  claim  all  these  perfections, 
or  only  some  of  them,  or  if  they  lost  any  of 
them,  how,  and  what  are  they  ? 

A.  Man  lost  God's  grace,  and  all  supernat- 
ural gifts,  by  his  disobedience ;  and  as  an  eflFect 
of  this  was  made  liable  to  death,  concupiscence, 
pain,  trouble,  and  all  those  vexations  which  are 
incident  to  human  life.  Whereby  the  Pelagian 
heresy  is  condemned,  which  consists  in  this, 
that  man  was  not  created  in  grace,  that  he 
was  not  to  be  immortal,  though  he  had  not 
sinned,  and  that  death,  concupiscence,  and  the 
miseries  of  human  life,  were  not  the  conse- 
quence of  Adam's  sin,  but  circumstances  belong- 
ing to  the  state  wherein  he  was  first  placed ; 
and  from  hence  they  inferred,  as  the  Calvinists 
do,  that  there  was  no  other  sin  transferred  by 
Adam  to  posterity,  besides  concupiscence,  which 
they  maintain  to  be  that  original  sin,  so  often 
mentioned  in  the  Scriptures.  However,  though 
man  lost  these  advantages,  he  still  retained 
free  will.  But  the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists 
pretend,  we   only  enjoy  free  will   in  regard  of 


evil,  not  in  regard  of  good.  Indeed,  free  will 
is  much  impaired  by  the.  misfortune  of  original 
sin,  but  not  destroyed. 

Q.  What  particulars  have  we  concerning  the 
creation  of  other  things  in  the  world  ? 

A.  The  first  chapter  of  Genesis  gives  a  descrip- 
tion how  it  was  performed,  viz.:  In  six  days, 
and  all  things  contained  in  it,  viz. :  The  first 
day,  God  created  an  undigested  heap  of  matter, 
out  of  which  all  bodies  were  afterwards  formed  ; 
and  the  same  day  he  made  the  heavens,  and 
a  luminous  body.  The  second  day,  he  divided 
the  earth  and  the  waters.  The  third  day,  he 
separated  the  earth  from  the  waters,  so  as  to 
allot  them  their  proper  channels  ;  and  the  same 
day  he  gave  the  earth  a  prolific  quality,  so 
that  it  produced  all  sorts  of  fruits,  minerals, 
etc.,  and  at  the  same  time  he  planted  the 
terrestrial  paradise.  The  fourth  day,  he  made 
the  sun,  moon  and  stars.  The  fifth  day,  he 
made  the  birds,  and  fishes,  etc.  On  the  sixth 
day,  he  made  beasts  and  reptiles ;  and  on  the 
same  day  he  made  Adam  and  Eve,  and  placed 
them  in  the  terrestrial  paradise  afterwards. 

Q.  Why  did  God  form  things  by  degreeS; 
who  might  have  done  all  things  at  one  instant  ? 

A.  It  was  his  divine  pleasure,  and  to  show 
that  nature  and  grace,  by  degrees  make  things 
perfect ;  and  to  give  us  a  more  distinct  idea  that 
all  things  were  created  by  him. 


THE  SECOND  ARTICLE  OF  THE  CREED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  second  article  of  the  creed  ? 

A.  And  in  Jesus  Christ  his  only  Son  our  Lord. 

Q.  What  is  chiefly  contained  in  this  article  ? 

A.  A  belief  or  faith,  in  the  second  person 
of  the  blessed  Trinity,  his  incarnation  or  assum- 
ing human  nature. 

Q.  Why  is  he  called  Jesus,  and  who  gave 
him  that  name? 

A.  The  name  was  given  by  God's  appoint- 
ment, when  the  angel  Gabriel  saluted  the 
blessed  Virgin   Mary,  and  it  imports  as  much 


as  a  Saviour ;  to  signify  that  he  was  to  be  the 
Redeemer  of  mankind ;  as  well  as  to  comply 
with  the  custom  among  the  Jews,  whereby  the 
names  they  gave  to  things,  was  explanatory  of 
the  office,  or  use,  they  were  to  be  put  to. 
Mat.  i.  21.  Hence,  Josue,  the  leader  of  God's 
people,  was  called  Jesus,  because  he  overcame 
their  enemies,  and  introduced  them  into  the 
land  of  Promise. 

Q.  In  what  manner  did  he  become  a  Saviour, 
or  Redeemer  of  mankind? 


a4 


THE   CATHOLIC   REUGION   EXPOUNDED. 


A.  By  being  a  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  which  he  was  capable  of  effecting,  not 
precisely  as  he  was  God,  nor  preciselj'  as  man ; 
but  as  he  was  both  God  and  man:  his  divine 
person  rendered  his  actions  infinitely  satisfactory 
and  redemptive;  his  human  nature  rendered 
him  capable  of  suffering,  and  being  a  mediator. 

Q.  You  say  that  Jesus  Christ  is  both  God 
and  man,  pray  can  you  produce  any  proofs 
from  Scripture  that  he  is  both  God  and  man  ? 

A.  Yes  I  can,  out  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  C. 
i.,  V.  I  and  14.  "  In  the  beginning  was  the 
word,  and  the  word  was  with  God,  and  the  word 
was  God — and  the  word  was  made  flesh,  and 
dwelt  among  tis^  Again,  out  of  the  epistle  of 
St.  Paul  to  the  Philippians.  C.  ii.,  v.  6,  7. 
Where  he  says,  that  "  Chtist,  when  he  was  in 
the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be 
equal  with  God ;  but  he  hath  debased  himself, 
taking  the  form  of  a  servant ;  made  unto  the 
likeness  of  men,  and  found  iti  habit  as  a  man?"* 

Q.  Is  not  Christ,  as  God,  a  mediator? 

A.  No,  because  as  God,  he  is  equal  to  the 
Father,  and  cannot  be  conceived  to  make  any 
supplication  to  him. 

Q.  In  what  sense  are  the  saints  in  heaven, 
mediators  between  God  and  man? 

A.  In  the  same  manner,  as  all  upon  earth 
are  mediators  for  one  another ;  by  praying  for 
one  another;  that  is,  they  are  mediators,  by 
way  of  intercession,  not  by  way  of  redemption. 

Q.  Why  do  Catholics  show  a  particular 
respect,  and  bow  at  the  name  of  Jesus,  rather 
than  at  any  other  name  of  Christ  or  God  ? 

A.  All  God's  names  are  equally  worthy  of 
respect ;  but  the  custom  of  bowing  at  the  name 
of  Jesus  is  obser\'ed  on  account  of  its  being 
particularly  given  to  signify  the  work  of  man's 
redemption ;  and  therefore  St.  Paul  says,  that 
every  knee  is  to  bow  when  it  is  mentioned. 
Phil.  ii.  10. 

Q.  What  signification  has  the  word  Christ, 
and  in  what  manner  is  it  attributed  to  the 
second  person,  in  the  mystery  of  the  incarna- 
tion? 

A.  Christ,  in  the  Greek    language,  signifies 


anointed.  Hence,  the  Messiah,  by  the  ancient 
prophets,  is  called  the  Christ,  or  the  anointed. 

Q.  Why  was  the  Messiah  called  the 
anointed  ? 

A.  From  the  threefold  character  he  bore,  viz.: 
As  being  a  king,  prophet  and  a  priest,  who  were 
all,  according  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  old  law, 
usually  anointed  with  oil,  at  their  consecration, 
and  installation. 

Q.  Was  our  blessed  Redeemer  visibly  anoint- 
ed with  oil  ? 

A.  No,  he  was  anointed  invisibly  by  grace, 
emblemed  by  oil.  First,  by  having  his  human 
nature  united  to  the  divine  person,  the  fountain 
of  grace.  Secondly,  by  having  his  soul  replen- 
ished with  all  sorts  of  supernatural  gifts  and 
graces. 

Q.  What  particular  meaning  is  there,  in  the 
ceremony  of  unction,  that  it  was  made  use  of 
upon  the  aforementioned  occasions  ? 

A.  The  meaning  is  mystical,  and  very  instruc- 
tive. Oil  has  three  excellent  qualities ;  it  heals 
wounds,  strengthens  the  limbs,  and  preserves 
metal  from  rust :  and  upon  these  accounts,  is  well 
adapted,  to  signify  those  spiritual  gifts,  which 
ought  to  distinguish  persons  in  authority,  who 
are  obliged  to  direct,  strengthen,  and  heal  all 
those  who  are  subject  to  them. 

Q.  How  is  Christ  a  king,  had  he  any  regal 
power  ? 

A.  He  had  a  claim  to  regal  power,  being 
God  and  King  of  the  whole  universe.  Again, 
as  man,  being  the  redeemer  of  all  mankind, 
who  were  subjects  of  his  spiritual  kingdom.  A 
temporal  king  he  was  not,  his  kingdom  not 
being  of  this  world.  However,  he  was  of  the 
royal  stock  of  David.     Luke  i.  32,  33. 

Q.  How  was  Christ  a  prophet  ? 

A.  So  he  is  styled  by  the  inspired  writers  of 
the  old  law,  and  fully  answered  the  character 
by  foretelling  many  things  which  happened  to 
the  Jewish  nation,  and  to  himself,  viz.:  His 
passion  and  sufferings,  his  resurrection,  the 
destroying  of  Jerusalem,  and  conversion  of 
heathenish  kingdoms.     Deut.  xviii.   15. 

Q.  In  what  does  Christ's  priesthood  consist  ? 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


25 


A.  He  was  not  a  priest  according  to  the  old 
law,  which  office  was  propagated  by  descent  in 
blood,  and  executed  by  offering  up  beasts,  etc. 
But  he  was  a  priest  according  to  the  new  law, 
offering  himself  up  as  a  sacrifice  upon  the 
cross ;  as  also  a  priest,  according  to  the  order 
of  Melchizedeck,  in  offering  himself  at  the  last 
supper,  under  the  appearances  of  bread  and 
wine.     Ps.  cix.  5. 

Q.  Are  there  no  priests  in  the  new  law, 
besides  Christ  ?  Has  he  none  to  succeed  him 
in  his  priesthood  ? 

A.  A  God,  a  religion,  a  priesthood,  and  a 
sacrifice,  are  correlatives,  and  depend  upon  one 
another.  They  are  frequently  mentioned  and 
asserted  in  the  new  law.  The  manner  is  thisj 
as  to  priesthood.  Christ  was  the  only  priest 
that  offered  himself  up,  as  a  bloody  sacrifice 
upon  the  cross,  for  the  redemption  of  mankind  : 
as  to  this  character,  he  has  no  successors.  But 
then  as  he  was  a  priest,  according  to  the  order 
of  Melchizedeck,  in  offering  up  himself,  under 
the  forms  of  bread  and  wine,  in  this,  he  has 
as  many  successors  as  there  are  priests  in  the 
new  law,  who  offer  him  up  in  the  same  manner. 
But  even  here,  Christ  is  still  the  chief  high 
priest,  and  though  others  are  really  priests, 
they  are  only  ministerially  so,  both  jointly  at 
the  same  time  offering  up  the  same  sacrifice ; 
so  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  and  the  sacrifice  of 
the  mass,  are  the  same  sacrifice  as  to  substance, 
though  after  a  different  manner,  one  being 
bloody,  the  other  unbloody ;  and  the  latter  a 
commemorative  sacrifice  of  the  former,  as  to  the 
manner. 

Q.  In  what  manner  did  Christ  complete 
this  great  work  he  came  about  ? 

A.  First,  by  appearing  as  a  Redeemer,  and 
pa5dng  the  full  ransom  required,  according  to 
the  strictest  demands  of  justice,  merit  and 
satisfaction.  Secondly,  as  a  master,  by  deliver- 
ing lessons  proper  for  all  stations  and  circum- 
stances. Thirdly,  as  a  pattern,  by  practicing 
himself,  what  he  taught  others. 

Q.  Why  is  the  second  person's  assuming 
human  nature,  called   the  incarnation,  and  in 


what   manner   do   you   explain   this    wonderful 
union  ? 

A.  It  is  called  incarnation,  from  the  Latin 
word  caro^  flesh,  not  that  the  union  is  only  with 
man's  flesh,  but  partly  because  flesh  is  a  word 
commonly  used  in  the  Scriptures  for  the  whole 
man ;  and  partly  to  show  God's  goodness  and 
humility,  who  was  pleased  to  join  himself  to  the 
more  ignoble  part  of  man's  nature- 

Q.  Was  the  second  person  united  both  to 
man's  soul  and  body  ? 

A.  Yes ;  and  that  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be 
liable  both  to  grief  and  trouble  of  mind,  with  the 
defects  of  the  body,  as  hunger,  thirst,  cold,  pain, 
etc.,  nay,  even  to  death;  and,  in  general,  all 
inconveniences,  excepting  ignorance,  and  sin, 
with  other  moral  defects,  which  the  divine  person 
was  incapable  of. 

Q.  According  to  the  description  you  give  of 
this  mystery,  Christ  consists  of  one  divine  person 
having  two  natures,  one  divine,  and  the  other 
human  and  no  human  person  to  be  admitted. 
Now  this  is  altogether  unintelligible. 

A.  It  is  entirely  a  mystery,  and  above  human 
understanding,  as  all  other  mysteries  of  faith  are 
wherein  we  are  to  captivate  our  understanding  in 
obedience  to  faith,  and  divine  revelation. 

Q.  Which  are  the  effects  prodixced  in  mankind, 
by  means  of  the  redemption  ? 

A.  In  general,  these  three:  grace,  justification, 
and  merit. 

Q.  What  is  grace? 

A.  In  general,  it  is  a  gift  bestowed  on  a  person, 
without  any  inducement  from  the  party  on  whom 
it  is  bestowed ;  and  this  includes  all  gifts  what- 
soever, both  natural  and  supernatural. 

Q.  What  is  the  difference  between  natural  and 
supernatural  gifts  ? 

A.  Natural  gifts  or  graces,  are  such  as  are 
given  by  God,  for  man's  well-being  in  this  life, 
viz. :  Man's  body,  soul,  free-will,  with  all  sorts  of 
temporal  conveniences.  Supernatural  gifts  are 
such  as  immediately  conduce  toward  procuring 
man's  eternal  happiness ;  whereof  some  are  out- 
ward; for  instance,  instruction  in  the  true  faith, 
and  practical  duties  of  religion,  good  example, 


26 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


miracles,  etc.  Others  are  internal,  as  good 
thoughts,  and  pious  aflfections,  whereby  the 
understanding  is  enlightened,  and  the  will 
moved,  and  excited  to  perform  such  actions,  as 
lead  us  on  to  future  happiness. 

Q.  What  is  properl}-^  the  grace  of  Christ,  or 
the  grace  obtained  by  redemption  ? 

A.  It  is  ever}'  inward,  or  outward  means  which 
immediately  tends  to  make  man  eternally  happj'^, 
and  which  are  produced  onljf  through  the  merits 
of  Christ. 

Q.  Is  there  any  diflference  in  the  grace  which 
is  purchased  by  our  redemption  ? 

A.  Yes,  some  of  the  diflferences  I  have  hinted 
at  alread}',  others  there  are,  observable  from  the 
following  divisions  of  those  supernatural  gifts. 
For  instance,  there  is  grace  g^ven  on  account  of 
our  neighbor,  and  grace  given  on  our  own  account 
only.  The  first  is  called,  grace  gratis  given;* 
the  other,  g^ace  that  makes  us  acceptable  to  God.f 
There  is  actual  grace,  and  habitual  grace ;  there 
is  sufficient  grace  and  efficacious  grace. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  grace  given,  on 
account  of  our  neighbor?  Why  is  it  called 
gratis  given,  for  is  not  all  grace  gratis  given  ? 

A.  St.  Paul,  in  his  first  epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, reckons  above  nine  of  the  first  kind,  viz. : 
Working  of  miracles,  speaking  of  languages, 
curing  diseases,  prophesying,  etc.,  which  were 
bestowed  upon  the  apostles,  and  others,  after- 
ward, in  order  to  facilitate  the  world's  conver- 
sion. Now  these  are  called  gratis  giving,  because 
they  are  sometimes  given  to  such  as  want  sanc- 
tifying grace,  which  renders  them  acceptable  to 
God. 

Q.  What  is  actual  grace,  and  how  distin- 
guished from  habitual  grace  ? 

A.  Actual  grace  is  a  passing  motion  given  by 
God,  disposing  the  soul  for  good  actions,  whereby 
she  may  become  happy,  and  working  its  effect, 
by  enlightening  the  understanding,  and  produc- 
ing pious  affections  in  the  will.  Habitual  grace 
is  an  established  state  of  the  soul,  whereby  she 

*  Gratia  gratis  data. 
t  Gratia  gratum  facieas. 


is  entirely  placed  in  God's  favor,  and  made 
capable  of  advancing  herself  more  and  more, 
by  subsequent  actual  grace. 

Q.  What  difference  is  there  between  sufficient 
and  efficacious  grace,  and  why  so  called  ? 

A.  We  call  it  sufficient  grace,  when  God  does 
bestow  all  requisites  to  enable  us  to  perform 
good  actions  and  produce  supernatural  effects, 
though  something  intervenes  to  hinder  the  said 
effects.  Grace  is  said  to  be  efficacious,  when  it 
infallibly  produces  its  effects,  in  concurrence 
with  man's  free-will ;  which  is  no  ways  lessened 
nor  taken  away  by  efficacious  grace,  but  still 
enjoys  the  liberty  of  assenting,  or  dissenting, 
as  the  church  has  defined  against  Calvin. 

Q.  Give  me  the  true  system  of  actual  grace, 
as  it  is  maintained  in  the  Catholic  church. 

A.  It  requires  chiefly  these  particulars,  viz. : 
To  make  our  good  actions  meritorious,  and  cap- 
able of  obtaining  salvation,  besides  the  natural 
efforts  of  the  soul,  and  outward  helps ;  as  in- 
structions, example,  etc.  It  is  required,  that 
the  mind  be  illustrated,  and  the  will  excited, 
by  certain  inward  motions  of  grace.  The  con- 
trary opinion  is  condemned  by  the  church, 
against  the  Pelagians,  who  asserted  the  suffi- 
ciency of  nature  without  grace.  That  the  said 
grace  is  necessary,  not  only  for  carrying  on 
meritorious  works,  but  even  to  begin  them ;  as 
the  church  has  defined  against  the  Semipelag- 
ians.  That  this  actual  or  exciting  grace  is 
purely  gratuitous,  without  any  consideration  of 
the  creature's  merits,  is  decreed  against  the 
aforesaid  heretics. 

Q.  Can  nature,  of  herself,  without  the  grace 
aforesaid,  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of  truth, 
either  natural  or  supernatural?  Can  natitre 
alone  perform  any  good  action,  overcome  temp- 
tations, love  God,  and  keep  all  his  command- 
ments, avoid  venial  sins,  and  persevere  in  good- 
ness to  the  end? 

A.  The  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  church  is 
this;  certain  natural  truths  may  be  known  by 
man,  by  the  light  of  reason  alone,  without  the 
special  assistance  of  grace  ;  but  grace  is  required 
to  know  supernatural  or  revealed   truths,  both 


THE   CATHOLIC   REUGION    EXPOUNDED. 


27 


speculative  and  practical,  for  faith  is  a  special 
gift  of  God.  As  for  good  works,  it  is  the 
general  opinion  of  divines,  that  nature  without 
grace  can  perform  several  works  that  are  morally 
good,  but  not  profitable  towards  obtaining  future 
happiness ;  because  several  circumstances  are 
wanting,  to  make  them  serviceable  in  that  way. 
Hence,  those  who  presume  to  teach,  that  infidels, 
etc.,  are  incapable  of  performing  any  action  that 
is  morally  good,  are  in  danger  of  incurring  the 
censure  of  that  condemned  proposition,  every 
action  of  a  sinner  is  sinful ;  which  is  prescribed 
in  Huss,  Michael  Bains,  and  Calvin.  As  to 
temptations,  slight  ones  may  be  overcome  with- 
out grace,  but  not  great  and  frequent  ones ;  and 
neither  small  nor  great,  without  grace,  can  be 
overcome,  so  as  to  disp'^se  persons  thereby  for 
a  supernatural  reward :  much  less,  morally 
speaking,  can  God  be  loved  above  all  things, 
and  the  commandments  kept  by  nature  only, 
without  the  special  assistance  of  God's  grace; 
neither  can  a  person  without  the  said  special 
grace,  avoid  all  venial  sin,  or  persevere  to  the 
end. 

Q.  What  are  the  properties  of  habitual  grace  ? 

A.  It  is  inherent  in  the  soul,  and  an  habitual 
state,  whereby  a  person  lives  in  God's  favor, 
even  when  he  ceases  to  act,  as  it  appears  in 
infants  after  they  are  baptized,  though  incapable 
of  acting  by  exciting  grace  ;  yet  it  is  not  so 
permanent  a  state,  but  it  may  be  lost  by  subse- 
quent offences,  the  just  often  falling  both  from 
faith  and  grace.  Hence,  habitual  grace,  being 
Inherent  in  the  soul,  a  person  becomes  by  it 
intrinsically  just,  and  not  only  by  the  imputa- 
tion of  God's  extrinsical  justice,  so  that  God 
does  not  only  pardon  his  sin,  by  not  Imputing 
it,  but  inwardly  purifies  his  soul  from  sin,  by 
Inherent  grace.  In  the  next  place,  habitual 
grace  puts  a  person  in  a  condition  of  meriting 
properly ;  that  is  deserving  both  more  grace, 
and  an  eternal  reward  ;*  for  by  the  works  pro- 
ceeding from  it,  he  applies  Christ's  merits, 
which  works,  are  the  immediate  effects  of  God's 
grace.     These  are  the  chief  articles  of  our  faith 

*  De  Condigoo. 


concerning  habitual  grace,  defined  in  the  coun- 
cil of  Trent. 

Q.  What  is  justification,  and  how  performed  ? 

A.  In  general  it  Is  an  Infusion,  and  reception 
of  habitual  grace ;  which  is  common  to  angels, 
to  our  first  parents  In  the  state  of  Innocence, 
and  to  the  blessed  Virgin  ]\Iary,  who  were  just 
without  remission  of  sin.  But  as  It  regards 
sinners,  it  is  a  translation  of  a  person  from  the 
state  of  sin,  to  the  state  of  grace;  so  that  it 
includes  infusion  of  grace,  and  remission  of  sin. 

Q.  What  dispositions  are  required  for  a  per- 
son to  be  justified  before  God  ? 

A.  These  six  following,  according  to  the  doc- 
trine delivered  in  the  council  of  Trent,  viz.:  First, 
faith.  Secondly,  fear.  Thirdly,  hope.  Fourthly, 
the  love  of  God.  Fifthly,  a  detestation  of  sin. 
Sixthly,  a  purpose  of  offending  no  more,  and 
keeping  God's  commandments. 

Q.  Why  is  faith  required  ?  Why  do  the 
Scriptures  ascribe  justification  to  faith?  Does 
faith  always  justify  ? 

A.  St.  Paul  assures  us,  that  it  Is  impossible 
to  please  God  without  faith.  Heb.  xi.  6.  The 
Scripture  ascribes  justification,  first  to  faith, 
because  it  is  the  foundation  on  which  justifi- 
cation is  built.  And  again,  because  faith,  in' 
the  language  of  the  Scripture,  often  Includes 
all  the  speculative,  and  practical  duties  of  the 
gospel,  which  concur  to  man's  justification. 
But  faith  alone,  which  is  only  the  assent  we 
give  to  revealed  truths,  cannot  justify,  as  St. 
James  assures  us  ;  because  the  greatest  sinners, 
are  capable  of  such  a  faith.     St.  James  11.  24. 

Q.  But  is  there  not  another  kind  of  faith, 
viz.:  A  belief,  and  confidence  that  our  sins  are 
forgiven  us,  by  the  merits  of  Christ,  and  that 
thereby  we  are  of  the  number  of  the  elect  ? 

A.  This  cannot  be  called  faith,  but  a  vain 
presvimption.  If  we  pretend  to  be  Infallibly 
certain  of  our  justification  In  particular;  or 
that  we  are  of  the  number  of  the  elect:  and 
in  case  we  had  such  a  faith.  It  could  net 
justify  us,  as  St.  Paul  and  St.  James  declare, 
without  the  concurrence  of  charity  and  good 
works.     I.  Cor.  xiii.  2,  3.     St.  James  il.  24. 


38 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  sort  of  fear  is  required  in  justifi- 
cation ?  Methinks  fear,  is  rather  an  obstacle 
than  a  disposition,  fear  being  opposite  to  love. 

A.  The  fear  of  God  and  his  punishments,  is 
everywhere  recommended  in  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  proceeds  from  an  impulse  of  actual 
grace ;  and  moreover,  it  is  a  disposition  towa:rds 
coming  into  God's  favor,  and  the  beginning 
of  love.  Hence,  arises  the  other  dispositions, 
viz. :  Hope  of  salvation  through  Christ's  merits  ; 
the  love  of  God,  as  the  fountain  of  justice ; 
the  detestation  of  sin,  and  purpose  of  amend- 
ment. Yet  these  dispositions  are  not  required 
in  infants,  who  are  justified  otherwise,  by  the 
infusion  of  grace,  and  incapable  of  preparing 
themselves  by  acts. 

Q.  What  is  merit  ? 

A.  Merit  in  general,  is  a  work  that  one  way 
or  other  deserves  a  reward,  either  rigorously, 
according  to  its  intrinsic  value;  or  by  virtue 
of  a  promise,  or  out  of  a  kind  of  decency. 
Christ  merited  our  redemption  in  the  first 
manner:  good  works  of  just  men  produced  by 
actual  grace,  merit  heaven  in  the  second 
manner:  and  the  good  works  of  sinners,  with- 
out habitual  grace,  but  with  the  assistance  of 
actual  grace,  may  be  said  to  merit  some  spiritual 
reward,  in  the  third  manner.  The  first  two 
are  called  merit  properl}' ;  *  the  last  is  called 
merit  improperly .f  Yet,  all  our  merit  proceed- 
ing from  Christ's  merits,  being  God's  pure 
gift,  and  only  applying  his  merits,  the  whole 
body  of  our  good  actions,  are  ascribed  to  him. 
From  hence,  commonly  five  things  are  required 
in  merit  properly .|  First,  that  it  be  good  in 
itself  and  all  its  circumstances.  Secondly,  that 
a  person  be  in  the  state  of  habitual  grace. 
Thirdly,  he  is  to  be  put  upon  earth,  because 
there  can  be  neither  merit  nor  demerit,  either 
in  heaven,  hell,  or  purgatory;  the  work  of 
salvation  and  damnation  being  entirly  com- 
pleted. Fourthly,  that  it  be  free.  Fifthly, 
that  there  be  a  promise  of  reward  from  Almighty 
God  for  such  works. 


•  De  Condigno. 
X  De  Condigno. 


t  De  Congruo. 


Q.  What  conditions  are  required  to  merit 
improperly  ?* 

A.  Neither  the  state  of  grfCCe,  nor  any  com- 
pact, or  promise  of  reward ;  all  that  is  required, 
is,  that  the  action  be  good,  and  proceed  from 
actual  grace  ;  for  it  is  congruous,  and  seems 
agreeable  to  the  infinite  goodness  of  God,  that 
such  works,  even  of  a  sinner,  should  one  way 
or  other  be  considered,  in  order  to  dispose  him 
towards  happiness. 

Q.  It  remains  now  that  you  say  something 
of  the  following  words  of  the  second  article, 
viz.:  His  only  Son  our  Lord.  In  what  sense 
is  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  and  how  his  only 
Son  ? 

A.  Christ  is  the  natural  Son  of  God,  by 
virtue  of  his  eternal  generation.  And  again, 
he  is  the  only  Son  of  God,  upon  the  same 
account :  however,  God  has  more  sons  than  one, 
by  adoption,  viz.:  All  men  that  are  in  the 
state  of  grace,  whom  he  makes  choice  of,  as 
heirs  to  his  kingdom. 

Q.  What  errors  are  prescribed  by  this 
article  ? 

A.  Several,  the  chief  whereof  are  :  first  that  of 
the  Arians,  who  aflSrmed,  that  the  second  per- 
son of  the  blessed  Trinity,  was  not  equal  to  the 
Father ;  had  not  the  same  nature  or  essence ; 
that  there  was  a  time  when  he  was  not ;  that 
he  was  created,  etc.  Secondly,  the  Eutych- 
ians  are  condemned,  who  affirmed  Christ  had 
not  two  distinct  natures :  they  were  condemned 
in  the  general  council  of  Chalcedon,  in  the 
year  451.  Thirdly,  the  Nestorians  are  con- 
demned, who  affirm  the  union  of  the  two 
natures  in  Christ,  was  not  really  physical 
and  hypostatical  in  the  same  person,  but  only 
moral  and  denominative,  and  by  consequence 
that  in  Christ  there  were  really  two  persons  ; 
divine  and  human;  and  that  the  Virgin  Mary 
was  not  really  the  mother  of  God.  They  were 
condemned  in  the  general  council  of  Ephesus, 
in  the  year  431.  Fourthly,  another  error  of 
the  Arians  (which  was  condemned  in  the 
council  of  Sardica,  in  the    year   347)  was,    that 


*  De  Congruo. 


THE    CATHOLIC  RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


29 


Christ  was  only  the  adopted,  and  not  the 
natural  Son  of  God ;  which  followed  from  their 
capital  error,  that  he  was  only  a  creature. 
Now,  adoption,  is  assuming  a  foreign  person, 
to  a  right  of  inheritance;  which  cannot  be 
ascribed  to  Christ,  whose  person  was  divine. 
By  the  same  rule,  Felix  and  Elipandus,  are 
convicted  of  an  error ;  they  maintained  that 
Christ  as  man  was  the  adopted  Son  of  God  ; 
which  must  not  be  allowed,  because  adoption 
falls  upon  the  person.  From  the  whole  it 
appears,  that  two  nativities  or  generations,  are 


to  be  conceived  in  Christ ;  one  eternal,  whereby 
he  proceeds  from  the  father  ;  the  other  temporal, 
whereby  he  was  born  of  the  mother ;  and  by 
this  means  he  is  God's  only  Son,  and  she  the 
mother,  both  of  God  and  man. 

O.  Now  give  us  the  sense  of  the  last  words 
of  this  article,  our  Lord. 

A.  He  is  our  Lord,  first,  by  the  title  of  his 
divine  person  and  nature ;  and  again,  he  is 
our  Lord,  as  man  ;  because  he  is  our  redeemer, 
and  purchased  us  with  the  price  of  his  most 
precious  blood. 


THE  THIRD  ARTICLE  OF  THE  CREED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  third  article  ? 

A.  Who  was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
born  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

Q.  In  what  manner  did  the  blessed  Virgin 
Mary  conceive  ? 

A.  Not  by  the  help  of  man,  but  by  the 
operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  formed 
Christ's  body  out  of  hers,  and  furnished  it 
with  a  human  soul. 

Q.  How  was  this  article  opposed  by  the 
heretics  of  the  primitive  ages  ? 

A.  By  the  Manicheans,  who  contended  that 
Christ's  body  was  not  real;  but  had  only  the 
appearance  of  human  flesh ;  contrary  to  the  ist 
chapter  of  St.  John,  verse  14,  where  he  says  the 
Word  was  made  flesh ;  by  the  Apollinarists, 
who  contended,  that  Christ's  fl.esh  was  created 
from  eternity ;  contrary  to  St.  Paul  in  his 
epistle  to  the  Galatians,  where  it  was  said  he  was 
made  from  a  woman  in  the  plenitude  of  time, 
chapter  iv.  verse  4  ;  by  Valentine  and  Apelles, 
who  attributed  to  him  a  body  from  heaven,  and 
an  aerial  bodj',  which  passed  through  the  blessed 
Virgin,  as  it  were  through  a  channel ;  contrary 
to  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Hebrews,  and 
Romans,  where  Christ  is  said  to  be  from  the 
seed  of  Abraham  and  David.    Heb.  ii.  16.    Rom. 


i.  3.  By  the  Monothelites,  who  maintained  that 
Christ  had  only  one  will;  contrary  to  the  226. 
chapter  of  St.  Luke,  verse  42  ;  where  he  says, 
not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done. 

Q.  Why  is  the  conception  attributed  partic- 
ularly to  the  Holy  Ghost ;  did  not  all  three 
persons  of  the  blessed  Trinity  concur  ? 

A.  Yes,  they  all  concurred  in  that  wonderful 
work,  as  they  do  in  all  other  outward  perform- 
ances. But  the  conception  is  particularly  at- 
tributed to  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  several  reasons. 
First,  because  it  was  a  work  of  goodness,  and 
love  ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  proceeding  from  the 
mutual  love  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;  so 
works  of  that  kind  are  ascribed  to  him.  Sec- 
ondly, because  it  was  a  work  of  grace,  without 
any  merits  of  man  ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost  being 
styled  the  fountain  of  grace,  therefore  this  ex- 
traordinary work  of  grace  is  attributed  to  him. 
I  omit  several  other  congruities. 

Q.  What  particularities  are  there  in  Christ's 
conception,  to  distinguish  it  from  that  of  the  rest 
of  mankind? 

A.  Several  very  remarkable  and  miraculous, 
viz.:  First,  the  conception  was  without  the  help 
of  man.  Secondly,  the  body  was  formed,  and 
perfected  in  an  instant,  and  immediately  inspired 


30 


THE   CATHOLIC  RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


with  a  soul.  Thirdly,  at  the  same  instant,  the 
divine  person  was  united  both  to  the  body  and 
soul.  Fourthly,  from  the  same  instant,  the  soul 
was  endowed  with  a  perfect  use  of  reason.  Fifthly, 
at  the  same  instant,  the  soul  was  made  happy  by 
the  beatifical  vision.  Sixthly,  the  soul  was  re- 
plenished with  all  perfections,  natural  and  super- 
natural, that  were  not  inconsistent  with  the 
qualifications  above  recited,  viz. :  He  was  with- 
out servile  fear,  but  not  without  reverential  fear: 
he  could  not  be  said  to  have  either  faith  or  hope; 
and  though  his  body  was  by  right  impassable, 
yet  it  was  capable  of  suSering,  by  a  miraculous 
suspension  of  the  rays  of  beatitude. 

Q.  If  Christ's  body  was  formed  by  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Holy  Ghost,  why  is  not  Christ  called 
his  son  ? 

A.  Because  a  son  is  only  produced  by  genera- 
tion, which  has  nothing  like  it  iu  the  incarnation. 

Q.  How  can  the  Virgin  Mary  be  styled  the 
mother  of  God,  as  being  only  the  mother  of 
Christ?  The  second  person  has  a  father,  but 
not  a  mother. 

A.  She  is  so  styled  by  St.  Elizabeth,  as  we 
read  in  the  ist  chapter  of  St.  Luke,  verse  43. 
Whence  is  this  to  me,  that  the  mother  of  my 
Lord  should  come  to  me.  Again,  she  is  the 
mother  of  God,  as  being  the  mother  of  Christ, 
who  is  truly  God.  And  Nestorius  was  con- 
demned in  the  council  of  Ephesus,  for  denying 
she  was  the  mother  of  God. 

Q.  Was  the  Virgin  Mary  always  a  virgin  ? 

A.  Yes,  both  before,  at,  and  after  she  had 
conceived  and  brought  forth  the  Son  of  God. 

Q.  How  before  ? 

A.  So  it  was  foretold  by  the  prophets  in 
several  places.     Isa.  vii.  14.     Matt.  i.  23. 


Q.  How  at  her  conception  ? 

A.  Because,  according  to  St.  Luke  she  did 
not  conceive  by  the  help  of  man,  but  by  the 
operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Luke  i.  31,  35. 

Q.  How  after  her  conception,  was  not  St. 
Joseph  her  husband  ?  Besides,  the  gospel 
makes  mention  of  the  brethren  of  Christ. 

A.  By  a  constant  tradition,  the  doctrine  of 
all  the  fathers,  and  the  decency  of  the  thing 
itself,  she  never  knew  man,  either  before  or 
after.  Hence,  Helvidius  and  Jovinian,  were 
condemned  by  the  church,  for  saying,  she  had 
children,  afterward,  by  St.  Joseph ;  indeed  she 
was  married  to  St.  Joseph,  but  this  was  to 
screen  her  from  the  law,  which  stoned  an 
adultress,  of  which  St.  Joseph  might  have 
justly  suspected  her,  and  even  prosecuted  her, 
as  being  conscious  he  had  not  known  her,  had 
he  not  been  informed  of  the  mystery.  Hence, 
St.  Jerome  is  of  opinion,  that  she  had  made  a 
vow  of  virginity,  with  the  consent  of  her  hus- 
band. As  to  those  who  are  called  Christ's 
brethren,  they  were  only  kinsmen,  called 
brethren  according  to  the  Jewish  custom. 

Q.  For  what  end  did  God  take  human  flesh; 
could  the  world  be  redeemed  by  no  other  means? 

A.  The  second  person  of  the  blessed  Trinity, 
became  man,  for  the  abolishing  of  sin,  both 
original  and  actual.  And,  though  this  method 
was  not  absolutely  necessary,  yet  it  was  neces- 
sary to  comply  with  the  demands  of  strict 
justice,  where  the  satisfaction  ought  to  be 
equal  to  the  ofience ;  which  was  done  super- 
abundantly in  this  mystery,  where  the  actions 
of  Christ  were  infinitely  meritorious  and  satis- 
factor}^,  and  the  offence  only  respectively  infi- 
nite, as  being  against  an  infinite  goodness. 


THE  FOURTH  ARTICLE  OF  THE  CREED. 


Q,  Which  is  the  fourth  article  ? 
A.  Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  cruci- 
fied, dead  and  buried. 

Q.  How  was  Christ  capable  of  suffering  ?    As 


God,  it  was  impossible;  again,  his  union  with 
the  divine  person,  as  also  the  state  of  beatitude 
he  enjoyed  from  the  beginning,  excluded  suffer- 
ing. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


31 


A.  As  the  union  of  the  divine  and  human 
nature  was  a  miraculous  work,  so  it  was  attended 
with  many  other  supernatural  circumstances ; 
among  which,  one  was,  the  suspension  of  the 
properties  of  a  glorified  body,  whilst  Christ 
was  upon  earth.  By  this  means  he  was  in  a 
capacity  of  suffering,  both  in  body  and  soul, 
and  obnoxious  to  all  the  infirmities  of  human 
nature ;  excepting  sin  and  ignorance,  viz. :  Grief, 
fear,  heat,  cold,  hunger,  thirst,  and  even  death ; 
which  last  circumstance  is  the  most  inconsistent 
with  a  glorified  bod}',  had  not  a  miracle  inter- 
posed. 

Q.  Why  is  the  name  of  Pontius  Pilate  in- 
serted in  the  creed  ? 

A.  Though  it  may  seem  not  to  be  a  material 
circumstance,  yet  he  is  taken  notice  of,  chiefly 
upon  two  accounts.  First,  by  fixing  the  date 
of  Christ's  suffering,  the  truth  of  the  history 
was  confirmed,  and  might  be  compared  with 
the  public  records  of  the  Roman  empire,  under 
which,  Pontius  Pilate  then  governed  Judea. 
Secondly,  to  signify  that  the  predictions  were 
fulfilled,  whereby  it  had  been  frequently  fore- 
told, that  Christ  should  suffer,  both  from  Jews 
and  Gentiles. 

Q.  Why  is  particiilar  mention  made  of  the 
manner  of  Christ's  death  by  crucifixion  ? 

A.  This  was  specified  to  show  that  the 
prophecies  were  fulfilled  by  his  dying  that 
death,  which  was  not  only  foretold,  but  the 
several  instruments,  etc.,  were  mentioned,  which 
were  employed  on  that  occasion.  Again,  to 
put  us  in  mind  of  Christ's  great  humility,  and 
love  for  mankind,  in  suffering  a  death  which 
was  ignominious,  both  among  the  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  and  inflicted  upon  none  but  notorious 
malefactors  :  such  a  death  was  a  folly  to  the  Gen- 
tiles and  a  scandal  to  the  Jews. 

Q.  What  occasion  is  there  to  specify  Christ's 
death,  after  his  crucifixion,  or  that  he  was 
buried  ?  We  may  reasonably  suppose  that  he 
died,  and  was  buried,  from  his  being  crucified. 
Again,  how  could  he  die,  and  what  difference 
is  there  between  his  death  and  the  rest  of 
mankind  ? 


A.  It  was  requisite  to  specify  he  was  dead 
against  those,  who  held  his  crucifixion  was  only 
in  appearance,  and  by  consequence,  that  Christ 
did  not  really  die,  which  was  an  error  of  some 
primitive  heretics  ;  and  afterwards  of  the  Mani- 
cheans,  contrary  to  all  the  four  evangelists, 
who  agree  that  he  gave  up  the  ghost.  Mat. 
xxvii.  50.  Alark  xv.  37.  Luke  xxiii.  46.  John 
xix.  30.  As  to  his  burial,  that  was  also  a  cir- 
cumstance proper  to  be  inserted,  to  be  a  proof 
of  his  resurrection,  which  might  have  been 
contested  with  more  show  of  truth,  had  not  his 
body  been  laid  in  the  grave.  Now,  how  Christ 
could  die  being  God ;  it  must  be  observed  that 
death  did  not  affect  his  divinity,  but  only  his 
humanity.  For  what  is  death  ?  It  is  a  separa- 
tion of  the  soul  from  the  body,  and  in  this 
manner  Christ  was  subject  to  death  as  he  was 
to  the  other  infirmities  of  man's  nature ;  yet 
at  the  same  time,  Christ  was  immortal,  by  the 
hypostatical  union,  and  it  was  a  miraculous 
condescension,  which  made  him  capable  of  dying 
and  of  being  subject  to  the  other  infirmities. 
The  difference  on  his  side,  was,  his  death  was 
miraculous  and  voluntary,  though  in  obedience 
to  his  father's  will  and  precept.  John  x.  17, 
18.  And,  again,  his  body  was  not  liable  to 
corruption,  as  other  bodies  are ;  according  to 
that  of  the  Psalmist,  "  thou  wilt  not  suffer  thy 
holy  one  to  see  corruption."  Psalm  xv.   10. 

Q.  Was  the  divine  person  during  the  three 
days  of  the  body  and  soul's  separation,  still 
united  to  them  both  ? 

A.  Yes,  though  the  soul  descended  into  the 
lower  parts  of  the  earth,  the  body  still  remain- 
ing in  the  grave. 

Q.  Which  are  the  principal  benefits  derived 
from  Christ's  death  ? 

A.  He  died  for  all  mankind,  and  not  only  for 
the  predestinate,  as  Calvin  erroneously  taught, 
and  the  Jansenists  assert,  who  esteem  it  Semi- 
pelagianism,  to  say  that  Christ  died  for  all 
mankind.  2  Cor.  v.  15.  Whereas,  St.  Paul  says, 
that  "  Christ  died  for  all,"  and  in  another  place, 
he  says  that  "  Christ  gave  himself  a  redemption 
for  all."  I  Tim.  ii.  5.     At  the  same  time,  though 


32 


THE   CATHOLIC  RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


Christ  died,  merited  and  satisfied  for  the  sins 
of  all  mankind,  all  are  not  partakers  of  those 
favors,  unless  they  apply  them  by  faith,  the 
sacraments  and  good  works,  which  are  the 
channels  through  which  they  are  conveyed. 
Again,  every  action  of  Christ,  from  the  begin- 
ning, was  infinitely  meritorious,  but  the  whole 


work  of  man's  redemption  was  consummated 
by  his  death.  Lastly,  it  was  by  his  death,  and 
upon  the  view  of  his  merits,  that  all  in  the 
law  of  nature  and  law  of  Moses  were  justified, 
and  that  the  gates  of  heaven  were  first  opened 
to  them. 


THE   FIFTH   ARTICLE   OF  THE   CREED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  fifth  article  ? 

A.  He  descended  into  hell,  the  third  day  he 
rose  again  from  the  dead. 

Q.  What  signification  has  the  word  hell  in 
the  holy  Scriptures  ? 

A.  The  word  in  the  original  Hebrew,  is 
Sheol,  that  is,  a  place  below.  The  Latin  word 
is  inferi. 

Q.  Does  the  Scripture  use  the  word  only  for 
one  particular  place,  or  are  there  several  places, 
or  states,  distinguished  by  that  appellation  ? 

A.  There  are  several  places,  or  states,  distin- 
guished by  it.  First,  the  place  or  state  of  the 
damned,  sometimes  called  Gahenna  the  abyss, 
and  properly  hell,  as  being  the  lowest,  and 
remotest  place  from  heaven.  Secondly,  death, 
or  the  state  of  man's  soul,  after  it  is  separated 
from  the  body.  Thirdly,  the  state  of  those 
persons,  who  died  in  God's  favor,  in  the  law 
of  nature,  and  law  of  Moses ;  before  Christ 
appeared  to  release  them  and  introduce  them 
into  heaven :  this  place  is  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  Abraham's  Bosom,  or  Limbus  Patrum. 
St.  Luke  xvi.  22.  Fourthl}',  a  state  of  purga- 
tion, where  the  souls  of  those  are  detained, 
who  have  died  in  the  guilt  of  lesser  or  venial 
oflFenses,  or  not  sufficiently  satisfied  for  former 
mortal  sins,  for  which  they  are  punished  in 
that  state,  which  is  therefore  called  purgatory. 

Q.  Now  you  are  to  tell  me  the  meaning  of 
the  word  hell,  as  it  stands  in  the  Creed :  and 
which  of  the  aforesaid  places  Christ  descended 
into,  whether  into  all  or  only  some? 


A.  In  the  first  place,  by  hell,  cannot  be 
understood  the  place  of  the  damned,  the  souls 
there  being  out  of  the  reach  of  redemption, 
which  was  the  design  of  Christ's  descending ; 
much  less  did  Christ  suffer  the  pains  of  the 
damned,  as  Calvin  impiously  maintains.  Again, 
hell  cannot  signify  the  grave  or  state  of  death  ; 
because  his  soul  did  not  remain  in  the  grave ; 
neither  can  it  be  understood  of  the  state  of 
death,  which  is  expressed  in  the  former  article, 
where  it  is  said  he  was  dead  and  buried.  The 
true  meaning  of  the  word  hell,  therefore  is, 
that  Christ  descended  into  that  place,  where 
the  souls  of  the  just  were  preserved  until  he 
released  them,  called  Limbus  Patrum  or  Abra- 
ham's Bosom.  And  in  this  exposition  all  the 
fathers  agree,  and  prove  it  from  the  Scriptures  ; 
particularly  from  the  prophecy  of  Zachary, 
where  he  says,  "  by  the  blood  of  the  Testa- 
ment, thou  hast  sent  forth  thy  prisoners  out 
of  the  pit."  Chapter  ix.  ii.  From  the  epistle 
of  St.  Paul  to  the  Ephesians,  chap.  iv.  8,  9. 
Where  he  says  Christ  ascended  on  high,  hath 
led  captivity  captive ;  he  gave  gifts  to  men ; 
and  that  he  ascended  :  what  is  it  but  because 
he  descended  first  into  the  lower  parts  of  the 
earth  ?    See  also.  Col.  ii.   15. 

Q.  Did  Christ  descend  into  purgatory,  and 
release  the  souls  there  from  their  punishment  ? 

A.  There  is  nothing  clearly  expressed,  either 
in  the  Scriptures  or  fathers,  as  to  this  point, 
so  as  to  make  it  an  article  of  faith  ;  but  that 
he   did   descend   thither   and   release  either  all 


ST.  CHARLES  BORROMEO. 

We  behold  this  Saint  of  God  administering  the  last  rites  of  the  Church  to  the  sick.    During  the  great  plague  he  refused  to  leave 
Milan,  and  was  ever  seen  attending  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  dying,  and  even  sold  his  bed  for  their  suDDort. 


ST.  ANTHONY  OP  PADUA. 

When  St.  Anthony  first  went  to  Padua,  in  Italy,  there  was  no  Franciscan  convent  in  that  city,  and  the  nearest  was  in  Arcella,  a  mile 
bom  Padua.  With  the  permission  of  his  superiors,  he  took  up  his  abode  at  the  house  of  Count  Tisco,  a  man  of  great  piety  and  devoted 
to  our  Saint.  One  day,  when  the  Count  happened  to  be  near  the  room,  he  was  surprised  to  see  streams  of  light  issuing  from  it,  and 
looking  in  he  beheld  St.  Anthony,  with  a  lovely  child  in  bis  arms,  rays  of  Divine  light  siurounding  the  child's  head,  and  while  he  gazed 
in  awe  and  wonder  the  vision  disappeared. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


33 


or  some,  is  ver}'  probable  from  the  first  of  St. 
Peter  iii.  19,  20.  Where  we  read,  that  Christ 
being  dead,  came  in  spirit,  and  preached  to 
them  also  that  were  in  prison,  who  had  been 
incredulous  in  the  days  of  Noah,  when  the  ark 
was  building.  And,  again,  out  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.  Chap.  ii.  24.  where  it  is  said, 
God  raised  him  up  loosing  the  sorrows  of  hell. 
Besides  it  is  conformable  to  the  goodness  of 
God,  and  the  great  design  of  man's  redemption  ; 
and  several  strong  conjectures  favor  this  opinion. 

Q.  You  say  Christ  descended ;  but  how  is 
this  to  be  understood,  did  he  descend  as  to 
his  divinity,  as  to  his  body,  or  as  to  his  soul  ? 

A.  Christ  as  God,  can  neither  be  said  prop- 
erly to  ascend,  nor  descend ;  because  he  is 
actually  every  where  at  all  times :  his  body 
remained  in  the  sepulchre  till  the  third  day, 
and  by  consequence,  that  did  not  descend  with 
him :  what  descended  therefore  was,  his  soul 
in  conjunction  with  the  divine  person,  from 
which  it  was  inseparable. 

Q.  Why  did  our  Saviour  rise  again  ?  In 
what  manner,  and  how  upon  the  third  day, 
and  what  proofs  are  there  that  his  followers 
have  not  imposed  upon  the  world  by  that 
article  ? 

A.  Christ's  resurrection  was  the  re-uniting 
of  his  body  and  soul,  and  showing  himself 
again.  Now,  there  were  several  reasons  why 
this  should  be.  First,  to  fulfill  the  predictions, 
whereby  both  the  ancient  prophets,  and  he 
himself  had  declared  that  he  would  rise  again, 
specifying  three  days'  time ;  which  is  not  to 
be  understood  of  three  complete  days,  but  only 
the  parts  of  three  days;  for  dying  on  Friday, 
he  rose  again  on  Sunday.  Mar.  xiv.  58.  Secondly, 
had  he  not  risen,  and  appeared  again,  the  Jews 
might  have  taken  an  occasion  from  thence,  to 
have  questioned  both  his  power  and  doctrine, 
and  looked  upon  the  whole  business  of  his 
life  as  artifice  and  contrivance.  Hence,  St.  Paul 
tells  us,  his  resurrection  confirmed  all  he  had 
said  and  done,  and  ought  to  be  regarded  as 
the  main  and  fundamental  point  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  Thirdly,  he  rose  again,  to  con- 
3 


firm  the  doctrine  of  the  general  resurrection, 
which  was  a  truth  denied  by  the  sect  of  Jews 
called  Sadducees,  who  also  denied  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul.  To  these  we  may  add,  that 
raising  himself  from  the  dead,  was  a  proof  of 
his  divinity ;  for  though  others  have  been 
raised  from  the  dead,  yet  he  alone  raised 
himself 

Q.  But  now  as  to  the  truth  of  the  fact,  what 
proofs  can  you  produce,  that  his  disciples  did 
not  impose  upon  the  world  ?  The  Jews  sus- 
pected some  such  fraud,  and  therefore  they 
placed  guards  at  his  sepulchre,  lest  they  should 
steal  his  body,  and  so  spread  about  a  report 
that  he  was  risen  again. 

A.  No  fact  could  be  better  attested.  Ten 
apparitions  are  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures, 
when  sometimes  more,  sometimes  less,  were 
present,  and  at  one  apparition,  about  five  hun- 
dred persons  were  present ;  and  we  may  very 
well  suppose,  that  during  the  forty  days  between 
his  resurrection  and  ascension,  he  frequently 
conversed  with  his  disciples ;  and  the  Scripture 
tells  us  positively  he  did. 

Q.  The  Jews  look  upon  these  proofs  as 
insuflBcient.  They  allege,  that  the  guards 
might  be  asleep,  or  bribed,  while  his  body 
was  conveyed  away.  Besides  (say  our  modem 
unbelievers),  the  witnesses  of  these  apparitions 
were  all  party  men.  Why  did  he  not  appear 
to  the  chiefs  of  the  synagogue,  and  show  him- 
self publicly  in  the  temple  ? 

A.  The  Jews,  neither  then,  nor  ever  since, 
could  produce  any  arguments,  either  that  the 
guards  were  asleep,  or  corrupted  by  bribery  to 
conceal  the  fact.  The'y  were  reproached  by 
the  apostles,  for  forging  this  report,  without 
any  reply.  Besides,  it  is  not  improbable  but 
that  several  great  persons,  not  of  the  party, 
might  be  present  at  some  of  these  apparitions ; 
as  several  thousands  were  immediately  after 
converted,  upon  the  truth  of  the  fact  being 
asserted :  nor  could  the  Jews  have  any  grounds 
to  suspect  forgery,  when  they  saw  the  apostles 
work  so  many  miracles,  expressly  in  proof  of 
his    resurrection.     As    to  the  qvieries,  why  did 


34 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


he  not  appear  to  the  chief  of  the  synagogue, 
and  publicly  in  the  temple  ?  Such  arguments 
would  have  prevailed  very  little  with  a  people 
hardened  in  wickedness,  and  who  would  not 
be  convinced  by  so  many  undeniable  miracles, 
which  he  had  wrought  for  three  years  together 
among  them,  and  were  so  obstinate,  that  when 
they  could  not  deny  the  fact,  they  attributed 
the  miracles  he  wrought,  to  his  corresponding 
with  the  devil.  What  likelihood  was  there, 
that   those  who   would    not   believe   their   own 


senses,  upon  so  many  other  occasions,  would 
be  convinced  by  apparitions  which  might  be 
subject  to  the  same  cavilling?  And  if  we  may 
judge  of  the  true  reason  why  the  chiefs  of  the 
synagogue  were  not  favored  with  such  appari- 
tions ;  it  was  because  they  did  not  deserve  the 
favor,  and  had  it  been  granted,  they  were  so 
exasperated,  blind  and  obstinate,  that  it  would 
have  been  of  no  use  to  them,  only  to  have 
aggravated  their  crimes. 


THE  SIXTH   ARTICLE   OF  THE   CREED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  sixth  article  ?  ' 

A.  He  ascended  into  heaven,  sits  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty. 

Q.  When  did  he  ascend  into  heaven? 

A.  Forty  days  after  his  resurrection. 

Q.  How  was  he  employed  during  those  forty 
days  ? 

A.  He  instructed  his  apostles  and  his  disci- 
ples, in  several  matters  belonging  to  the  church 
he  had  established;  particularly  by  frequent 
apparitions,  he  confirmed  the  truth  of  his  resur- 
rection. He  explained  to  them  the  nature  of 
the  sacraments,  with  the  ceremonies  to  be  used, 
as  also  what  was  required  in  the  government 
of  his  church,  relating  to  power  and  church 
discipline. 

Q.  What  grounds  have  you  to  believe  such 
matters  were  the  subject  of  his  conversa- 
tion ? 

A.  Very  good  grounds.  The  Scripture  tells 
ns  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  that  he  was 
speaking  of  the  kingdom  of  God ;  chapter  i. 
verse  3.  It  was  the  part  of  a  law-maker,  to 
speak  of  such  matters.  Hence,  the  fathers 
generally  agree,  that  several  customs  and  prac- 
tices observed  in  the  church,  were  ordered  by 
him  at  that  time,  whereof  they  mention  several 
particulars,  only  known  by  tradition,  and  no- 
where expressed  in  the  Scriptures. 


Q.  Explain  the  manner  of  his  ascension  :  did 
he  ascend  as  to  his  divinity,  or  only  as  to  his 
soul  and  body ;  and  why   did  he  ascend  ? 

A.  As  to  his  divinity,  God  being  a  pure 
spirit,  and  present  every  where  by  his  immen- 
sity, he  was  incapable  of  local  motion,  and  by 
consequence,  could  neither  properly  ascend  or 
descend.  What  is  meant  therefore,  is,  that  his 
body  and  soul  ascended  visibly  in  the  sight  of 
the  apostles  to  heaven,  though  they  were  both 
before  in  a  state  to  bliss,  but  imperceptible  to 
human  eyes ;  Acts  i.  9.  Again  it  is  said  he 
ascended,  that  is,  by  virtue  of  his  own  pov/er, 
and  was  not  carried  to  heaven  as  Eli  as  was,  by 
outward  help,  which  was  a  proof  of  his  being 
God.  He  ascended  into  heaven,  not  only  to 
open  the  gates  for  himself,  but  for  his  followers  ; 
not  only  to  take  possession  of  his  own  inheri- 
tance, but  also  to  make  us  joint  heirs  with  him; 
not  for  his  own  happiness  alone,  but  that  we 
may  for  ever  (if  we  please)  be  happy  with  him. 
He  went  to  take  care  of  our  eternal  interest ; 
and  so  he  told  his  apostles,  "I  go  to  prepare 
a  place  for  you,  that  where  I  am,  there  you 
may  be  also;"  Jo.  xiv.  2,  3.  He  ascended  in 
order  to  draw  our  hearts  after  him,  and  that 
pur  thoughts,  our  wishes  and  desires,  may  be 
always  aiming  higher  than  this  miserable  world, 
and  so  aspiring  toward  him  in  heaven.     Thus. 


THE  CATHOUC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


35 


says  St.  Paul,  "our  conversation  is  in  heaven;" 
Phil.  iii.  20. 

Q.  Why  is  he  said  to  sit,  and  why  at  the 
right  hand?  Why  are  the  words  of  Father 
and  Almighty  made  use  of  on  this  occasion  ? 

A.  Sitting  is  a  posture  signifying  ease,  honor, 
and  the  stability  of  the  state  of  supreme  glory 
and  sovereign  power  he  was  placed  in ;  so  that 
we  do  not  understand  that  Christ  is  always  in 
a  sitting  posture.  The  right  hand,  though 
only  metaphorically  applied  to  God  (for  we  do 


not  imagine  that  God  has  any  hands  or  feet, 
he  being  a  pure  spirit,  without  any  body  at  all), 
denotes  preference  and  power,  and  that  Christ 
as  man,  excelled  all  created  beings,  and  was  a 
powerful  intercessor.  Lastly,  the  word  Father, 
and  Almighty,  insinuate,  that  those  who  apply 
themselves  to  him,  might  expect  to  be  treated 
in  the  same  manner,  as  a  tender  parent  treats 
his  child,  and  have  the  comfort  of  being  suc- 
cored by  a  power  which  could  not  be  withstood. 


THE  SEVENTH  ARTICLE  OF  THE  CREED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  seventh  article  ? 

A.  From  thence  he  shall  come  to  judge  the 
quick  and  the  dead. 

Q.  What  difference  do  you  observe  between 
the  first  and  this  latter  coming  of  our  Saviour  ? 

A.  At  his  first  coming,  he  appeared  in  quality 
of  a  redeemer,  showing  to  mankind  continual 
instances  of  mercy,  and  in  his  behavior  con- 
formed himself,  as  if  he  had  been  only  a 
common  person,  deprived  of  all  those  advantages, 
which  otherwise  were  due  to  his  character.  At 
his  second  coming,  he  will  appear  as  a  judge, 
pronouncing  sentence  to  the  utmost  rigor  of 
justice,  and  clothed  with  all  the  outward 
marks  of  authority  and  majesty. 

Q  Are  not  all  mankind  judged  at  their  death ; 
what  occasion  is  there  for  a  second  and  general 
judgment? 

A.  Yes  they  are,  but  a  second  and  general 
judgment  is  requisite  upon  several  accounts. 
First,  to  justify  before  the  whole  world,  the 
conduct  of  divine  providence,  in  regard  to  the 
different  treatment  of  the  just,  and  the  wicked, 
the  one  being  permitted  to  live  under  tribu- 
lation, whilst  the  other  flourished  and  enjoyed 
their  ease ;  for  then  it  will  be  made  appear  by 
the  difference  of  their  fate,  that  the  just  were 
not  deserted  by  Almighty  God,  seeing  that 
they  are  considered  with  an  eternal  reward  for 


their  past  sufferings.  A  second  reason  why  a 
general  judgment  is  appointed,  is,  to  do  public 
justice  to  the  injured  part  of  mankind,  who 
suffered  in  their  reputation,  or  otherwise,  for 
then  all  fraudulent  dealings,  rash  censures, 
sinister  intentions,  and  other  insincere  prac- 
tices, will  be  laid  open,  and  every  man  appear 
in  his  true  colors,  to  the  comfort  of  the 
injured;  and  confusion  of  the  oppressor.  A 
third  reason,  for  this  general  judgment,  is,  that 
whereas,  at  a  person's  decease,  sentence  was 
only  pronounced  upon  the  soul,  at  the  general 
judgment,  the  soul  and  body  being  reunited, 
it  will  pass  upon  the  whole  man  ;  that  as  they 
had  mutually  concurred  in  good  and  bad 
actions,  they  may  receive  a  sentence  suitable  to 
their  behavior  in  both  respects. 

Q.  What  is  meant  by  the  quick  and  the 
dead,  are  those  that  are  living  at  the  approach 
of  the  general  judgment,  to  appear  alive  before 
the  judge? 

A.  By  the  quick  and  the  dead,  we  understand 
all  mankind,  that  ever  inhabited  the  earth,  from 
the  creation  down,  of  all  nations  and  states, 
both  infidels,  Jews,  Turks,  heretics,  and  true 
believers,  all  who  live  under  the  law  of  nature, 
the  old  law,  and  law  of  grace.  And  as  for 
those  persons  who  are  alive  upon  the  ap. 
proach   of    the    last    day,  Ps.  xcvi.  3,  it  is  the 


36 


THE   CATHOIJC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


most  probable  opinion  they  will  be  all  con- 
sumed by  fire,  wben  tbe  world  shall  perish,  by  a 
general  conflagration,  and  immediately  make 
their  appearance  before  the  judgment  seat. 

Q.  But  then,  as  to  the  time,  when  this  general 
judgment  will  happen,  and  the  place  where  it 
will  be  executed,  how  shall  we  come  to  know 
these  matters  ? 

A.  The  time  when,  is  a  secret  locked  up  in 
the  breast  of  the  Almighty;  Mat.  xxiv.  36. 
And  for  the  same  reason,  that  we  are  not 
made  acquainted  with  the  time  of  our  death, 
viz.:  That  being  always  prepared,  we  may  not  be 
surprised,  and  called  to  an  account,  when  we 
are  unprovided  to  give  it ;  which  appears  to  be 
a  rational  way  of  proceeding;  seeing  that  if 
the  time  was  revealed,  persons  would  be  apt 
to  defer  their  repentance,  until  that  hour  ap- 
proached, as  they  now  commonly  do,  though 
uncertain  that  they  shall  be  allowed  a  moment ; 
and  would  be  much  more  inclined  to  defer  it, 
in  case  they  had  any  certainty  of  the  time 
when  death  would  happen.  However,  as  sick- 
ness and  age,  give  persons  notice  of  approach- 
ing death,  so  there  will  be  certain  visible 
tokens,  forerunners  of  the  general  judgment ; 
besides  universal  wars,  plagues,  and  famines  ; 
antichrist  will  make  his  appearance,  who  by 
persecution  and  false  miracles,  will  for  three 
years  exercise  a  tyrannical  power  over  the 
world,  and  draw  unto  his  party  a  great  part 
of  mankind ;  but,  at  last  will  be  baffled  by 
Enoch  and  Elias,  who  are  still  reserved  to 
return  again  upon  the  earth,  for  that  purpose. 
As  the  day  of  judgment  approaches  nearer, 
there  will  be  visible  tokens  in  the  heavens, 
earth,  and  seas,  which  will  strike  a  terror  into 
all  mankind,  and  make  them  wither  and  pine 
away  with  fear. 

Q.  !Methinks  these  visible  admonitions  will 
be  capable  of  working  men  up  to  repentance, 
and  make  them  prepare  themselves  against  that 
great  day  ? 

A.  Much  to  the  contrary  :  our  blessed  Saviour 
tells  us,  they  will  be  in  a  state  of  insensibility, 
as  mankind  was  when  Noah  foretold  the  destruc- 


tion of  the  world  at  the  general  deluge ;  for 
though  he  frequeutl}'  admonished  them  of  it,  for 
a  hundred  years  together,  they  still  continued 
in  their  wickedness  until  the  judgment  fell 
upon  them. 

Q.  Can  3^ou  give  me  any  information  as  to 
the  place,  or  any  other  circumstance  ?  Will 
the  trial  be  general  or  particular  and  what  have 
sinners  to  apprehend  upon  the  occasion  ? 

A.  We  are  informed  in  the  Scriptures,  that 
the  place  will  be  the  valley  of  Josaphat, 
near  Jerusalem,  in  the  sight  of  Mount  Calvary ; 
Joel  iii.  2.  So  that  the  Son  of  God  will  exer- 
cise the  severity  of  his  j  ustice,  where  he  showed 
such  tokens  of  his  mercy ;  a  sad  remembrance 
to  the  Jews,  who  put  him  to  death,  and  to 
wicked  Christians,  who  crucified  him  by  their 
scandalous  lives. — Whether  the  trial  will  be 
general  or  particular,  with  such  like  circum- 
stances, is  only  known  to  God.  Thus  much 
we  may  be  certain  of,  that  though  it  may  be 
general,  and  pass  over  in  an  instant,  yet  it 
\n\\  affect  every  one  in  particular,  as  much  as 
if  he  were  the  only  person  that  was  called  to 
the  bar.  Lastly,  as  to  the  apprehensions  sin- 
ners will  lie  under  upon  the  occasion,  there  are 
three  circumstances  which  will  throw  them  into 
the  utmost  confusion,  viz. :  The  qualities  of 
the  judge,  who  cannot  be  imposed  upon  by 
bribes,  nor  inclined  through  partiality  to  favor  : 
the  nature  of  the  evidence,  which  will  be  a 
man's  own  conscience,  with  the  corroborating 
proofs  of  the  devil,  and  all  those  he  has  injured, 
will  appear  against  him  :  the  severity  of  the 
scrutiny,  which  will  take  in  all  our  thoughts, 
desires,  wishes,  affections,  words  and  works, 
though  never  so  secret ;  the  intention,  motive, 
and  circumstances  of  them ;  the  use  of  our 
will,  memory,  and  understanding ;  all  the  facul- 
ties of  both  body  and  soul ;  the  use  of  God's 
holy  graces ;  the  neglect  of  doing  good,  and 
misspent  time ;  and  not  only  all  our  own  sins, 
but  others  which  we  have  any  ways  occasioned : 
for  our  Saviour  assures  us,  "  That  nothing  is 
hid  that  shall  not  be  revealed,  nor  secret  that 
shall  not  be  known."     Mat.  x.   26. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


37 


Q.  Are  there  any  more  circumstances  to  be 
considered  in  this  general  judgment?  Will 
Christ  sit  to  judge  as  God  or  as  man  ?  What 
kind  of  punishment  will  the  wicked  be  con- 
demned to  ?  Will  their  punishment  be  ever- 
lasting, or  have  an  end,  or  at  least  be  subject 
to  a  mitigation  ?  Will  the  fire  spoken  of  in 
Scripture  really  affect  the  soul,  or  is  it  only  a 
metaphorical  expression,  to  signify  the  sharp- 
ness of   pain  ? 

A  All  the  three  divine  persons  will  sit  in 
judgment,  which  is-  attributed  to  the  Son, 
because  it  is  a  work  of  wisdom  ;  at  the  same 
time,  Christ  as  man,  will  hear  and  give  sentence, 
according  to  St.  John  ;  chapter  v.  27. — "  The 
Father  hath  given  him  power  to  execute  judg- 
ment, because  he  is  the  Son  of  man."  As  to 
the  punishment,  fire  is  commonly  expressed, 
which  we  are  to  understand  literally  and  prop- 
erly ;  but  in  what  manner  it  will  affect  the 
soul,  is  not  declared.  This  punishment  will 
have  no  end,  no  intermission,  as  Origen  erro- 
neously taught. 

Q.  How  shall  the  just  and  reprobate  be 
placed,  and  what  shall  be  the  sentence  of  the 
just,  and  that  of  the  wicked  ? 

A.  The   just    shall    be    placed  on  the  right, 


and  the  reprobate  on  the  left  hand  of  the  judge. 
The  judge  will  say  to  the  just,  "  come  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  and  receive  the  kingdom 
which  is  prepared  for  you ;  for  I  was  hungry, 
and  you  gave  me  to  eat,  I  was  thirsty,  and  you 
gave  me  to  drink,"  etc.  Mat.  xxv.  34,  35. 
How  joyful  this  sentence  will  be  to  them,  all 
the  tongues  of  men  and  angels  are  not  able 
to  express :  nor  is  it  easier  to  describe  the 
envy,  malice,  and  despairing  rage  of  those  on 
the  left  hand  ;  when  having  heard  this  sentence, 
they  begin  to  hear  the  thunder  of  their  own> 
"  Go  ye  cursed  into  eternal  fire,  which  hath 
been  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels ; 
for  I  was  hungry,  and  you  gave  me  not  to 
eat,  I  was  thirst)^  and  you  gave  me  not  to 
drink,"  etc.  Mat.  xxv.  41,  42.  To  depart  from 
God,  b}'  losing  him  and  all  that  is  good ;  never 
to  see  God's  face,  nor  ever  to  enjoy  his  favor; 
this  is  that  hell  of  hells,  which  the  divines 
call  pain  of  loss.  But  then  not  only  to  lose 
all  good,  but  also  to  be  sunk  for  ever  into  the 
abyss  of  everlasting  evils,  without  any  hope 
of  comfort,  is  that  pain  of  sense,  which  even 
the  worst  of  sinners  cannot  firmly  believe  without 
trembling. 


THE   EIGHTH   ARTICLE   OF  THE  CREED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  eighth  article  ? 

A.  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Q.  What  do  you  profess  in  this  article  ? 

A.  As  the  former  articles  contained,  what  we 
are  to  believe,  concerning  the  two  first  persons 
of  the  blessed  Trinity,  this  regards  the  third 
person,  which  in  sum  is,  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  consubstantial  to  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
and  therefore  true  God ;  that  he  proceeds  from 
them  both,  and  is  equal  in  all  things  to  them  : 
this  is  proved  first  from  the  Creed  itself,  where 
the  form  of  belief  is  expressed  in  the  same  way, 
I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  well  as  in  the 


Father,  and  in  the  Son.  Secondly,  from  St, 
Peter's  words  to  Ananias  ;  Acts  v.  3,  4.  "Why 
did  Satan  tempt  thy  heart  to  lie  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  ?  Thou  hast  not  lied  unto  men  but  unto 
God."  Here  you  see  the  Holy  Ghost  is  called 
God.  Thirdly,  from  St.  John,  in  his  first  epistle, 
chapter  v.  verse  7,  where  he  says,  "  there  are 
three  that  bear  testimony  in  heaven,  the  Father, 
the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  these  three 
are  one."  Fourthly,  from  the  form  of  baptism, 
where  the  Holy  Ghost  is  equally  mentioned  with 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  which  ought  not  to  be, 
if  he   was    not  God.     Again,  from  St.  Paul,  2 


38 


THE   CATHOLIC  RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


Cor.  xiii.  13.  Where  he  thus  concludes  his 
epistle ;  "  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communication 
•of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  3'ou  all."  From 
hence  we  prove  the  Holy  Ghost  to  have  the 
same  divine  nature  with  the  Father  and  the 
Son  ;  as  also  to  be  a  different  person  from  them 
both :  so  that  we  ought  to  glorify,  and  worship 
him  equally  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  as 
the  last  end  and  object  of  all  our  affections. 
Hence,  the  Macedonian  heresy  condemned  by 
the  church,  which  denied  the  divinity  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.     Anno.  381. 

Q.  The  Scriptures,  it  is  true,  tell  us  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father,  but 
makes  no  mention  of  his  proceeding  from  the 
Son. 

A.  Though  one  is  not  so  expressly  mentioned 
in  the  Scriptures,  as  the  other,  yet  it  is  suffi- 
ciently asserted  ;  particularly  where  Christ  says, 
in  the  15th  chapter  of  St.  John,  verse  26; 
"  The  paraclete  whom  I  shall  send  from  the 
Father;"  chapter  xxvi.  "He  shall  receive  of 
mine. 

Q.  What  is  the  proper  signification  of  the 
word  Ghost? 

A.  In  our  ancient  language  it  is  the  same 
as  Spirit. 

Q.  What  names  are  commonly  given  to  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  Scriptures  ? 

A.  He  is  called  the  paraclete,  that  is,  the 
Comforter,  the  Advocate,  the  Finger  of  God, 
Goodness,  the  Gift,  etc.  Which  appellations, 
signify  the  offices,  and  effects  that  are  ascribed 
to  him. 

Q.  What  are  the  gifts  proceeding  from  the 
Holy  Ghost? 

A.  These  seven,  enumerated  in  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  the  prophet  Isaiah;  verse  2.  First, 
wisdom,  which  teaches  us  to  direct  our  lives 
and  actions  to  God's  honor,  and  the  salvation 
of  our  souls.  Second,  understanding,  which 
makes  our  faith  lively,  enabling  us  to  penetrate 
the  highest  mysteries.  Third,  counsel,  which 
discovers  the  snares  of  the  devil.  Fourth,,  for- 
titude, which  overcomes  the  difficulty  of  tempta- 


tions, and  enables  us  to  undergo  all  dangers 
for  God's*  sake.  Fifth,  knowledge,  by  which 
we  know,  and  understand  the  will  of  God. 
Sixth,  piety,  by  which  we  are  zealous  in  doing 
his  will.  Seventh,  the  fear  of  God,  which  curbs 
us  from  sin,  and  makes  us  obedient  to  his  law. 

Q.  Which  do  you  call  the  fruits  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  ? 

A.  St.  Paul  reckons  these  twelve.  First, 
charity,  which  fills  us  with  the  love  of  God 
and  our  neighbor.  Second,  joy,  which  enables 
us  to  serve  God  with  cheerfulness.  Third,  peace, 
which  keeps  us  unmoved  in  our  minds,  amidst 
the  storms  and  tempests  of  the  world.  Fourth, 
patience,  which  enables  us  to  suffer  all  adversities 
for  the  love  of  God.  Fifth,  longanimity,  which 
is  an  untired  confidence  of  mind,  in  expecting 
the  good  things  of  the  life  to  come.  Sixth, 
goodness,  which  makes  us  hurt  no  man,  and  do 
good  to  all.  Seventh,  benignity,  which  causes 
a  certain  sweetness  in  our  conversation  and 
manners,  so  as  to  profit  and  advance  others  in 
virtue  thereby.  Eighth,  mildness,  which  allays 
in  us  all  the  motions  of  passion  and  anger. 
Ninth,  fidelity,  which  makes  us  punctual  ob- 
servers of  our  covenants  and  promises.  Tenth, 
modesty,  which  observes  a  fitting  mean  in  all 
our  outward  actions.  Eleventh,  continency, 
which  makes  us  not  only  temperate  in  meat 
and  drink,  but  in  all  other  sensible  delights. 
Twelfth,  chastity,  which  keeps  a  pure  soul  in  a 
pure  body. 

Q.  In  what  manner  is  the  Holy  Ghost  given? 

A.  Two  ways,  visibly  and  invisibly.  He  was 
both  ways  given  to  the  apostles  ;  invisibly,  when, 
after  the  resurrection,  Christ  breathed  upon  them 
and  said,  receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost;  Jo.  xx.  22. 
Visibly,  ten  days  after  his  ascension,  when  he 
sent  them  to  preach,  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
appeared  over  theni  in  fiery  tongues.  A^  in, 
he  is  given  invisibly  in  man's  justification, 
when  grace  is  bestowed ;  and  in  the  sacrament 
of  confirmation. 

Q.  Under  what  appearances  has  the  Holy 
Ghost  shown  himself  to  mankind  ? 

A.  Chiefly  two,  in  the  shape  of  a  dove,  when 


THE  CATHOIvIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


39 


our  Saviour  was  baptized,  by  St.  Jolin  the 
Baptist ;  and  in  fiery  tongues,  at  his  descending 
on  the  apostles  at  Pentecost. 

Q.  What  was  meant  b}'  his  appearing  under 
these  representations  ? 

A.  By  the  dove,  was  signified  innocence,  and 
purity.  The  fiery  tongues  had  several  signifi- 
cations ;  the  tongues  imported  the  gift  of  lan- 
guages ;  the  fire  signified  zeal ;  and  they  appeared 
split,  that  they  might  represent  the  variety  of 
gifts  that  were  betowed,  viz. :  Working  miracles, 
prophesying,  etc. 

Q.  Did  these  visible  marks  always  atteud  the 
giving  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 

A.  In  the  first  age,  and  during  the  apostles' 
time,  they  continued,  as  requisite  to  the  first  estab- 
lishment of  the  gospel,  but  ceased  by  degrees. 

Q.  You  say  the  Holy  Ghost  appeared  in  the 
figure  of  a  dove ;  and,  I  suppose  this  is  the 
reason  why  he  is  still  represented  by  pictures 
and  images  under  that  form.  Can  a  pure  spirit 
and  immortal  being,  be  truly  expressed  by  such 
like  representations  ? 

A.  You  judge  right,  as  to  the  grouud  and 
rise  of  that  custom,  but  seem  not  to  understand 
the  true  meaning  of  it.  We  pretend  not  to 
express  the  true  likeness  of  a  spirit  much  less 
of  an  infinite  spiritual  substance.  The  design 
is  only  to  assist  the  memory,  preserve  the 
remembrance  of  the  mystery,  and  receive  in- 
struction, from  what  is  signified  by  such  out- 
ward tokens. 

Q.  If  this  be  all  you  mean,  I  see  no  reason 
why  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  even  the 
whole  Trinity,  may  not  either  separately,  or 
conjunctively,  be  represented  in  the  same  man- 
ner, either  by  painting  or  carving;  though, 
indeed,  the  custom  is  more  authorized,  by 
representing  the  second  person  under  the 
figure  of  a  man,  because  he  took  human  flesh 
upon  him ;  whereas  the  other  persons  did  not  ? 


A.  You  still  talk  coherently,  there  being  as 
much  for  the  one  as  for  the  other ;  neither  is 
the  circumstance  you  mention  of  the  second 
person,  only,  being  united  to  a  human  body, 
any  objection  against  representing  the  other 
persons  by  visible  tokens.  For  as  we  do  not 
pretend  to  express  Christ's  divinity  by  pictures, 
or  images,  but  only  his  body  ;  so  neither  do  we 
intend  to  represent  the  divinity  of  the  other 
persons,  by  any  figure  or  image,  but  only  the 
outward  shape  of  the  thing,  under  which  they 
made  their  appearance. 

Q.  This  argument  may  hold  good  as  to  the 
persons  separately  considered.  The  first  person 
may  be  represented  as  an  old  man,  as  he  appeared 
to  Daniel :  the  second,  as  a  man  whose  nature  he 
assumed ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost  as  a  dove,  for  the 
same  reason.  But  you  pretend  besides  to  make 
pictures  and  images  representing  the  Trinity, 
which  was  never  represented  by  an  outward 
appearance. 

A.  This  difiiculty  is  easily  removed,  by  the 
same  rule.  And  in  the  first  place,  it  is  far  from 
truth  that  we  have  no  representation  of  the 
Trinity :  it  is  frequently  represented  both  by 
facts  and  words  in  the  holy  Scriptures :  I  shall 
only  mention  the  three  men  who  appeared  to 
Abraham,  whom  he  addressed  as  if  they  were  but 
one ;  and  these  words  in  the  first  epistle  of  St. 
John,  chapter  v.  verse  7.  "  These  three  are  one." 
Is  not  this  a  sufficient  ground  to  form  an  image, 
representing  one  and  three?  What  are  words, 
but  images  representing  to  the  ear,  what  pictures 
do  to  the  eye ;  and  if  it  be  lawful  to  make  use  of 
words,  to  signify  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity,  why 
may  not  a  picture  be  drawn  to  the  same  purpose? 
Words  and  pictures  can  neither  express  the 
nature  of  the  thing,  but  still  they  are  serviceable 
to  put  us  in  mind,  and  keep  up  the  memory  of 
the  mystery. 


40 


THE   CATHOUC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


THE   NINTH   ARTICLE   OF   THE  CREED. 


Q.  Which,  is  the  ninth  article  ? 

A.  The  holy  Catholic  church,  the  communion 
of  saints. 

Q.  What  is  the  signification  of  the  word 
church  ? 

A.  According  to  its  etymology  in  the  Greek, 
it  is  a  congregation,  or  assembly  of  people, 
called  together,  upon  any  account  whatever, 
and  is  sometimes  taken  from  the  place  where 
they  meet. 

Q.  It  is  not  our  present  purpose,  to  take 
notice  of  what  signification  it  bears  among 
secular  and  profane  authors,  but  what  sense  it 
carries  in  the  Scriptures  and  ecclesiastical 
writers. 

A.  In  the  Scriptures,  it  has  sometimes  a 
limited,  other  times  a  more  extensive  significa- 
tion :  one,  while  it  signifies  the  society  of  saints 
and  angels :  another,  while  a  society  of  the 
faithful  on  earth :  sometimes  the  congregation 
of  the  \vicked ;  and  again,  for  that  of  the  elect, 
or  predestinated  onlj\  Hence,  divines  have 
distinguished  the  church  into  triumphant  in 
heaven,  and  militant  upon  earth ;  to  which 
they  add  the  suffering  church  in  purgatory. 

Q.  I  easil}'  conceive,  that  the  name  of  church, 
may  be  given  to  all  these  congregations,  as 
the  general  signification  of  the  word  imports. 
But  did  not  Christ  establish  a  particular  con- 
gregation on  earth ;  pray,  what  do  5'ou  call 
that? 

A.  The  church  Christ  established  on  earth, 
was  a  congregation  of  people  baptized,  and 
united  together  by  believing  and  professing 
the  same  faith  he  had  taught ;  and  governed 
by  lawful  pastors  and  bishops,  subordinate  to 
his  vicar  upon  earth,  as  he  had  appointed. 

Q.  It  is  suitable  to  the  divine  wisdom,  that 
in  establishing  a  community  of  such,  a  regu- 
lation should  be  observed  to  prevent  the  in- 
conveniences of  errors  in  belief,  and  disobedi- 
ence  in    practical    duties ;    yet  we    find    in    the 


Scriptures,  mention  made  of  several  churches, 
even  of  true  believers ;  as  the  churches  of  Jeru- 
salem, Smyrna,  Athens,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  Rome, 
etc.  Is  the  church  founded  by  Christ,  divided 
into  several  bodies  ? 

A.  These  different  appellations  are  not  designed 
to  signify  different  societies,  either  as  to  faith 
or  government,  but  only  the  different  districts, 
where  the  faithful  assembled,  under  the  same 
universal  church;  aud  were  so  distinguished, 
in  the  apostolic  letters,  accordingly  as  there 
was  occasion  of  being  instructed  in  their 
respective  duties ;  a  different  address  being 
requisite,  to  make  a  proper  application,  of 
Avhat  they  were  to  be  informed  of. 

Q.  I  observe  some  difference  in  wording  this 
article,  and  the  former :  in  the  former  you  sa}-, 
I  believe  in  God  the  Father,  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  in  the  Holy  Ghost. — Here,  in  this  article, 
you  only  say,  I  believe  the  holy  Catholic  church, 
not,  I  believe  in  the  holy  Catholic  church. 

A.  The  difference  you  observe  is  not  acci- 
dental, but  premeditated  and  designed.  To 
believe  in  God,  is  to  place  our  last  end  in 
him :  now,  the  church  being  only  the  means 
and  not  the  end,  what,  therefore,  we  profess, 
in  her  regard,  is,  that  there  is  a  church,  whose 
voice  we  ought  to  hear  and  obey,  in  order  to 
obtain  our  last  end. 

Q.  But  here  another  difl&culty  may  be  started  : 
objects  of  faith  are  obscure,  and  lie  not  within 
the  cognizance  of  our  senses  :  now,  the  church, 
being  a  visible  society,  how  can  it  be  known 
by  faith? 

A.  I  own,  the  church,  as  to  its  visible  being, 
is  not  an  object  of  faith,  but  only  known  by 
the  senses  and  reason,  and  by  the  undeniable 
marks  it  carries,  explained  in  the  Scripture, 
the  apostles'  creed,  and  answerable  to  all  the 
requisites  that  prudence  can  suggest,  to  sub- 
mit to  its  authority.  What  is  the  object  of 
faith  in   the  church  ?     Is    the  divine  authority 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


41 


conferred  upon  it,  in  being  directed  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  having  a  power  of  binding  and 
loosing,  and  producing  grace,  and  all  sorts  of 
supernatural  eflfects,  by  means  of  the  sacra- 
ments? These  are  invisible,  and  the  objects 
of  faith  only ;  and  of  this  we  have  a  parallel 
case  in  our  blessed  Saviour,  whilst  he  was 
upon  earth.  His  humanity  was  the  object  of 
sense  and  reason,  but  his  divinity  was  the 
object  of  faith. 

Q.  By  the  definition  you  g^ve  of  the  particu- 
lar church  of  Christ,  which  was  "his  kingdom  on 
earth,  it  is  requisite  that  three  things  concur, 
to  become  a  member  of  it,  viz.:  First,  that  the 
persons  be  baptized,  either  actually  or  in  desire. 
Secondly,  that  they  believe  the  doctrines  Christ 
delivered  ;  and  thirdly,  that  they  be  obedient  to 
the  authority  he  placed  them  under.  Now  we 
find  there  are  a  great  many,  who  pretend  to  be 
members  of  Christ's  church,  who  are  divided  in 
their  faith,  teaching  doctrines  directly  contrary 
to  one  another,  and  by  separating  themselves 
into  different  congregations,  do  not  all  pay  sub- 
jection to  the  same  authority,  but  either  to  none, 
or  to  those  of  their  own  choosing.  Did  Christ 
give  this  liberty  to  any  distinct  body  of  men,  to 
believe  and  pay  obedience  to  whom  they  pleased  ? 
This  does  not  seem  consistent  with  the  wisdom 
of  so  wise  a  legislator.  If  every  civil  com- 
munity is  provided  with  rules  against  divisions, 
certainly  the  God  of  peace  and  unity,  would  not 
establish  a  church  to  be  exposed  to  all  the 
inconveniences  of  errors  and  disobedience,  but 
prescribe  some  certain  method  how  to  obviate 
them. 

A.  The  three  things  required,  to  become  a 
member  of  Christ's  church,  and  requisite,  as 
you  properly  observe  ;  so  that,  notwithstanding 
there  are  a  great  many  congregations,  who 
pretend  to  belong  to  God's  church,  and  lay 
claim  to  it,  by  making  a  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity, yet,  not  believing  what  Christ  taught, 
and  disobeying  the  authority  appointed  by  him, 
when  the  matter  is  strictly  inquired  into,  they 
are  not  members  of  his  church. 

Q.  Pray     let     me     understand     who     those 


persons  are,  with  the  reasons  in  particular,  why 
you  cannot  allow  them  to  be  members  of  Christ's 
church  ? 

A.  The  congregations  I  mean,  are  heathens, 
Turks,  Jews,  and  heretics  of  all  denominations  ; 
to  whom  we  may  join  schismatics,  and  persons 
excommunicated. 

Q.  Why  are  not  schismatics  members  of  the 
church  ? 

A.  Because  they  are  separated  from  it,  by 
disobeying  the  governors  appointed  by  Christ, 
and  are  branches  cut  off  from  the  tree  of  life. 

Q.  Why  are  not  persons  excommunicated,  to 
be  esteemed  members  of  the  church  ? 

A.  They  are  cut  off  from  the  body,  for 
obstinately  violating  the  church's  order,  and 
therefore  enjoy  not  the  privileges. 

Q.  Are  sinners  (that  is  to  say,  such  as  are  in 
mortal  sin,)  members  of  the  church  ? 

A.  Yes,  but  rotten  members.  Hence  the 
Scriptures  compare  the  church  to  Noah's  ark, 
which  contained  animals,  clean  and  unclean  ;  to 
a  sheepfold,  where  goats  are  mixed  with  sheep ; 
to  a  granary,  that  contains  straw,  chaff  and 
corn ;  to  a  great  house,  with  vessels  of  gold, 
silver  and  wood.  Thus  argued  St.  Austin, 
against  the  Douatists,  who  excluded  sinners. 
Thus,  it  is  defined  against  Calvin,  who  makes 
the  church  cgnsist  only  of  the  elect.  Sinners 
that  are  reprobates,  are  members  as  to  the 
present  state,  but  not  as  to  the  future  state 
of  the  church. 

Q.  I  easily  conceive  why  heathens,  Turks, 
and  Jews,  ought  not  to  be  esteemed  members 
of  Christ's  church  :  because  they  either  deny 
God  or  Christ  the  Redeemer.  But,  as  for  the 
rest,  the  case  is  not  so  plain  :  they  acknowledge 
one  only  true  God ;  they  acknowledge  Christ  to 
be  their  Redeemer ;  they  believe  the  holy 
Scripture,  which  is  the  rule  of  instruction, 
both  as  to  what  Christ  taught,  and  what  is  to 
be  practiced ;  and  by  this  compliance,  seem  to 
have  a  right  to  be  esteemed  members  of  Christ's 
church.  I  do  not  see  anything  else  that  can 
be  required  of  them. 

A.  You  have  mentioned    requisites,  but    not 


48 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


all.  To  believe  a  God,  and  that  Christ  is  our 
Redeemer,  are  a  good  foundation  ;  but  unless  we 
believe  all  that  Christ  taught,  and  obey  those 
whom  he  ordered  to  be  obeyed,  we  fail  in  the  two 
essential  parts  of  a  Christian's  duty;  for  our 
Saviour  assures  us.  Mat.  xvi.  i6,  "  that  he  who 
believes  not  shall  be  condemned ;"  and  again, 
that  "  he  who  will  not  hear  the  church,  let  him 
be  to  thee  as  a  heathen  and  a  publican."  Mat. 
xviii.  17.  The  Scriptures,  it  is  true,  are  good 
rules ;  but  theu  we  are  at  a  loss,  unless  we  are 
rightly  instructed  in  the  sense  of  them ;  neither 
can  the  Scriptures  alone  satisfy  us  which  books 
are  to  be  allowed  as  Scripture,  and  which  to  be 
rejected.  —  Many  have  perverted  the  sense  of 
Scriptures,  to  their  own  damnation  ;  who,  at  the 
same  time,  pretended  to  be  members  of  Christ's 
chuTch,  but  were  not. 

Q.  Has  not  every  one,  who  enjoys  the  use 
of  his  reason,  a  capacity  to  understand  as  much 
of  the  Scriptures,  as  is  necessary  to  inform  him 
of,  and  comply  with,  any  Christian  duty  ?  What 
occasion  has  he  to  descend  to  every  particular 
point ;  or  what  power  has  any  congregation  to 
draw  up  forms  of  belief,  and  oblige  others  to 
subscribe  to  them  ? 

A.  Were  men's  reasoning  faculty  free  from 
mistakes,  passion  and  prejudice,  much  might  be 
said  in  its  favor ;  but  as  it  is  exposed  to  those 
inconveniences,  it  must  be  set  to  rights  by 
proper  means.  Woful  experience  has  demon- 
strated the  insufficiency  of  reason,  as  it  is  under 
the  direction  of  private  persons.  All  affairs 
whatever,  have  been  thrown  into  confusion, 
under  a  pretence  of  reason,  both  public  and 
private,  civil  and  religious.  Servants  have  their 
pretended  reasons  not  to  obey  their  masters, 
and  subjects  have  theirs  not  to  obey  their  prince ; 
and  it  is  no  wonder,  if  many,  who  style  them- 
selves Christians,  should  be  disobedient  to  the 
laws  of  Christ's  church,  upon  a  pretence  that 
their  reason  sufficiently  informs  what,  and  whom 
they  ought  to  obey.  By  thus  relying  upon  pri- 
vate reason,  dissensions  happen  in  families, 
rebellion  in  kingdoms,  and  heresies  in  Christ's 
church :    such  were    the   heresies    even    in  the 


apostolic  and  primitive  ages  ;  some  denying  the 
resurrection,  others  Christ's  divinity,  and  the 
divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  with  many  other 
errors  ;  all  taking  their  rise  from  the  liberty 
private  reason  took  to  expound  the  Scriptures, 
according  to  their  own  taste.  Now  it  is  plain, 
from  the  censures  that  were  always  passed  upon 
such  persons,  that  they  were  never  esteemed 
members  of  Christ's  church ;  notwithstanding 
their  belief  in  a  Redeemer,  and  their  allowing 
the  Scriptures  to  be  a  rule  of  belief,  and  the 
practical  duties  of  a  Christian,  their  faith  was 
defective  and  obedience  was  wanting. 

Q.  All  you  alleged  only  amounts  to  this  ;  that 
those  heretics  were  not  members  of  Christ's 
visible  church,  as  being  separated  from  that  visi- 
ble society  which  bore  that  name.  But  why 
might  the}'  not  be  members  of  Christ's  church 
invisibly,  as  being  invisibly  united  to  Christ  their 
head,  and  only  separated  from  the  visible  society 
through  mistake  and  innocent  errors  ? 

A.  This  notion  is  inconsistent  with  the  nature 
of  a  visible  society,  and  more  especially  with 
that  of  Christ's  establishing,  and  indeed  a  con- 
tradiction in  itself.  In  visible  societies,  no  re- 
gard is  had  to  inward  dispositions,  but  only  to 
outward  actions,  in  point  of  misbehavior :  a 
general  protestation  of  allegiance  to  a  prince, 
will  not  excuse  a  rebel,  who  is  declared  an  out- 
law, for  opposing  the  administration  of  justice, 
upon  the  idle  pretence  of  expounding  the  laws 
in  his  own  sense.  On  the  other  hand,  how  can 
heretics  be  united  to  Christ,  their  invisible  head, 
who  reject  the  means  of  that  invisible  union  ; 
Christians  are  united  invisibly  to  Christ  by 
faith  and  obedience ;  now,  where  is  their  faith, 
who  do  not  believe  every  thing  Christ  teaches  ? 
Where  is  their  obedience,  who  resist  the  authority 
placed  over  them  ?  As  to  what  you  insinuate 
concerning  mistakes,  and  the  innocent  errors  of 
many,  who  believe  wrong,  and  separate  them- 
selves, only  on  that  account,  for  want  of  oppor- 
tunity of  being  better  instructed  ;  these  are  out 
of  the  case ;  we  only  speak  of  those  who  can 
have  no  such  pretences :  however,  even  those, 
who  have  invincible  ignorance  to  excuse  them, 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


43 


for  not  believing  with,  and  obeying  the  church, 
cannot  be  esteemed  visible  members  of  Christ's 
church,  as  not  being  placed  in  the  ordinary  road, 
that  he  has  chalked  out  for  their  salvation  ;  yet 
they  are  not  out  of  the  road  of  his  extraordinary 
gfrace,  insomuch,  that  the  invincible  ignorance 
they  labor  under,  in  regard  of  the  common 
road  appointed  by  Christ,  will  not  be  imputed 
to  them  as  a  crime  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  if  they 
are  good  livers  in  all  other  respects,  and  care- 
fully comply  with  the  law  of  nature,  they  may 
be  invisibly  united  to  Christ,  and  invisible  mem- 
bers of  his  church. 

Q.  This  is  a  charitable  condescension ;  but 
then  it  seems  to  be  contrary  to  the  universal 
rule  and  doctrine  of  your  church,  which  says, 
that  none  are  saved  out  of  the  Catholic  com- 
munion ;  which  is  very  uncharitable,  if  it  be 
understood  of  a  church  in  one  communion  only. 

A.  It  never  was  the  universal  doctrine  of 
the  Catholic  church,  that  none  are  saved,  who 
die  out  of  the  Catholic  communion ;  for  they 
always  except  invincible  necessity,  and  invinci- 
ble ignorance.  Now,  invincible  necessity  is,  that 
which  is  not  in  a  man's  power  to  hinder, 
though  he  desire  it  ever  so  much ;  or  it  is  a 
real  impossibility  under  the  present  circum- 
stances, of  obtaining  something  which  we  desire ; 
as  if  a  person,  for  example,  who  lived  out  of 
the  Catholic  community,  is  sensible  of  his 
error,  and  desires  to  be  reconciled  to  the 
Catholic  church,  but  dies  before  a  priest  can 
be  brought  to  him ;  such  a  one  has  invincible 
necessity.  Invincible  ignorance,  is  that  which 
is  not  voluntary ;  so  that  if  persons  would 
gladly  embrace  the  truth,  and  sincerely  use 
their  best  endeavors  to  find  it  out,  and  to  know 
the  whole  compass  of  their  duty,  and  would 
both  faithfully  and  immediately  comply  with 
the  most  difi&cult  parts  of  it  when  known,  how 
contrary  soever  they  may  be  to  their  passions, 
to  their  prejudices,  to  the  conveniences  of  life, 
to  their  interest  in  this  world,  and  to  the 
expectation  of  their  friends ;  their  ignorance  is 
invincible,  and  may  be  excused  from  the  sin 
of    heresy.     When    Catholics,    therefore,    say, 


as  they  have  always  said,  that  none  are 
saved  out  of  the  Catholic  communion,  their 
meaning  is,  that  no  one  is  saved  unless  he  be 
in  the  Catholic  -  communion,  either  actually  or 
virtually ;  either  in  fact  or  in  desire ;  and  that 
there  is  no  sure  and  safe  way  to  heaven,  out 
of  the  Catholic  communion.  This  general  rule 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  that  none  are  saved  out 
of  the  communion  of  the  orthodox  and  uni- 
versal church,  follows  by  a  plain  and  neces- 
sary consequence  from  the  Scripture,  as  well 
as  from  the  apostolical  and  Nicene  creed.  For 
if  Christ  has  only  one  holy  Catholic  and  apos- 
tolical church,  which  is  the  communion  of 
saints ;  if  he  has  only  one  church  which  is 
built  upon  a  rock,  and  against  which,  "  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail ;  "  St.  Mat.  xvi. 
1 8,  if  he  has  only  one  church,  "  which  is  the 
pillar  and  support  of  truth,"  i  Tim.  iii.  15. 
And  with  which  he  promised  to  continue, 
"  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world ; "  St. 
Mat.  xxviii.  20,  and  which  is,  therefore,  the 
church  of  all  ages,  as  well  as  the  church  of  all 
nations ;  if  he  has  only  one  church  to  which 
the  Lord  added,  and  adds  daily,  "  such  as  shall 
be  saved ; "  Acts  ii.  47,  then  it  is,  at  least,  a 
general  rule  of  divine  faith,  that  none  are 
saved  out  of  the  communion  of  this  church. 
Nay,  setting  aside  invincible  necessity  and 
invincible  ignorance,  the  rule  is  universal  and 
without  exception.  This  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
church,  is  so  unquestionable,  that  many  Prot- 
estants have  taught  the  same.  Calvin  says, 
that  out  of  the  bosom  of  the  visible  church, 
no  remission  of  sins,  no  salvation  is  to  be 
hoped  for;  L.  iv.  inst.  chap.  i.  §  4.  Beza,  the 
great  disciple  of  Calvin,  says,  there  is  only 
one  true  church :  and  there  always  was,  and 
always  will  be,  a  church,  out  of  which  there 
is  no  salvation.*  Trelactius  says,  it  is  a  thing 
of  absolute  necessity,  if  we  will  be  saved,  to 
embrace  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  church, 
out  of  which,  there  is  no  salvation. f  The 
learned  bishop   Pearson,  bishop  of  Chester,  in 

•  In.  Confess.  Fidei  cUap.  v.  J  2.  ibid.  J  i. 
t  I<-  ii.  Instit.  de  Eccles.  Part  2.  J  10. 


44 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


his  exposition  of  tlie  Creed,  page  349,  says, 
that  "  the  necessity  of  believing  the  hoi}- 
Catholic  church,  appears  first  in  this,  that 
Christ  has  appointed  it  as  the  only  way  unto 
eternal  life.  We  read  at  the  first,  says  he, 
that  the  Lord  added  to  the  church,  daily,  such 
as  should  be  saved ;  and  what  was  then  daily 
done,  has  been  done  since  continually :  Christ 
never  appointed  two  ways  to  heaven ;  nor  did 
he  build  a  church  to  save  some,  and  make 
another  institution  for  other  men's  salvation. 
'  There  is  no  other  name  under  heaven,  given 
among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved  but 
the  name  of  Jesus:'  Acts  iv.  12.  And  that 
name  is  no  otherwise  given  under  heaven, 
than  in  the  church.  As  none  were  saved  from 
the  deluge,  but  such  as  were  within  the  ark 
of  Noah,  framed  for  their  reception  b}'  the 
command  of  God :  as  none  of  the  first  born  of 
Egypt  lived,  but  such  as  were  within  those 
habitations,  whose  door  posts  were  sprinkled 
with  blood,  by  the  appointment  of  God  for 
their  preservation :  as  none  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Jericho,  could  escape  the  fire  and  sword,  but 
such  as  were  within  the  house  of  Rahab,  so 
none  shall  ever  escape  the  eternal  wrath  of 
God,  which  belong  not  to  the  church  of  God." 
The  Protestants  of  Switzerland  saj'  in  their 
profession  of  faith,*  "  we  have  so  great  a  value 
for  being  in  communion  with  the  true  church 
of  Christ,  that  we  say,  those  cannot  have  life 
in  the  sight  of  God,  who  are  not  in  com- 
munion with  the  true  church  of  God,  but 
separate  themselves  from  it."  The  Protestants 
of  Scotland,  An.  1568,  in  their  profession  of 
faith,  say,  "  as  we  believe  in  one  God,  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit;  so  we 
firmly  believe  that  there  was  from  the  begin- 
ning, that  there  now^  is,  and  that  to  the  end 
of  the  world  there  will  always  be,  one  church, 
which  is  the  Catholic,  that  is,  the  universal 
church,  out  of  which  church  there  is  neither 
life,  nor  everlasting  happiness." 

The  French  Huguenots,  in  their  catechism  on 

*  Confess.  Helvetica.  C.  xvii.  An.   1556,  et  in  Syntag.  Confess. 
Fidei  Genevae.  An.  1654.  Page  34. 


the  tenth  article  of  the  Creed,  say,  "  Why  is  this 
article  of  forgiveness  of  sins  put  after  that  of  the 
church  ?  Answer,  Because  no  one  obtains  par- 
don of  his  sins,  unless  he  be  first  incorporated 
with  the  people  of  God,  and  continue  in  unity 
and  communion  with  the  body  of  Christ  and  so 
be  a  member  of  the  church  :  for  none  of  those 
who  withdraw  themselves  from  the  communion 
of  the  faithful,  to  make  a  sect  apart,  ought  to 
hope  for  salvation,  as  long  as  they  continue 
separated  from  them."  Thus  you  see  that  it  is 
not  onl}-  the  Catholic  doctrine,  that  none  are 
saved  out  of  the  Catholic  communion,  but  it  is 
also  the  doctrine  of  many  Protestants. 

As  to  what  you  say,  that  this  doctrine  is 
uncharitable :  I  answer  it  is  not,  nay ,  I  aflfirm  it 
to  be  the  reverse  :  for  is  it  not  charity  to  publish 
what  the  word  of  God,  the  Creed  and  tradition 
of  all  ages  obliges  us  to  think  concerning  salva- 
tion out  of  the  Catholic  and  undivided  commu- 
nion ?  Is  it  not  charity  to  put  them  in  mind 
that  no  religion  is  safe  to  any  one,  because  he 
and  his  friends  were  bred  up  in  it,  because  it 
suits  best  with  his  interest,  and  is  the  prevailing 
religion  of  the  place  ?  Was  it  not  charitable  in 
St.  Luke  to  tell  us,  "  that  the  Lord  added  daily 
to  the  church."  Acts  ii.  47,  in  one  undivided 
communion,  "such  as  should  be  saved?"  In 
like  manner,  is  it  not  charity  in  us  to  declare 
openlj',  that  people  cannot  be  saved  without 
baptism,  nor  without  keeping  the  command- 
ments ?  for  in  all  this  we  declare  nothing  from 
ourselves,  but  from  the  word  of  God.  True 
charity  always  was,  and  always  will  be,  unknown 
practically,  to  those  who  want  it.  Wicked  men 
think  it  highly  uncharitable  to  have  their  pleas- 
ures disturbed  by  the  unwelcome  news  of  death 
and  hell.  Can  any  thing  appear  more  unchari- 
table to  infidels,  or  unbelievers,  than  these  words 
of  charity  itself:  "he  who  believes  not  shall  be 
damned?"  St.  Mark  xvi.  16.  And  will  not 
heretics  always  think  these  words  of  our  Saviour 
Christ  uncharitable:  "he  that  will  not  hear  the 
church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  a  heathen  or 
publican."  Mat.  xviii.  17.  But  must  not  saving 
truth  be  told,  because  we  are  pretty  sure  before 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


45 


hand  that  it  will  not  be  believed  ?  Must  charity 
neglect  its  duty,  because  heresy  is  deaf?  True 
charity  flatters  not,  nor  does  it  invent  new  ways 
to  heaven,  but  does  all  it  can  to  help  all  thither 
according  to  the  old  way,  the  only  wa}'.  On 
which  account  it  admonishes,  proves,  and  en- 
deavors to  convince  all  people  of  the  mistakes 
and  errors  in  which  they  are  engaged.  And  it 
is  plain  to  the  world,  that  this  is  what  the  priests, 
and  preachers  of  the  Catholic  church  have  con- 
tinuall)'  done,  even  to  the  loss  of  thousands  and 
thousands  of  their  lives  :  so  that  this  very  charge 
of  uncharitableness  against  us,  is  not  groundless 
and  weak,  but  is  itself  uncharitable  in  a  high 
degree. 

Q.  But  does  not  the  Scripture  say,  that  a 
remnant  of  all  religions  shall  be  saved  ? 

A.  No,  the  Scripture  no  where  says  so.  But 
men  who  are  resolved  to  live  and  die  in  error, 
will  never  want  a  text  for  it.  The  prophet 
Isaiah,  it  is  true,  says,  that  a  remnant  only  of 
the  Jews  was  to  return  from  Babylon.  Isa.  x. 
20,  21,  22.  And  St.  Paul,  quoting  these  words 
of  Isaiah,  tells  us,  "  though  the  number  of  the 
children  of  Israel  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  a 
remnant  (that  is  a  small  part  of  themj  shall  be 
saved."  Rom.  ix.  27.  Which  remnant  the 
apostle  himself  explains  of  such  of  the  Jewish 
nation  as  at  that  time,  by  entering  into  the 
cliurch,  were  saved  by  God's  grace.  Rom.  xi.  5. 
But  what  relation  has  this  to  the  saving  of  a 
remnant  of  all  religious,  of  Christians,  Jews, 
Turks,  and  Pagans;  which  even  Protestants 
themselves  in  the  i8th  of  the  39  articles  say, 
"  they  are  to  be  had  accursed  who  presume  to 
say,  that  every  man  shall  be  saved  by  the  law 
or  sect  which  he  professeth,  so  that  he  be  diligent 
to  frame  his  life  according  to  that  law  and  light 
of  nature,"  etc.     Art.  18. 

Q.  You  satisfied  me  as  to  those  points,  that 
all  who  are  actually  and  visibly  members  of 
Christ's  Church,  ought  to  believe  the  doctrine 
that  he  taught ;  and  also  obey  the  authority  he 
has  placed  over  them :  but  you  say  nothing  to 
two  other  matters,  viz. :  How  any  human  power 
can    presume  to    impose   creeds,  and  forms   of 


belief  upon  the  members  of  Christ's  Church 
methinks  as  to  this,  every  one  ought  to  be  at 
liberty  in  regard  of  particular  articles  :  is  it  not 
sufficient  to  believe  the  gospel  in  general,  with- 
out troubling  one's  self  about  this  or  that 
opinion  ?  Besides,  the  whole  bod}'  of  revealed 
religion,  contains  an  endless  number  of  articles, 
which  the  greatest  part  of  Christ's  members 
are  never  acquainted  with,  and  by  consequence 
they  can  give  no  assent  to  them.  Again, 
where  is  there  any  obligation  of  submitting  to 
this  or  that  person,  who  pretends  a  commission 
to  oversee  and  govern  Christ's  Church? 

A.  We  find  by  daily  experience,  that  a  great 
many  take  the  liberty  to  expound  the  gospel 
truths  according  to  their  own  meaning,  and  by 
this  method  have  denied  many  of  those  revealed 
articles  which  were  delivered  by  God,  and  neces- 
sary to  be  believed,  to  support  his  veracity, 
and  promote  virtue,  so  that  there  is  scarce 
one  article  of  the  Christian  religion,  but 
what  has,  by  some  heretic  or  other,  been 
questioned,  and  flatly  denied.  To  obviate  this 
inconvenience,  it  was  reqi:isite  to  prepare  an 
antidote  to  expel  the  poison ;  which  was,  by 
giving  the  true  meaning  of  God's  laws,  and 
obliging  those  that  were  members  of  Christ's 
Church,  to  make  a  profession  of  such  articles 
as  were  necessary  to  support  the  fabric,  and 
preserve  the  Church  from  ruin.  And  whose 
business  was  it  to  speak  of  this  matter,  but 
theirs,  who  were  appointed  by  Christ  to  govern 
his  Church  ?  As  to  what  you  allege,  concern- 
ing the  vast  number  of  revealed  articles,  which 
can  neither  be  known,  nor  distinctly  assented 
to,  by  every  member,  you  seem  to  mistake  the 
case :  every  one  is  called  upon  to  give  his 
assent  according  to  his  knowledge  and  capa- 
city, whereby  it  happens  that  a  more  explicit 
belief  and  obedience  to  more  articles  is  found 
in  some  than  in  others,  though  all  are  alike 
disposed  to  admit  of  every  article,  when  dis- 
tinctly known  and  proposed.  And  in  this  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  authority  observe  the 
same  method,  every  subject  is  not  acquainted 
with  all    the    laws    of  a  nation ;  yet  a  subject 


46 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


is  supposed  to  obey  them  all  when  it  is  required 
of  him. 

Q.  So  that  you  place  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  and  the  civil  power  upon  the  same 
footing  as  to  obedience,  and  by  consequence 
that  Christians  are  as  much  obliged  to  sub- 
scribe to  forms  of  belief,  as  subjects  are  to  a  form 
of  human  laws. 

A.  The  difference  is  not  very  great ;  only 
that  of  the  authority  of  the  Church,  is  more 
conspicuous,  more  necessary,  and  better  recom- 
mended in  the  Scriptures ;  because  the  Church 
is  an  universal  establishment,  under  which  the 
g;reat  concern  of  salvation  is  carried  on,  and 
therefore  Christ  founded  it  himself  in  person,  and 
promised  to  guard  it  against  all  enemies,  to 
which  purpose  he  bestowed  several  privileges 
upon  the  governors. 

Q.  What  are  those  privileges  that  Christ's 
Church  enjoys,  which  cannot  be  claimed  by  any 
civil  powers  ? 

A.  The  first  is  to  be  judge  in  all  spiritual 
causes,  viz. :  that  belong  to  faith,  in  expound- 
ing the  law :  according  to  that  of  the  prophet 
Malachi,  "  the  priest's  lips  shall  keep  knowl- 
edge, and  they  shall  seek  the  law  at  his 
mouth."  Chap.  ii.  7.  And  our  Saviour  Christ 
says,  "  he  that  hears  you  hears  me ;  and  he 
that  despises  you  despises  me."  Luke  x.  16. 
Again,  "  he  that  will  not  hear  the  Church,  let 
him  be  to  thee  as  a  heathen  or  a  publican." 
Matt.  xvii.  17.  And  such  are  they,  who  will 
not  believe  the  teaching  or  doctrine  of  the 
Church.  The  second  is  infallibility.  The  third 
is  perpetuity. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  the  Church  of  Christ  to 
be  infallible  ? 

A.  St.  Paul  assures  us,  that  "  she  is  the 
pillar  and  ground  of  truth."  i  Tim.  iii.  15. 
Now  if  she  be  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth, 
she  must  in  her  pastors  and  prelates  be,  to 
all  Christians,  according  to  the  promise  of 
Christ,  a  sure  and  infallible  guide  in  deciding 
controversies  of  religion.  And  he  assures  us, 
that  "  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
her."     Matt.  xvi.  18.     Again,  "I  will  ask  the 


Father,  and  he  will  give  you  another  paraclete, 
that  he  may  abide  with  you  for  ever,  the  spirit 
of  truth :  he  shall  teach  you  all  things  and 
suggest  all  things  unto  you."  Jo.  xiv.  16,  26. 
"He  has  given  us  pastors  and  teachers  for 
the  perfecting  of  the  saints  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of 
Christ  till  we  all  meet  in  the  unity  of  faith, 
that  we  henceforth  be  no  more  children  tost  to 
and  fro,  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of 
doctrine  by  the  craftiness  of  men."  Eph.  iv. 
II,  12,  13.  All  which,  though  much  more 
might  be  added  from  the  holy  Scriptures, 
together  with  the  article  of  our  Creed,  "  I 
believe  the  holy  Catholic  Church,"  gives  us 
assurance  above  all  exception,  that  God's  Church 
cannot  err;  if  she  should,  the  gates  of  hell 
would  certainly  prevail  against  her ;  she  would 
not  be  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth,  neither 
would  the  spirit  of  truth  nor  Christ,  abide 
with  her  pastors  for  ever ;  neither  would  any 
be  obliged  to  hear  and  obey  her  as  Christ 
requires,  under  pain  of  damnation.  "He  that 
will  not  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be  to  thee 
as  an  heathen  or  a  publican."  Matt,  xviii.  17. 
Neither  would  there  be  any  certain  means  to 
know  truth  from  falsehood,  could  she  err ; 
whom  could  we  consult  or  rely  on  in  matters 
of  faith?  what  assurance  can  we  have  of  our 
religion,  of  all  mysteries  of  our  belief,  of  holy 
Scriptures  and  what  else  concerns  our  salvation, 
could  she  err  ?  and  would  not  Christ's  order 
of  treating  as  heathens  and  publicans,  those 
who  disobey,  and  the  Church's  punishments  be 
unjust,  could  she  err?  and  what  can  we  think 
of  those  who  teach  that  the  Church  may  err, 
and  has  erred,  who  persecute  severely  those, 
(though  they  themselves,  even  according  to 
their  own  tenet,  may  be  in  error)  who  cannot 
subscribe  to  their  erroneous  doctrine  against 
the  belief  of  all  the  fathers,  councils,  creeds. 
Scripture,  and  of  all  the  faithful  in  all  ages ; 
believing,  professing,  and  teaching  that  the 
Church  cannot  err  ? 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  the  perpetuity,  or  per- 
petual   continuance   of  the   Church   of  Christ  ? 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


47 


A.  From  several  plain  texts  of  Scripture,  in 
whicli  it  is  promised  or  foretold,  that  the  Church 
or  kingdom  established  by  Christ  shall  stand 
to  the  end  of  the  world.  "  Behold  I  am  with 
yon  to  the  end  of  the  world,"  says  our  Saviour 
Christ.  Matt,  xxviii.  20.  "  They  shall  fear 
thee,"  says  the  psalmist,  "  as  long  as  the  sun 
and  moon  endure  throughout  all  generations." 
Ps.  Ixxii.  5.  And  the  prophet  Daniel  tells  us, 
that  the  Church  of  Christ  shall  never  be  de- 
stroyed, but  that  it  shall  stand  for  ever.  Dan. 
ii.  44.  Again,  as  we  believe  in  the  Creed ;  so 
every  article  thereof  must  be  always  true, 
therefore  there  must  always  be  a  holy  Catholic 
Church. 

Q.  You  have  satisfied  me  as  to  this  point, 
but  let  me  hear  what  proofs  you  can  bring  of 
the  Church  of  Christ  being  always  visible  and 
known  ? 

A.  I  can  prove  it  from  many  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture, as  from  the  fifth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew, 
verse  14,  where  our  blessed  Saviour  compares 
it  to  a  city  placed  upon  a  hill  which  cannot 
be  hid.  Now,  it  is  certain,  nothing  can  be 
more  conspicuous  or  visible,  than  a  city  placed 
upon  a  mountain.  The  prophet  Daniel  calls 
it,  "  a  g^eat  mountain  which  fills  the  whole 
earth."  Dan.  ii.  35,  44.  The  prophet  Isaiah 
calls  it  a  mountain  on  the  top  of  mountains," 
and  says,  that  "  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it." 
Isa.  ii.  2.  Besides,  how  can  the  universal 
Church  of  Christ  be  invisible  or  unknown ; 
since  she  shall  always  profess  her  faith,  and 
the  terms  of  her  communion,  and  having  min- 
isters preaching,  baptizing,  and  administering 
the  sacraments :  these  are  all  outward  and 
sensible  actions,  which  are  inconsistent  with 
an  invisible  society  of  men.  Therefore  the 
Church  of  Christ  must  of  necessity  be  always 
visible,  and  not  invisible  as  some  would  have 
it,  upon  account  of  their  being  convinced  that 
there  were  none  of  their  religion,  or  way  of 
thinking,  to  be  seen  or  heard  of  in  the  world 
about  two  hundred  years  ago. 

Q.  I  need  not  ask  what  is  meant  by  the 
Church,  the  nature  of  the  thing  requiring  that 


it  should  be  understood  principally  of  the  supe- 
riors who  govern.  But  there  may  be  some  diflB- 
culty  in  finding  out  this  Church,  since  there 
are  so  many  different  congregations  who  pretend 
to  it.  Are  there  no  visible  marks  whereby  it 
may  be  known ;  otherwise  the  ignorant  part 
of  mankind  will  be  at  a  loss  for  a  director. 
They  are  not  capable  of  discussing  every  point 
in  particular,  and  even  the  learned,  when  they 
rely  upon  that  method  to  find  out  truth,  run 
into  a  thousand  errors  and  absurdities.  It 
seems  requisite  therefore,  that  the  Church  estab- 
lished by  Christ,  should  be  undeniably  conspic- 
uous, by  certain  tokens  and  marks,  which  can- 
not be  applied  to  any  other  congregation  ? 

A.  Providence,  and  the  particular  goodness 
of  God,  hath  taken  care  of  all  these  matters, 
to  the  full  conviction  and  satisfaction  of  all 
who  will  not  shut  their  eyes  at  noon-day. 
All  visible  creatures  whatever,  have  certain 
outward  marks,  whereby  they  are  distin- 
guished, and  known  from  one  another.  A 
man,  a  beast,  a  ship,  a  house,  are  known  by 
their  outward  form,  and  different  structure  of 
their  parts.  The  same  is  observable  in  moral 
beings ;  and  societies  of  men,  kingdoms,  cor- 
porations, cities,  courts  of  judicature,  families, 
etc.,  carry  many  outward  marks,  by  which 
they  are  known  from  one  another.  It  is  after 
the  same  manner  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is 
known,  which  is  a  visible  society  of  men,  upon 
whom  such  outward  marks  are  fixed,  that  none 
can  be  ignorant  of  them,  who  do  not  wilfully 
shut  their  eyes  against  them. 

Q.  Pray  give  me  a  general  notion  of  these 
outward  marks,  which  I  expect  you  will  explain 
in  particular. 

A.  The  chief  of  these  outward  marks  are 
expressed  in  the  present  article  of  the  Creed 
under  our  consideration,  viz. :  The  unity,  sanc- 
tity, universality,  and  apostolical  succession  of 
the  Church ;  the  ^last  mark  being  added  by  the 
first  general  council  of  Constantinople  ;  to  which 
may  be  added,  several  other  outward  marks, 
which  cannot  be  applied  to  any  other  society 
of  men,  namely,  miracles,  conversion  of  nations, 


48 


THE   CATHOUC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


( 


morality    of    doctrine,    obedience,    patience    in 
suffering,  martyrdom,  antiquitj^,  etc. 

Q.  These  outward  marks  make  a  good  appear- 
ance, and  plead  strongly  for  truth,  where  they 
are  found :  but  there  are  two  difficulties  that 
occur  to  me,  before  we  proceed  any  further. 
The  first  is,  how  you  will  account  for  their 
behavior,  who  stand  off,  and  are  not  convinced 
by  such  plain  proofs,  and  cannot  see  the  city 
that  is  placed  upon  a  high  hill,  nor  behold 
the  sun  that  shines  upon  them,  nor  find  out 
the  way,  wherein  fools  cannot  err  (for  such 
the  Church  of  God  is  described  to  be  in  the 
holy  Scriptures)  and  it  is  inconceivable,  that 
such  multitudes  of  men,  of  the  greatest  pene- 
tration, learning  and  zeal,  should  not  discover, 
and  own  the  Church  recommended  b}^  such 
advantageous  circumstances.  Another  difficulty 
I  have  is,  you  take  no  notice  of  the  inward  and 
more  essential  marks  of  Christ's  Church,  viz. : 
Adhering  to  God's  word,  the  true  administra- 
tion of  the  sacraments,  zeal  for  God's  glory, 
and  the  performing  of  good  works,  and  an 
innocent  life.  These  are  the  marks  whereby 
Christ's  Church  is  to  be  known. 
.  A.  I   own    it   is   a   melancholy    reflection   to 

consider  the  blindness  and  stupidity  of  judg- 
ment which  is  occasioned  in  mankind,  through 
'^  pride,  interest,  and  the  love  of  pleasures.  Who 
can  be  but  astonished,  at  the  stupidity  of  Pharaoh, 
and  the  learned  Egyptians,  who  could  not,  or 
would  not,  discover  the  finger  of  God  in  so  many 
miracles  that  were  wrought  among  them  by  Moses 
and  Aaron  ?  What  a  thick  veil  of  darkness  was 
thrown  over  the  Jews,  when  they  would  not 
acknowledge  the  Messiah :  and  the  undeniable 
proofs  of  his  miracles  made  no  impression  upon 
them  ?  Could  there  be  a  greater  stupidity  than 
that  of  the  whole  world,  when  they  adored  stocks 
and  stones,  and  acknowledged  the  vilest  creatures 
to  be  their  Gods?  And  what  wonder  is  it,  if 
heretics  should  lie  under  the  same  infatuation, 
and  not  see  the  Church,  though  represented  to 
them  with  so  many  outward  marks?  I  say  this 
upon  a  supposition,  that  it  is  an  error  in  the 
judgment,  which  obstructs  their  sight,  though 


we  have  reason  to  think,  great  numbers,  like 
Pharaoh,  are  persuaded  that  the  hand  of  God  is 
with  the  Church,  but  other  motives  carry  their 
affections  another  way,  and  the  world  has  too 
strong  a  hold  of  them,  to  act  according  to  what 
they  think,  which  is  both  the  case  of  heretics,  as 
also  of  many  true  believers,  and  true  members 
of  God's  Church,  who,  though  fully  persuaded 
of  the  great  truths  of  the  Christian  religion,  yet 
live  directly  contrary  to  what  they  profess,  as  to 
all  particular  duties  of  a  Christian.  And  the 
stupidity  and  perverseness  of  the  will,  is  equally 
as  unaccountable  as  the  blindness  of  the  under- 
standing. The  other  difficulty  you  take  notice 
of,  is  a  plain  evasion.  Heretics  being  destitute 
of  all  visible  marks  of  being  God's  people,  have 
recourse  to  equivocal  tokens,  which  being  invisi- 
ble, cannot  distinguish  them  from  the  wicked. 
Can  the  adhering  to  God's  word  be  a  true  token 
of  truth,  if  they  pervert  the  sense  of  it  ?  The 
true  administration  of  the  sacraments  is  the 
point  in  question,  and  cannot  be  a  mark  of 
truth,  where  the  substance  of  the  ceremony  may 
be  destroyed  by  inward  indispositions.  As  for 
zeal  for  God's  glory,  and  a  pretended  innocence 
of  life,  they  may  be  all  under  a  wrong  manage- 
ment, and  the  effects  of  hypocrisy,  and  no  marks 
of  truth  in  the  regard  of  men,  God  alone  being 
able  to  make  the  discovery. 

Q.  You  have  clearly  convinced  me  that  these 
pretended  marks  of  the  true  Church,  are  not 
the  real  ones,  but  vain  subterfuges  of  heretics. 
It  remains  now,  that  you  give  a  particular  ex- 
planation of  the  marks  mentioned  in  the  Creed ; 
and  first,  what  is  meant  by  the  unity  in  Christ's 
Church? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  it  imports,  that  Christ 
established  only  one  Church  upon  earth,  not 
Churches.  And  the  Church,  in  the  general 
council  of  Nice,  held  in  the  year  325,  made  this 
unity  a  part  of  her  Creed,  I  also  believe  one 
holy  Catholic  and  apostolic  Church.  Which 
is  plainly  expressed  by  St.  Paul  to  the  Ephes- 
ians,  where  he  says,  there  is  one  body,  and  one 
spirit,  as  you  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your 
calling,    one     Lord,    one    faith,    one    baptism. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


49 


Chapter  iv.  verses  4,  5.  And  St.  John  declares, 
"  there  shall  be  one  fold,  and  one  shepherd." 
John  X.  16.  Again,  as  the  Church  of  Christ  is 
a  kingdom  which  shall  stand  for  ever,  it  must 
be  always  one:  for  every  kingdom  divided 
against  itself  is  brought  to  desolation,  and 
every  city  or  house  divided  against  itself  shall 
not  stand,  says  our  Saviour  Christ.  Matt.  xii. 
25.  It  was  upon  this  account,  that  when  the 
|Novatians  erected  a  separate  community,  St. 
Cyprian  attacked  them  in  his  book  of  the  Unity 
of  the  Church,  "  there  is,"  says  he,  "  but  one 
God,  one  Christ,  one  Church,  and  one  faith; 
unity  is  incapable  of  division ;  to  leave  this 
original  unity,  is  to  forfeit  life,  being,  and 
the  state  of  salvation."  St.  Augustine,  upon 
the  like  occasion,  attacked  the  Donatists,  who 
had  also  established  themselves  as  a  Church 
distinct  from  the  rest  of  Christians.  "  You 
are  with  us,"  says  he,  "  in  baptism,  in  the  Creed, 
and  in  the  other  sacraments  of  God ;  but  in  the 
spirit  of  unity,  and  bond  of  peace ;  lastly,  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  you  are  not  with  us."  *  For 
which  he  gives  this  reason,  "  because  they  do 
not  communicate  with  the  whole,  wheresoever  it 
is  spread."  How  then  can  any  one  without  a 
manifest  delusion,  persuade  himself  that  the 
Catholic  Church,  which  we  profess  in  the  Creed, 
is  in  more  communions  than  one  ? 

Q.  It  is  plain  to  me,  both  from  what  the 
Scriptures  declare,  and  from  the  general  design 
of  our  Saviour,  that  his  intent  was  not  to  form 
different  societies  and  governments,  much  less 
to  allow  them  to  be  divided  in  their  belief.  But 
pray  what  was  this  unity  or  union  chiefly  to 
consist  in? 

A.  Chiefly  in  these  two  points,  viz. :  To  agree 
to  the  articles  of  faith,  and  be  governed  by  the 
same  authority.  Hence  the  faithful  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  are  described  to  be  in  one  heart, 
and  one  soul.  Chap.  iv.  32.  St.  Paul  says 
they  are  to  mark  those  who  study  to  make 
divisions,  and  do  not  follow  the  doctrine  deliv- 
ered to  them. 

Q.  I    shall    not   trouble  you  with   inquiring 

*  L.  de  Unst.  Eccles.  Cap.  4. 
4 


how  the  faithful  can  all  believe  the  same  articles ; 
I  know  you  will  tell  me,  that  upon  account  of 
their  capacities  and  circumstances,  some  may 
have  a  more  explicit  belief  than  others,  but  that 
all  are  equally  disposed,  in  regard  of  other 
articles  when  proposed,  and  that  no  one  ought 
to  maintain  any  doctrine,  opposite  to  what  the 
Church  teaches.  But  at  the  same  time,  when  I 
consider  the  different  opinions  and  behavior  of 
those  who  pretend  to  be  members  of  the  Church, 
I  am  not  able  to  reconcile  it  with  that  unity 
you  speak  of  What  is  that  clashing  among 
the  divines,  and  dividing  themselves  into  Thom- 
ists,  Molinists,  and  Scotists;  what  are  all  those 
religious  orders  ranged  like  different  camps  and 
armies,  and  commanded  by  generals  who  ap- 
pear to  be  of  different  opinions  and  interests  ? 
instead  of  union,  here  is  nothing  but  divisions 
and  confusion. 

A.  We  do  not  carry  the  union  to  such  a 
height,  as  to  make  the  faithful  of  one  and  the 
same  mind,  in  all  the  controversies  of  life,  but 
only  where  the  essential  points  of  religion  are 
concerned,  and  so  as  not  to  tear  the  seamless 
garment  of  Christ.  The  divisions  of  divines 
and  schoolmen,  have  no  relation  to  faith,  and 
all  their  contentions  are  carried  on,  with  a  per- 
fect submission  to  the  authority  of  the  Church. 
And  as  for  the  several  societies  of  religious 
orders,  their  particular  rules  and  practices  are 
under  the  same  regulation.  All  communities, 
both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  have  the  liberty  of 
dividing  themselves  into  different  bodies,  and 
observing  different  methods,  in  private  economy, 
without  encroaching  upon  the  rights  of  the 
supreme  power,  to  which  they  owe  obedience 
or  any  danger  of  becoming  either  rebels  or 
heretics ;  nor  is  it  any  breach  of  unity,  to ! 
use  a  different  dress,  different  language,  or  be 
of  different  interests  in  regard  of  property,  or 
of  different  opinions  in  matters  foreign  to  faith, 
provided  they  refuse  not  communion  in  the 
same  places  of  worship,  nor  maintain  any  articles 
inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Church. 

Q.  If  these    marks   are    peculiar  to  any  one 
society  of  men,  such  as  observe  this  unity  bid 


50 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


fair  for  the  claim  of  being  Christ's  Church ; 
but  why  are  they  not  applicable  to  those 
societies,  which,  since  the  Reformation,  are 
separated  from  the  Church  of  Rome? 

A.  It  is  evident  to  any  considerate  person, 
that  no  sect  or  body  of  men,  separated  from 
the  Church  of  Rome,  can  ascribe  to  them- 
selves any  such  marks  of  unity.  Lutherans, 
Calvinists,  the  Church  of  England,  Anabap- 
tists, Quakers,  and  the  other  sects,  almost  with- 
out number  though  they  are  in  a  perfect  union 
in  their  attacks  against  the  Church  of  Rome, 
yet  they  are  divided  among  themselves,  not 
only  in  indiflferent  matters,  but  in  the  two 
essential  points  of  faith  and  obedience.  They 
erect  chair  against  chair,  refuse  communion, 
frequent  not  the  same  places  of  worship ;  they 
are  under  no  regulation,  as  to  belief,  every 
one  striking  out  a  scheme  from  the  Scriptures, 
according  to  his  own  fancy.  They  have  no 
method  of  bringing  different  civil  governments 
to  a  unity  in  faith.  Every  independent  govern- 
ment in  civil  matters,  claiming  the  like  indepen- 
dency in  religpious  matters,  so  that  Babylon  and 
Jerusalem,  representing  confusion  and  unit}', 
are  the  true  emblems  of  the  pretended  reformed 
bodies,  and  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Q.  I  still  want  to  be  informed  by  what 
method  this  unity  in  Christ's  Church  is 
effected,  for  it  appears  to  be  a  diflBcult  mat- 
ter to  preserve  unity  of  faith  where  there 
are  so  many  occasions  of  contention,  and  where 
(as  we  find  by  dailj'  experience)  worldly  con- 
siderations are  so  prevailing  as  to  cause  a  rap- 
ture? 

A.  I  told  5'ou  before,  that  the  Divine  Good- 
ness had  provided  against  this  inconvenience, 
by  appointing  governors  in  his  Church,  who 
were  to  reconcile  all  differences  where  faith 
was  concerned. 

Q.  That  indeed  you  mentioned  to  me  in 
general,  but  I  want  to  be  informed  of  more 
particulars,  for  I  suppose  it  may  be  with  Christ's 
Church,  as  it  is  with  all  other  regular  societies, 
who  have  a  head  to  preside  over  them,  and 
pronounce  upon  causes  when   particular   mem- 


bers  misbehave   themselves,   and    lay  claim  to 
more  than  their  due. 

A.  You  have  touched  upon  a  point,  which 
when  duly  considered,  will  fully  instruct  you 
by  what  means  Christ  does  preserve  unity  in 
his  Church,  which  cannot  be  better  explained 
than  by  comparing  the  Church  with  a  temporal 
monarchy,  the  peace  whereof  is  preserved  by 
appointing  a  head  in  whom  the  executive 
power  is  lodged,  in  order  to  see  the  laws  of 
the  kingdom  observed.  This  method  Christ 
observed  in  forming  his  Church,  among  the 
twelve  Apostles,  who  were  fellow-laborers  in 
building  the  Church  and  propagating  the  Gos- 
pel, one  was  appointed  by  Christ  himself,  as 
we  learn  both  from  St.  Matthew,  and  ,St.  John, 
viz.:  Matt.  xvi.  i8.  St.  Peter  to  be  the  head 
of  the  rest,  and  to  stand  as  the  centre  of  unity 
when  the  Church  was  threatened  with  divisions, 
by  disobedience  of  refractory  members.  Jo. 
xxi.  15,  17.  Now  the  Church  being  established 
not  only  for  the  Apostles'  time,  or  any  set 
number  of  years;  but  for  perpetuity,  it  was 
requisite,  that  there  should  always  be  one  con- 
tinued, as  St.  Peter's  successor,  in  order  to 
preserve  the  same  unity :  and  a  person  of  this 
authority,  has  constantly  claimed  and  exercised 
the  said  supreme  supervisorship,  from  the  Apos- 
tles' time  down. 

Q.  By  this  system,  you  seem  to  lodge  the 
whole  authority  of  the  Church,  with  St.  Peter's 
successor.  I  thought  Christ  had  been  the  Lead 
of  his  own  Church.  Do  you  allow  nothing  to 
the  rest  of  the  Apostles  upon  whom  the  Church 
was  also  founded  ?  Nothing  to  all  the  bishops, 
who  were  the  Apostles'  successors  ?  Nothing 
to  general  councils,  who  represent  the  Church  ? 
Nothing  to  a  national  Church,  governed  by 
their  own  bishops  and  clergy  ?  Nothing,  in 
short,  to  temporal  princes,  who  by  divine 
appointment,  claim,  a  natural  obedience  and 
superiority  over  all  members,  both  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  ? 

A.  These  reflections  you  make,  when  justly 
applied,  confirm  what  I  have  said,  as  to  pre- 
serving of  unity  of  the  Church  ;  for  the  headship 


THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


51 


I  mentioned,  allows  every  power  the  claim 
they  can  pretend  to,  either  by  natural  or  divine 
right,  in  their  proper  district.  Christ,  who 
founded  the  Church,  is  still  the  invisible  head, 
and  governs  it  invisibly  by  his  divine  assist- 
ance, and  visibly  by  his  representatives,  who 
take  care  that  his  laws  are  duly  complied  with. 
Now,  St.  Peter  and  his  successors,  may  be 
called  the  visible  and  ministerial  heads  of  the 
Church,  while  Christ  is  the  chief  and  invisible 
head.  In  the  same  sense,  God  is  the  only 
invisible  king,  father  and  master  of  all  man- 
kind, yet,  so  that  there  are  other  visible  kings, 
fathers,  masters,  who  under  him  govern  all 
visible  societies. 

Q.  But  still  methinks,  the  rest  of  the  Apostles 
might  claim  a  power  equal  with  St.  Peter,  they 
were  priests  and  bishops  unconfined  in  their 
jurisdictions,  as  being  commanded  to  preach 
all  over  the  world. 

A.  That  they  were  priests  and  bishops,  is 
not  denied ;  but  that  they  had  the  same  power 
with  St.  Peter,  will  not  be  allowed  without  a 
distinction :  they  had  the  same  power  as  to 
the  essential  parts  of  the  sacerdotal  and  epis- 
copal character,  but  not  without  a  subordina- 
tion to  St.  Peter,  to  whom  Christ  gave  the 
charge  of  all  his  sheep;  St.  John  x.  21,  15. 
And  consequently,  of  the  Apostles  themselves, 
and  bid  him  confirm  his  brethern ;  St.  Luke 
xxii.  32. 

Q.  I  am  satisfied,  let  us  proceed  to  the  second 
mark  of  the  Church.     Why  is  it  called  holy  ? 

A.  Upon  many  accounts.  First,  because  it 
was  founded  by  Christ,  and  put  under  the 
direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  origin  of  holi- 
ness. Secondly,  the  doctrine  it  delivers,  all 
tends  towards  holiness,  viz.:  The  lessons  are 
such  as  are  agreeable  to  reason,  and  service- 
able towards  making  men  good,  and  both  good 
neighbors,  good  subjects,  and  good  Christians. 
Thirdly,  it  has  appointed  and  provided  us  with 
instruments  and  means  of  becoming  holy,  viz. : 
The  use  of  the  sacraments,  which  are  the  chan- 
nels of  grace.  Fourthly,  because  true  holiness 
is  not  to  be  found  in  any  other  society.    Fifthly, 


it  abounds  with  the  fruits  of  holiness,  even 
visible,  as  to  the  eye,  which  are  no  where  so 
conspicuous. 

Q.  Some  of  these  reasons  are  very  intelligi- 
ble, but  it  does  not  appear  they  all  answer 
your  purpose,  which  I  presume  is  to  insinuate, 
that  only  one   Church   can   lay  claim    to  holi- 


ness. 


A.  You  judge  right,  but  pray  be  pleased  to 
inform  me  wherein  I    fail    in   the  application  ? 

Q.  I  mean  the  two  last  points.  Are  all  the 
members  of  Christ's  Church  holy?  Are  there 
no  good  and  holy  persons  to  be  found,  among 
the  several  bodies  of  reformers  ?  Is  it  not  visi- 
ble to  the  eye,  that  great  numbers  of  them, 
practice  all  the  methods  of  the  gospel,  and  show 
plentiful  fruits  of  holiness,  by  their  good  works, 
and  innocent  lives  ? 

A,  I  will  endeavor  to  set  you  right,  as  to 
all  these  particulars.  First,  by  showing  you 
what  grounds  the  Church  of  Rome  has  to  claim 
the  title,  and  then  demonstate  the  unjust  pre- 
tensions of  those  who  are  divided  from  her. 
The  title  of  holy,  is  not  given  to  Christ's  Church, 
to  signify  that  all  the  members  are  hoi}',  but 
that  they  ought  all  to  be  holy,  and  that  num- 
bers in  effect  are  so ;  as,  also,  upon  account  of 
the  reasons  above  mentioned,  and  therefore,  in 
the  beginning,  all  the  faithful  were  styled 
saints,  or  holy  persons,  because,  they  made  pro- 
fession of  a  religion  truly  holy.  Now,  in  order 
to  make  good  the  first  point,  I  am  to  set 
before  you,  the  marks  of  holiness,  which  always 
were  conspicuous  in  the  Church  of  Rome, 
and  which  cannot  be  more  eflfectually  per- 
formed than  by  showing  the  conformity  it 
has,  with  what  the  gospel  requires  to  make 
men  holy.  Are  not  fasting,  prayer,  and 
alms,  the  three  great  duties  of  a  Christian, 
recommended  in  the  gospel,  as  the  means  of 
becoming  holy,  and  outward  tokens  of  a  mind 
well  disposed  towards  God ;  and  where  are  these 
practices  more  duly  performed,  than  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  ?  When  two  days  every  week, 
the  ember  days,  rogation  days,  the  eves  of  every 
feast,  with  the  forty  days  of  lent,  are  deputed  for 


52 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


fasting,  in  order  to  keep  corrupt  nature  from  com- 
mitting excess,  and  mortify  the  flesh,  that  it  may 
not  rebel  against  the  spirit  ?  By  whom  is  the 
great  work  of  prayer,  more  exactly  performed, 
and  the  words  of  the  Scripture  better  fulfilled, 
of  praying  at  all  times,  and  without  intermis- 
sion, than  by  those  who  are  constantly  employed 
in  it,  both  night  and  day,  not  only  privately 
in  their  bed  chambers,  morning  and  evening; 
not  only  on  the  Sabbath  day,  but  upon  a  great 
number  of  holy  days,  throughout  the  whole 
year;  nay,  all  the  night  long,  thousands  of 
religious  persons,  deprive  themselves  of  their 
sleep,  and  rise  at  all  hours  to  spend  the  night 
in  prayer?  Where  can  we  behold  such  monu- 
ments of  charity  to  the  poor,  both  public  and 
private,  as  have  been,  and  still  are  to  be  seen 
within  the  districts  of  the  Church  of  Rome,? 
Where  that  religion  flourishes,  every  city, 
village  and  province,  can  show  buildings, 
erected  for  the  blind,  the  lame,  the  sick,  the 
incurable,  with  not  only  a  fund  for  their  main- 
tenance, but  an  infinite  number  of  persons  em- 
ployed, for  no  other  business  but  to  take  care 
of  them  ?  Nay,  the  marks  of  holiness  are  still 
more  visible :  they  aim  at  carrying  holiness  to 
the  highest  pitch,  by  obser\'ing  what  they  are 
advised  to,  as  well  as  what  is  commanded. 
The  gospel  exhorts  us,  to  be  obedient  to  every 
living  soul,  to  deny  ourselves,  and  if  we  will 
be  perfect,  give  all  we  have  to  the  poor.  Where 
are  there  any  instances  of  this  practice,  but  in 
the  Church  of  Rome  ?  What  are  all  the  religious 
houses,  whereof  there  are  many  thousands,  but 
schools  established  for  this  purpose  ?  Are  not 
poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  holy  and 
evangelical  practices  ?  Can  there  be  a  greater 
self-denial,  than  to  submit  to  the  will  of  others  ? 
Do  not  those  who  oblige  themselves,  by 
vowing  a  single  life,  find  more  opportunities 
of  applying  themselves  to  God's  service,  than  if 
they  were  entangled  in  worldly  incumbrances  ? 
What  can  it  be  but  an  effect  of  holiness,  that 
makes  so  many  forsake  the  world,  part  with 
their  substance,  and  be  content  with  only  food 
and  raiment? 


Q.  I  cannot  deny,  but  these  tokens  of  holi- 
ness are  apparent  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  but 
they  cannot  be  accounted  a  distinguishing  mark, 
if  other  societies  do  also  lay  claim  to  them. 

A.  They  are  obliged  to  lay  claim  to  what  is 
essential  to  the  true  religion.  But  the  right 
of  their  claim  is  disputed. 

Q.  How  can  that  right  be  refused  them? 
Do  they  not  fast,  pray,  and  give  alms ;  have 
they  not  erected,  and  still  do  continue  to  erect, 
many  hospitals  for  the  poor  ?  And  though  they 
do  not  make  vows  of  poverty,  chastity  and 
obedience,  they  practise  the  substance  of  those 
pious  admonitions,  and  comply  with  them  strictly 
as  far  as  the  law  of  God  obliges  ? 

A.  There  is  a  show  of  holiness,  in  all  socie- 
ties whatever,  both  in  infidels,  Turks,  Jews,  and 
heretics ;  but  it  is  no  distinguishing  token  of 
truth,  upon  several  accounts.  First,  in  some 
societies,  those  holy  practices  are  joined  with 
many  abominable  sins,  against  the  law  of 
nature,  so  that  their  profession  is  directly 
destructive  to  holiness:  by  other  societies  they 
are  practised,  only  as  mere  ceremonies,  not  con- 
tributing towards  inward  holiness  and  by  con- 
sequence, are  only  an  equivocal  mark ;  but, 
what  is  chiefly  to  be  regarded  on  the  present 
occasion,  is,  that  the  instances  of  holiness, 
among  other  Christian  societies,  are  so  very  few, 
in  comparison  of  what  we  observe  in  the  Church 
of  Rome  that  they  are  nothing ;  and  the  Church 
of  Rome  is  left  in  full  possession  of  the  dis- 
tinguishing mark  of  holiness. 

Q.  I  will  not  dispute  the  case,  as  to  those 
societies,  whose  practices  are  directly  opposite 
to  the  law  of  nature;  it  is  pretty  plain,  holi- 
ness cannot  be  found  among  them:  but  as  for 
those  who  make  a  profession  of  observing  both 
the  law  of  nature  and  the  law  of  the  gospel 
what  hinders  them  from  the  claim  to  holiness, 
and  in  the  first  place,  do  not  they  pray  ? 

A.  Yes,  they  pray,  but  when,  and  how  ? 
What  they  do  privately  is  only  known  to 
themselves  ;  their  public  prayers  are  very  rarely 
performed ;  midnight  prayers,  are  banished  and 
ridiculed;    and  the  whole  duty  has  lain  under 


THE  CATHOLIC  REUGION  EXPOUNDED. 


53 


the  greatest  discouragement,  ever  since  the 
demolishing  of  some  thousands  of  religious 
houses,  filled  with  persons,  deputed  to  serve  God 
by  continual   prayer. 

Q.  I  own  this  had  no  good  aspect,  neither  did 
it  look  as  if  they,  who  had  a  hand  in  such 
works,  were  any  great  friends  to  prayer,  seeing 
they  destroyed  the  method  of  carrying  on  that 
duty.  But  you  cannot  deny,  what  is  visible  to 
the  eye,  I  mean  the  colleges,  hospitals,  work- 
houses for  the  poor,  and  other  pious  foundations, 
which  are  a  lasting  proof  of  their  good  disposi- 
tions, and  an  undeniable  mark  of  holiness  ? 

A.  What  is  fact,  cannot  be  denied,  nor  will  I 
presume  to  question    the  good  intention  of  the 
founders :  but,   when    some    circumstances   are 
considered,    those    pious    works    will    come    far 
short  of  answering  the  present  purpose,  or   en- 
titling their  religion  to    the  name  of  holy,  or 
making  those  foundations  a  distinguishing  mark 
in  the  way  of  holiness.     For  to  omit    that    the 
colleges  in  both  our  universities,   and    all    the 
Churches,  in  a  manner,   throughout   the  whole 
kingdom,  were  the  marks  of  other  peoples'  holi- 
ness :    did    they    not,    by  methods    contrary  to 
holiness  :  destroy  many  hundreds  of  hospitals, 
collegiate  Churches,  and  other  pious  foundations  ; 
distribute    their    lands     and    revenues,     among 
courtiers  and  flatterers,  and  load  the  nation  with 
innumerable    taxes,  for    maintaining    the  poor, 
which   formerly    were    provided    for,  by    those 
pious  foundations?     And    what    are  those   few 
establishments,  which  have  since  appeared,  to 
demonstrate     their     holiness  ?     Indeed,     while 
death   was  laying  his  hands  upon  them,  some 
have  been  willing  to  part  with  what  they  could 
no  longer  keep,  and  by  their  last  will  and  testa- 
ment,   have    ordered    some    charitable    benefac- 
tions, but    who    among    them    have    done    any 
thing    considerable     in     that     way,    either   to 
deprive     themselves      of     all,     or      part      of 
their    substance,    whilst    they    were    in    their 
bloom,  and  able  to  enjoy  what  they  had  ;  much 
less  to  forsake  the  world  personally,  retire  from 
it,  and  content  themselves  with  mere  necessaries, 
the     remainder     of    their     days?     These    are 


instances  of  holiness,  they  are  unacquainted 
with.  It  would  be  too  invidious  a  reflection,  to 
charge  the  founders  of  many  of  their  charitable 
establishments  with  worldly  and  politic  views  ; 
but  their  workhouses,  and  the  rest,  are  not  out 
of  the  reach  of  such  a  charge,  the  manner  of 
their  management,  affords  but  too  much  grounds 
to  make  such  a  reflection. 

Q.  You  have  made  so  nice  an  inquiry  into 
this  mark  of  their  holiness,  that  I  must  g^ve  up 
the  cause,  when  their  holiness  is  compared  with 
that  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  which  infinitely 
surpasses  it,  both  in  the  motives  and  extent 
of  their  charities.  But,  what  observations  do 
you  make,  as  to  their  fasting,  a  practice  recom- 
mended by  the  Scriptures  for  promoting  holiness, 
and  subduing  the  flesh  to  the  spirit ;  this  is  so 
conspicuous  in  other  Christian  societies,  espe- 
cially in  the  Church  of  England,  that  it  is  ordered 
in  their  canons  and  liturgies  ;  ember  days,  lent, 
and  occasional  fasts,  are  publicly  exhibited  in 
their  calendars  and  almanacs,  and  enforced  by 
statutes,  proclamations,  and  other  sanctions, 
both  civil  and  ecclesiastical. 

A.  I  am  apt  to  think,  those  whose  cause  you 
plead,  would  not  be  well  pleased  to  hear  3^ou 
insist  upon  this  topic,  or  to  mention  fasting  as  a 
mark  of  holiness.  The  whole  duty  of  fasting 
is  become  among  them  a  mere  politic  contrivance, 
wherein  religion,  virtue,  and  holiness,  are  not 
the  least  concerned  ;  this  evidently  appears,  both 
from  the  laws  relating  to  it,  and  the  manner  of 
practising  it. 

Q.  I  can  scarce  believe,  that  a  practice  of  that 
kind,  which  is  so  frequently  recommended,  both 
in  the  old  and  new  scriptures,  and  so  serviceable 
of  itself,  towards  the  extinguishing  of  vice,  and 
promoting  of  virtue,  can  be  so  much  misrepre- 
sented by  any  who  profess  Christianity,  as  not 
to  look  upon  it  as  a  religious  and  holy  work. 

A.  And  yet,  so  it  is,  that  fasting  is  not  only 
misrepresented,  but  it  is  neglected,  and  ridiculed 
when  practised  for  any  such  purposes,  and  as  the 
days  appointed  for  it,  are  marked  down  in  their 
calendars,  it  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  providential 
management,  that  their   tongues  shall    not  go 


54 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


together  with  their  hearts,  but  contradict  one 
another,  and  make  their  religion  destroy  itself. 
It  would  be  plain  dealing,  rather  to  expunge 
those  fasts  out  of  their  calendar,  than  let  them 
stand  there,  a  reproach  to  their  cause.  What 
precedents  do  they  find  in  the  Scriptures, 
that  fasts  are  ordained  for  encouraging 
the  breed  of  cattle,  or  augmenting  the  number 

■of  sailors,  by  employing  them  to  catch  herrings, 
etc.,  as  their  statutes  for  fasting  specify?*  The 
ancient  prophets  tell  us  it  was  ordained  for  a 
sinner's  conversion ;  our  Saviour  says,  for  expell- 
ing the  devil ;  St.  Paul  says  for  subduing  the 
flesh  to  the  spirit.  Let  reformers  view  them- 
selves in  this  glass,  and  see  whether  their  way 
of  fasting  can  be  a  mark  of  holiness.  Now,  as 
to  other  marks  of  holiness,  povert}?^,  chastity 
and  obedience,  they  are  not  only  strangers  to 
them  in  practice,  but  they  scarce  know  even  the 
meaning  of  the  words.  There  are  many  poor, 
it  is  true,  among  them,  but  it  is  always  against 
their  wills :  they  never  strip  themselves  of  all 
their  substance,  upon  a  religious  account,  or 
scarce  ever  dispose  of  any  part  of  it,  till  they 
can  keep  it  no  longer.  Chastity  lies  under  the 
greatest  discouragement,  when  they  contradict 
what  our  Saviour  taught,  and  decry  a  spiritual 
castration,  and  advise  the  ministers  of  the  Church 
to  involve  themselves  in  the  cares  of  the  flesh, 
and  break  their  promise  made  to  God,  for 
observing  virginity,  contrary  to  St.  Paul's  doc- 
trine. And,  as  for  obedience,  or  self-denial,  they 
never  could  show  one  instance  of  it :  a  general 
obedience  to  superiors,  placed  over  us  by  nature, 
or  God's  positive  law,  does  not  answer  what  is 
expected  from  us  by  self-denial,  which  specifies 
times,  places  and  persons,  when,  where,  to  whom, 
and  how  the  virtue  of  obedience  may  be  carried 
to  the  greatest  height,  by  a  voluntary  self-denial. 
Q.  Two  points  yet  remain,  wherein,  I  am  not 
^ully  satisfied.  Why  may  not  persons  be  esteemed 
hoi}'  without  these  voluntary  practices  ?     Is  it 

'not  suflBcient  to  comply  with  what  the  law  of 
nature,  and  God's  law,  has  ordained  in  such 
cases  ?     Besides,  it  does  not  appear,  that  those 

»  See  Act.  v.  Eliz.  Chap.  5. 


voluntary  practices  can  be  complied  with,  or  that 
any  vow  can  be  binding,  whereby  persons  oblige 
themselves  to  practice  them. 

A.  I  do  not  say,  but  that  persons  may  be 
holy,  by  observing  the  laws  mentioned,  but  there 
is  a  greater  appearance  of  holiness,  the  more 
zeal  persons  show,  in  observing  the  law.  Did 
not  the  Apostles  and  primitive  Christians,  excel 
others  in  perfection  ?  And,  when  persons  oblige 
themselves  by  vow,  to  perform  particular  reli- 
gious and  holy  practices,  as  those  of  renouncing 
the  things  of  this  life,  by  a  vow  of  poverty ; 
den3dng  themselves,  by  vowing  to  obey  such 
particular  persons,  and  by  renouncing  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  flesh,  by  a  vow  of  chastity ;  then 
they  may  justly  be  said  to  comply  with  the 
will  of  God  in  the  most  perfect  manner,  and  in 
this  we  place  the  marks  of  holiness.  I  will  not 
enter  into  a  detail  of  that  controversy,  how  far 
such  vows  are  lawful  and  possible  to  be  kept, 
etc.,  only  inform  j'ou  that  vows  of  particular 
good  actions,  not  commanded  either  by  the  law 
of  nature  or  the  law  of  God,  have  been  made 
as  we  read  in  the  Scriptures,  where  the}'  are 
ordered  to  be  kept.  And,  as  to  the  lawfulness 
and  possibility  of  giving  our  possessions  to 
others,  or  obliging  ourselves  to  follow  the  will 
of  others,  does  it  not  every  day  happen,  in  all 
contracts  between  man  and  man,  confirmed  by 
promise  or  oath  ?  Nor  is  there  any  special 
difl&culty  in  vowing  chastity,  unless  we  deprive 
God  of  the  power  of  preserving  it  by  his  grace  ; 
which  he  does  by  prayer,  and  other  helps 
whereby  grace  is  obtained  for  avoiding  sins  of 
the  flesh,  as  well  as  other  sins.  And,  I  believe, 
when  the  behavior  of  thousands  who  enter  into 
a  matrimonial  state,  is  looked  into,  it  will  be 
found  that  it  is  not  the  only,  nor  always  the 
most  effectual  help,  to  preserve  chastity.  Now, 
that  the  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedi- 
ence, are  practiced  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  is 
as  plain  a  fact,  as  that  they  are  religious  per- 
formances and  a  mark  of  holiness. 

Q.  There  is  one  thing  you  have  not  as  yet 
considered,  which  is  this :  I  own  all  these  per- 
formances are  outward  tokens  of  holiness,  but 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


55 


true  holiness  consists  in  the  purity  of  the  heart, 
and  such  performances  may  be  all  show,  and 
proceed  from  hypocrisy.  An  invisible  thing,  as 
holiness  is,  cannot  be  a  visible  mark  of  the 
Church. 

A.  Here  you  run  again  to  invisible  things, 
which  belong  not  to  the  present  inquiry,  which 
is  all  about  the  visible  tokens  of  that  society 
of  men,  God  has  established  upon  earth.  And, 
as  this  article  of  the  Creed  declares  his  Church 
is  holy,  we  are  to  judge  of  true  holiness,  by  the 
outward  behavior ;  which,  though  it  may  be  an 
equivocal  mark  in  particular  persons,  or  where 
there  is  a  remarkable  defect  in  the  outward 
behavior  of  any  society,  who  neglect  and  despise 
the  methods  of  becoming  holy,  yet  when  all  the 
outward  methods  of  becoming  holy,  are  pro- 
fessed and  practised  by  a  Church,  it  deservedly 
claims  the  title  of  holiness. 

Q.  We  have  dwelt  long  enough  upon  this  sub- 
ject. The  next  mark  of  the  Church,  is  Catholic, 
pray  tell  me  what  you  mean  by  that  word  ? 

A.  The  word  signifies  universal,  and  it  may 
be  considered  as  a  true  mark  of  Christ's  Church 
upon  two  accounts  :  First,  merely  attending  to 
the  name.  Secondly,  by  attending  to  the  thing 
signified. 

Q.  How  can  the  name  only  distinguish  the 
true  Church  ?  It  was  not  called  Catholic,  but 
only  Christian,  in  the  Apostles'  time.  Besides, 
how  could  it  be  Catholic  before  it  was  universal  ? 
Nor  could  universality  be  ascribed  to  it  when 
the  Apostles  were  supposed  to  make  the  Creed; 
hence,  the  word  Catholic  is  not  found  in  some 
ancient  Creeds,  as  Rufinus  tells  us.  Again, 
heretics  of  old,  st5'led  themselves  Catholics,  and 
the  modern  reformers  still  lay  claim  to  it. 

A.  The  Creed  is  as  ancient  as  the  Apostles,  and 
there  is  no  inconvenience,  if  the  Church  had  then 
the  appellation  of  Catholic,  upon  the  account  of 
the  ancient  prophets  foretelling  its  universality ; 
as  also,  because,  in  the  Apostles'  da3'S,  it  was 
preached  over  several  parts  of  the  world.  In 
some  Churches,  indeed,  there  was  some  small  dif- 
ference in  the  words  of  the  Creed,  upon  account 
of  heresies,  that  sprung  up  in  the  Apostles'  days, 


and  immediately  after,  so  that  it  was  necessary 
to  add  some  words  in  opposition  to  them ;  yet,  as 
Rufinus  observes,  no  such  alteration  in  the  Creed 
was  made  use  of  at  Rome.  However,  in  all  the 
first  ages,  the  true  Church  was  always  known  by 
the  name  Catholic,  as  it  appears  by  the  writings 
of  the  ancient  fathers.  I  own  the  Donatists,  and 
some  other  ancient  heretics,  coveted  to  be  esteemed 
and  called  Catholic,  but  St.  Austin  and  the 
orthodox  party,  showed  the  absurdity  of  their 
claim.  First,  because  the  Donatists  made  a  par- 
ticular society,  were  confined  to  Africa,  and  by 
consequence,  could  not  be  the  Catholic  or  unL 
versal  Church.  Secondly,  because  their  distin- 
guishing name  was  taken  from  those  persons  who 
were  authors  of  the  defection,  as  Montauists, 
Manicheans,  Pelagians,  Arians,  Novatians,  Dona- 
tists, etc.  Thirdly,  because  those  who  were  indif- 
ferent persons,  called  none  Catholics  but  such  as 
were  in  communion  with  the  universal  Church. 
Fourthly,  those  very  heretics  themselves,  were 
so  convinced,  that  they  had  no  right  to  that 
appellation,  that  they  seldom  called  themselves 
by  that  name  ;  and,  if  they  were  asked  to  show 
a  person  the  Church  where  Catholics  assem- 
bled, they  durst  not  point  at  their  schismatical 
meetings,  but  sent  them  to  those  who  communi- 
cated with  the  Churches  abroad.  These  are  St. 
Augustin's  reasons,*  and  may  be  applied  to 
all  the  modern  reformed  societies. 

Q.  I  see  plainly,  those  in  communion  with 
the  Church  of  Rome,  have  the  name  of  the 
true  Church,  and  that  according  to  St.  Augus- 
tin's argument,  the  name  alone,  as  it  is  cir- 
cumstantiated, is  a  mark  of  the  true  Church, 
and  I  suppose  this  was  the  reason,  why  the 
very  name  Catholic,  held  him  in  the  commun- 
ion he  was  of  But  then,  as  to  the  thing] 
signified,  how  will  you  make  it  appear,  that 
universality  belongs  to  the  Church  in  com- 
munion with  Rome  ?  What  do  you  mean  by 
universality  ?  If  universality  be  a  mark  of  the 
true  Church,  heathens,  Turks,  Arians,  Greeks, 
nay,  the  late  reformed  bodies  may  pretend  to 
lay  claim  to  it. 

•  Vide  St.  Aug.  cont.  Ep.  Fundament.  C.  41. 


56 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


A.  Universality  is  not  so  strictly  to  be  taken, 
as  to  exclude  all  other  things  in  every  kind 
and  respect,  but  only  comparatively  to  other 
societies,  and  chiefly  as  to  time,  place,  and 
doctrine ;  in  these  three  respects,  the  true 
Church  is  universal,  and  no  other.  It  flour- 
ished in  many  parts  of  the  earth,  in  every  age 
since  it  was  established,  and  the  very  same 
Creed  was  always  its  rule.  Heathens  are  not 
under  our  consideration,  but  only  those  bodies, 
who  believe  in  the  true  God,  and  were  sepa- 
rated from  the  Church  universal ;  and,  though 
heathens  might  be  called  an  universal  body,  as 
to  place,  they  were  not  so  as  to  time,  or  doc- 
trine. It  is  probable,  there  \\-ere  no  heathens 
before  the  deluge,  that  is,  for  above  1500  years, 
at  least,  among  the  sons  of  Seth ;  till  all  flesh 
had  corrupted  their  ways,  some  time  before  the 
flood.  During  that  time,  the  Church  flourished 
under  the  law  of  nature,  though  men  were 
depraved  in  their  morals.  Again,  they  were 
not  universal  as  to  doctrine,  being  divided  into 
numberless  sects,  and  paying  worship  to  dif- 
ferent gods ;  and  though  they  have  laid  claim 
to  a  great  universality  ever  since,  as  to  place, 
yet  soon  after  the  apostolic  age,  they  lost  even 
that  claim. 

Q.  But  the  Turks,  the  Arians,  and  the  Greek 
Church,  once  were,  and  still  some  are,  a  very 
spreading  body,  and  might  dispute  universality. 

A.  The  Turks  can  dispute  no  universality 
as  to  time  or  doctrine,  their  rise  was  not  till 
six  hundred  years  after  our  Saviour's  time; 
they  are  divided  in  their  faith,  and  many  large 
kingdoms  are  strangers  to  their  faith  and  dis- 
cipline. The  Arians  never  were ;  nor  at  pres- 
ent are  universal  in  any  respect :  when  they 
jwere  most  numerous,  they  came  far  short  of  the 
true  believers,  and  even  then  counted  heads  by 
fraudulent  subscriptions.  They  were  divided 
into  many  sects.  Their  rise  was  not  till  about 
three  hundred  years  after  our  Saviour's  time ; 
they  continued  not  many  years,  and  at  present 
are  almost  reduced  to  nothing.  As  for  the 
Greeks,  for  near  a  thousand  years,  they  were  not 
divided  from  the    true  Church,  and  under  her 


might  claim  universality,  as  to  time,  place  and 
doctrine.  But  upon  their  schismatical  defec- 
tion, they  lost  all  the  three  advantages,  and 
are  now  contemptible  to  the  rest  of  God's 
Church,  upon  each  account. 

Q.  I  will  leave  these,  and  the  rest  I  men- 
tioned, to  make  out  their  universality,  which  I 
find  they  can  have  no  pretensions  to,  and  come 
nearer  to  our  own  times.  Are  not  our  modern 
reformers  extended  all  over  Europe,  and  equal 
in  number  to  the  whole  body  of  those  in  com- 
munion with  Rome  ? 

A.  It  is  true,  the  number  of  pretended  re- 
formers is  greatly  increased  in  several  northern 
kingdoms ;  but  it  is  far  from  equaling  what 
may  be  found  adhering  to  the  Church  of  Rome, 
even  in  Europe.  They  reckon  the  British  do- 
minions, Holland,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  some 
principalities  in  Germany.  Those  in  com- 
munion with  Rome,  reckon  France,  Flanders, 
Spain,  and  greater  part  of  Germany,  Italy,  and 
all  the  islands  in  those  seas  ;  they  reckon  also 
Portugal,  with  their  dominions,  in  the  East  and 
West  Indies :  the  two  great  kingdoms  of  Mexico 
and  Peru;  where  they  are  all  in  communion 
with  the  Church  of  Rome,  without  any  mixture 
of  other  professions;  whereas,  in  Holland,  Ire- 
land, and  among  the  Protestant  princes  in  Ger- 
many, there  is  so  great  a  mixture,  that  in  some 
of  these  kingdoms  there  is  a  superior  number 
of  the  inhabitants  in  communion  with  the  Church 
of  Rome;  in  some  an  equal,  and  in  others  a 
number  little  inferior.  If  to  this  we  add,  that 
the  kingdoms  in  communion  with  Rome,  do  far 
exceed  the  reformers  in  power,  riches,  univer- 
sities, episcopal  sees,  and  all  the  outward  advant- 
ages and  appearances  of  an  universal  Church, 
there  is  no  room  for  making  a  comparison  as 
to  place.  But  then,  as  to  the  other  two  requi- 
sites: universality  of  time  and  doctrine,  the 
reformers  cannot  have  the  least  pretence  to 
insist  upon  them.  As  to  time,  they  appeared 
but  as  it  were  yesterday,  they  were  so  far  from 
being  universal  as  to  time  and  place,  that  for 
above  twelve  hundred  years  they  covered  not 
a  foot  of  land,  and  have  been  so  divided  as  to 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


57 


doctrine,  tliat  they  are  of  different  professions, 
and  diflferent  communions ;  so  that  their  Church 
in  no  sense  can  be  called  universal. 

Q.  But  pray  give  me  leave  to  make  one 
observation  in  their  favor,  especially  with  regard 
to  universality  of  place.  Do  they  not  possess 
several  tracts  of  land,  and  have  they  not  colonies 
abroad,  in  both  the  Indies  ? 

A.  Those  are  mere  rays  of  a  Church,  and  no 
part  of  Christ's  seamless  garment,  when  com- 
pared with  those  vast  countries,  which  are 
united  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  where  we  meet 
with  so  many  archbishoprics,  bishoprics,  par- 
ishes, and  great  numbers  of  religious  communi- 
ties, who  are  governed  regularly  by  and  under 
one  spiritual  pastor,  the  bishop  of  Rome.  What 
are  a  few  planters  of  sugar  and  tobacco,  a  strong 
fort  erected  on  the  shore,  half  a  dozen  of  tip- 
pling houses  to  entertain  sailors,  and  ware- 
houses for  their  merchandise  ?  What  is  a  consul 
residing  at  Aleppo,  at  Constantinople,  Venice, 
or  Lisbon,  in  order  to  obtain  the  name  of  an 
established,  and  universal  Church  in  those  parts, 
especially  considering,  that  they  profess  a  dif- 
ferent religion,  one  from  another,  and  are  of 
different  communions  ?  Now  the  case  is  quite 
otherwise  with  those  in  communion  with  Rome, 
who  observe  the  rule,  and  carry  the  mark  of 
universality,  mentioned  by  Vincentius  Lyrinen- 
sis,  viz.:  Professing  a  faith  that  is  the  same 
without  any  difference  in  doctrine  and  govern- 
ment. 

Q.  Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  fourth  mark  of 
the  Church,  viz.:  Apostolic.  What  is  imported 
by  that  title? 

A.  The  immediate  and  express  meaning  is, 
that  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  ought  to  have 
the  Apostles  for  its  founders. 

Q.  This  all  must  pretend  to,  because  the 
Apostles  were  the  first  builders,  employed  by 
Christ :  But  what  follows  from  hence,  in  order 
to  fix  a  distinguishing  mark  upon  the  true 
Church  ? 

A.  What  I  infer  from  thence  is,  viz.:  That  the 
true  Church  must  be  very  ancient,  viz.:  As  old 
as   the  Apos^t^es-      And    the  next  inference  is, 


that  antiquity  is  a  mark  of  Christ's  Church,  or 
that  the  society  of  true  believers  was  prior  in 
time  to  any  body  of  men  divided  from  them. 
And,  thirdly,  it  follows,  that  the  true  Church  of 
Christ  must  derive  its  succession  from  the 
Apostles. 

Q.  The  two  first  inferences  are  plain  and 
undeniable,  and  that  succession  is  also  a  mark 
of  the  true  Church,  by  what  I  have  sometimes 
observed  in  the  writings  of  Tertullian,  St.y 
Augustine,  and  other  orthodox  fathers,  who 
urged  the  antiquity  of  the  Church  ;  and  in  order 
to  prove  it,  trace  the  succession  of  the  true 
pastors  to  the  Apostles :  whereas  those  who 
were  taxed  with  novelties,  could  run  up  no 
higher  than  certain  persons,  who  first  broached 
those  errors,  since  the  Apostles'  days ;  and  to 
render  their  proof  more  plain,  and  as  it  were 
to  the  eye,  they  produce  a  list  of  the  orthodox 
bishops,  but  particularly  of  the  bishops  of  Rome, 
successors  to  St.  Peter.  But  what  I  further 
desire  is,  to  be  convinced  that  the  bishops  and 
pastors,  and  such  as  now  are  in  communion  with 
Rome,  do  succeed  the  Apostles. 

A.  This  succession  appears  by  the  catalogues 
in  every  nation,  faithfully  preserved,  of  all  the 
kings,  popes,  archbishops,  bishops,  etc.,  who,  in 
all  parts  of  the  world,  have  governed  every 
kingdom,  and  diocese,  and  constantly  professed 
what  their  ancestors  taught,  and  practised.  I 
shall  not  run  abroad  into  foreign  nations,  but 
only  observe,  how  the  succession  was  carried  on, 
in  the  British  Isles,  and  some  neighboring 
countries ;  France,  Spain,  Italy,  Germany, 
Poland,  Hungary,  Denmark,  Swedeland,  etc., 
can  produce  lists  of  their  kings  and  bishops,  ' 
from  their  first  conversion  to  Christianity,  with- 
out any  interruption,  all  living  in  communion 
with  Rome,  till  some  dropped  off,  upon  Luther 
and  Calvin's  appearing.  As  for  the  British 
dominions,  the  reformers  themselves  own,  and 
Catholic  writers  have  demonstrated  from  public 
records,  and  the  histories  and  writings  of  every 
age,  that  every  king,  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  so  respectively,  that  every  bishop  and 
learned  man  lived  in    communion  with  Rome, 


58 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


and  made  profession  of  the  Romisli  faitli ;  from 
Henry  the  VIII's  reign  upwards  for  five  hun- 
dred 3'ears,  to  the  Norman  conquest.  The  same 
unity  of  doctrine,  and  Church  government,  is 
owned  by  the  reformers ;  and  proved  in  the 
same  manner,  by  Catholic  writers :  as  to  the 
Saxon  monarchs,  and  during  the  heptarchy, 
from  the  conquest,  till  the  Saxons  were  con- 
verted from  Paganism,  which  comprises  about 
five  hundred  years.  So  that  there  is  an  un- 
contested succession  of  the  Church,  in  com- 
munion with  Rome,  for  a  thousand  years  with- 
out an}'  interruption.  As  to  the  British  Church, 
it  lay  under  great  oppression  after  its  first 
establishment,  the  latter  end  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, by  the  Roman  governors,  the  Dioclesian 
persecution,  the  Picts  invasion,  and  Saxon 
usurpation,  who  being  all  Pagans,  gave  a  dis- 
turbance to  the  succession ;  yet  as  far  as  their 
imperfect  records  are  able  to  inform  us,  we  have 
an  account  of  several  of  their  princes,  bishops, 
and  monk",  who  lived  in  communion  with  Rome, 
and  professed  the  same  faith  with  the  universal 
Church  abroad,  and  joined  with  the  Saxons  upon 
their  conversion. 

Q.  I  cannot  see  any  way  reformers  can  have 
to  refuse  this  mark  of  apostolical  succession ; 
and  therefore  they  endeavor  to  evade  the  force 
of  the  argument,  by  rendering  the  mark  of 
antiquity  insignificant.  Hence  they  distinguish, 
between  a  personal  and  doctrinal  succession. 
The  first,  they  sa}',  is  not  material,  because  a 
personal  succession  maj?^  be  continued  by  intrud- 
ers, and  false  teachers ;  whereas  a  doctrinal  suc- 
cession is  made  out,  by  showing  a  conformity 
of  doctrine,  with  the  Scriptures,  the  primitive 
pure  ages,  at,  and  soon  after  the  Apostles'  time, 
as  also  by  adhering  to  such  as  had  an  apos- 
tolic spirit,  and  undertook  to  reform  the  Church, 
this  makes  it  apostolic. 

A.  This  doctrine,  between  a  personal  and 
doctrinal  succession,  is  a  mere  evasion,  and  in 
itself  a  contradiction  :  there  cannot  be  a  quality, 
without  a  subject  of  adhesion ;  nor  a  doctrine 
conveyed,  without  hands  to  convey  it ;  so  that 
what  you  call  a  succession  of  doctrine,  supposes 


a  succession  of  persons.  I  own,  a  personal  suc- 
cession only,  is  not  a  sufficient  mark  of  truth, 
for  the  reasons  you  insinuate  ;  but  other  cir- 
cumstances are  required,  to  show  that  the  per- 
sons are  not  innovators  ;  but  then  a  succession 
of  doctrine  is  unintelligible,  when  conveyances 
are  wanting. 

Q.  I  do  not  see,  that  such  a  succession  of 
doctrine  is  unintelligible,  (though  I  own  it  is 
very  improperly  called  succession,  for  want  of 
persons  to  convey  it)  yet,  at  the  same  time,  if 
the  doctrine  is  conformable  to  the  Scriptures, 
•  to  the  faith  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  primitive 
ages,  it  may  truly  be  called  apostolical  in  the 
sense  of  the  article. 

A.  By  this  method  of  appealing  to  Scriptures, 
etc.,  all  heretics,  whatever,  may  have  a  pretence 
of  justifying  their  innovations;  and  it  was  the 
method  they  made  use  of  in  every  age,  when 
they  appeared.  The  Marcionists,  Manicheans, 
Ariaus,  Donatists,  etc.,  constantly  appealed  to 
the  Scriptures,  and  had  passages  ready  to  allege 
in  defence  of  every  error  they  maintained.  But 
how  did  Tertullian,  St.  Epiphanius,  St.  Augus- 
tine, and  the  rest  of  the  orthodox  fathers,  pro- 
ceed against  them  ?  They  owned  the  Scriptures 
were  a  good  rule,  for  inquiring  into  the  truth, 
but  could  not  be  a  judge  in  the  case;  if  either 
any  of  the  books  were  rejected,  or  erroneously 
expounded ;  and  therefore,  they  ,  urged  the 
authority  of  the  Church,  which  was  commis- 
sioned to  determine  these  matters.  They  pro- 
duced catalogues  of  bishops,  and  ancient  fathers, 
to  give  testimony  of  what  was  the  true  sense 
of  the  Scriptures.  They  called  upon  heretics  to 
name  the  persons  who  had  handed  down  their 
errors,  from  the  Apostles ;  now  if  ancient  here- 
tics, who  lived  so  near  the  times  of  the  Apostles, 
were  at  a  loss  upon  this  account ;  how  can 
modern  reformers,  make  out  their  succession, 
after  so  many  ages  of  interruption,  or  what 
pretence  can  they  have  of  justifying  themselves 
who  have  no  arguments  to  urge,  but  what  all 
heretics  made  use  of,  viz.:  Appealing  to  Scrip- 
tures, expounded  according  to  their  own  private 
judgment?     As  for  the  noise  they  make  abort 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


59 


the  primitive  and  pure  ages,  which  they  pretend 
to  follow ;  they  can  have  no  claim,  either  to  the 
doctrine  or  discipline  of  those  times,  and  there- 
fore, they  refuse  to  stand  by  any  such  evidence, 
but  appeal  both  from  fathers  and  councils  to 
the  word  of  God. 

Q.  I  own  the  want  of  personal  succession  is 
a  great  inconvenience ;  and  therefore,  some  of 
the  reformers  have  attempted  to  avoid  it,  and 
to  this  purpose,  have  offered  a  list  of  persons, 
through  whose  hands  the  truth  has  been  con- 
veyed to  them,  viz.:  The  Albigenses  in  France, 
the  Hussites,  in  Bohemia,  and  the  Wickliffeites 
in  England ;  who  were  forerunners  of  the 
Reformation,  and  held  out  a  light  for  Luther 
and  Calvin,  etc. 

A.  What  can  this  chain  of  a  few  broken  links, 
eifect  to  their  purpose?  Can  it  reach  through 
so  many  ages  as  is  required  ?  Or  can  the 
reformers  with  all  their  skill,  join  the  links 
together  ?  The  defects,  which  may  be  observed 
in  this  pretended  succession,  plainly  shows  the 
desperateness  of  the  defence  :  I  will  only  men- 
tion some  of  them.  Those  pretended  successors 
of  the  Apostles  were  heretics,  condemned,  by 
the  universal  Church  at  that  time.  They  did 
not  immediatelj''  succeed  one  another,  there 
being  a  gap  of  some  ages  between  them.  They 
had  no  comirunication,  but  lived  in  different 
places,  and  at  different  times.  They  varied  in 
essential  points  from  each  other.  *  They  were 
only  a  few  ignorant,  obstinate  persons,  without 
government,  bishops,  or  pastors,  and  a  mere 
mob;  and  in  open  rebellion  against  the  lawful 
powers  under  whom  they  lived.  In  fine,  they 
were  all  reduced  to  nothing,  long  before  the 
Reformation,  and  innovation  of  Luther  and 
Calvin;  and  therefore,  could  not  be  their  im- 
mediate predecessors,  as  to  time,  much  less  as 
to  doctrine  ;  their  tenets  being  directly  opposite 
to  the  Refonnation,  in  many  essential  points; 
(and  this  kind  of  succession,  can  be  no  more 
prejudicial  to  the  claim  of  God's  Church,  than 
a  list  of  rebels  can  be  prejudicial  to  the  royal 
succession  of  kings,  if  by  beginning  with  Oliver 

*  See  Mons.  Bossuet's  Hist,  of  the  Variat,  h.  1 1. 


Cromwell,  a  catalogue  should  be  made  of  all 
the  rebels,  that  opposed  the  crown,  in  every 
reign  since  the  conquest. 

Q.  I  own  these  are  but  scandalous  and 
dirty  channels,  for  conveying  the  waters  of 
life,  and  the  reformers  appear  to  have  dug 
themselves  cisterns,  which  cannot  hold  them. 
But  they  have  still  another  way  of  maintain- 
ing their  succession :  they  might  lurk  invis- 
ibly in  the  body  of  the  universal  Church,  and 
as  they  received  the  Scriptures  with  all  the 
necessary  points  of  the  Christian  religion, 
excepting  the  additional  articles,  and  super- 
stitious practices  of  the  Church  of  Rome ;  they 
might  claim  a  succession  through  that 
channel. 

A.  The  more  the  reformers  struggle,  the 
more  they  are  entangled.  Was  there  ever  any 
system  more  inconsistent  with  itself,  and  more 
absurd  in  all  its  consequences  ?  A  system 
destructive  to  all  government,  both  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  ;  a  system,  that  opens  a  gap  to 
rebellion,  disobedience,  schism,  and  heresy ; 
and  puts  it  in  the  power  of  any  body  of 
men,  or  even  single  persons,  to  justify  their 
defection,  both  in  Church  and  State.  And,  in 
the  first  place,  what  proofs  are  there  of  this 
invisible  state  of  the  Church?  Would  it  not 
be  a  madness  to  pretend,  there  is  now  an 
invisible  army  of  Spaniards,  lurking  in  our 
kingdom,  without  any  further  proof?  But,  as 
they  cannot  be  serious  upon  this  point,  as  it 
imports  a  total  invisibility,  they  have  recourse 
to  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  as 
the  channels  of  truth,  and  chain  of  their 
succession.  And  pray,  how  was  this  ?  Why, 
during  those  ages,  wherein  the  reformers  were 
destitute  of  a  regular  succession  of  pastors ; 
this  want  was  supplied  by  popish  pastors,  who 
during  all  those  ages,  are  to  be  conceived  as 
monsters,  consisting  of  two  opposite  natures ; 
half  papists,  and  half  reformed  clergy :  if  con- 
sidered as  holding  all  the  points  essential  to 
Christ's  Church,  they  were  reformers  and  con- 
tinued the  succession  as  true  pastors.  If  con- 
sidered   as    practising,    holding   and   imposing, 


6o 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    EXPOUNDED. 


additional  articles  contrary  to  the  gospel,  tliey 
were  false  teachers,  and  in  that  respect,  had 
no  succession  from  the  Apostles.  Now,  reform- 
ers claim  their  succession  under  the  first  con- 
sideration, and  allow  popish  teachers  to  have 
been  the  channel  through  which  passed  all 
the  essentials  of  the  true  religion ;  but  now, 
observe  the  circumstances  of  this  whimsical 
succession.  Is  not  the  true  faith,  as  much 
destroyed  by  additional  articles,  as  by  subtract- 
ing from  them?  If  the  popish  pastors,  during 
several  ages,  imposed  additional  articles,  incon- 
sistent with  the  true  faith,  they  could  not  be 
orthodox  teachers.  No  man  can  act  lawfully 
without  a  commission,  and  what  commission 
can  false  teachers  give,  who  are  themselves 
without  commission  ?  But,  the  absurdity  of 
this  plea,  will  appear  further,  when  the  late 
reformers  fly  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  for  their 
consecration,  episcopal,  and  sacerdotal ;  such  as 
suflBciently  qualifies  them  to  preach  and  govern 
the  Church.  For  in  the  first  place,  few  of 
them  ever  pretended  to  this  consecration,  being 
neither  bishops,  nor  priests ;  others  cannot 
make  out  their  consecration,  and  scarce  any  of 
them  esteem  that  consecration  to  be  necessary. 
But  of  what  advantage  is  consecration,  in  case 
thej'  could  be  favored  with  it  ?  The  ancient 
heretics,  viz. :  Arians,  Donatists,  Pelagians, 
etc.,  received  the  orders  of  espiscopacy,  and 
presbytery,  from  orthodox  pastors,  but  this 
gave  them  no  authority,  to  teach  heretical 
doctrine :  and  though  both  they,  and  the  late 
reformers,  receive  the  Scriptures  from  the  ortho- 
dox part}',  they  are  not  well  qualified  thereby,  to 
expound  it  in  their  owtq  sense.  Those  who  laid 
hands  upon  them,  gave  them  no  such  com- 
mission, but,  on  the  contrary,  obliged  them  to 
submit  to  the  powers  that  ordained  them,  both 
as  to  jurisdiction,  or  doctrine. 

Q.  After  all,  I  do  not  see  why  pastors,  suffi- 
ciently qualified  by  ordination,  parts,  learning, 
and  zeal,  may  not  have  a  right  of  reforming 
the  church,  when  those  who  consecrated  them, 
neglect  their  duty,  which  was  the  pretended  case 
of  the  reformers,  in  these  latter  times.     No  com- 


mission is  required  to  pferform  good  actions  ;  the 
law  and  the  gospel,  gives  every  man  a  commis- 
sion in  those  circumstances ;  so  that  all  the 
noise  about  succession,  is  little  to  the  purpose. 

A.  You  now  touch  the  heart  of  the  cause,  and 
the  plea  has  a  plausible  appearance,  but  it  lays 
open  the  nakedness  of  the  pretended  reforma- 
tion, in  all  its  parts.  The  thing  signified  by 
reformation,  is  making  things  better.  Now  the 
character,  parts,  and  zeal,  are  very  useful  quali- 
fications ;  yet  they  are  not  suflScient,  without 
other  ingredients.  We  are  to  inquire  into  their 
power,  what  it  is  that  wants  reformation  ?  Their 
motive,  the  effects,  etc.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to 
cry  out  reformation,  reformation :  but,  in  the 
first  place,  who  were  to  be  reformed  ?  In  what 
were  they  to  be  reformed  ?  Who  undertook  to 
reform  ?  What  motive  had  they  ?  What  was 
their  method  ?  Did  they  actually  reform  the 
faith  of  the  Church  ?  This  I  will  inquire  into, 
through  each  particular ;  they  pretend  to  reform 
those  to  whom  Christ  had  given  a  special  com- 
mission to  govern  and  reform  others,  and  to 
whom  he  had  given  frequent  promises  of  his 
assistance,  that  they  should  always  teach  the 
truth ;  so  that  there  could  be  no  occasion  for  the 
reformation,  unless  Christ  broke  his  promise. 
Thej'  pretend  to  reform  the  Church,  in  matters 
of  faith,  and  points  of  discipline.  As  to  the 
first,  there  could  be  no  occasion  for  it  since 
Christ  has  promised  in  the  i6th  chapter  of  St. 
John,  the  28th  chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  that  he, 
and  his  holy  spirit  will  abide  with  his  Church, 
and  teach  her  all  truth  to  the  end  of  the  world, 
and  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail 
against  her ;  by  which  it  is  evident,  that  she  could 
not  err  in  matters  of  faith.  As  to  her  manners, 
if  there  was  any  occasion,  it  was  to  have  been 
done,  and  was  continually  done  in  ever}'  age,  by 
councils,  general,  national  and  provincial,  as  it 
appears  by  the  canons,  still  extant  for  that  pur- 
pose. Nor  would  our  late  reformers  have  done 
amiss,  had  they  proceeded  no  further,  and 
observed  the  usual  methods  of  reforming,  and 
shown  due  respect  to  superiors  in  the  under- 
taking.    Those  who  pretended  to  reform,  were 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


6i 


persons  of  scandalous  lives,  and  sucli  instru- 
ments as  God  never  would  make  use  of  to  carry 
on  a  good  work.  As  to  their  motives,  they  were 
avaricious,  ambitious,  sacrilegious,  carnal,  and 
rebellious  ;  opening  a  gap  to  any  private  person, 
to  reform  the  established  laws,  both  of  Church 
and  State ;  upon  a  pretence  of  errors  committed 
by  the  supreme  powers.  Now,  whether  they 
actually  did  reform  the  Church  or  no,  appears 
by  the  consequences.  The  doctrines  they  ad- 
vanced tended  to  liberty,  and  vice  ;  they  destroyed 
all  Church  authority,  and  gave  it  to  the  laity, 
contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel.  The 
denying  of  free  will,  merit  of  good  works,  con- 
fession, fasting,  and  decrying  of  voluntary  pov- 
erty, chastity,  and  obedience,  were  manifest 
oppositions  to  a  good  life  ;  destroying  pious 
foundations,  designed  for  the  poor,  and  God's 
service;  seizing  their  lands,  and  throwing  them 
away  among  debauched  court  favorites,  were  the 
very  reverse  of  a  reformation. 

Q.  In  the  next  place,  you  are  to  satisfy  me 
as  to  the  two  other  marks  of  the  Church,  viz.: 
Miracles,  and  the  conversion  of  heathenish 
nations.  And  as  to  the  first  what  is  it  you 
call  a  miracle  ? 

A.  It  is  a  surprising  work,  above  the  reach 
of  art  or  nature,  and  which  speaks  an  almighty 
power. 

Q.  A  work  of  that  kind  cannot  be  mentioned 
as  a  mark  of  truth,  upon  several  accounts. 
First,  because  jugglers  are  often  known  to 
impose  upon  men  by  tricks,  which  appear  to  be 
above  either  art  or  nature.  Secondly,  the  devil, 
and  wicked  persons  by  combination  with  him, 
do  often  perform  surprising  things,  which  fall 
not  under  the  power  either  of  art  or  nature,  that 
we  can  discover.  Thirdly,  to  make  wonderful  per- 
formances a  certain  mark  of  truth,  or  that  the 
divine  power  is  employed  in  them  ;  we  must  be 
capable  of  discerning  how  far  art  and  nature  can 
extend  in  their  productions.  Again,  heathens 
can  work  miracles. 

A.  As  to  the  first,  what  jugglers  perform  are 
easily  discovered  by  the  inquisitive  and  learned, 
as  we  find  by  experience.     As  to  the  second,  the 


devil,  it  is  true,  has  a  great  insight  into  both  art 
and  nature,  and  is  capable  of  performing  won- 
derful things,  which  we  cannot  account  for  ;  but 
there  being  many  things  he  cannot  effect,  and 
even  what  wonders  he  does  perform,  are  always 
detected,  and  proved  not  to  be  the  works  of 
divine  power.  As  to  the  third,  though  we  can- 
not dive  into  all  the  secrets  of  art  and  nature,  so 
as  to  discover  every  particular  effect,  and  form  a 
judgment,  that  it  proceeds  not  from  a  divine 
power ;  yet,  there  are  several  performances, 
which  we  are  sure  can  have  only  God  for  their 
author,  as,  namely,  raising  the  dead  to  life, 
prophesying,  or  foretelling  future  contingencies, 
and  curing  distempers,  naturally  incurable,  with- 
out any  applications  either  from  art  or  nature. 
As  for  miracles  being  performed  by  heathens, 
and  heretics,  they  were  commonly  detected  to 
be  impostures,  and  not  miracles:  and  though 
God  should  have  made  use  of  such  instru- 
ments, to  perform  miracles ;  yet  we  never  find 
he  did  it  in  confirmation  of  their  doctrine. 

Q.  What  construction  then  do  you  put  upon 
the  wonders,  performed  by  Pharaoh's  magicians, 
by  Simon  Magus,  by  Appolonius  Tyaneus,  and 
those  that  antichrist  will  perform  ?  These  are 
to  be  performed  to  confirm  the  doctrine  he  will 
teach. 

A.  Great  numbers  will  be  carried  away  by 
them,  not  merely  by  the  force  of  those  proofs, 
but  by  blindness,  and  obstinacy,  in  punishment 
of  sin:  for  God  never  permits  false  prophets 
and  magicians,  but  he  raises  up  the  workers 
of  miracles  to  oppose  them,  and  detect  their 
forgery.  Moses  and  Aaron  detected  Pharaoh's 
magicians ;  St.  Peter  detected  Simon  Magus, 
and  Enoch  and  EHas  will  confront  antichrist. 
So  that  as  God's  power  is  employed  in  work- 
ing true  miracles,  his  goodness  and  justice  inter- 
pose to  detect  false  ones. 

Q.  When  miracles  are  true,  and  done  by  the 
power  of  God,  all  the  world  must  confess,  Prot- 
estants as  well  as  Catholics,  Jews  and  heath-  ' 
ens  themselves ;  that  those  who  work  miracles 
to  confirm  their  doctrine,  are  true  Apostles,  and 
that  the  faith  they  teach  is  true:    for  miracles 


68 


THE   CATHOUC  RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


axe  certainly  a  divine  attestation  of  truth,  and 
as  such  are  urged  in  the  Scriptures  both  old 
and  new,  appealed  to  by  Christ  himself,  as  a 
testimony  greater  than  that  of  St.  John,  to 
prove  himself  the  Messiah.  St.  John  v.  33,  36. 
And  by  St.  Paul,  as  the  signs  and  seal  of  his 
Apostleship.  2  Cor.  xii.  12.  And  if  it  were 
once  clearly  proved,  that  you  have  had  any  of 
these  extraordinary  persons  in  the  Church  of 
Rome,  professing  the  faith  of  that  Church,  who 
have  been  workers  of  miracles,  like  Christ  and 
the  Apostles,  in  curing  the  sick,  the  lame,  the 
blind,  and  raising  the  dead  to  life;  we  should 
be  worse  than  infidels,  if  we  did  not  own  the 
Church  of  Rome  to  be  the  true  Church,  and  the 
Roman  faith  the  true  faith.  Have  you  any 
authority  that  may  be  depended  upon,  that 
such  miracles  have  been  done  by  the  saints  of 
your  communion  ? 

A.  We  have  as  good  authority  for  the  truth 
of  many  surprising  miracles,  done  by  such  as 
believed  and  preached  the  Roman  faith,  as  can 
be  had  for  the  truth  of  any  historical  fact :  for 
instance,  the  miracles  wrought  by  St.  Augus- 
tine, our  Apostle,  at  the  conversion  of  England, 
in  confirmation  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith, 
viz.:  The  mass,  transubstantiation,  invocation  of 
saints,  prayer  for  the  dead,  etc.,  attested  by 
venerable  Bede,  and  all  our  Chronicles;  Hol- 
lingshead.  Stow,  Goodwin,  and  others.  The 
miracles  done  at  St.  Stephen's  relics,  related  at 
full  length  by  St.  Augustine  the  Great,*  as  an 
eye  witness  to  many  of  them :  and  can  any  one 
doubt,  but  St.  Stephen  himself,  as  well  as  St. 
Augustine,  the  relater  of  these  miracles, 
preached  the  same  faith  as  those  persons  did, 
who  came  to  venerate  his  relics,  and  implore 
I  his  intercession,  for  the  cure  of  their  sick,  and 
raising  of  their  dead  ?  The  public  miracles 
done  by  St.  Bernard,  (before  thousands  of 
people),  preaching  the  Roman  Catholic  faith 
against  the  Henricians,  and  Albigenses,  who 
were  a  branch  of  the  Manichean's  sect ;  attested 
by  all  the  histories  of  those  times.     The  mir- 


acles done  by  St.  Dominick,  and  St.  Francis; 
one  the  founder  of  the  Dominican,  the  other 
of  the  Franciscan  Order,  both  strongly  united 
to  the  Church  and  See  of  Rome ;  related  by  St. 
Antoninus.*  The  miracles  done  by  St.  Francis 
Xaverius  at  the  conversion  of  the  Indies :  Mr. 
Pory  of  Cambridge,  in  his  Geographical  Dic- 
tionary, page  410,  witnessing,  that  this  great 
saint  and  Jesuit,  and  preacher  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith,  did  miraculously  cure  the  deaf, 
the  dumb,  the  lame,  the  blind,  the  sick,  and 
raised  the  dead  to  life.  In  a  word,  a  volume 
would  not  suffice  to  relate  the  miracles  done 
by  the  saints  of  our  communion ;  public,  cer- 
tain, uncontested,  and  prodigious  miracles ;  the 
truth  whereof  is  so  undoubted,  that  they  are 
published  to  the  world  for  truth  by  Protestants 
themselves,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Protestant 
Centuriators  of  Magdeburg,  in  the  13th  chapter 
of  their  history  of  every  century.  The  truth 
of  these  miracles,  the  learned  part  of  Protest- 
ants own,  and  the  most  incredulous  part,  have 
nothing  to  object  against  them,  but  what  might 
formerly  with  as  good  reason,  have  been  objected 
by  the  Jews  and  heathens,  against  the  miracles 
of  Christ  and  the  Apostles :  for  all  they  can 
say  against  them  is,  that  they  are  reported  by 
Catholics,  and  that  they  will  not  believe  Catho- 
lics :  and  may  not  Jews  and  heathens  say,  that 
the  miracles  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  were 
reported  by  Christians,  and  that  they  will  not 
believe  Christians :  whereas  miracles  being  facts, 
can  have  no  other  proof  but  the  credit  of  his- 
torians, to  recommend  the  truth  of  them :  they 
being  the  last  and  highest  proof  of  doctrine, 
can  have  no  other  proof  for  themselves  but  the 
evidence  of  sense,  to  those  who  saw  them  done, 
and  their  testimony  and  report  to  others.  In 
the  proof  of  miracles,  no  one  can  go  higher 
than  to  make  it  appear  by  the  most  creditable 
authors ;  that  such  miraculous  things  were 
done,  at  such  a  time  and  place,  in  the  sight  of 
whole  multitudes  of  people;  by  which  means 
we  may  be  as  certain  of  the  truth  of  a  miracle, 


*  h.  XX.  de  Civ.  DeL  Chap.  8. 


*  Hist.  Part.  ii.  L.  23. 


THE  CATHOUC  RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


63 


as  of  any  other  fact  we  see  or  hear.  Cannot 
I  prudently  believe  sucli  persons,  as  St. 
Antoninus,  venerable  Bede,  St.  Augustine  the 
Great,  St.  Ambrose,  etc.?  On  the  other  hand, 
if  such  men  may  be  reputed  forgers,  this  will 
overthrow  the  credit  of  those  men,  and  writings, 
which  convey  all  the  proofs  we  have  for  the 
miracles  of  the  primitive  Christians,  and  the 
divine  establishment  of  the  Christian  religion; 
either  then  own  our  miracles  to  be  true,  or  if 
you  take  the  liberty  to  give  the  lie  to  all  the 
world,  who  attest  the  truth  of  them;  any  one 
inclined  to  be  an  infidel,  may  with  as  good 
reason  question  all  the  facts,  by  which  the 
Christian  religion  is  proved  to  be  divine ;  or 
any  other  facts,  under  pretence  that  there  is  no 
geometrical  or  metaphysical  certainty  for  such 
things.  In  a  word,  we  have  all  the  evidence 
that  the  nature  of  miracles  can  admit  of;  the 
highest  human  testimony  that  can  be  had  for 
the  truth  of  them,  and  all  the  authority  that 
can  be  had  for  the  truth  of  any;  and  he  that 
requires  more,  is  a  prejudiced  and  unreasonable 


man. 


Q.  It  only  remains,  concerning  the  marks  of 
the  Church  that  you  add  a  word  or  two,  of  the 
conversion  of  infidels,  which  appears  to  me  an 
unquestionable  proof,  if  the  facts  be  true.  And 
in  the  first  place,  let  me  understand  the  nature 
of  this  argument ;  what  nations  have  been  con- 
verted, and  who  were  the  instruments  employed 
by  Almighty  God  in  that  great  work? 

A.  The  propagation  of  the  Christian  religion, 
has  always  been  looked  upon  as  an  undeniable 
effect  of  divine  power,  as  the  circumstances 
plainly  declare.  The  persons  first  employed, 
were  unqualified  as  to  any  human  means.  The 
doctrine  they  established  was  directly  oppo- 
site to  the  interest  and  affections  of  all  mankind, 
and  the  method  they  made  use  of,  in  all  appear- 
ance, was  destructive  to  the  cause  they  under- 
took ;  the  Apostles  were  persons  without  power, 
interest  or  learning,  the  doctrine  they  taught 
was  a  denial  of  all  the  pleasures  of  life ;  and  the 
conquest  they  gained,  was  by  being  overcome, 
and  being  put  to  death  by  their  enemies,  so  that 


nothing  but  the  force  of  truth,  and  justice  of 
their  cause,  could  prevail  upon  mankind,  and 
bring  about  their  conversion.  As  to  the  truth 
of  the  fact,  it  depends  upon  historical  credit, 
which  informs  us,  that  there  were  such  persons 
as  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  and  that  b}^  their 
means  such  a  conversion  was  made. 

Q.  All  this  must  be  owned  by  every  party 
that  professes  itself  Christian,  but  the  Apostles 
not  living  long  enough  to  complete  the  work, 
how  was  it  carried  on  ?  The  heathenish  worship 
was  the  prevailing  religion,  for  three  hundred 
years  after,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  in  some 
nations  nothing  was  done,  in  order  to  their  con- 
version, till  several  ages  after. 

A.  What  you  have  insinuated  is  very  much 
to  our  present  purpose.  Christianity  was  but 
gradually  propagated,  during  the  first  three 
hundred  years  after  Christ ;  and  even  after 
that  time,  only  few  nations  entirely  embraced 
it.  The  remaining  part  of  the  labor,  was 
undertaken  and  completed  by  persons  in  com- 
munion with  the  See  of  Rome,  who  professed 
the  same  doctrine,  that  is  now  taught  by 
Roman  Catholics.  The  conversion  from  Pagan- 
ism to  Christianity,  is  entirely  owing  to  them  ; 
they  were  the  instruments  employed  in  con- 
verting the  French,  Spaniards,  English,  as 
also  Norway,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Poland,  Hun- 
gary, and  all  the  principalities  of  Germany ; 
and  of  late  years,  persons  of  the  same  religion, 
have  brought  to  the  Christian  faith  infinite 
numbers  of  the  inhabitants  of  both  the  East 
and  West  Indies. 

Q.  These  are  facts  that  cannot  be  called  in 
question,  as  being  supported  by  the  same  his- 
torical credit,  which  gives  testimony  of  the 
propagation  of  Christianity  during  the  first 
three  hundred  years. 

A.  And  if  this  be  so,  there  cannot  be  a 
stronger  proof  of  the  truth  of  a  religion,  and 
that  they  who  were  employed  in  the  work, 
were  the  instruments  of  heaven.  And  that  on 
the  contrary,  all  those  sects,  who  are  divided 
from  the  Church  of  Rome,  not  being  able  to 
show,  or  even  pretending    to    lay  claim  to  the 


64 


THE   CATHOUC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


conversion  of  any  one  heathenish  nation,  are 
entirely  destitute  of  the  divine  assistance ;  the}' 
cannot  complain  of  want  of  opportunities,  being 
daily  conversant  in  the  way  of  trade  with  the  in- 
fidel nations.  They  have  learned  men  among 
them,  capable  enough  to  instruct  them  in  Chris- 
tianity, and  of  late  have  made  little  subscrip- 
tions to  carry  on  that  work,  but  without  any 
effect.  God  will  not  concur  with  such  instru- 
ments, who  are  more  zealous  to  fill  their  ware- 
houses, than  propagate  the  gospel. 

Q.  What  is  meant  by  the  last  words  of  this 
article,  the  communion  of  saints  ? 

A.  By  saints  are  to  be  understood,  all  the 
blessed  in  heaven,  all  the  faithful  on  earth,  and 
all  the  suffering  souls  in  purgatory ;  between 
whom  there  is  a  communion  or  correspondence, 
conformable  to  their  stations.  The  blessed  in 
heaven  pray  for  the  faithful  on  earth  ;  and  the 
faithful  on  earth  give  thanks  to  God  for  their 


glory,  and  honor  them,  and  beg  their  prayers. 
The  faithful  on  earth  pray  for  one  another,  by 
being  united  under  the  same  invisible  head, 
Christ  Jesus,  and  under  the  same  visible  head 
to  avoid  schism,  in  the  same  faith  to  avoid 
heresy,  and  in  the  same  sacraments  and  sacri- 
fice, and  bonds  of  love,  whereby  they  partdike 
of  each  other's  merits,  and  the  prayers  of  the 
Church. 

Q.  Does  not  the  communion  of  saints  reacli 
to  infidels,  heretics,  schismatics,  etc.? 

A.  No  more  than  the  branches  are  nourished 
by  the  tree  from  whence  they  are  cut  off;  they 
may  pretend  a  communion  with  Christ,  but  by 
not  submitting  to  the  superiors  ho  has  appointed 
by  rejecting  the  true  faith,  hy  not  making  use 
of  the  sacraments,  the  communion  is  broke ; 
all  they  partake  of  are  prayers  for  their  con- 
version. 


THE  TENTH  ARTICLE  OF  THE  CREED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  tenth  article? 

A.  The  forgiveness  of  sins. 

Q.  How  do  you  explain  this  matter? 

A.  We  believe  that  God  has  given  a  power 
to  his  Church  to  forgive  sin ;  for  tho.ugh  it  is 
God  alone  that  can  forgive  sin,  as  the  princi- 
pal agent,  yet  he  may  employ  others  as  instru- 
ments to  confer  grace,  and  by  consequence  to 
forgive  sin. 

Q.  Where  is  this  power  expressed  in  the 
holy  Scriptures  ? 

A.  First,  when  orginal  sin  is*forgiven  by  the 
sacrament  of  baptism.  Second,  when  Christ 
said,  whose  sins  you  shall  forgive,  they  are 
forgiven.  St.  John  xx.  23.  Again,  when 
Christ  having  cured  the  lame  and  sick  man  of 
a  palsy,  and  told  him,  his  sins  were  forgiven 
him,  the  Jews  were  scandalized,  saying  within 
themselves,  that  only  God  could  forgive  sin, 
this  man  blasphemes ;    but  our  Saviour  seeing 


their  thoughts,  said,  which  is  easier  to  say, 
thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee,  or  to  say,  rise  up 
and  walk ;  therefore  to  let  you  see,  says  he, 
that  the  son  of  man  has  power  to  forgive  sins. 
Matt.  ix.  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  he  ordered  the  sick 
man  to  rise  and  take  up  his  bed  and  walk. 
He  wrought  that  miracle  to  convince  them 
that  such  a  power  was  conferred  upon  him  as 
man. 

Q.  But  is  not  this  power  an  usurpation  of 
the  divine  authority?  It  encourages  persons 
to  commit  sin,  seeing  that  the  priest  has  a 
power  to  absolve  whom  he  pleases ;  nay,  fur- 
ther, why  may  he  not  give  them  leave  to 
commit  sin  ? 

A.  It  is  rather  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
divine  power;  because  an  instrument  has  no 
virtue  of  itself,  but  derives  all  its  eflBcacy  from 
the  principal  agent ;  whereof  there  is  a  plain 
instance    in   working   miracles    where    God    is 


ST.  CEGILIA. 

On  the  evening  of  her  wedding  day,  with  the  music  of  the  marriage-hymn  ringing  in  her  ears,  Cecilia,  a  rich,  beautiful  and  noble 
Roman  maiden,  renewed  tlie  vow  by  which  she  had  consecrated  her  virginity  to  God.  "  Pure  be  my  heart  and  undefiled  my  flesh-  for  I 
have  a  .spouse  you  know  not  of^an  An^el  of  my  Lord."  The  lictor  sent  to  dispatch  her  struck  the  three  blows  allowed  by  the  law  and  fair 
Cecilia  gave  back  her  pure  spirit  to  Christ.     A.  D.  179.  ' 


ST.  TERESA. 

St.  Teresa  was  born  at  Avila,  in  Old  Castle,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  March,  1515.  She  was  a  Carmelite  nun  and  during  her  life 
established  thirty  convents.  Our  Divine  Lord  favored  her  with  twenty  visions.  On  one  occasion  she  beholds  herself  covered  with  spots, 
defects  and  faults;  for  the  smallest  are  visible  in  a  bright  beam  of  Divine  light,  darting  in  upon  her;  she  sees  that  she  is  all  misery  and 
imperfection,  and  cries  out:  "  Who  shall  be  justified  brfore  Thee  ' " 


THE   CATHOLIC    RELIGION  EXPOUNDED. 


65 


honored,  and  his  power  illustrated  by  those 
who  cure  distempers  and  raise  the  dead;  by 
being  the  instruments  he  employs  for  those 
purposes.  As  for  priests  having  a  power  to 
forgive  whom  they  please,  or  to  give  persons 
leave  to  sin ;  those  are  ignorant  surmises  and 
downright  calumnies.  The  power  of  absolving 
from  sin,  is  granted  with  such  restrictions, 
that  no  one  is  capable  of  receiving  any  benefit, 
but  only  such  as  bring  proper  dispositions,  and 
are  esteemed  worthy  of  absolution  in  the  sight 
of  God. 

Q.  Pray  what  are  those  dispositions? 

A.  There  are  several.  First,  a  sinner  must 
be  inwardly  and  sincerely  sorrowful  for  having 
offended  God.  Secondly,  he  must  make  a  firm 
resolution  not  to  ofiend  him  any  more.  Thirdly, 
he  must  humbly  and  sincerely  declare  all  his 
mortal  or  deadly  sins  by  confession.  Fourthly, 
he  must  promise  to  restore  the  good  name,  or 
goods  of  others,  he  has  unjustly  detained. 
Fifthly,  he  must  promise  to  avoid  the  occasions 
of  sinning,  etc. 

Q.  When  these  things  are  complied  with,  the 
power  of  absolving  seems  useless,  and  the  power 
is  only  declarative,  not  executive. 

A.  When  those  dispositions  are  accompanied 
with  a  perfect  love  of  God  above  all  things,  and 
with  a  will  to  confess,  the  sin  is  forgiven  before 
absolution ;  but  when  the  love  of  God  is  only 
weak  and  imperfect,  absolution  completes  the 
work ;  not  unlike  to  a  blast,  which  recovers  a 
few  sparks  of  fire,  which  otherwise  might  dis- 
appear and  come  to  nothing.  Thus,  a  sinner 
who  begins  to  love  God,  by  an  humble  ac- 
knowledgment and  confession  of  his  sins,  renders 
himself  capable  of  receiving  a  further  grace,  by 
the  power  God  has  left  to  his  Church. 

Q.  Has   the    Church    a  power  of  absolving 


from  all  sins  whatever?  This  I  mention, upon 
account  of  some  expressions  in  the  Scriptures, 
which  seem  to  insinuate,  as  if  certain  sins 
could  not,  or  would  not  be  forgiven,  even  by 
God  himself,  much  less  by  the  Church. 

A.  The  Scriptures  only  speak  of  the  greater 
difficulty  there  is,  in  having  some  sins  for- 
given, more  than  others  :  for  instance,  habitual 
sins,  blasphemy,  impugning  the  known  truth, 
etc.,  and  where  there  is  a  direct  opposing  of 
God's  grace,  upon  which  forgiveness  entirely 
depends :  but  even  in  these  cases,  the  Scrip- 
tures assure  us,  that  God's  mercy  cannot  be 
limited,  and  mention  several  particulars  where 
such  sins  have  been  forgiven.  The  only  sin 
that  God  can  be  said  to  be  incapable  of  for- 
giving, is  final  impenitence,  whereby  a  sinner 
renders  himself  incapable,  for  want  of  proper 
dispositions  ;  not  that  there  is  a  want  of  either 
power,  or  will,  in  God,  but  because  forgiveness, 
in  that  case,  is  inconsistent  with  his  divine 
justice,  and  nature  of  the  offence.  Now  as  to 
the  power  of  the  Church,  it  is  under  no  limita- 
tions where  the  offender  brings  proper  dispo- 
sitions ;  hence,  the  Novatians  (who  affected  a 
strictness  of  discipline,  in  order  to  seduce  the 
people,  and  make  them  believe  they  were 
more  holy  than  others)  were  condemned  for 
heretics,  pretending  that  the  Church  had  not 
power  to  forgive  some  sort  of  sins. 

Q.  Is  this  all  that  is  meant  by  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins  ? 

A.  No,  by  the  power  of  forgiving  sin,  we 
are  to  understand  another  power  flowing  from 
it,  viz. :     A  power  of  granting  indulgences. 

Q.  What  is  an  indulgence  ? 

A.  This  will  be  specified  when  we  come  tO( 
explain  the  sacrament  of  penance. 


66 


THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


THE    ELEVENTH  ARTICLE  OF  THE  CREED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  eleventh  article? 

A.  The  resurrection  of  the  body. 

Q.  In  what  does  this  mystery  consist  ? 

A.  We  believe,  that  at  the  consummation  of 
the  world,  all  mankind  shall  have  their  souls 
.  and  bodies  re-united,  in  order  to  share  equally 
of  their  eternal  fate. 

Q.  What  necessity  is  there  for  this  union  ? 
And  how  is  it  possible  to  resume  the  same 
bodies,  which  are  changed  into  other  substances, 
especially  in  case  of  cannibals,  who  eat  one 
another,  and  may  be  supposed  often  to  have  but 
one  body,  the  substance  of  one  being  become  the 
substance  of  some  other,  by  digestion,  etc. 

A.  There  is  no  absolute  necessity,  only  it  is 
God's  pleasure  it  should  be  so:  though  there 
are  some  congruous  reasons  for  that  re-union. 
First,  man  in  the  state  of  innocence,  was 
designed  not  to  die ;  so,  for  the  recovery  of 
that  state,  the  body  and  soul  must  be  re-united. 
Secondl}',  as  the  bodj'  and  soul  concurred  in 
good  and  bad,  it  is  proper  they  should  mutually 
partake  of  the  effects,  in  a  future  state  ;  besides, 
without  that  re-union,  man  is  not  a  complete 
being,  but  imperfect. 

Q.  Why  was  this  article  inserted  in  the  Creed  ? 

A.  To  prevent  and  guard  against  certain 
errors  of  those  days.  First,  against  the  Sad- 
ducees,  a  sect  among  the  Jews,  who  denied  the 
resurrection  and  immortality  of  man's  soul. 
Secondlj-,  against  Hymeneus  and  Philetus,  who, 
(as  St.  Paul  says),  2  Tim.  chap.  ii.  verses  17, 
18,  said  the  resurrection  was  then  over, 
expounding  the  doctrine  only  of  a  spiritual 
resurrection  from  sin  to  grace. 

Q.  Why  is  the  resurrection  of  man,  called  in 
the  Creed,  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ? 

A.  To  show  us,  that  (whereas  man  doth  con- 
sist of  two  parts,  viz.:  Soul  and  body),  it  is 
only  the  body  which  perishes  by  death,  the 
soul  being  immortal  and  consequently  incapable 
of  resurrection,  for  nothing  is  revived  but  that 
■which  is  first  dead. 


Q.  How  do  you  prove  the  immortality  of  the 
soul? 

A.  Abstracting  from  faith  and  divine  revela- 
tion; I  prove  it.  First,  because  the  soul  is  a 
spiritual  being,  and  consequently  of  a  superior 
nature  to  the  body,  entirely  distinct  from  it, 
and  independent  of  it;  and  therefore  it  is  not 
liable  to  be  destroyed  by  that  which  destroys 
the  bod}'.  Secondly,  as  the  soul  is  a  spirit,  it 
has  no  parts,  no  extension,  and  so  of  its  own 
nature  it  is  indivisible,  and  incorruptible,  and 
by  consequence  immortal:  for  death  consists  in 
a  dissolution  or  separation  of  one  part  from 
another,  which  dissolution,  can  have  no  place 
in  that  which  has  no  parts. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  man's  soul  to  be  a 
spiritual  substance  or  being? 

A.  Because  man's  soul  is  endowed  with  a 
vast  extent  of  thought  and  knowledge  ;  with  a 
memory  of  innumerable  things,  with  a  free  will, 
which  nothing  controls ;  with  reason  and  an 
understanding  capable  of  contemplating  the 
highest  truths,  and  such  as  are  the  most 
abstract  from  matter,  even  the  most  subtle 
notions  of  metaphysics,  the  first  principles  of 
sciences,  the  laws  of  argumentation,  and  infinite 
series  of  demonstrations,  etc.,  capable  of  reflect- 
ing upon  herself,  and  her  own  operations,  and 
the  manner  how  she  acts;  unconfined  by  time 
or  place  as  to  her  ideas,  and  not  to  be  satisfied 
in  her  desires,  with  any  thing  less  than  the  one 
true  and  sovereign  Good.  Now,  no  matter  or 
corporeal  substance  alone,  can  be  endowed  with 
reason,  understanding,  and  a  conscious  life;  it 
being  repugnant  to  the  common  ideas  of  all 
mankind,  that  mere  matter  should  be  conceived 
thinking,  understanding,  or  reasoning:  and  daily 
experience  teaches  us,  that  this  principle  of 
life  within  us,  which  we  call  our  soul,  is 
endowed  with  a  capacity  of  reflecting  upon 
itself,  and  its  own  faculties,  upon  the  very 
power  of  reflection,  and  the  act  thereof,  and  the 
manner  how  it  reflects.     Therefore,  this  principle 


THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


67 


of  life  within  us,  cannot  be  material;  for 
it  is  evident  that  matter  can  only  act  upon  that 
which  is  material,  whereas  the  soul  of  man  con- 
ceives and  contemplates  many  things  which  are 
entirely  abstracted  from  matter,  and  have  no 
connection  with  matter,  such  as  the  ideas 
of  universality,  spirituality,  infinity,  eternity, 
truth,  wisdom,  etc.,  all  which  is  entirely 
abstracted  and  distinct  from  matter.  Therefore 
the  soul  of  man  must  be  a  spiritual  being. 

Q  How  do  you  prove  the  general  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  ? 

A.  From  many  texts  of  Scripture.  St.  Paul 
says,  if  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
your  faith  is  vain :  i  Cor.  xv.  verses  12,  14.  I 
know,  says  holy  Job,  that  my  Redeemer  lives, 
and  in  the  latter  day,  I  shall  rise  again  from 
the  earth — and  in  my  flesh  I  shall  see  God — 
I  myself  and  not  another;  chapter  xix.  verses 
25,  26,  27.  As  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive;  i  Cor.  xv.  verse  22. 
This  corruptible  body,  saj'^s  St.  Paul,  must  put 
on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  body  must  put 
on  immortality;  i  Cor.  xv.  verse  53.  Again,  St. 
John  in  the  Apocalypse,  speaking  of  the  wicked 
at  the  general  resurrection,  says,  they  shall 
seek  death  and  shall  not  find  it,  they  shall 
eternally  desire  to  die,  and  death  shall  ever  fly 
from  them.  Chap.  ix.  ver.  6.  Besides,  the  soul 
being  immortal,  and  only  one  part  of  the  whole 
man,  it  is  imperfect  without  the  other ;  it  is  not 
in  that  state  for  which  it  was  created,  it  is 
therefore  in  a  state  of  violence  unsuitable  to 
its  nature,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  a  separa- 
tion so  unnatural  is  intended  to  last  for  ever; 
but  seems  more  agreeable  to  human  reason,  to 
believe  there  is  a  certain  time  appointed  by 
Almighty  God,  in  which  all  separated  souls 
shall  resume  their  bodies.     This  argument  our 


Saviour  urged  against  the  Sadducees,  and  proved 
the  resurrection  of  men's  bodies  by  the  im- 
mortality of  their  souls.     Matt.  xxii. 

Q.  The  manner  of  the  resurrection  is  not 
very  intelligible.  Will  the  same  body  rise  as 
to  every  part  ?  At  what  age  or  size  ?  Will  the 
wicked  arise  as  well  as  the  just? 

A.  Mysteries  of  faith  are  not  within  the 
reach  of  man's  understanding ;  however,  it  is 
easy  to  conceive  that  he  who  made  all  things 
out  of  nothing,  is  able  to  collect  the  scattered 
parts  of  man's  body,  and  replace  them.  As  to 
cannibals,  being  nourished  so  as  to  claim  the 
same  body,  it  is  a  false  and  whimsical  conceit ; 
they  are  not  nourished  entirely  by  human 
flesh :  besides,  as  there  is  an  increase,  so  there 
is  a  continual  waste  in  human  bodies,  so  that 
at  least  every  one  may  recover  his  own.  As  to  the 
rest  that  regards  this  mystery,  the  Scriptures 
seem  to  say,  that  everybody  will  be  perfect, 
and  as  it  were  at  man's  estate,  no  blemish  or 
deformity  :  the  wicked  as  well  as  the  just,  will 
resume  their  bodies,  but  not  with  the  same 
circumstances;  the  bodies  of  the  just,  will  be 
glorified,  free  from  the  clogs  we  now  carry 
about  us,  and  embellished  with  many  rare 
qualities. 

Q.  Can  you  give  me  any  account  of  the 
excellent  qualifications,  the  bodies  of  the  just 
will  be  favored  with  upon  their  resurrection  ? 

A.  The  Scriptures  tell  us,  first,  in  general, 
that  they  will  be  so  pure,  as  in  a  manner  to 
be  spiritualized,  that  is  to  say,  free  from  any 
pain  or  inconveniences.  Secondly,  clear  as 
light,  that  is  transparent,  every  body  having 
a  clarity,  proportionable  to  its  merits.  Thirdly, 
agility,  that  is  to  say,  a  capacity  of  moving 
as  quick  as  thought,  from  place  to  place, 
without  any  impediment. 


68 


THE   CATHOLIC  RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


THE  TWELFTH  ARTICLE  OF  THE  CREED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  twelfth   article? 

A.  Life  everlasting. 

Q.  What  is  the  capital  point  to  be  believed 
by  this  article  ? 

A.  That  there  is  a  future  state,  wherein 
both  the  just  and  wicked  shall  remain  for 
eternity.  The  wicked  in  everlasting  punish- 
ment, and  the  just  in  everlasting  pleasures; 
by  enjoying  the  sight  of  God  himself.  Whereby 
are  condemned  all  Atheistical  principles  of 
those  who  denied  the  soul's  future  being  and 
immortality,  especially  the  Epicureans,  who 
placed  man's  happiness  in  riches,  honors, 
pleasures,  or  a  pretended  content  of  mind. 

Q.  This  is  what  I  suppose  you  call  true 
happiness,  or  beatitude.  Pray  give  me  a  gen- 
eral description  of  it  ? 

A.  Beatitude,  or  the  final  happiness  of  the 
just,  is  a  state  wherein  we  are  freed  from  all 
that  is  evil,  and  enjoy  all  that  is  good. 

Q.  Why  is  beatitude  everlasting? 

A.  Because  otherwise  it  would  not  be  per- 
fect, since  the  fear  of  losing  it  would  be  a 
continual  torture  to  the  mind. 

Q.  Can  you  give  me  a  description  of  happi- 
ness in  the  next  life,  as  to  the  particulars 
following,  viz. :  What  is  it  to  see  God  ?  Will 
the  corporal  eyes  behold  him  ?  Did  any  one 
ever  see  God  whilst  living?  What  is  it  the 
blessed  see  in  God?  Have  all  the  just  an 
equal  share  of  happiness?  Will  the  just  be 
happy  immediately  after  their  decease,  or  not 
till  after  the  general  resurrection  ? 

A.  As  to  those  particulars,  some  points  we 
are  to  believe  as  articles  of  faith ;  in  others 
the  learned  are  divided,  and  may  be  free  to 
judge  at  pleasure.  God  cannot  be  seen  by 
\the  corporal  eye,  because  he  is  a  pure  spirit ; 
hence  the  Anthropomorphites  were  condemned 
as  heretics,  for  affirming  God  had  a  body 
essentially  belonging  to  him.  The  corporal 
eye  can  only  see  God's  visible  effects.     Again, 


no  man  living  can  see  God  according  to  the 
general  law  of  Providence  ;  for  though  the 
Scriptures  sometimes  seem  to  say,  that  the 
ancient  patriarchs  and  prophets  saw  God;  yet 
it  is  to  be  understood  only  of  angels  or  some 
visible  thing  representing  him,  not  that  they 
saw  God  in  his  own  substance.  I  purposely 
say,  according  to  the  general  law  of  Providence  ; 
for  it  is  a  disputed  point  among  divines, 
whether  Moses,  St.  Paul,  and  St.  Stephen, 
were  not  by  a  particular  privilege,  favored 
with  the  sight  of  God,  even  while  they  were 
alive.  It  is  an  article  of  faith,  that  the  soul 
is  not  naturally  adapted  to  see  God,  without 
some  supernatural  assistance,  which  divines 
call  the  light  of  glory.  The  contrary  doctrine 
being  condemned  by  the  general  council  of 
Vienna,  against  those  heretics  called  Begardi 
and  Beguines,  Anno  131 1.  As  to  what  the 
blessed  will  see  in  God,  the  Scriptures  affirm 
I  Jo.  iii.  2,  that  they  will  see  him  as  he  is 
in  himself,  face  to  face,  i  Cor.  xiii.  12,  which 
imports,  that  they  will  see  the  divine  nature, 
and  three  persons  with  his  attributes,  and 
what  is  essential  to  the  deity,  Psalm  xxxv.  10. 
As  is  defined  by  the  council  of  Florence  against 
the  Armenians,  Anno  1438.  It  is  also  a  certain 
truth,  that  the  saints  will  one  way  or  other, 
have  the  knowledge  of  several  things,  espe- 
cially such  as  belong  to  them,  particularly  the 
prayers  that  are  directed  to  them,  by  the 
faithful  on  earth ;  it  being  defined  in  the 
council  of  Trent,  that  it  is  not  a  foolish  prac- 
tice to  address  ourselves  to  the  saints  by 
prayer :  and  from  hence  we  may  infer,  that  it 
is  a  rashness  to  affirm  that  they  do  not  hear 
or  know  our  petitions ;  after  all,  we  must  not 
pretend  that  we  can  have  a  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  God.  As  to  the  equality  of 
happiness,  all  equally  share  it,  as  to  the 
primary  blessing  of  seeing  God ;  but  there  is 
an  inequality  in  the  manner,  according  to  every 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION   EXPOUNDED. 


69 


one's  deserts,  this  distribution  is  required  by 
tlie  divine  justice  which  rewards  men  propor- 
tionably.  As  to  the  time  when  the  saints 
shall  be  admitted   to    see    God,  it  is  an   article 


of  faith,  defined  in  the  council  of  Florence, 
that  with  regard  to  such  as  have  nothing  to 
be  purged  away,  it  will  happen  immediately 
upon  their  decease. 


iXPLANATION  of  the 
TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


AAA  iXl  l2!^  A  A  A 
US  tU  OJ  ^JJ  Q^  WWW 


Q.  When,  by  whom,  and  upon  what  occasion, 
were  the  ten  commandments  delivered  ? 

A.  They  were  delivered  by  Almighty  God  to 
the  people  of  Israel,  through  the  hands  of 
Moses,  soon  after  they  were  freed  from  the 
bondage  of  Egypt.  The  occasion  was,  that 
they  might  have  a  more  distinct  knowledge  of 
their  duty,  by  several  particulars  being  specified. 

Q.  Had  they  no  knowledge  of  their  duty 
before? 

A.  Yes,  but  not  suflBcient  for  their  direction : 
not  onl}'^  the  Jews,  but  all  other  nations  were 
provided  by  the  light  of  nature,  to  distinguish 
between  good  and  evil ;  but  the  world  was 
become  so  corrupted,  that  it  was  requisite  to 
explain  matters  more  clearly,  and  recommend. 


under  distinct  heads,  the  obligations  they  lay 
under,  in  regard  of  God  and  their  neighbor. 

Q.  Do  the  ten  commandments  contain  the 
whole  of  man's  duty  ? 

A.  They  express  only  some  general  points,  yet 
so,  that  all  particular  duties  are  reducible  to  them. 

Q.  As  how? 

A.  This  will  appear  when  we  come  to  explain 
every  commandment  in  particular;  meantime, 
it  is  sufficient  to  observe  in  general,  that  the 
worshiping  of  God,  implies  all  religious  duties, 
that  immediately  regard  the  Supreme  Being. 
Honoring  father  and  mother,  speaks  obedience 
to  all  sorts  of  superiors.  The  commandments 
not  to  kill,  steal,  commit  adultery,  etc.,  extend 
to  all  the  duties  we  owe  to  our  neighbor. 


THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT. 


Q.  Which  is  the  first  commandment  ? 

A.  Thou  shalt  not  have  strange  God's  before 
me.  Thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any 
graven  thing,  nor  the  likeness  of  any  thing  that 
is  in  heaven  above  nor  in  the  earth  beneath, 
or  in  the  waters  under  the  earth :  thou  shalt 
not  adore  nor  worship  them. 

Q  What  is  imported  by  this  command- 
ment? 


A.  Some  things  aire  commanded,  other  things 
are  forbidden,  other   things    are  not  forbidden. 

Q.  What  is  commanded? 

A.  Religion. 

Q.  What  is  religion  ? 

A.  It  is  a  worship  due  to  God. 

Q.  By  what  methods  do  we  pay  this   duty  ? 

A.  By  honor,  by  oblation,  sacrifice,  prayer,  vowa 
and  oaths,  also  by  erecting  altars  and  Churches, 


(70) 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


71 


Q.  What  do  you  call  honoring,  and  how  is 
it  common]}^  expressed  in  our  language  ? 

A.  Honoring,  is  giving  a  testimony  or  ac- 
knowledgment of  some  excellency  or  qualifica- 
tion, and  is  called  adoration,  worship,  respect, 
reverence,  etc. 

Q.  Which  are  the  excellencies  or  qualifica- 
tions to  be  honored  ? 

]  A.  There  are  several,  some  are  infinite, 
Ibelonging  only  to  God;  others  are  the  perfec- 
tions of  creatures,  whereof  some  are  natural, 
as  wit,  beauty,  strength,  and  such  like  quali- 
fications, either  of  body  or  mind :  others 
acquired,  as  authority,  and  all  arts  and  sciences; 
others    are    supernatural,  as  grace,  virtue,  etc. 

Q.  Is  honor  equally  due  to  all  who  are 
masters  of  those  perfections  ? 

A.  No,  not  equally,  but  proportionably  to 
the  excellency  of    the  object. 

Q.  How  do  you  explain  this  inequality  of 
honor? 

A.  Divine  honor  is  paid  only  to  God. 
Civil  honor,  to  persons  who  enjoy  natural  or 
acquired  perfections ;  and  a  religious  honor 
betwixt  both,  to  supernatural  qualifications. 
The  holy  fathers  called  divine  honor  lalria, 
and  religious  honor  dulta,  to  which  divines 
add  hyperduh'a,  an  honor  given,  on  account 
of  some  singular  excellency,  as  that  given  to 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  as  being  the  mother 
of  God. 

Q.  I  easily  grant,  that  civil  honor  is  due 
on  account  of  natural  and  acquired  qualifica- 
tions :  and  that  persons  are  to  be  reverenced 
and  respected  on  those  accounts,  and  that  the 
same  is  due  to  others  who  possess  supernatural 
perfections.  But  is  it  not  a  harsh  expression 
to  say,  that  creatures  are  to  be  adored,  or 
worshiped,  or  to  style  that  honor  religious 
that  is  given  on  that  score  ? 

A.  Words  are  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  cus- 
tom or  intention  has  fixed  upon  them,  I  own 
the  word  worship  or  adoration,  in  the  language 
of  the  Church  of  England,  is  generally  taken 
for  divine  honor ;  though  the  Latin  and 
Greek  words  (  adoratio  Trpoaxwaat^)  are  frequently 


in  the  Scriptuies  applied  to  creatures;  some- 
times the  word  worship,  or  adoration,  signifies 
bowing  or  respect,  in  a  more  general  sense. 
The  Latin  word  cultus,  has  a  much  larger 
signification,  and  has  been  used  even  by  Prot- 
estant divines,  to  comprehend  an  inferior 
honor ;  see  Camierus,  Tom.  ii.  L.  18.  chap.  i. 
And  Junius  against  Bellarmin,  related  by  Bishop 
Montague,  in  his  appeal,  page  255.  So  that 
speaking  in  the  language  of  the  Church  of 
England,  it  is  the  greatest  calumny  in  the 
world,  to  say,  or  suppose,  that  Catholics  wor- 
ship any  created  being  whatever,  with  the 
adoration  that  belongs  to  God. 

Q.  I  should  be  glad  to  be  informed,  in  what 
manner  these  matters  may  be  explained,  so  as 
not  to  deprive  God  of  the  honor  which  is 
proper  to  him  alone? 

A.  This  may  be  done  by  distinguishing  wor- 
ship into  several  branches,  viz.  :  Relative,  abso- 
lute, external,  internal.  Relative  honor  or 
worship,  is  when  a  thing  is  honored,  not  ou 
its  own  account,  but  for  the  thing  it  repre- 
sents, as  that  paid  to  images.  Absolute  honor 
is,  when  a  thing  is  honored  for  some  excel- 
lency inherent  in  the  thing  itself,  as  learning, 
holiness,  etc.,  though  all  honor  may  be  said  to 
be  relative  to  God,  because  all  excellencies  are 
derived  from  him,  and  have  a  relation  to  him. 
External  honor  or  worship,  is  paid  by  visible 
tokens,  as  kneeling,  prostrating,  bowing,  un- 
covering, etc.  Internal  honor,  is  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  some  excellency  in  a  thing  without  any 
outward  tokens. 

Q.  Which  of  these  honors  do  you  call  reli- 
gious, and  which  civil  ? 

A.  The  honor  we  pay  to  God,  angels,  saints, 
to  their  images,  pictures,  and  relics,  may  be 
styled  religious.  The  honor  we  pay  to  things 
on  account  of  civil  qualifications,  we  call  civil. 
The  reason  why  the  first  is  called  religious, 
is  because  they  tend  towards  the  good  of 
religion,  either  absolutely  or  relatively ;  ab- 
solutely, when  they  are  placed  on  God,  his 
angels,  and  saints,  who  are  qualified  for  it  by 
divine  and  supernatural  perfections   inherit   in 


73 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


them  ;  or  relatively,  as  to  images,  pictures,  etc., 
which,  though  they  have  no  supernatural  per- 
fection inherent  in  them,  yet  they  promote 
religion,  by  being  a  means  of  suggesting 
religious  thoughts. 

Q.  Which  are  the  exterior  tokens  of  honor, 
belonging  only  to  God  ? 

A.  Sacrifice,  altars,  churches,  vows  and  oaths. 

Q.  What  is  sacrifice  ? 

A.  It  is  the  offering  of  some  visible  thing  to 
God,  by  some  real  change  in  acknowledgment 
of  God's  supreme  dominion  over  all  created 
beings.  This  action  in  all  ages  and  by  all 
nations,  was  appropriated  only  to  God,  as  also 
were  altars,  churches,  vows,  and  oaths. 

Q.  The  practice  seems  to  import  more,  other- 
wise, why  does  the  Church  of  Rome  offer  sac- 
rifice, erect  altars  and  churches  to  saints  ?  Do 
we  not  also  make  vows  and  promises  to  men, 
and  swear  by  creatures  ? 

A.  Churches,  altars,  etc.,  are  only  consecrated 
to  God,  though  they  are  distinguished  by  the 
names  of  saints  and  angels,  who  are  also 
honored  by  those  foundations :  but  as  for  sac- 
rifice, it  is  directed  or  offered  only  to  God. 
Promises  indeed,  are  made  to  men,  but  not 
vows,  and  if  we  swear  by  creatures,  such  oaths 
are  either  an  express  or  implicit  invocation  of  God. 

Q.  What  do  you  say  as  to  the  other  out- 
ward tokens  of  honor,  viz.:  Kneeling,  bowing, 
etc.,  especially  as  to  burning  incense  ? 

A.  Such  outward  tokens,  are  indifferent  of 
themselves,  to  signify  supreme  or  inferior  honor, 
and  depend  upon  the  intention  of  the  performer. 
Heathens  made  use  of  these  to  signify'  a 
supreme  honor  to  the  false  gods :  Christians 
often  make  use  of  them,  only  to  signify  an 
inferior  relative  honor  :  hence,  to  bow  to  princes, 
kneel  to  parents,  to  be  uncovered  in  churches, 
etc.,  are  actions  no  ways  derogatory  to  the 
honor  we  pay  to  God.  As  for  burning  incense, 
though  formerly  it  was  a  token  of  divine, 
supreme  honor,  custom  has  imposed  another 
signification  on  it ;  it  signifies  no  more  now 
than  to  represent  the  prayers  of  the  faithful, 
mounting  up  into  heaven. 


Q.  What  is  prayer,  another  duty  ordered  by 
the  first  commandment? 

A.  It  is  a  raising  up  of  our  minds  to  God, 
whereby  we  beg  for  good  things,  and  to  be 
freed  from  all  evil ;  or  in  general,  it  is  a  petition 
directed  to  another,  in  order  to  obtain  some- 
thing, returning  thanks  for  what  is  obtained, 
and  celebrating  the  donor's  praises. 

Q.  To  whom  may  prayers  be  directed? 

A.  First,  to  God  the  original  author  of  all 
gifts.  Secondly,  to  the  saints  and  angels,  that 
they  may  use  their  interest  with  Almighty 
God  for  us.  Thirdl}',  to  the  faithful  on  earth, 
who  pray  for,  and  desire  each  other's  prayers. 

Q.  I  thought  prayer  had  been  an  act  of 
religion  directed  only  to  God  ? 

A.  All  prayers  are  directed  to  God,  either 
immediately,  or  by  the  mediation  of  others,  and 
even  then  they  directly  implore  God,  though 
jointly  they  regard  saints  and  angels. 

Q.  What  occasion  is  there  for  praj'^er,  seeing 
that  God  knows  our  wants,  without  our  inform- 
ing him,  and  will  grant  what  we  want,  if  he 
thinks  it  convenient?  Again,  what  occasion  is 
there  to  pray  to  saints  or  angels,  since  we  may, 
and  are  ordered  to  apply  ourselves  to  God  him- 
self immediately? 

A.  Though  God  knows  our  wants,  he  expects 
we  should  be  sensible  of  them,  and  express 
them,  the  subjection  we  are  under  requiring 
that  duty,  and  that  we  may  return  thanks  and 
glorify  his  name.  It  is  true  we  are  ordered  to 
pray  to  God  immediately,  which  we  do  by  pray- 
ing to  saints,  the  prayers  directed  to  them, 
including  an  express  invocation  of  God.  When 
we  desire  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  on  earth, 
it  does  not  exclude  the  duty  of  praying  to  God, 
for  as  God  orders  us  to  pray  for  one  another, 
it  is  expressly  complying  with  the  duty  of 
prayer  to  God. 

Q.  How  many  sorts  of  prayer  are  there? 

A.  Vocal  and  mental,  public  and  private. 
Vocal  prayer  is  expressed  by  words;  mental  is 
conceived  only  in  thoughts,  and  if  it  proceeds 
not  to  ask  any  thing,  it  is  called  contempla- 
tion.     Public    prayer    is    pronounced    by    the 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


73 


ministers  of  the  Churcli.  Private  prayer,  by 
private  persons  not  deputed  for  that  ofl&ce  by 
character. 

Q.  Do  we  only  pray  with  a  voice  and  mind, 
are  there  not  other  ways  of  praying  ? 

A.  The  voice  is  the  means  whereby  we  peti- 
tion and  give  thanks;  but  all  the  ceremonies 
accompanying  prayer,  are  a  part  of  prayer, 
viz.:  Music  with  other  solemn  decorations ;  for 
these  have  a  voice  and  are  instruments  of  God's 
praise,  though  not  so  as  to  articulate  words : 
hence,  ceremonies  have  the  force  of  prayer  when 
religiously  performed. 

Q.  What  dispositions  are  required  in  prayer, 
and  what  are  the  things  we  are  to  pray  for  ? 

A.  On  the  petitioner's  part,  there  is  required 
attention,  because  prayer  is  both  a  rational  and 
a  Christian  action. 

Q.  What  is  attention? 

A.  It  is  an  application  of  our  thoughts,  to 
what  we  are  employed  about ;  and  is .  two-fold, 
external  and  internal;  the  first  regards  the 
pronunciation  only,  the  other  the  sense  of  the 
words,  or  some  other  pious  object  in  general. 

Q.  Can  those  be  said  to  pray,  who  make  use 
of  a  language  they  do  not  understand  ? 

A.  Yes,  provided  their  mind  be  always  fixed 
upon  God,  and  good  things.  God  is  praised  in 
any  voice  though  inarticulate,  as  by  music,  etc. 
I  Cor.  xiv.  2. 

Q.  What  other  dispositions  are  there  to 
render   prayer   more  perfect. 

A.  Devotion  and  fervor.  The  first  is  a 
promptitude  of  the  soul,  for  that  duty;  the 
other  is  an  uncommon  activity,  exclusive  of 
weariness. 

Q.  When  is  the  duty  of  prayer  to  be  per- 
formed ? 

A.  The  Scripture  tells  us  we  are  always  to 
pray;  which  St.  Augustine  expounds  thus: 
We  are  not  to  understand  the  words  literally, 
but  that  those  are  always  a  praying  who  are 
employed  in  their  respective  duties;  St.  Luke, 
^;xiii.  I,  and  i  Thess.  v.  17. 

Q.  Which  are  the  prefixed  times  for  prayer  ? 

A.  Chiefly  these,  morning  and  evening,  pub- 


lic  days    assigned   for   that    purpose,    time    of 
trouble,  sickness  and  temptation. 

Q.  What  things  are  we  to  pray  for? 

A.  Some  things  absolutely,  others  condition- 
ally, viz.:  Absolutely,  we  pray  for  all  super- 
natural  gifts,  graces,  the  conversion  of  sinners, 
infidels,  a  happy  death,  heaven,  etc.;  condition- 
ally, health,  peace,  fair  weather  or  rain,  yet  all 
with  submission  to  the  divine  will.  As  for 
riches,  honors,  and  the  pleasures  of  life,  they 
are  not  the  proper  subject  of  prayers,  because 
they  are  commonly  prejudicial  to  the  soul. 

Q.  What  is  a  vow? 

A.  It  is  a  promise  made  to  God  of  perform- 
ing some  good  action. 

Q.  Explain  it  more  at  large. 

A.  The  promise  must  be,  with  an  intention 
to  oblige  one's  self:  and  the  thing  promised 
must  be  good,  possible,  and  better  done  than 
undone. 

Q.  What  is  a  promise  ? 

A.  It  is  an  engaging  of  one's  faith :  and  a 
breach  of  it  is  a  lying  to  the  person  to  whom 
it  is  made. 

Q.  Are  vows  made  to  saints  ? 

A.  No,  only  to  God :  saints  are  called  upon 
as  witnesses. 

Q.  How  many  sorts  of  vows  are  there  ? 

A.  Several :  the  chief  are  absolute,  not  ex- 
pressing nor  implying  a  condition.  A  con- 
ditional vow  is  when  a  condition  is  expressed 
or  implied.  An  express  vow  is  when  the  thing 
promised  is  expressed  in  words  or  thoughts.  A 
tacit  vow  is  when  the  thing  promised  is  acknowl- 
edged to  have  a  vow  annexed ;  as  in  the  vows 
of  priests,  where  chastity,  etc.,  are  not  expressed, 
but  implied.  A  simple  vow  is  that  which  is 
made  without  ceremonies  appointed  by  the 
Church.  A  solemn  vow  is  that  which  is 
made  in  the  profession  of  religious  persons,  etc. 

Q.  In  what  cases  are  vows  lawful  and  valid, 
and  when  are  they  neither  lawful  nor  valid  ? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  a  purpose  or  intention  to 
do  a  thing,  is  no  vow,  unless  a  persou  does  actu- 
ally, in  words  or  thoughts  oblige  himself  If  a 
person   actually   makes   a   vow    in   words,   but 


74 


EXPI.ANATION   OF  THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


declares  lie  has  no  intention  inwardly  to  comply 
with  it,  or  oblige  himself,  the  Church  will  oblige 
him  to  stand  to  his  vow ;  and  he  sins  mortally, 
at  least  in  matters  of  consequence.  Vows  made  by 
persons  in  sickness,  in  danger  of  death,  or  by 
young  persons,  if  they  have  a  sufficient  presence 
of  mind,  are  obligatory.  A  vow  to  do  things 
which  are  unlawful  or  bad,  or  things  out  of 
one's  power,  or  things  that  are  vain,  indifferent, 
and  of  no  consideration,  in  order  to  promote 
j  goodness,  is  invalid;  and  it  is  an  offence  to 
make  such  vows. — Things  that  are  indifferent 
of  themselves,  may  become  good  by  circum- 
stances ;  in  which  cases,  they  may  be  vowed. 

Q.  Why  do  vows  oblige  ?  When  do  they 
oblige  ?  How  does  the  obligation  cease  ?  Are 
persons  obliged  to  perform  vows  made  by 
others  ? 

A.  Vows  are  obligatory  of  their  own  nature; 
because,  not  to  keep  our  promise  with  God,  is 
derogatory  to  his  honor;  and  we  lie  to  him  in 
fact.  Hence,  the  Scriptures  command  us  to 
comply  with  our  vows,  otherwise  we  offend  God. 
Num.  XXX.  3.  Prov.  xx.  25.  Isa.  xix.  21. 

Q.  Vows  destroy  freedom. 

A.  Those  who  vow,  enjoy  freedom  both  before 
and  after.  They  were  at  liberty  to  vow  or  not 
vow ;  and  when  they  had  vowed,  the  obligation 
they  laid  upon  themselves  no  more  destroyed 
their  freedom,  than  the  commandments  of  God 
destroy  freedom. 

Q.  What  occasion  is  there  of  vows  to  do  good  ? 
Are  we  not  all  obliged  to  do  good,  both  by  the 
law  of  nature  and  God's  positive  law  ? 

A.  True :  the  law  of  nature  and  divine  laws 
oblige  us  to  do  good;  but  still  we  may  use 
means,  and  impose  a  law  upon  ourselves,  in 
order  to  be  more  punctual  in  observing  those 
laws,  viz. :  By  submitting  to  pains  and  forfeit- 
ures, if  we  disobey  God.  Again,  the  law  of 
nature,  and  law  of  God,  though  they  command 
good  in  general,  and  several  species  of  doing 
good,  yet  they  do  not  particularize  matters,  as 
to  time,  place,  persons,  or  how  they  are  to  be 
complied  with.  For  instance,  the  law  of  God 
commands  obedience,  charity,  etc.;    but  it  does 


not  specify  every  particular  person  whom  we 
are  to  obey,  or  to  whom  we  are  to  bestow 
charity,  or  when,  or  how ;  these  we  may  im- 
pose upon  ourselves  by  vows.  I  am  not 
obliged  to  give  such  a  sum,  or  to  such  a  per- 
son, or  at  such  a  time,  unless  I  oblige  myself 
by  vow. 

Q.  What  do  you  say  as  to  the  time  when  a. 
vow  is  to  be  fulfilled  ? 

A.  The  rule  is  given  in  the  23d  chapter  of 
Deuteronomy,  v.  21.  "  When  thou  hast  vowed 
a  vow  to  our  Lord  thy  God,  thou  shalt  not 
delay  to  pay  it:  because  our  Lord  thy  God 
will  require  it,  and  if  thou  delay,  it  shall  be 
reputed  to  thee  as  a  sin."  Hence,  a  vow  of 
immediately  doing  a  thing,  is  to  be  done  the 
first  opportunity.  If  no  time  is  mentioned,  it 
is  not  to  be  deferred  too  long,  lest  a  person 
become  incapable. 

Q.  Is  an  heir  obliged  to  perform  the  vow  of 
his  parent? 

A.  A  distinction  is  to  be  observed  between 
personal  and  real  vows.  For  instance,  an  heir 
is  not  obliged  to  visit  Rome  or  Jerusalem, 
because  his  father  made  such  a  vow :  but  if  his 
father  made  a  vow  to  bestow  an  alms,  he  is 
obliged  to  perform  it,  if  he  tied  himself  to  it 
by  promise  and  consent,  or  if  that  incumbrance 
is  expressed  in  the  settlement ;  because  it  is  a 
debt  of  charity  and  justice. 

Q.  How  does  the  obligation  of  performing  a 
vow  cease? 

A.  There  are  three  ways  to  make  a  vow  not 
to  be  any  longer  binding,  viz.:  Irritation,  com- 
mutation, and  dispensation.  By  the  first,  the  vow 
is  declared  never  to  be  binding.  By  the  second,  it 
is  changed  into  another  vow,  of  equal  or  greater 
good.  In  the  third,  the  obligation  is  destroyed 
upon  a  just  account.  But,  in  all  these  cases, 
superiors  are  to  be  consulted  and  followed. 
Again,  the  obligation  of  a  vow  ceases,  when  the 
matter  becomes  impossible.  Secondly,  when  it 
cannot  be  performed  without  danger  of  death, 
or  some  great  detriment  to  the  body,  or  tem- 
poral loss,  in  which  cases  a  dispensation  is  to 
be  obtained.     Thirdly,  when   the  fulfilling  the 


EXPLANATION   OF   THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


75 


vow  becomes  unlawful ;  for  instance,  in  subse- 
quent marriage,  after  a  simple  vow  of  chastity, 
especially  if  the  other  party  insist  upon  it. 
Fourthly,  when  the  matter  becomes  indifferent. 
Fifthly,  when  it  hinders  a  greater  good.  Sixthly, 
when  superiors  have  a  just  reason  to  grant  a 
dispensation. 

Q.  What  is  a  vow  of  religion,  and  at  what 
age  are  persons  capable  of  making  it  ? 

A.  It  is  a  vow  of  poverty,  chastity,  and 
obedience ;  and  is  either  simple  or  solemn.  A 
simple  vow  of  religion  may  be  made  by  men 
at  fourteen,  by  women  at  twelve ;  and  if  before, 
it  is  in  the  power  of  parents  to  render  it  void, 
because  they  are  then  under  tutelage.  A  solemn 
vow  of  religion  cannot  be  made,  either  by  man 
or  woman,  before  they  have  completed  the  six- 
teenth year  of  their  age.  Hence,  the  Council 
of  Trent  has  declared  all  such  vows  null,  which 
are  made  before  that  age. 

Q.  What  is  a  vow  of  poverty  ? 

A.  It  is  a  voluntary  renunciation  of  property 
in  all  worldly  goods,  confirmed  by  vow. 

Q.  What  grounds  have  you  for  this  practice  ? 

A.  Very  sufficient  grounds ;  because  worldly 
goods  withdraw  us  from  God's  service.  Hence, 
though  we  happen  to  possess  them,  we  are  not  to 
set  our  hearts  upon  them,  but  enjoy  them  with 
indifferency,  and  make  use  of  them,  as  St.  Paul 
says,  as  if  we  did  not  make  use  of  them,  i  Cor. 
vii.  31.  Hence  our  blessed  Saviour  advises  those 
that  would  serve  him  perfectly,  to  give  all  they 
have  to  the  poor.  Matt.  xix.  21.  Conformably 
to  this  advice,  vows  are  made  to  renounce  prop- 
erty, and  be  content  with  the  use  of  necessaries 
only. 

Q.  What  is  a  vow  of  chastity  ? 

A.  It  is  a  promise  made  to  God,  of  entirely 
renouncing  the  pleasures  and  allurements  of  the 
flesh,  and  whereby  a  person  obliges  himself 
never  to  marry. 

Q,  What  motives  can  persons  have,  to  lay 
such  an  obligation  on  themselves  ? 

A.  vSeveral,  very  much  conducing  to  the  good 
of  religion,  especially  for  such  as  are  designed 
for  spiritual  oflBces  for  the  goods  of  this  life,  the 


pleasures  of  the  flesh,  and  the  care  01  providing 
for  children,  occasion  a  continual  dissipation,  and 
call  men  off  from  attending  to  their  functions, 
as  St.  Paul  observes ;  and  therefore,  in  the  same 
chapter,  he  advises  such  persons  to  live  single. 
I  Cor.  vii.  ver.  32,  33,  et  ver.  8. 

Q.  Is  it  not  unlawful  to  vow  what  is  not  in  our 
power  ?  now,  chastity  is  entirely  a  gift  of  God, 
not  in  our  power. 

A.  I  own  chastity  is  a  gift  of  God  ;  so  are  all 
other  supernatural  gifts  :  but  yet  God  bestows 
grace  suflScient  to  obtain  them  ;  so  they  cannot 
be  said  to  be  things  out  of  our  power. 

Q.  Which  are  the  means  provided  by  God,  to 
obtain  his  supernatural  gifts  ? 

A.  The  sacraments,  prayer,  corporal  mor- 
tification, etc.,  by  which  means  we  obtain  grace, 
and  overcome  vicious  habits,  and  the  natural 
inclination  we  have  to  sin.  The  sacraments  are 
continual  channels  of  grace :  b}'-  prayer,  we  may 
hope  to  obtain  whatsoever  we  ask  for :  by  mor- 
tifying the  flesh,  we  are  disposed  for  chastity, 
sobriety,  etc. 

Q.  I  own  these  are  the  usual  means  God  has 
left  in  his  Church,  to  avoid  several  sins  ;  but  as 
for  chastity,  marriage  is  the  proper  remedy  ap- 
pointed by  God  ;  and  a  vow  not  to  marry  rejects 
this  remedy.  No  man  ought  to  place  himself  in 
a  state,  where  he  is  incapable  of  making  use  of 
that  remedy. 

A.  It  is  true,  marriage  is  one  remedy  to  pre- 
serve chastity ;  and  therefore  all  persons  are  at 
liberty  to  make  use  of  it,  unless  they  oblige 
themselves  by  vow  to  make  use  of  other  remedies, 
which  are  also  assigned  for  that  purpose,  and  are 
suflBcient,  when  rightly  applied. 

Q.  It  appears  that  marriage  is  the  only 
remedy  to  preserve  chastity ;  and,  by  conse- 
quence, a  vow  to  the  contrary  is  unlawful. 

A.  If  marriage  were  the  only  remedy,  all 
would  be  in  a  state  of  damnation,  unless  they 
married  ;  because,  it  is  found  by  experience,  that 
marriage  is  not  always  an  effectual  remedy,  see- 
ing that  thousands  are  found  to  sin  against 
chastity,  notwithstanding  a  married  life.  As, 
on   the   other   hand,   multitudes    live  chastely, 


76 


EXPLANATION   OF  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


though  unmarried;  which  is  a  proof  that  other 
remedies  are  sufficient,  and  by  consequence  a 
vow  of  chastity  does  not  put  it  out  of  a  person's 
power  of  living  chastely. 

Q.  Marriage  is  what  God  commands,  there- 
fore, the  forbidding  priests  and  religious  to 
marry,  is  a  wicked  doctrine. 

A.  Is  the  obliging  men  to  keep  their  vows, 
which  they  freely  made,  a  wicked  doctrine  ?  If 
so,  how  will  you  excuse  either  Solomon,  David, 
Moses,  or  St.  Paul ;  who  teach  us  to  pay  that 
which  we  have  vowed  ?  It  is  better,  says  Solo- 
mon, that  thou  shouldst  not  vow,  than  that  thou 
shouldst  vow  and  not  pay  it.  Eccl.  v.  4,  5.  Vow 
and  pay  it,  says  holy  David,  unto  the  Lord  your 
God.  Psalm  Ixxvi.  11.  When  thou  hast 
vowed  a  vow  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  says  Moses, 
thou  shalt  not  delay  to  pay  it.  Dent,  xxiii.  21. 
St.  Paul  says,  that  widows,  who  marry  after  they 
have  vowed  continency,  have  damnation,  because 
they  have  made  void  their  first  faith,  i  Tim.  v. 
12.  But  because  the  reformation  was  built  upon 
many  thousands  of  broken  vows,  it  must  there- 
fore be  a  wicked  doctrine  in  the  Church  to  forbid 
so  horrible  a  sacrilege. 

Q.  St.  Paul  says,  if  they  cannot  contain, 
let  them  marry.  And  in  another  place,  the 
spirit  and  the  flesh  are  contrary  one  to  the 
other,  so  that  3'ou  cannot  do  the  things  you 
would.  Again,  St.  Paul  says,  that  marriage  is 
honorable  in  all. 

A.  The  two  first  mentioned  texts  are  a  mere 
corruption  in  the  Protestant  Bible,  which  wants 
a  reformation  much  more  than  the  Catholic 
Church  ever  did.  St.  Paul,  here  speaking  of 
persons  who  lie  not  under  the  restraint  of  a 
vow,  says  thus  (according  to  the  Greek  text): 
"  If  they  do  not  contain,  let  them  marry." 
I  Cor.  vii.  9.  And  again,  "  The  spirit  and 
the  flesh  are  contrary  one  to  the  other,  so 
that  you  do  not  do  the  things  that  you 
would."  Gal.  V.  17,  For  which  the  Protest- 
ant Bible  put,  "  If  they  cannot  contain,  etc. — 
so  that  you  cannot  do  the  things  that  you 
would."  The  reason  of  this  gross  and  scan- 
dalous corruption,  is  to  make  it    patronize  the 


lewdness  and  intemperance  of  the  first  ecckoi- 
astical  reformers.  As  to  the  words  of  St.  Paul, 
where  he  says,  that  "marriage  is  honorable  in 
all,"  Heb.  xiii.  4,  we  must  not  imagine  from 
hence,  that  it  is  honorable  among  all  sorts  of 
men,  as  you  seem  to  insinuate ;  for  if  so,  the 
marriage  of  a  brother  and  a  sister  would  be 
honorable,  and  that  of  those  who  vowed  con- 
tinence, to  whom  the  same  Apostle  sa3'S,  "it  is 
damnable."  i  Tim.  v.  So  that  the  meaning 
of  the  Apostle  is,  that  marriage  is  honorable 
in  all  things,  that  is,  in  all  its  parts  and  cir- 
cumstances, etc. 

Q.  What  is  a  vow  of  obedience  ? 

A.  First,  we  are  to  consider  what  obedience 
is,  which  is  a  virtue  whereby  we  comply  with 
the  will  of  a  superior:  for,  as  in  natural  and 
artificial  things,  inferiors  are  moved  by  supe- 
riors, so  in  human  actions  the  same  is  to  be 
observed  as  both  the  law  of  nature  and  the 
law  of  God  do  expressly  require,  to  preserve 
unity  in  a  community. 

Q.  What  if  a  superior  commands  any  thing 
against  God's  law,  or  things  which  no  ways  con- 
duce to  God's  honor,  but  only  to  try  obedience  ? 

A.  In  the  first  case,  he  must  not  obey  unless 
the  case  be  doubtful.  If  the  thing  commanded 
tends  towards  preserving  the  rules  of  the  order, 
he  is  to  obey.  If  the  thing  be  manifestly 
indifferent,  and  no  ways  conducing  to  virtue,  as 
to  lift  up  a  stone,  or  the  like ;  it  is  the  perfection 
of  obedience  to  comply,  but  not  required  by  his 
vow. 

Q.  What  things  are  forbidden  by  the  first 
commandment  ? 

A.  All  superstitious  practices. 

Q.  What  is  superstition  ? 

A.  It  is  a  false  worship  of  God,  either  by 
paying  supreme  honor  to  any  thing  but  the  true 
God,  or  by  honoring  the  true  God  after  an  undue 
manner. 

Q.  Pray,  give  me  examples  of  both  kinds. 

A.  Of  the  first  kind  is  idolatry,  which  pays' 
divine  honor  to  creatures. 

Q.  In  what  manner  may  persons  commit 
idolatry  ? 


EXPLANATION   OF   THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


n 


A.  First,  when  they  regard  idols  as  Gods. 
Secondly,  when  they  worship  a  false  God, 
represented  by  an  idol. 

Q.  Is  it  not  superstition  and  idolatry,  to  Tvor- 
ship  the  true  God  as  he  is  represented  by  pictures 
and  images  ? 

A.  By  no  means.  The  whole  substance  of 
worship  centres  in  the  true  God  ;  for  what  respect 
is  paid  to  the  representative  is  only  relative. 
^  Q.  But  the  Jews  were  condemned  by  Almighty 
God,  for  worshiping  the  true  God  by  representa- 
tions. 

A.  This  is  a  false  gloss  put  upon  their  prac- 
tice. The  Jews  were  condemned  on  several 
accounts.  First,  for  esteeming  the  images  them- 
selves to  be  Gods.  Secondly,  because  they 
mingled  the  adoration  of  idols  with  that  of  the 
true  God,  pretending  thereby  to  adore  him. 

Q.  In  what  manner  is  superstition  committed, 
by  paying  worship  to  the  true  God  in  an  undue 
manner  ? 

A.  In  general,  whenever  religious  ceremonies 
are  made  use  of,  which  either  have  a  false  signi- 
fication, or  are  designed  to  produce  eflfects,  which 
cannot  be  ascribed  to  God,  or  to  any  natural  or 
artificial  cause. 

Q.  What  instances  are  there  of  this  kind  ? 

A.  There  are  several  kinds  of  superstitious 
practices.  The  chief  whereof  are  divination, 
or  foretelling  what  is  to  happen,  or  discovering 
secrets  without  proper  means,  which  not  being 
made  use  of,  the  devil  either  tacitly  or  expressly, 
must  interfere  in  the  matter. 

Q.  Give  me  an  account  of  the  most  vulgar 
superstitions  of  ignorant  people? 

A.  To  believe  dreams,  to  judge  from  the 
motion  of  the  planets  and  stars,  which  may 
serve  to  pronounce  on  natural  effects,  but  not 
on  the  effects  of  man's  free  will.  To  foretell  a 
person's  fortune,  by  the  lines  of  his  hand ;  to 
imagine  some  days  are  more  lucky  than  others ; 
to  pretend  to  cure  distempers,  by  applying 
things  which  have  no  virtue,  capable  of  effect- 
ing the  cure,  etc. 

Q.  How  do  you  excuse  the  sacraments  from 
superstition,  seeing   that  the  elements,  neither 


by  art  or  nature,  are  capable  of  producing  the 
effects  attributed  to  them  ? 

A.  Because  they  have  that  virtue  by  divine 
institution. 

Q.  What  else  is  forbidden  by  the  first  com- 
mandment ? 

A.  Sacrilege,  perjury,  and  blasphemy. 

Q.  What  is  sacrilege  ? 

A.  It  is  abusing  things,  which  are  consecrated 
to  the  service  of  God  and  religion;  and  it 
regards  persons,  things,  and  places,  viz.:  Priests, 
ornaments,  images,  and  churches. 

Q.  What  is  perjury? 

A.  It  is  a  false  oath,  when  a  person  swears 
what  is  not  true,  or  to  do  what  he  does  not 
perform,  or  even  intend. 

Q.  What  is  blasphemy? 

A.  It  is  injurious  language  against  God,  his 
saints,  or  holy  things. 

Q.  What  things  are  not  forbidden  by  the 
first  commandment  ? 

A.  It  is  not  forbidden  to  make  pictures,  or 
images  of  God,  saints,  and  angels,  nor  to  place 
them  in  churches,  or  give  them  due  respect. 
It  is  not  forbidden  to  preserve  relics  of  holy 
persons,  and  show  them  due  respects.  It  is  not 
forbidden  to  honor  and  desire  the  saints  to  pray 
for  tis.  It  is  not  forbidden  to  bless  bread, 
water,  candles,  or  any  other  creature  appro- 
priated to  religious  uses. 

Q.  Does  not  the  commandment  expressly 
forbid  making  the  likenesses  of  any  thing  in 
heaven,  or  in  earth  ?  And  though  it  were  law- 
ful to  make  images,  they  are  not  to  be  honored 
in  a  religious  way,  but  only  used  in  an  his- 
torical way  ? 

A.  It  does  not  absolutely  forbid  images,  only 
conditionally,  so  as  not  to  worship  them,  nor 
adore  them  as  Gods.  Nay,  God  himself  com- 
manded Moses  to  make  two  cherubims  of  beaten 
gold,  and  place  them  at  the  two  ends  of  the 
mercy  seat,  over  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  in 
the  very  sanctuary;  Exod.  xxv.  He  also  com- 
manded a  serpent  of  brass  to  be  made,  for  the 
healing  of  those  who  were  bit  by  the  fiery 
serpents :  which  serpent,  according  to  St.  John, 


78 


EXPLANATION   OF   THE   TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 


was  an  emblem  of  Christ;  John  iii.  14.  Besides, 
if  all  images  or  likenesses  were  forbid  by  this 
commandment,  we  should  be  obliged  to  fling 
down  our  sign  posts  and  deface  the  king's 
coin.  And,  because  a  person  by  his  image  is 
capable  of  respect,  or  disrespect,  an  historical 
use  of  them  is  not  sufficient. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  that  there  is  a  relative 
honor  due  to  the  images  or  pictures  of  Christ 
and  his  saints? 

A.  From  the  dictates  of  common  sense  and 
reason;  as  well  as  of  piety  and  religion,  which 
teach  us  to  express  our  love  and  esteem  for 
persons  whom  we  honor,  by  setting  a  value 
upon  all  things  that  belong  to  them,  or  have 
any  relation  to  them  :  thus,  a  loyal  subject,  a 
dutiful  child,  a  loving  friend,  value  the  pictures 
of  their  king,  father,  or  friend ;  and  those  who 
make  no  scruple  of  abusing  the  pictures,  or 
images  of  Christ  and  his  saints,  would  severely 
punish  the  man  that  should  abuse  the  picture 
or  image  of  his  king.  Besides,  a  relative  honor 
is  allowed  of  and  even  practiced  by  Protestants 
themselves.  It  is  allowed  of  by  Bishop  Mon- 
tague,* a  learned  Protestant  divine,  who  grants 
that  there  is  a  reverence  or  veneration;  an 
honor  or  respect,  due  to  the  images  or  pictures 
of  Christ  and  his  saints.  It  is  practiced  by 
them,  in  the  honor  they  give  to  their  churches, 
to  the  altar,  to  the  Bible,  to  the  symbols  of 
bread  and  wine  in  the  sacrament,  to  the  name 
of  Jesus,  which  is  an  image  or  remembrance 
of  our  blessed  Saviour  to  the  ear,  as  a  picture 
or  crucifix  is  to  the  eye.  Such  also  was  the 
honor  which  the  Jews  gave  to  the  ark,  and 
cherubims  ;  such  was  the  honor  which  Moses 
and  Joshua  gave  to  the  land  on  which  they 
stood,  as  being  holy  ground ;  Exod.  iii.  5, 
Joshua  V.  15,  and  such  is  the  honor  which 
Catholics  give  to  the  images  or  pictures,  before 
which  they  kneel  or  pray  ;  so  that  they  do  not 
give  divine  honor  to  them,t  no  nor  even  to  the 
highest  angel  or  saint,  much  less  to  images  or 
pictures,  as  some  maliciously  slander  them  with, 

•  Part,  2.  Originnm.  ?  145  et  in  Epistomio.  P.  318. 
t  Con.  Trid.  Sess.  xxv. 


and  call  them  idolators  upon  that  account ;  but 
I  would  have  our  adversaries  consider,  that  mis- 
representation, slander,  and  calumny,  is  as 
much  forbid  by  the  commandments  as  idolatry. 

Q.  What  grounds  have  you  for  paying  a 
veneration  to  the  relics  of  saints  ? 

A.  Besides  the  ancient  tradition  and  practice 
of  the  first  and  purest  ages,  attested  by  the  best 
monuments  of  antiquity;  we  are  warranted  so 
to  do  by  many  illustrious  miracles  done  at  the 
tombs,  and  by  the  relics  of  the  saints,  which 
God,  who  is  truth  and  sanctity  itself,  would 
never  have  effected,  if  this  honor  paid  to  the 
precious  remains  of  his  servants  was  not  agree- 
able to  him.* 

Q.  I  own  there  is  no  harm  in  preserving 
relics,  but  we  are  not  to  use  them  supersti- 
tiously,  ascribe  miracles  to  them,  and  impose 
upon  the  world  false  relics  ? 

A.  The  Church  is  free  from  superstition,  in 
the  use  of  relics  :  they  are  preserved  in  memory 
of  the  saints,  and  to  proclaim  God's  glory.  And 
miracles  being  wrought  in  all  ages  by  them, 
makes  the  practice  more  authentic.  As  for 
false  miracles  and  false  relics,  all  the  care 
imaginable  is  taken  to  discountenance  such 
abuses. 

Q.  You  believe,  then,  that  great  miracles  have 
been  done  by  relics  ? 

A.  A  man  must  have  a  good  share  of  con- 
fidence that  can  deny  it;  it  is  what  the  devil 
could  never  do.  And  I  think,  at  present,  no 
learned  Protestant  doubts  of  it :  I  refer  you 
particularly  to  Dr.  Cave,  and  to  the  translators 
of  Monsieur  du  Pin,t  whose  words  are  these: 
"  It  pleased  God  for  the  testimony  of  his  doc- 
trine and  truth,  to  work  great  miracles  by  the 
dead  bodies  of  his  saints,  in  witness  that  they 
had  been  his  messengers,  and  instruments  of 
his  will." 

Q.  Have  you  any  instances  in  Scripture,  of 
miracles  done  by  relics  ? 

A.  Yes,  we  read  of  a  dead  man  raised  to  life 

»  See  St.  Aug.  L.  22  de  Civ.  Dei.  Cap.  viii.  et  St.  Ambr.  Epist. 
85,  et  Serm.  95. 

t  Cent.  S.  page  120. 


EXPLANATION   OF  THE  TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 


79 


by  the  bones  of  the  prophet  Elisha;  2  Kings 
xiii.  21.  And  that  the  handkerchiefs  and 
aprons,  which  had  but  touched  the  body  of 
St.  Paul,  cast  out  devils,  and  cured  all  diseases. 
Acts  xix.   12. 

Q.  Then  as  to  praying  to  saints,  God  only 
is  the  author  of  all  spiritual  blessings,  and  by 
consequence  the  only  object  of  prayer.  Christ 
is  our  only  mediator.  The  saints  neither  know 
our  necessities,  nor  can  hear  our  prayers.  God 
commands  us  to  apply  ourselves  immediately 
to  him.  We  have  no  precept  or  example  in 
Scripture,  to  apply  ourselves  to  saints. 

A.  These  diflacidties  are  easily  removed,  when 
the  following  points  are  considered.  First,  that 
God,  by  his  divine  providence,  has  appointed 
certain  means  whereby  men  are  to  obtain  their 
ends,  both  temporal  and  spiritual.  Marriage, 
to  propagate  their  species ;  ploughing  and  sow- 
ing, to  procure  bread  and  preserve  life.  For 
spiritual  ends,  he  has  prescribed  instruction  in 
religion,  prayer,  fasting,  alms,  frequenting  the 
sacraments,  and  all  moral  duties,  in  order  to 
practice  virtue,  and  become  happy  hereafter. 
Among  other  spiritual  practices,  he  prescribes 
that  of  praying  for  one  another;  and  if  this  be 
useful  while  living,  why  is  it  not  after  death, 
when  saints  are  more  capable  of  being  service- 
able by  their  prayers  ? 

Q.  Before  we  proceed  any  further,  pray  tell 
me  what  you  mean  by  praying  to  saints  ? 

A.  We  mean  no  more,  than  desiring  them 
to  pray  to  God  for  us.  So  that  we  do  not  pray 
or  address  ourselves  to  them,  as  the  authors 
and  givers  of  grace  and  glory;  because,  in 
this  sense,  we  hold  it  our  duty  to  pray  to  God 
alone. 

Q.  Why  are  not  these  prayers  to  saints  sin 
usurpation  of  God's  authority,  who  is  the  author 
of  all  spiritual  blessings  ? 

A.  For  several  reasons.  First,  because  we 
desire  no  more  of  the  saints,  than  that  they 
would  pray  for  us,  and  with  us,  to  our  common 
Lord,  by  the  merits  of  him,  who  is  both  our 
and  their  mediator,  that  is,  Jesus  Christ  our 
Saviour;  and  surely  no  one  will  say  that  prayer 


for  one  another,  is  derogatory  to  God's  authority, 
while  we  are  upon  earth.  Secondly,  we  acknowl- 
edge God,  at  the  same  time,  to  be  the  origin  of 
all  blessings.  Thirdly,  saints  are  applied  to, 
only  as  court  favorites,  whose  interest  is  pre- 
vailing with  a  prince,  and  does  not  lessen  his 
authority.  Fourthly,  prayers  to  saints  illustrate 
and  extend  God's  authority,  because  they  are 
an  instance  of  his  esteem  for  virtuous  persons,^ 
whose  petitions  he  grants  on  their  account. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  that  it  is  good  and 
profitable  to  pray  to  the  saints;  and  that  it  is 
an  ancient  custom  so  to  do  ? 

A.  Because  it  is  good  and  profitable  to  desire 
the  prayers  of  God's  servants  here  upon  earth: 
as  St.  Paul  often  does  in  his  epistles ;  Heb. 
xiii.  i8.  Brethren,  pray  for  us;  i  Thess.  v.  25. 
And  St.  James  says,  the  prayer  of  a  righteous 
man  avails  much  ;  James  v.  16.  Moses  by  his 
prayers  obtained  mercy  for  the  children  of 
Israel;  Exod.  xxxii.  11  and  14.  Samuel  by  his 
prayers  defeated  the  Philistines;  i  Sam.  vii.  8, 
9,  10.  And  God  himself  commanded  Eliphaz, 
and  his  two  friends,  to  go  to  Job,  that  Job 
should  pray  for  them,  promising  to  accept  of 
his  prayers;  Job  iv.  8.  Now  if  it  be  acceptable 
to  God,  and  good  and  profitable  to  ourselves, 
to  seek  the  prayers  of  God's  servants  here  on 
earth,  how  much  more  of  the  saints  and  angels 
in  heaven  ?  It  has  been  always  the  constant 
custom  and  practice  of  the  Church,  in  all  ages, 
to  desire  the  prayers  or  intercession  of  the 
saints :  this  is  acknowledged  by  Mr.  Thorn- 
dike,  a  learned  and  Protestant  author.  It  is 
confessed,  says  he,  that  the  lights,  both  of  the 
Greek  and  Latin  Church,  St.  Basil,  St.  Gregory 
Nazianzen,  St.  Gregory  Nyssen,  St.  Ambrose, 
St.  Jerom,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Chrysostom,  St. 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  and  St.  Cyril  of  Alex- 
andria, Theodoret,  St.  Fulgentius,  St.  Gregory 
the  Great,  St.  Leo,  more,  or  rather  all  after  that 
time,  have  spoken  to  the  saints,  and  desired 
their  assistance  or  prayers."* 

Q.  But  is  not  this  practice  of  desiring  the 
prayers  or  intercession  of  the  saints  and  angels 

*  In  Epil.  Par.  iii.  P.  358. 


8o 


EXPLANATION   OF  THE   TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 


superfluous,  and  derogatory  to  our  Saviour 
Christ,  since  Christ  is  our  only  mediator  ? 

A.  No,  by  no  means,  no  more  than  to  desire 
the  prayers  of  our  brethren  here  below.  Christ 
is  the  only  mediator  of  redemption,  but  this 
does  not  exclude  others  from  being  mediators 
of  intercession :  and  this  distinction  is  to  be 
observed  in  the  prayers  for  one  another  on 
earth.  In  this  sense  Moses  is  called  the 
mediator  between  God  and  the  Israelites.  How- 
ever, those  of  the  Church  of  England,  have  no 
reason  to  cry  out,  and  exclaim  against  us,  for 
desiring  the  prayers  and  intercession  of  the 
saints  and  angels;  since  they  themselves, 
according  to  their  own  language,  worship  the 
angels :  we,  it  is  true,  desire  their  prayers,  but 
they  their  succor  and  defence ;  as  may  be 
seen  in  their  common  prayer  book,  in  the  collect 
for  Michaelmas  day,  the   29th  of  September. 

Q.  How  can  saints  and  angels  hear  our  prayers 
at  such  a  distance?  Has  God  any  occasion  to 
be  informed  by  them  of  our  wants? 

A.  Distance  of  place  is  no  obstruction,  be- 
cause they  hear  not  by  ears,  but  by  under- 
standing. The  manner  whereof  is  not  con- 
ceivable, no  more  is  the  nature  of  any  spiritual 
substance.  Again,  by  seeing  God,  they  see  all 
things  which  belong  to  complete  their  happi- 
ness, and  it  is  a  part  of  their  happiness,  to 
know  the  state  of  those  for  whom  they  are  con- 
cerned ;  and  were  they  not  concerned  in  prayers 
directed  to  them,  their  condition  in  this,  would 
be  worse  than  when  alive;  because  they  would 
not  be  able  to  assist  their  friends  when  in 
distress.  Do  not  the  angels-  rejoice  at  the  con- 
version of  a  sinner?  St.  Luke  says  they  do, 
Luke  XV.  10.  If  then  they  know  our  repent- 
ance, and  rejoice  at  it,  have  we  not  reason  to 
believe  they  know  our  petitions  too  ?  Do  not 
the  devils,  by  the  light  of  nature  alone,  know 
our  actions,  and  accuse  us  of  our  sins  ?  Rev. 
xii.  10.     Again,  the  saints  know  we  are  in  want 


of  assistance,  in  general  at  least,  and  being 
sensible  of  it,  may  pray  for  us  in  general,  as 
we  on  earth  pray  for  one  another  at  a  distance, 
though  ignorant  of  each  other's  necessities  in 
particular.  Lastly,  there  is  no  occasion  that 
God  should  be  informed,  either  by  the  living, 
or  saints  dead,  but  the  nature  of  prayer 
requires,  that  we  should  mention  what  we  want. 

Q.  We  are  ordered  to  pray  to  God  himself 
immediately. 

A.  Why  then  do  we  make  use  of  prayers  for 
one  another  living  ?  Again,  all  prayers  to  saints 
are  directed  also  immediately  to  God,  viz.: 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Besides,  the 
order  of  Divine  Providence  requires  that  we 
should  make  use  of  the  means  he  has  assigned 
to  obtain  our  ends,  both  in  a  natural  and  spiritual 
way ;  the  husbandman  applies  himself  immedi- 
ately to  God  by  sowing,  and  the  faithful  by 
prayer. 

Q.  There  is  no  precept  or  example  in  the 
Scriptures  of  praying  to  saints  and  angels. 

A.  While  we  are  advised  to  pray  for  one 
another,  and  commanded  too,  it  implies  both  a 
precept  and  example.  The  Creed  supposes  as 
much  by  the  communion  of  saints.  The 
instance  of  Dives  and  Lazarus  imports,  there 
was  a  communication  between  the  living  and 
the  dead.  Are  not  the  prayers  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  Jacob,  Moses,  etc.,  mentioned  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  their  names  invoked  after  their 
decease  ?  Do  not  the  twenty-four  elders  offer 
to  God,  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  ?  Did  not 
Jacob,  when  he  gave  his  blessing  to  the  sons 
of  Joseph,  desire  also  the  angel  to  bless  them ; 
Gen.  xlviii.  16.  saying,  the  angel  that  delivered 
me  from  all  evils,  bless  these  children  ? 
Besides,  what  occasion  is  there  of  a  precept 
for  a  voluntary  practice  ?  There  are  many 
practices,  and  even  precepts,  whereof  there 
are  no  mention  in  the  Scriptures,  as  observing 
Sundays,  infant's  baptism,  etc. 


EXPLANATION    OF   THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


8i 


THE   SECOND   COMMANDMENT. 


Q.  Which,  is  the  second  cottunandment  ? 

A.  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the 
"Lord  thy  God  in  vain. 

Q.  What  is  forbidden  by  this  commandment  ? 

A.  It  is  forbidden  to  mention  the  name  of 
God  in  common  conversation,  or  upon  any 
frivolous  occasion ;  also,  cursing,  swearing,  or 
common  oaths  and  perjury. 

Q.  What  is  an  oath  ? 

A.  It  is  calling  upon  God  to  witness. 

Q.  How  many  sorts  of  oaths  are  there? 

A.  Several,  viz.:  Assertory,  promissory,  exe- 
cratory,  solemn,  simple,  explicit,  implicit,  an 
oath  by  God,  or  by  creatures.  An  assertory 
oath,  is  calling  God  to  witness  a  thing  either 
is,  or  is  not.  A  promissory  oath,  is  to  call 
God  to  witness,  that  a  person  purposes  either 
to  do,  or  not  to  do  a  thing.  An  execratory 
oath,  is  to  call  God  to  witness,  that  a  person 
wishes  some  evil  to  himself  or  others,  and  it 
is  called  a  curse.  A  solemn  oath,  is  before  a 
court  of  judicature.  A  simple  oath,  is  in  pri- 
vate conversation.  An  explicit  oath,  is  ex- 
pressed by  words.  An  implicit  oath,  is  signi- 
fied b}^  signs,  as  holding  up  the  hands,  kissing 
the  gospel,  etc.  An  oath  by  God,  is  expressed 
by  invoking  God,  or  some  of  his  divine  attri- 
butes. An  oath  by  creatures,  is  when  they  are 
called  upon,  as  depending  upon  God's  power  and 
influence. 

Q.  Are  oaths  lawful  ? 

A.  Yes,  when  duly  performed ;  because  they 
are  an  act  of  religion,  publishing  God's  omni- 
science and  veracity,  when  we  call  upon  him  as  a 
witness. 

Q.  What  conditions  are  requisite  to  make  an 
oath  lawful  ? 

A.  Chiefly  these  three;  mentioned  in  the 
Scripture.  Jer.  iv.  2,  truth,  judgment,  or  discre- 
tion and  justice :  that  is  to  say,  what  we  swear  is 
to  be  true ;  secondly,  it  is  to  be  upon  rational 
inducements ;  and  thirdly,  what  we  swear,  must 
not  be  to  do  evil  or  indiff"erent  things.     Without 


the  first  condition,  it  is  perjury ;  without  the 
second,  it  is  taking  God's  name  in  vain ;  and 
there  is  danger  of  perjury  and  scandal,  as 
swearing  in  common  conversation  ;  without  the 
third,  it  is  an  addition  to  the  evil  we  threaten,  i 
and  accompanied  with  many  bad  circumstances.  I 

Q.  What  is  the  j  ust  cause  of  an  oath  ? 

A.  God's  honor,  our  own,  our  neighbor's  law- 
ful good  or  defence. 

Q.  Does  not  the  Gospel  forbid  swearing  on 
au}'  account  whatever,  since  it  says,  swear  not 
at  all  ?  Matt.  v.  34. 

A,  The  Gospel  only  forbids  oaths,  where  the 
necessary  conditions  are  wanting.  Again,  Christ 
only  forbids  customary  swearing,  which  was 
frequent  among  the  Jews.  Thirdly,  he  forbids 
them  to  swear  things  that  are  unlawful  of 
themselves  :  for  it  appears  by  Herod  and  others, 
that  they  thought  themselves  obliged  to  fulfill 
unlawful  oaths. 

Q.  What  use  can  oaths  be  of,  though  lawful  ? 
A  just  man  will  do  his  duty  without  an  oath, 
and  a  wicked  man  it  cannot  bind. 

A.  St.  Paul  says,  oaths  are  used  to  confirm 
truth :  Heb.  vi.  16.  And  they  are  as  a  support 
for  corrupted  nature ;  and  in  practice  are  bene- 
ficial to  the  public :  for  though  wicked  men 
regard  not  their  oath,  yet  their  honor  is 
engaged  by  it,  and  they  are  kept  to  their  duty 
by  temporal  punishment,  which  they  are  liable 
to  by  the  breach  of  their  oaths. 

Q.  In  what  state  are  they,  who  swear  often 
without  regard  to  truth,  or  falsehood,  swearing 
without  necessity,  or  for  trivial  matters  ? 

A.  In  a  very  dangerous  state,  "for  our  I,ord| 
will  not  hold  him  guiltless,  that  shall  take  his 
name  in  vain."  Exod.  xx.  7.  "  Swear  not, 
neither  by  heaven,  etc.,  that  you  fall  not  under 
judgment."  James  v.  12.  "  A  man  that  swears 
much,  shall  be  filled  with  iniquity,  and  a 
plague  shall  not  depart  from  his  house."  Eccl. 
xxiii.  12.  And  no  wonder,  seeing  such  live  in 
a  daily  profanation  of  God's  holy  name,  in  the 


82 


EXPLANATION   OF   THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


violation  of  God's  commandments,  and  the  con- 
tempt of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Gospel,  conse- 
quently in  the  way  of  perdition. 

Q.  What  should  they  do,  who  would  quit 
this  ill  custom  of  swearing  ? 

A.  They  must,  for  the  love  of  God,  watch 
carefully  over  their  senses,  curb  their  passions, 
fly  all  occasions  of  anger,  choler,  company, 
drinking,  or  whatever  they  find  occasions  them 
to  swear;  resolving  rather  to  die  than  swear 
deliberately;  obliging  themselves  to  some 
prayers,  alms,  or  penal  works,  every  time 
they    swear,     desiring    others    to    mind    them 


thereof;  seriously  considering,  that,  "if  of  every 
idle  word  that  men  should  speak,  they  shall 
render  an  account  in  the  day  of  judgment." 
Matt.  xii.  36;  what  account  have  they  to  give 
for  profaning  the  holy  name  of  God,  by  swear- 
ing, cursing,  blaspheming,  etc. 

Q.  What  are  we  commanded  to  do  by  this 
commandment  ? 

A.  As  in  the  former,  we  are  commanded  to 
honor  God  with  our  hearts;  so  in  this  we  are 
commanded  to  honor  him  with  our  tongues ;  as 
by  prayer,  edifying  discourse,  and  the  like. 


THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT. 


Q.  What  is  the  third  commandment  ? 

A.  Remember  thou  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  day. 

Q.  When  was  this  day  first  appointed  to  be 
kept  holy  ? 

A.  God  sanctified  it,  and  ordered  it  should 
be  a  day  of  rest  on  the  seventh  day  after  the 
creation,  and  that  men  might  give  thanks  for 
the  benefit  of  the  creation.  Gen.  ii.  2.  And  it 
is  highly  probable,  the  true  believers  in  the 
law  of  nature,  observed  it  as  a  day  of  rest  and 
devotion. 

Q.  How  came  it  to  be  altered  to  Sunday,  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  which  is  the  first  day 
after  the  Sabbath  ? 

A.  Because  it  was  only  a  ceremonial  law, 
obliging  the  Jews,  as  to  the  seventh  day,  though 
it  was  a  moral  precept  in  the  main,  obliging  all 
persons  to  return  thanks  to  God,  for  the  crea- 
tion and  all  other  blessings.  Now  the  day  was 
altered  by  the  Apostles,  in  commemoration  of 
our  Blessed  Saviour's  resurrection,  and  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  which  happened 
the  first  day  after  the  Sabbath. 

Q.  What  things  are  forbidden  on  that  day? 

A.  As  the  day  was  ordered  to  be  kept  holy 
by  the  authority  of  the  Church,  so  the  Church 
has  commanded  all  persons  to  abstain  from 
servile  works,  traffic  and   courts  of  judicature. 


Q.  What  things  are  strictly  commanded  by 
this  commandment? 

A.  As  the  two  former  commandments  con- 
tain our  duty  in  heart  and  words;  so  by  this 
we  are  commanded  to  sanctify  the  Sabbath  or 
Lord's  Day  to  Almighty  God  by  actual  service. 
Exod.  XX.  Jer.  xvii.  27.  In  giving  him  that 
public  worship  which  the  Church  prescribes, 
viz.:  To  hear  mass,  and  spend  the  day  in  prayer, 
in  hearing  instructions,  reading  good  books, 
examining  and  detesting  what  we  have  done 
amiss,  and  the  like:  and  therefore  those  who 
spend  this  day  in  idleness,  sports,  vanity,  idle 
visits,  drinking,  gaming,  and  the  like,  do  not 
comply  full}'  with  the  end  of  this  command- 
ment, nor  with  the  Church's  desire  concerning  it. 

Q.  When  is  it  that  persons  may  be  dispensed 
with,  to  work  upon  Sundays? 

A.  Only  in  cases  of  absolute  necessity,  or 
when  the  work  is  very  inconsiderable. 

Q.  When  may  persons  be  excused  from  being 
present  at  mass  ?    ' 

A.  In  case  of  sickness,  necessary  business, 
or  want  of  opportunity,  so  that  they  are  at  too 
great  a  distance. 

Q.  Let  me  hear  some  particular  cases,  where 
persons  may  be  excused  or  are  inexcusable  in 
laboring  and  omitting  to  hear  mass  on  Sundays. 


EXPLANATION   OF   THE  TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 


83 


A.  Servile  works  are  such  as  are  usually 
performed  by  servants  only,  as  digging,  plough- 
ing, mechanical  works ;  but  not  writing,  study- 
ing, etc.  Apothecaries  are  excused  in  making 
up  medicines,  and  cooks  in  preparing  victuals 
by  necessity:  so  cattle  may  be  fed,  or  any  great 
loss  hindered,  by  laboring  on  that  day;  as  the 
loss    by    fire   or    water;    so    glass-makers    and 


laborers  in  forges,  may  attend  their  fires;  yet 
mass,  and  the  rest,  is  to  be  attended  to.  Servants 
sweeping  rooms,  etc.,  are  excused,  but  not  wash- 
ing without  absolute  necessity.  A  frequent 
custom  of  shaving  on  Sundays,  is  not  pennitted. 
Journeys  ought  not  to  be  performed  unless  in 
necessit}' ;  but  in  these  and  all  other  cases,  mass 
is  always  to  be  heard. 


THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 


^.  What  is  the  fourth  commandment? 

A.  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother. 

Q.  What  is  the  general  sense  of  this  com- 
mandment ? 

A.  By  father  and  mother,  are  to  be  under- 
stood, all  superiors  whatever. 

Q.  Why  are  all  superiors  to  be  honored  and 
obeyed  ? 

A.  Chiefly  because  they  are  God's  represen- 
tatives; and  again,  because  they  preserve  peace 
and  unity  in  every  community;  lastly,  because 
they  are  authors    of  many  favors  to  inferiors. 

Q.  Name  the  persons  distinctly,  who  are  con- 
cerned in  this  precept. 

A.  Subjects,  in  regard  of  princes;  and  all 
subordinate  civil  magistrates.  All  the  faithful, 
in  regard  of  the  pope,  bishops,  and  priests. 
Children,  in  regard  of  parents;  servants  in 
regard  of  masters;  young  persons,  in  regard  of 
their  seniors. 

Q.  What  are  the  obligations  of  children,  in 
regard  of  their  parents? 

A.  Respect,  both  in  words  and  actions;  obedi- 
ence, love,  and  assistance,  when  they  are  in 
necessity;  and,  in  consequence  of  this,  they  are 
not  to  enter  into  the  married  state,  nor  any 
other  station,  without  consulting  and  expecting 
their  approbation,  unless  they  are  unreasonable. 
Dent,  xxvii.  "16.  Col.  iii.  20.  They  are  also  to 
pay  their  parents'  debts,  as  far  as  justice  and 
charity  oblige  them ;  and  if  their  parents  have 
wronged  any  person,  either  in  money  or  land, 
children  are  to  restore  it,  in  case    they  are  in 


possession  of  it.  Acts  v.  29.  However,  if  par- 
ents lay  any  unjust  commands,  or  hinder  their 
children  from  becoming  religious,  when  they 
are  come  to  the  years  of  discretion,  they  are 
not  to   be  obeyed. 

Q.  What  are  the  punishments  and  blessings 
relating  to  this   precept? 

A.  Obedient  children  are  blessed  with  a  long 
life,  and  temporal  felicity :  disobedient  children, 
with  temporal  miseries  and  a  short  life. 

Q.  Is  a  short  life  always  a  punishment  ? 

A.  No,  it  is  sometimes  a  blessing,  as  the  wise 
man  says,  in  the  book  of  wisdom,  "  He  was  taken 
away,  lest  malice  should  change  his  heart,  and 
lest  any  evil  might  deceive  his  soul."  Chap, 
iv.  ver.  11. 

Q.  What  are  the  obligations  of  parents  toward 
their  children  ? 

A.  In  general,  they  are  to  see  that  they  are 
provided  with  all  necessaries,  both  temporal  and 
spiritual :  viz.  To  take  care  that  they  are 
instructed,  in  their  youth,  in  the  Christian 
rudiments  ;  that  they  observe  good  hours  and 
regularity ;  that  they  correct  them  with  discre- 
tion, neither  with  severity,  nor  too  much  indul- 
gence; for  "he  that  spares  the  rod,  hates  his 
son,  but  he  that  loves  him  chastises  him 
betimes."  Pro.  xiii.  24.  To  give  them  good 
example  by  a  regular  life,  neither  speaking  nor 
acting  indecently  before  them  ;  to  exhort  them 
to  keep  Sundays  and  holy-days  holy,  and  to 
frequent  the  sacraments ;  to  settle  them  in  the 
world,  in    some    commendable    station,  and  not 


84 


EXPLANATION   OF   THE  TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 


to  deprive  them  of  their  due  by  spending  their 
substance.  Not  to  threaten  them  into  mar- 
riage, nor  by  ill  usage  compel  them  in  some 
manner  to  enter  into  a  religious  state ;  nor 
disinherit  them,  unless  there  be  the  highest 
provocation :  not  to  show  any  remarkable  par- 
tiality to  one  child  more  than  to  another,  which 
is  often  followed  with  great  discontent  and  ruin 
of  him  who  is  less  esteemed. 

Q.  What  are  the  obligations  of  servants  and 
laborers  to  their  masters  ? 

A.  They  are  to  be  obedient,  respectful,  and 
exactly  faithful  in  every  trust  and  concern 
committed  to  them ;  punctually  and  carefully 
doing  what  is  given  them  in  charge,  and  belongs 
to  their  place ;  rightly  spending  their  time, 
labor,  and  industry,  in  their  master's  service, 
as  they  know  he  expects  and  requires :  not  let- 
ting him  lose  by  their  idleness,  nor  by  making 
advantage  to  themselves  of  what  belongs  to 
their  master:  according  to  that  of  St.  Paul, 
-where  he  exhorts  servants,  "to  be  subject  to 
their  masters,  in  all  things  pleasing,  not  con- 
tradicting, not  defrauding  them,  biit  in  all  things 
showing  good  fidelity."  Tit.  ii.  9.  And,  in 
another  place,  he  commands  them,  saying, 
"  Ser\'ants,  obey  in  all  things  those  who  are 
your  masters,  according  to  the  flesh,  not  eye 
ser\'ers,  as  pleasing  men,  but  with  simplicity  of 
heart,  fearing  God."  Col.  iii.  22.  They  are 
likewise  under  a  strict  obligation  of  restitution, 
of  whatever  damage  the  master  shall  suffer  by 
their  fault,  idleness,  connivance,  concurrence, 
etc.  They  must  also  live  in  peace,  love,  and 
charity,  with  their  fellow  servants. 

Q.  What  are  the  obligations  of  masters  to 
their  servants  and  laborers  ? 

A.  The  Apostle  St.  Paul  informs  us,  in  these 
words :  "  Masters,"  says  he,  "  give  unto  your 
servants  that  which  is  just,  knowing  that  you 
have  also  a  master  in  heaven"  (Col.  iv.  i),  to 
whom  all  masters  must  be  accountable.  They 
are  obliged  to  stand  to  the  promise  or  agree- 
ment they  made  with  their  servants;  to  give 
them  sufficient  and  wholesome  meat  and  drink, 
fit  lodging,  etc.     They  are  not  to  employ  them 


in  any  ill  office,  work,  and  the  like ;  nor  require 
more  of  them  than  they  can  do,  nor  be  too 
harsh  or  severe  with  them ;  nor  make  them 
labor  on  Sundays  and  holy-days.  They  are 
obliged  to  instruct,  admonish,  and  give  them 
good  example,  etc.  "-If  anj'^  provide  not  for  his 
own,  especially  for  his  domestics,  he  has  denied 
his  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel,"  says 
St.  Paul.     I  Tim.  V.  8. 

Q.  What  are  our  obligations  towards  our 
spiritual  superiors  ? 

A.  We  must  love  them,  because  they  are  our 
spiritual  parents,  who  in  Christ  through  the 
gospel  have  begot  us  (i  Cor.  iv.  15),  that  is, 
are  authors  of  our  spiritual  life ;  who  are  nurses 
of  our  souls,  and  under  God  are  the  instru- 
mental causes  of  our  spiritual  good.  "  We 
beseech  you,  brethren,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  to 
know  those  who  labor  among  you,  that  you 
love  them  the  more  for  their  work's  sake." 
I  Thess.  V.  12.  We  must  hear,  respect,  and 
obey  them  as  Christ's  ambassadors ;  the  hear- 
ing or  despising  them,  is  the  same  as  the 
hearing  or  despising  Christ.  "  He  who  hears 
you,  hears  me,"  says  our  Saviour,  "  and  he  who 
despises  you,  despises  me."  Luke  x.  16.  So 
that  we  ought  to  submit  to  them  in  all  things 
belonging  to  faith,  and  the  government  of  our 
souls.  "  Obey  your  prelates,"  says  St.  Paul, 
"  and  be  subject  to  them,  for  they  watch,  as 
being  to  render  an  account  for  your  souls." 
Heb.  xiii.  17.  We  must  pray  for  them,  that 
they  may  discharge  their  duties  for  the  good 
of  their  flock.  We  must  also  maintain  or  assist 
them  with  necessaries  for  this  life,  since  their 
study,  labor  and  employ,  are  to  afford  us 
necessaries  for  the  life  to  come.  "  Let  him," 
says  St.  Paul,  "  who  is  instructed  in  the  word, 
communicate  to  him  who  instructs  him  in  all 
his  goods."  Gal.-  vi.  6.  "  Even  so  has  our  Lord 
ordained,  that  they  who  preach  the  gospel 
should  live  of  the  gospel."     i  Cor.  ix.   14. 

Q.  What  are  our  obligations  toward  our 
sovereign,  and  such  temporal  governors  as  are 
placed  over  us  ? 

A.  We  must    love    them,  honor    them,   obey 


EXPLANATION   OF  THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


85 


them,  and  not  speak  ill  of  them.  "  Thou  shalt 
not  revile  or  mis-speak  the  prince  of  the  people." 
Acts  xxiii.  5.  We  must  duly  pay,  without 
fraud,  to  such,  all  due  taxes,  customs,  etc. 
"  Render  to  Caeser  the  things  that  are  Cseser's. 
,  Matt.  xxii.  25.  Again,  "  render  tribute  to 
whom  tribute  is  due,  and  custom  to  whom 
custom,"  etc.  Rom.  xiii.  7.  We  must  pay  for 
them,  "  I  exhort  you,"  says  St.  Paul,  "that 
supplications,  prayers,  etc.,  be  made  for  kings, 
and  all  who  are  in  authority,  that  we  may 
lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life,  in  all  holiness 
and  purity."  i  Tim.  ii.  i.  We  must  obey 
them  in  all  lawful  things.  "  Be  subject,  for 
God's  sake,  to  every  human  creature,  whether 
to  the  king  as  supreme,  or  to  governors  as  sent 
by  him,  for  the  punishment  of  malefactors."  i 
Pet.  ii.   13. 


Q.  What  are  the  obligations  of  superiors 
both  spiritual  and  temporal? 

A.  They  are  many  and  great,  and  in  all 
their  degrees  ought  to  govern  those  under  their 
charge,  with  charity  and  justice;  to  procure 
their  good,  and  defend  them  from  evil ;  to 
correct  and  punish  those  who  obey  not  their 
just  laws;  and  to  encourage  such  as  duly  observe 
them  ;  wherein  if  they  fail,  they  are  answerable 
to  God ;  but  their  failing  in  their  duty  will 
not  excuse  the  failing  of  subjects  on  their 
side. 

Q.  What  is  forbidden  by  this  command- 
ment ? 

A.  All  disrespect,  stubborness  and  disobedi- 
ence to  parents,  and  all  lawful  superiors,  both 
spiritual  and  temporal. 


THE  FIFTH  COMMANDMENT. 


Q.  Which  is  the  fifth  commandment? 

A.  Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

Q.  Is  it  always  unlawful  to  kill  another? 

A.  No ;  only  where  murder  is  committed. 

Q.  What  is  murder  ? 

A.  It  is  a  voluntary  taking  away  a  person's 
life,  by  private  authority. 

Q.  In  what  cases  is  killing  no  murder? 

A.  When  it  is  done  by  public  authority,  as 
when  malefactors  are  punished  with  death  by 
the  magistrates,  and  in  time  of  war. 

Q.  What  other  things  are  forbidden  by  this 
precept  ? 

A.  Interior  thoughts  of  murder,  or  the  desire 
of  any  person's  death ;  anger,  and  study  of 
revenge ;  injurious  words,  that  provoke  persons  ; 
quarreling,  striking,  and  maiming  another. 
Matt.  V.  38.  To  desire  one's  own  death ;  to 
procure  abortion,  etc. 

Q.  Is  it  lawful  to  kill  one's  self,  or  to  hasten 
one's  own  death,  by  excesses  in  drinking,  etc.. 
or  expose  one's  self  to  danger  of  death  ? 

A.  Suicide  is  murder,  because   God   alone  is 


master  of  life  and  death.  When  excesses 
manifestly  hasten  death,  or  the  dangers  are 
manifest,  and  persons  expose  themselves  to 
them  without  just  cause,  there  is  a  kind  of 
murder. 

Q.  Do  not  Catholics  hold,  that  it  is  lawful 
for  them  to  kill  and  murder  heretics  ? 

A.  Not  at  all :  this  is  a  mere  calumny  im- 
posed upon  them.  Matt.  v.  44.,  for  we  know 
that  we  are  commanded  to  love  them,  Rom. 
xviii.  20.  and  help  them  in  their  necessities, 
and  to  wish  them  all  the  good  we  wish  our- 
selves, even  when  they  would  oppress  and 
persecute  us.  And,  as  the  Church  prays  for 
their  conversion,  so  ought  we,  after  the  example 
of  our  Saviour  Christ  and  all  his  saints,  to 
have  great  compassion  for  them,  and  pray  to 
God  for  them,  that  he  may  mercifully  enlighten 
and  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
faith,  that  we  may  all  make  one  fold  under  one 
shepherd.     Luke  xxiii.   34.     i.  Tim.  ii.   i. 

Q.  What  do  you  say  as  to  nursing  out  children, 
and  overlaj'ing  them  ? 


86 


EXPLANATION   OF  THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


?^- 


A.  The  fathers  exclaim  against  putting  them 
out  to  nurse;  and  when  it  is  necessary,  whole- 
some, virtuous,  and  good-natured  nurses  are  to 
be  provided ;  otherwise  the  child  may  be  ruined. 
The  same  care  is  required  in  not  overlaying ; 
for  many  children  are  smothered. 

Q.  What  say  you  to  ignorant  physicians, 
surgeons,  etc.? 

A.  They  are  often  guilty  of  murder ;  although 
they  do  not  do  it  on  purpose,  but  by  gross  and 
culpable  ignorance;  for  ignorance  is  esteemed 
malice,  in  him  who  is  obliged  to  know. 

Q.  You  say,  that  anger,  hatred,  revenge,  in- 
jurious words,  fighting,  quarreling,  etc.,  are 
forbidden  by  this  commandment :  if  so,  what 
must  a  Christian  do  when  he  is  aflfronted  ? 

A.  St.  Peter  says  "  he  must  not  render  evil 
for  evil,  nor  railing  for  railing."  i  Eph.  iii. 
9.  Our  Saviour  says,  "  Bless  them  that  curse 
you ;  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you ;  pray  for 
them  that  persecute  you."  Matt.  v.  44.  He 
must  therefore  receive  the  affront  with  humil- 
ity, meekness,  and  patience. 

Q.  But  must  a  Christian  quietly  permit  him- 
self to  be  beaten,  wounded,  killed,  and  the  like  ? 

A.  No :  in  all  these  cases,  a  necessary  and 
moderate  defence  is  lawful ;  and  as  long  as  the 
assault  continues,  he  may  do  his  utmost  to 
defend  himself  But,  if  once  the  attack  ceases, 
it  is  no  longer  a  defence,  but  an  unjust  re- 
venge, to  use  any  further  violence  against  an 
assailant. 

Q.  You  have  said  enough  concerning  the 
murder  of  a  man's  body  ;  pray  let  me  hear  what 
you  have  to  say  of  the  murder  of  a  man's 
soul ;  and  who  those  are  that  are  guilty  of  it. 

A.  You  do  well  to  inquire  into  this  point ; 
for  alas  !  there  are  but  few  to  be  found,  who  duly 
weigh,  and  well  consider,  what  a  g^eat  crime 
it  is,  to  murder  a  man's  soul.     One  murdered 


body  gives  alarm  to  a  whole  country  ;  all  that 
hear  it  are  concerned,  for  fear  the  case  may 
shortly  be  their  own,  if  it  should  escape  unpun- 
ished :  and  therefore  they  pursue  the  murderer, 
that  he  may  rather  die,  than  do  so  any  more. 
But  though  the  number  of  poor  murdered  souls 
be  much  greater,  yet  there  are  many  so  pro- 
fanely wicked,  as  to  make  it  their  diversion  ; 
and  few  so  truly  good,  as  to  be  struck  with 
horror  at  the  thoughts  of  it.  A  man  who  makes 
his  neighbor  drunk,  is  a  downright  murderer 
of  his  soul ;  and  yet  so  stupid  and  wicked,  as 
to  laugh  at  his  exploit,  and  triumph  in  his 
iniquity.  All  those  are  guilty  of  this  murder, 
who,  either  by  word,  or  ill  example,  incite 
others  to  sin,  or  divert  them  from  doing  good; 
so  that  a  man  who  thus  gives  scandal  to  his 
neighbor,  and  draws  him  into  any  great  sin, 
"  it  were  better  for  him,  that  a  mill-stone  were 
hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were  cast 
into  the  sea."  As  often  as  he  makes  his  neigh- 
bor guilty  of  some  grievous  sin,  so  often  he 
multiplies  the  heavy  weight,  which  will  one 
day,  sink  him  into  the  pit  of  hell.  Such  a 
man  not  only  deserts  God,  and  serves  the  devil, 
but  as  many  men  as  he  engages  in  his  wicked- 
ness, so  many  volunteers  he  raises  for  the  same 
service  ;  and  these  raise  as  many  more  to  fight 
the  cause  of  hell,  against  the  God  of  heaven : 
and  thus  the  murder  of  men's  souls  increases 
and  multiplies  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

Q.  What  is  commanded  by  this  command- 
ment ? 

A.  To  defend  our  own  and  innocent  neigh- 
bor's life,  to  exercise  works  of  charity,  both 
spiritual  and  corporal,  as  our  neighbor's  need 
requires  ;  to  render  good  for  evil,  and  to  pray 
for  our  perseciitors,  as  Christ  commands  us. 
Rom.  xii.  14. 


EXPLANATION    OF  THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


87 


THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT. 


Q.  Which  is  the  sixth  commandment  ? 

A.   Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. 

Q.  What  is  forbidden  by  this  precept  ? 

A.  Not  only  adulter}',  which  is  a  carnal  act, 
with  another's  wife  or  husband,  but  also  fornica- 
tion, incest,  sacrilege,  wilful  pollution,  sin 
against  nature,  i  Thess.  iv.  and  all  other 
exterior  acts  which  proceed  from  lust. 

Q.  What  are  the  things  forbidden,  which  tend 
to  adultery,  fornication,  or  lust  ? 

A.  All  unchaste  touching  of  ourselves,  or 
others,  as  also  unchaste  or  lewd  discourse,  lust- 
ful kisses,  filthy  songs  and  books,  immodest 
pictures,  etc. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  fornication,  and  volun- 
tary pollution,  to  be  grievous  sins  ? 

A.  Out  of  St.  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Colos- 
sians,  ch.  iii.  ver.  5.  where  he  says,  "  mortify 
your  members  upon  earth  ;  fornication,  unclean- 
ness,  lust,  evil  concupiscence,  etc.,  for  which  the 
wrath  of  God  comes  upon  the  children  of  incred- 
ulity. 

Q.  Which  are  the  particular  kinds  of  lust  ? 

A.  These  will  be  specified  when  we  come  to 
explain  the  seven  deadly  sins, 

Q.  Why  is  adultery  named  in  the  prohibition 
of  this  commandment,  rather  than  any  of  the 
other  kinds  ? 

A.  Because,  besides  the  impurity  of  the  act, 
and  the  injustice  against  our  neighbor,  and 
injury  to  the  sacrament  of  matrimony;  it  con- 
tains also  a  wrong  done  against  the  common- 
wealth, in  regard,  that  lawful  heirs  are  deprived 
of  their  due  by  bastards  :  and  therefore  a  married 
woman  who  knows  for  certain  she  has  bastards, 
who  are  accounted  as  her  lawful  children,  is 
bound  by  sparing  and  other  means,  to  endeavor 
to  recompense  the  loss,  that  her  husband's  lawful 
children,  or  next  heirs,  shall  receive  b}?-  her 
bastards. 

Q.  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  dismiss  his  wife, 
upon  account  of  adultery  ? 


A.  Yes,  if  the  fact  be  evident. 

Q.  Can  he  who  hath  so  dismissed  his  wife 
marry  another  during  her  life  ? 

A.  No,  by  no  means  ;  "  for  he  that  dismisseth 
his  wife,"  says  our  Saviour  Christ,  "  and  marries 
another,  committeth  adultery."  Matt.  v.  32. 
And  St.  Luke  says,  "  he  that  marries  her  that 
is  so  dismissed,  commits  adultery."  Luke 
xvi.  18. 

Q.  Can  a  wife  that  is  so  dismissed  from  her 
husband,  marry  again  during  her  husband's  life  ? 

A.  No,  she  cannot. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  she  cannot  marry 
again  ? 

A.  From  the  first  epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the 
Corinthians,  where  he  says,  "  to  those  who  are 
joined  in  wedlock,  not  I  only  command,  but  the 
Lord,  that  the  wife  depart  not  from  her  husband: 
but  if  she  shall  depart,  that  she  remain  un- 
married." Chap.  7.  ver.  10,  11.  And  in  the 
same  chapter  he  says,  "  a  woman  is  bound  by 
the  law,  so  long  as  her  husband  lives ;  but  if  her 
husband  dies,  she  is  at  liberty  to  marry  whom 
she  will." 

Q.  What  is  commanded  by  this  command- 
ment ? 

A.  It  commands  husbands  and  wives  to  love 
and  be  faithful  one  to  another,  which  is  a  mutual 
and  unchangeable  right,  not  transferable  to  any 
other  during  life.  Whoever  entices  a  wife  to 
this  sin,  robs  her  of  her  innocency,  the  hus- 
band of  the  love  and  faithfulness  of  his  Wife, 
to  which  he  has  an  incommunicable  right,  and 
may  bring  other  irreparable  mischiefs. 

Q.  How  is  this  adominable  sin  of  the  flesh, 
to  be  avoided  ? 

A.  The  best  means  for  avoiding  it,  is  to  be- 
ware of  bad  company,  and  the  occasions  of 
the  sin,  to  shun  intemperance,  and  especially 
idleness ;  to  fast  and  pray,  confess  often,  and 
communicate  with  much  devotion. 


88 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


THE   SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT. 


Q.  Which  is  the  seventh  commandment? 

A.  Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

Q.  What  is  forbidden  by  this  commandment? 

A.  All  unjust  taking  away  or  detaining  our 
neighbor's  goods,  either  by  stealth  or  robbery, 
or  any  other  way  :  as  also  all  fraudulent  ways  in 
buying  or  selling,  exchanging,  or  in  other  con- 
tracts :  all  neglect  of  trust  or  promise ;  all 
unjust  gain,  all  deceit  by  words,  or  deeds : 
finally,  all  unjust  ways  whatever,  which  causes 
damage  to  another.  i  Cor.  vi.  lo.  Lev.  xix.  35. 
Prov.  xi.  I. 

Q.  What  is  theft,  and  how  many  ways  are 
there  of  committing  this  sin  ? 

A.  Theft  in  general,  is  a  taking  away  or 
detaining  what  belongs  to  another ;  if  it  be  done 
privately,  it  is  called  simple  theft :  if  by  vio- 
lence, it  is  called  rapine :  if  it  is  a  thing  conse- 
crated to  God,  or  taken  from  a  Church  or  any 
sacred  place,  it  is  a  sacrilegious  theft:  if  the 
public  is  robbed,  it  is  called  in  the  law  pecula- 
tus :  if  cattle  are  stolen,  it  is  called  abegeatus, 
or  driving.  And  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the 
sin  is  so  much  the  greater  or  less;  as  the  preju- 
dice which  is  done,  is  greater  or  less,  and  so  it  is  a 
mortal  sin,  when  the  thing  that  is  taken  is  of 
a  considerable  value  in  itself,  or  when  it  is  con- 
siderable in  respect  of  the  person,  from  whom 
it  is  taken;  as  a  penny  is  a  considerable  loss 
to  a  beggar,  and  twelve  pence  to  an  ordinary 
man. 

Q.  How  many  particular  ways  are  there  of 
stealing  or  depriving  others  of  their  right  ? 

A.  They  are  almost  numberless,  according  to 
Vdifferent  stations  and  circumstances;  the  chief 
jwhereof  are  servants,  who  g^ve  away  their 
master's  goods,  meat  and  drink,  without  their 
knowledge  and  consent ;  or  who  put  more  upon 
their  master's  account,  than  thej'  have  laid  out; 
or  who  by  their  negligence  permit  their  master's 
goods  to  be  lost.  Gamesters,  who  cheat  or  take 
advantage  of  the  ignorance,  or  incapacity  of 
those  they  play  with.  Agents  or  stewards  who 
take  premiums,  without   leave  from  those  who 


emplo}'  them.  Dealers,  who  conceal  any  con- 
siderable fault  in  the  goods  they  dispose  of. 
Tailors,  and  others,  who  retain  part  of  the  stuff 
of  which  they  make  clothes  or  other  things. 
All  those  who,  to  the  loss  of  their  creditors,  do 
defer,  and  put  off  paying  their  debts  when  they 
are  able ;  as  also  those  who  defer  to  make  resti- 
tution. Physicians  and  surgeons,  who  prolong 
their  patients'  diseases  on  purpose  to  gain  by 
them.  Usurers  and  notaries,  who  make  con- 
tracts of  usury.  Judges,  who  knowingly  judge 
a  cause  wrongfully.  All  lawyers  and  advocates, 
who  prolong  processes  with  design  to  gain  by 
them.  Those  who  buy  of  children,  or  of  such 
as  know  not  the  true  value  of  things.  Such 
as  buy  or  receive  stolen  goods,  knowing  them 
to  be  such.  Exaction  for  service,  where  the 
price  is  not  fixed  by  law  or  custom.  Wives, 
who  dispose  of  considerable  things,  without  the 
knowledge  of  their  husbands.  Also  those  who 
coin  false  money.  All  those  who  do  not  give 
alms  to  the  poor,  according  to  their  ability ;  and 
such  as  feign  themselves  to  be  poor,  and  receive 
alms  when  they  have  no  need,  so  take  that 
which  belongs  to  others. 

Q.  When  may  persons  be  excused  from  sin, 
though  they  take  or  detain  what  belongs  to 
others  ? 

A.  A  Person  in  extreme  necessity,  make  take 
bread  or  other  food,  where  he  finds  it.  A  pre- 
sumptive leave  of  the  master  may  excuse  a  ser- 
vant, disposing  of  small  matters.  In  other  cases, 
when  the  thing  is  only  a  trifle,  it  is  but  a 
venial  sin. 

Q.  Is  it  theft  to  keep  what  we  find  ? 

A.  The  rule  is  this,  if  it  is  a  hidden  treasure' 
of  long  standing,  we  are  to  observe  the  laws  of 
the  country;  if  it  is  a  thing  casually  lost  or 
misplaced,  public  inquiry  is  to  be  made  after 
the  owner,  and  when  he  is  found  out,  it  is  to 
be  restored;  if  he  cannot  be  found,  it  belongs 
to  the  poor,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
Church,  and  if  he  who  finds  it  is  poor  himself 
he  may  keep  it  with  the  advice  of  his  confessor. 


EXPIvANATION   OF   THE   TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 


89 


Q.  What  is  the  great  obligation  all  persons 
lie  under  who  are  any  ways  guilty  of  theft? 

A.  They  are  obliged  to  make  restitution, 
according  to  that  of  St.  Paul,  "  render  to  all 
men  their  due." 

Q.  What  is  restitution  ? 

A.  It  is  an  act  of  justice,  whereby  the  thing 
is  restored,  to  the  true  owner,  and  all  loss  and 
damage  repaired. 

Q.  Who  is  the  person  that  is  to  make  resti- 
tution ? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  he  who  steals  or  detains 
what  belongs  to  another.  Secondl}',  all  those 
who  are  accomplices  and  concur  with  him. 

Q.  By  what  means  do  persons  usually  become 
accomplices,  so  as  to  be  obliged  to  restore  ? 

A.  A  servant  who  is  employed  by  his  master. 
He  who  commands.  He  who  approves  of  the 
injustice.  He  who  protects  thieves,  and  know- 
ingly receives  stolen  goods.  He  who  by  his 
oflSce  is  obliged  to  inform,  and  hinder  persons 
from  committing  injustice. 

Q.  How  are  these  concurrences  to  be  under- 
stood ? 

A.  When  the  concurrence  is  the  occasion  of 
the  theft,  or  of  non-restitution,  they  are  obliged 
to  restore  the  whole,  or  the  part,  accordingly  as 
they  partake  of  the  things  that  are  stolen ; 
otherwise  they  lie  under  no  obligation  of  resti- 
tution, though  they  sin  in  the  injustice. 

Q.  If  a  person  buys  goods,  which  he  cer- 
tainly knows  are  stolen,  is  he  obliged  to  resti- 
tution ? 

A.  Yes,  or  otherwise  an  equivalent,  if  the 
owner  is  known  and  requires  it. 

Q.  What  are  those  obliged  to,  who  consume 
by  eating  and  drinking,  the  things  that  are 
stolen  ? 

A.  They  are  obliged  to  restore  an  equivalent 
to  what  they  have  destroyed. 

Q.  What  if  a  person  buys  a  stolen  thing, 
not  suspecting  it  was  stolen  ? 

A.  If  he  buys  it  at  a  less  price,  when  he 
knows  the  owner,  he  is  obliged  to  restore  the 
thing,  or  the  full  price ;  being  first  indemnified 
as  to  the  change. 


Q.  When  is  restitution  to  be  made  in  cases 
of  damages  ? 

A.  Wilful  damages  are  a  sin,  and  require 
restitution,  but  damages  that  happen  by  acci- 
dent, and  where  there  is  great  diligence  used 
to  hinder  them,  are  not  a  fault  in  the  sight 
of  God,  and  oblige  not  to  restitution,  unless  by 
contract,  or  that  the  civil  law  orders  it.  When 
there  is  a  neglect,  or  not  a  suflEcient  care,  it  is 
more  or  less  a  sin,  and  some  kind  of  restitu- 
tion is  required,  both  in  the  court  of  conscience 
and  law. 

Q.  Is  he  who  receives  money,  eatables,  or 
other  things,  consumable  by  use,  called  loan, 
obliged  to  restitution  ? 

A.  Yes,  because  in  those  things  the  dominion 
is  inseparable  from  the  use,  and  transferred  by 
the  contract,  so  that  the  borrower  is  to  make 
good  the  loss. 

Q.  Is  he  who  borrows  a  thing  by  the  con- 
tract, called  accommodatum,  that  is,  whereby 
not  the  dominion,  but  the  use  only  is  conferred, 
obliged  to  make  good  the  loss,  or  damage,  as 
in  hiring  a  horse,  or  the  like  ? 

A.  If  he  does  not  wiHully  abuse  it,  and  takes 
great  care  to  have  it  returned  safe,  he  is  not 
obliged  to  restitution,  unless  the  bargain  be 
otherwise;  yet  in  some  cases,  he  is  obliged  to 
make  all  good,  viz.:  If  he  returns  it  not  by  a 
careful  and  creditable  person.  If  he  puts  it 
to  any  other  use,  than  for  what  it  was  lent,  as 
riding  a  horse  out  of  the  way,  or  keeping  it 
longer  than  the  time :  though  if  it  be  stolen  in 
the  road,  for  which  it  was  hired,  he  is  not 
obliged  to  make  it  good,  unless  he  borrowed  at 
all  events.  If  a  person  borrows  a  thing  that 
is  faulty,  and  does  not  know  the  fault  by  the 
lender's  information,  the  borrower  is  not  obliged 
to  make  good  the  damage. 

Q.  Is  a  person  obliged  to  stand  by  the  loss 
of  a  house  that  is  damaged  by  fire,  water,  or 
falling  down,  etc.  ? 

A.  If  it  happens  by  the  hirer's  fault,  he  is 
obliged  to  make  restitution ;  or  without  his 
fault,  if  that  be  specified  in  the  contract. 

Q.  What   restitution   is  to  be   made  for   the 


90 


EXPLANATION    OF   THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


loss  of  goods,  loss  of  life,  corporal  damages,  and 
loss  of  reputation  ? 

A.  As  for  goods,  the  same  in  specie  are  to 
be  restored,  otherwise  an  equivalent.  If  the 
goods  were  capable  of  fructifying,  such  damages 
are  also  to  be  made  good,  by  a  prudent  arbi- 
trator's opinion.  In  the  case  of  killing,  resti- 
tution is  to  be  made  to  the  family,  or  heirs, 
)where  proper  judges  are  to  make  an  estimate 
of  the  loss,  considering  the  person's  age,  use- 
fulness, gains,  etc.  The  like  estimate  is  to  be 
made,  in  the  case  of  wounding  or  occasioning 
the  loss  of  a  leg,  an  arm,  a  hand ;  and  what 
might  be  the  damage,  considering  the  person's 
age,  and  occupation  or  employment.  As  to  the 
restitution  of  reputation,  three  things  are  to  be 
considered.  First,  whether  a  person  has  really 
suflfered  in  his  reputation.  Secondly,  whether 
his  reputation  was  not  lost  before.  Thirdly, 
whether  he  has  not  recovered  his  reputation. 
Now,  if  a  person  has  lost  his  reputation,  or  it 
is  lessened,  the  defamer  is  obliged  to  restitu- 
tion, and  make  good  all  the  loss  he  suflfers  in 
his  vocation,  by  the  defamation. 

Q.  What  method  is  to  be  used  in  restoring 
a  person's  reputation  ? 

A.  If  a  person  is  defamed,  by  spreading  a 
calumny,  the  calumniator  is  to  own  the  fiction, 
before  those  he  has  spoke  it  to,  and  confirm  it 
with  an  oath,  if  thought  necessary :  if  what  he 
said  was  true,  but  divulged  to  those  who  were 
before  ignorant  of  it,  he  ought  to  own  he  was 
in  the  wrong,  in  speaking  evil  of  him,  and  to 
take  all  opportunities  to  praise  him,  and  speak 
well  of  him,  on  account  of  his  many  good 
qualities.  If  he  cannot  re-establish  his  reputa- 
tion by  this  method,  he  is  to  make  him  satis- 
faction some  other  way,  by  the  advice  of  his 
confessor,  and  especially  by  repairing  his  loss 
in  a  pecuniary  way. 

Q.  What  restitution  is  to  be  made  by  such  as 
take  game  ? 

A.  Several  things  are  to  be  considered.  All 
wild  creatures,  birds,  beasts,  and  fish,  are  com- 
mon, and  belong  to  the  captor,  if  taken  without 
trespass   to   others.     Taking  of  wild   creatures 


may  be  prohibited  to  some,  by  human  laws :  but 
then  such  as  are  qualified,  are  obliged  to  make 
damages  good,  unless  something  is  expressed  by 
contract  to  the  contrary.  When  wild  creatures 
are  enclosed,  by  persons  qualified,  it  is  theft  to 
kill  them  in  the  enclosure,  or  even  out  of  the 
enclosure,  if  they  are  accustomed  to  return  into 
the  enclosure,  and  there  is  an  obligation  of  res- 
titution :  if  they  return  never  into  the  enclosure, 
it  is  not  theft  to  kill  them  out  of  it ;  as  birds, 
hares,  etc.  The  same  is  to  be  said  of  fish ;  and 
though  the  law  may  forbid  such  captures  under 
penalties,  the  captor  is  not  obliged  to  restitution. 
Such  wild  beasts  as  feed  upon  the  unqualified 
person's  goods,  and  by  the  law  of  nature,  being 
no  man's  property,  belong  to  him  who  first  takes 
them.  Binsfield  says,  it  is  not  lawful  to  use  art 
in  drawing  pigeons  to  one's  dove  house. 

Q.  What  restitution  is  to  be  made  in  point  of 
gaming  and  wagers  ? 

A.  What  is  won  by  gaming,  from  those  who 
have  not  dominion,  as  children,  drunken  per- 
sons, or  manifestly  unskillful,  is  to  be  restored  ; 
much  more  what  is  won  by  cheating,  or  any 
indirect  way  of  drawing  in  persons.  In  these 
cases  human  laws  are  to  direct.  He  who  cer- 
tainly knows  he  shall  win  a  wager,  is  obliged 
to  restore. 

Q.  To  whom  is  restitution  commonly  to  be 
made? 

A.  To  the  person  injured,  or  in  case  of  his 
death,  to  his  heirs:  but  if  the  person  injured 
cannot  be  found,  after  diligent  inquiry,  restitu- 
tion is  to  be  made  to  the  poor. 

Q.  What  other  circumstances  are  to  be  ob- 
served in  restitution  ? 

A.  As  to  the  manner,  public  injustices  are  to 
be  recompensed  by  the  person  offending,  private 
injustices  by  proxies,  on  account  of  reputation. 
Things  in  kind  are  to  be  restored  first,  then 
an  equivalent.  As  to  debts,  the  laws  of  the 
kingdom  are  to  be  observed,  and  commonly, 
debts  by  contract,  are  to  be  satisfied  before  those 
by  theft,  etc.,  unless  where  a  greater  necessity 
intervene.  When  the  owner  cannot  be  found, 
the  advice  of  the  confessor  is  to  be  followed. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


91 


Q.  When  is  restitution  to  be  made  ? 

A.  The  precept  being  negative,  it  obliges 
always,  and  at  all  times  ;  so  that  restitution  is  to 
be  made  immediately,  unless  there  be  a  just 
cause  of  delay,  and  without  this  the  sin  increases. 
Hence,  a  person  who  either  denies  to  restore,  or 
notably  defers  it,  or  will  not  restore  till  death,  is 
incapable  of  absolution :  but  if  he  has  a  leave 
from  his  creditors  to  delay,  then  he  is  not  obliged 
to  restore  immediately. 

Q.  Can  a  person  be  excused  from  making  res- 
titution ? 

A.  Never,  only  in  two  cases.  First,  when  the 
person    injured   forgives    the   debt.      Secondly, 


when  the  debtor  labors  under  an  absolute  in- 
capacity. 

Q.  What  rules  are  there  to  judge  of  a  persons' 
incapacity  ? 

A.  If  he  is  always  in  extreme  necessity,  he  is 
absolutely  incapable.  No  one  is  obliged  to  de- 
prive himself  of  the  means  of  living,  in  a  mode- 
rate way  ;  yet  he  is  obliged  to  cut  off  all  super- 
fluous expenses,  and  so  time  after  time  pay  part, 
and  bring  himself  into  a  less  compass ;  but  if 
the  creditor  is  under  any  want  or  oppression,  the 
debtor  is  more  obliged  to  want  conveniences, 
than  the  creditor. 


THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 


Q.  Which  is  the  eighth  commandment? 

A.  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against 
thy  neighbor. 

Q.  What  is  forbidden  by  this  precept  ? 

A.  All  injustices  against  others  by  words. 

Q.  Which  are  the  principal  matters  to  be  con- 
sidered on  this  occasion  ? 

A.  All  false  proceedings  by  words;  both  in 
open  court,  and  public  or  private  conversation, 
viz.:  Of  judges,  witnesses,  informers,  pleaders, 
and  by  secresy,  promises,  liars  ;  as  also  equivo- 
cation, mental  reservation,  hypocrisy,  flattery, 
whispering,  rash  judgment,  detraction,  etc. 

Q.  What  is  a  judge? 

A.  He  who  is  appointed,  by  the  supreme 
power,  to  administer  justice  according  to  law. 

Q.  Which  are  the  qualifications   of  a  judge? 

A.  Chiefly  these  three,  authority,  justice,  and 
knowledge ;  in  defect  whereof,  his  sentence  is 
either  null,  i^njust,  or  rash. 

Q.  How  upon  defect  of  authority? 

A.  When  he  acts  without  commission.  When 
persons  are  judged,  who  belong  not  to  his  juris- 
diction. When  he  judges  matters,  where  per- 
sons are  exempted.  When  he  passes  sentence 
upon  hidden  matters,  viz.:  Spiritual  matters,  in 
open  court. 


Q.  How  upon  defect  of  justice  ? 

A.  When  he  omits  to  do  justice,  out  of  fear 
of  offending  some  great  person.  When  he  is 
drawn  away  by  gifts  and  bribes.  When  he 
offends  in  passing  sentence,  either  out  of  par- 
ticular affection,   or  hatred  against  the  person. 

Q.  How  upon  a  defect  of  .knowledge  and 
prudence  ? 

A.  When  he  is  ignorant  of  the  law.  When 
he  goes  upon  conjectures  and  slight  proofs. 
When  he  observes  not  the  methods  of  the  law, 
as  to  witnesses,  and  by  attending  to  their  char- 
acter, etc. 

Q.  In  what  things  is  the  judge  to  be  directed, 
in  order  to  act  with  knowledge  and  prudence? 

A.  He  is  not  to  follow  his  own  private 
opinion,  but  proceed  according  to  the  proofs, 
which  appear  in  court.  He  is  not  to  pardon 
crimes,  without  the  license  of  the  supreme' 
power,  unless  the  crimes  be  contained  in  his 
commission:  there  must  likewise  be  a  just 
cause  for  the  pardon,  and  it  is  never  to  be 
granted  until  justice  is  done  to  the  injured 
party,  both  as  to  body,  goods  or  reputation. 

Q.  Is  a  judge  obliged  to  restitution,  when  he 
passes  sentence  without  authority,  justice,  or 
knowledge? 


98 


EXPLANATION    OF   THE   TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 


A.  He  is  to  make  good  the  losses  the  inno- 
cent person  sustains  by  such  a  sentence. 

Q.  What  obligation  is  there  of  informing 
against  a  criminal  ? 

A.  When  a  crime  manifestly  tends  towards 
the  subversion  of  the  public  good,  all  public 
oflficers,  in  the  first  place,  are  obliged  to  inform, 
and  even  all  other  private  persons,  when  the 
public  is  in  danger.  Some  divines  extend  the 
obligation  to  become  an  informer  in  the  court 
of  judicature:  others  think  a  private  informa- 
tion satisfies  the  obligation,  without  being  a 
prosecutor. 

Q.  What  are  the  obligations  of  a  witness? 

A.  First,  he  is  obliged  to  appear  and  give  in 
his  testimony,  when  he  is  called,  according  to 
law,  by  a  lawful  superior:  secondly,  when  he  is 
called  in  the  aforesaid  manner,  and  refuses  to 
appear,  he  sins  mortally,  and  is  answerable  for 
the  damages  another  suflfers,  for  want  of  his 
evidence;  thirdly,  if  the  accused  has  nothing 
alleged  against  him,  but  his  crime  is  a  secret, 
and  causes  as  yet  no  infamy,  a  witness,  who 
can  speak  plain  to  the  fact,  is  not  obliged  to 
appear;  fourthly,  if  a  person  can  free  an  inno- 
cent from  death  or  infamy,  by  appearing  as  a 
witness,  he  is  obliged  in  conscience  to  give  his 
testimony,  though  not  required  b}'  the  law; 
otherwise,  no  one,  unless  commanded,  is  obliged 
to  become  witness  against  another ;  fifthly,  to 
take  money,  to  become  a  witness,  is  a  mortal 
sin,  unless  it  be  what  is  allowed  for  the  expenses 
of  his  journey;  lastly,  a  false  witness  is  obliged 
to  restore  what  damage  is  occasioned  by  his 
evidence. 

Q.  What  is  the  obligation  of  a  counsellor,  or 
pleader  at  the  bar  ? 

A  If  he  undertakes  a  cause  which  he  knows 
to  De  unjust,  he  sins,  and  is  obliged  to  restitu- 
tion. If  he  undertakes  it  out  of  ignorance,  he 
is  culpable  according  to  the  degree  of  his 
ignorance.  If  he  is  doubtful  of  the  justice  of 
the  cause,  he  may  undertake  it,  but  is  obliged 
to  acquaint  his  client  with  his  doubts;  and  he 
must  desist,  as  soon  as  he  finds  the  cause  is 
unjust.     He  may  take  a  fee,  proportionably  to 


the  cause,  labor,  and  time ;  but  is  not  to  exact 
what  is  unreasonable,  but  be  guided  in  his 
demands  by  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
countr}^  He  is  obliged  in  charity  to  under- 
take the  cause  of  the  poor  innocent  parties, 
otherwise  he  sins  mortally.  He  sins,  if  he  con- 
tracts with  his  client  to  have  the  half,  third, 
or  fourth  part  of  what  is  contended  for;  because 
this  administers  occasion  of  using  knavery,  by 
so  large  a  compensation. 

Q.  What  is  a  lawyer,  etc.,  obliged  to,  who,  for 
want  of  skill,  draws  a  will,  whereby  the  right 
heir  is  deprived  of  his  inheritance  he  wasdesigned 
to  enjoy  ? 

A.  He  sins,  and  is  obliged  to  make  good  the 
loss.  He  is  also  guilty  in  the  same  manner,  who 
conceals  and  produces  not  a  writing  which  is 
requisite  to  do  justice  to  another. 

Q.  What  is  a  secret? 

A.  It  is  a  thing  private  from  the  world. 

Q.  How  many  secrets  are  there  ? 

A.  Some  are  strictly  so,  and  only  known  to  a 
man's  self;  others  in  a  larger  sense,  only  known 
to  few.  Again,  some  are  secrets  of  their  own 
nature,  as  thoughts ;  others  may  be  known  by 
others,  as  all  outward  actions. 

Q.  By  how  many  ways  are  secrets  committed 
to  others  ? 

A.  Chiefly  three  ways,  viz.  :  In  sacramental 
confession ;  secondly,  by  an  occurrence  whereby  a 
person,  out  of  confession,  becomes  acquainted 
with  a  thing,  which,  if  further  published,  may 
become  detrimental  to  his  neighbor ;  thirdly, 
when  a  thing  is  communicated  to  another,  with 
a  promise  of  not  publishing  it,  either  in  express 
words,  or  tacitly,  by  asking  advice,  and  with  such 
circumstances  that  the  person  to  whom  it  is 
revealed,  may  easily  perceive  he  is  under  an 
obligation  not  to  publish  it  any  further. 

Q.  In  what  cases  is  it  lawful  to  reveal  or  not 
reveal  secrets  ? 

A.  The  secrets  of  sacramental  confession  are 
to  not  be  revealed,  under  a  most  grievous  sin, 
unless  the  penitent  allow  of  it.  Yet  if  a  per- 
son out  of  confession  says,  I  tell  you  this  is 
as  under  confession,  he  is  obliged  to  conceal  it, 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


93 


by  the  law  of  nature,  though  not  under  the 
seal  of  confession.  When  a  person  knows,  by 
any  way,  the  secret  sin  of  another,  if  he  reveals 
it,  so  that  the  person  is  damaged,  either  in  his 
goods,  body,  or  reputation,  he  sins  grievously; 
and  Sylvius  says,  both  against  charity  and 
justice,  so  as  to  be  obliged  to  restitution. 
When  a  person  promises  to  keep  a  secret,  he 
sins  grievously  if  he  reveals  it  even  to  a 
superior,  unless  it  is  a  trivial  matter,  and  then 
it  is  only  a  venial  sin.  Yet  if  a  secret  is 
committed  to  a  person,  which,  of  its  own  nature, 
tends  to  the  public  loss,  or  any  great  private 
detriment  to -another,  if  he  cannot  hinder  it  by 
fraternal  correction,  it  is  lawful,  and  he  is  obliged 
to  reveal  it  to  proper  persons,  and  according  to 
law. 

Q.  Is  it  allowed  to  open  other's  letters,  or  pry 
into  secret  writings  ? 

A.  Not  without  express  or  presumptive  leave, 
unless  a  parent  or  tutor  take  that  liberty ;  much 
less  is  it  lawful  to  have  a  hand  in  defamatory 
libels.  « 

Q.  What  is  a  lie  ? 

A.  It  is  speaking  contrary  to  what  one  believes 
with  a  design  to  deceive. 

Q.  Is  it  in  no  case  lawful  to  lie  ? 

A.  No,  it  is  ill  in  itself,  so  never  lawful. 
Secondly,  it  is  unlawful,  because  veracity  is 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  human  society. 
Thirdly,  it  is  absolutely  forbid  by  God.  "  Thou 
shalt  not  lie,  neither  shall  any  man  deceive  his 
neighbor."  Lev.  xix.  ii.  "  Better  a  thief,  than 
the  continual  custom  of  a  lying  man ;  but  both 
shall  inherit  perdition."  Eccl.  xx.  27.  "  Lying 
lips  are  abominable  to  our  Lord."  Prov.  xii.  22. 
"  Lie  not  one  to  another,"  Col.  iii.  9,  says  St. 
Paul.  The  terrible  examples  of  Ananias  and 
Saphira,  and  of  Giezi,  should  terrify  liars.  Acts  v. 
"  Their  part  .shall  be  in  the  lake  burning  with 
fire  and  brimstone."  4  Reg.  v.  Apoc.  xxi.  8.  As 
theirs  must  be,  who  slander,  detract,  belie,  or 
deride  the  Church  of  God,  her  faith,  worship, 
sacraments,  ministers,  etc.,  which,  alas !  is  too 
commonly  done,  to  the  ruin  of  many  souls. 

Q.  How  many  sorts  of  lies  are  there  ? 


A.  Chiefly  three,  viz. :  Officious,  jocose,  and 
pernicious.  The  first  hurts  nobody  :  the  second 
is  to  divert  others  :  the  third  is  with  damage  to 
others.  The  two  first  are  only  venial  sins.  The 
third  is  mortal,  when  the  damage  is  considerable. 
Lies  are  called  material  lies,  when  a  person  says 
what  is  false  in  itself,  but  judged  true  by  the 
speaker ;  otherwise,  it  is  a  real  and  formal  lie. 

Q.  What  opinion  have  you  of  equivocations, 
mental  reservations,  dissimulation,  hypocrisy, 
and  flattery  ? 

A.  They  are  also  lies,  either  in  words  or  in 
fact. 

Q.  How  do  you  understand  them  to  be  un- 
lawful ? 

A.  Equivocation  is  when  words  may  have  ? 
double  sense  or  meaning.  If  both  are  usual, 
it  is  no  lie  ;  if  one  is  extraordinary  and  unusual, 
it  is  a  lie.  Mental  reservation  is  when  a  person 
keeps  in  his  mind  a  sense,  wherein  the  words 
are  true,  but  not  in  the  sense  as  they  are 
usually  understood,  and  as  those  he  spoke  to 
understand  them.  Some  divines  allow  of 
mental  reservations,  when  the  words  are  only 
equivocal,  and  so  as  they  may  be  true  in  either 
sense,  according  to  common  construction,  as 
are  all  metaphors ;  as  also  in  particular  cases ; 
where  life,  or  great  damage  and  injustice  would 
follow ;  *  though  not  in  common  use  and 
conversation.  Dissimulation  is  when  outward 
actions  are  contrary  to  a  man's  mind  and 
opinion,  which  is  a  lie  in  fact.  Hypocrisy  is 
a  dissimulation  of  sanctity,  and  a  lie  in  fact. 
Flattery  is  to  attribute  to  another  some  per- 
fection which  he  has  not,  or  to  praise  a  person 
who  deserves  no  praise. 

Q.  What  is  whispering? 

A.  It  is  speaking  evil  to  some  by  way  of 
secrecy,  to  break  friendship  between  others,  the 
worst  way  of  slandering,  because  such  oblige 
all  they  speak  to,  not  to  give  them  up  for 
authors,  whereby  the  slandered,  for  want  of 
knowing  what  is  ill  spoke  of  them,  have  no 
possibility  of  clearing  themselves,  or  detecting 
the  author.     "  The  whisperer    and    the    double 

•  But  some  hold  that  to  be  very  loose  doctrine. 


94 


EXPLANATION   OF  THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


tongued  is  accursed,  for  he  has  troubled  many 
that  were  at  peace."  Eccl.  xxviii.  15.  Whisper- 
ers are  placed  among  those  whom  God  gives 
over  to  a  reprobate  sense,  and  are  worthy  of 
death ;  and  not  onl}^  the}^  who  do  thera,  but 
they  also  who  consent  to  the  doers,  Rom  i. 
28,  29,  etc.,  which  make  the  hearers  equally 
guilty,  if  they  do  not  discourage  such,  much 
more  those  who  are    inquisitive  to  hear. 

Q.  What  is  rash  judgment? 

A.  It  is  to  judge  ill  of  a  person  upon  light 
or  insufficient  grounds,  proceeding  from  mere 
jealousies,  surmises,  or  hear-says ;  which  our 
Saviour  Christ  forbids:  "Judge  not,"  says  he, 
"that  you  may  not  be  judged."  Matt.  vii.  i. 
Again,  "  as  you  will  that  men  do  to  you,  do 
you  also  to  them  in  like  manner."  Luke  vi.  31. 
Not  judging  evil  of  any,  as  you  would  no  one 
should  judge  of  you  without  sufficient  grounds. 
Less  grounds  may  suffice  to  suspect  than  judge, 
and  less  to  doubt  than  to  suspect,  or  judge 
positively.  But  passion,  self-interest,  malice, 
hatred,  or  some  evil  affection,  from  which  such 
usually  proceed,  make  things  appear  quite 
otherwise  than  they  really  are.  Prudence, 
joined  with  charity,  should  move  us  to  inter- 
pret doubtful  things  to  the  best,  or  at  least  to 
suspend  our  judgment,  even  when  there  appears 
some  reason  to  move  otherwise  our  assent. 
We  may  notwithstanding  be  so  circumspect 
with  whom  we  converse  or  have  business  with, 
as  that  they  shall  not  deceive  us,  though  they 
should  prove  knaves :  which  caution  may  be 
used  without  rash  judgment,  suspecting,  or 
doubting  of  the  honesty  of  our  neighbor. 

Q.  What  is  detraction  ? 

A.  It  is  a  secret  straining  of  another's  good 
name,  which  may  be  done  directly  or  indirectly. 
They  do  it  directly,  first,  who  accuse  any  of  a 
false  crime :    secondly,  who  make  it  worse  than 


really  it  is  :  thirdly,  who  discover  a  secret  crime ; 
fourthly,  who  put  an  ill  construction  upon  a 
good  action  or  intention.  They  do  it  indirectly, 
who  deny  a  person's  good  qualities  :  secondly, 
who  lessen  them :  thirdly,  who  conceal  them, 
when  a  person  wants  defence :  fourthly,  who 
coldly  commends  a  person,  etc.,  which  are  sins 
either  from  malice,  passion,  envy,  ill-will,  or 
for  want  of  charity ;  and  always  contrary  to 
the  law  of  God  and  nature.  "  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  Matt.  xxii.  39. 
"  Brethren,"  says  St.  James,  "  detract  not 
one  another."  James  iv.  11.  "Refrain  your 
tongue  from  detraction,"  says  the  wise  man. 
Sap.  i.   II. 

Q.  What  is  a  promise,  and  why  ought  it  to 
be  kept? 

A.  It  is  a  verbal  engagement  to  another,  to 
do  or  not  to  do  a  thing ;  and,  when  not  com- 
plied with,  it  is  a  lie  in  fact,  and  unlawful  on 
the  same  account. 

Q.  What  conditions  are  required,  to  make  a 
promise  valid  or  binding,  and  not  binding  ? 

A.  The  thing  promised  must  be  possible 
and  lawful,  and  a  person  must  have  an  inward 
intention  of  fulfilling  it,  otherwise  he  is  not 
obliged  before  God,  yet  he  is  guilty  of  a  lie. 
Again,  it  must  be  made  with  deliberation.  To 
break  a  promise  in  a  trifle,  is  only  a  venial 
sin,  yet  it  lessens  a  man's  character.  Lastly, 
if  any  thing  intervenes,  before  the  promise  is 
performed,  that  would  have  hindered  it,  it  is  a 
condition  making  it  void ;  as,  for  example,  to 
marry  one  whom  he  thought  chaste,  but  she 
fornicates. 

Q.  What  is  commanded  by  this  command- 
ment ? 

A.  To  speak  and  witness  the  truth  in  all 
things.  "  Speak  the  truth  every  one  to  his 
neighbors."     Zach.  viii.  16. 


EXPLANATION   OF   THE  TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 


95 


THE  NINTH  COMMANDMENT. 


Q.  Which  is  the  ninth  commandment  ? 

A.  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  wife. 

Q.  What  is  forbidden  by  this  command- 
ment ? 

A.' Concupiscence,  or  all  unlawful  desires 
against  chastity  ;  as  also  all  voluntary  delight 
and  complacency  in  impure  thoughts. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  that  unchaste  thoughts 
and  desires,  which  are  voluntary,  are  mortal 
sins  ? 

A.  Out  of  St.  Matthew  ;  "  It  was  said  of  old, 
thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery  ;  but  I  say  unto 
you,  whosoever  shall  see  a  woman  to  lust  after 
her,  hath  already  committed  adultery  in  his 
heart."     Chap.  v.  27,  28. 

Q.  Were  not  such  sins  forbidden  by  the  sixth 
commandment  ? 

A.  The  sixth  commandment  forbids  all  out- 
ward actions  against  chastity  :  this  forbids  all 
inward  actions,  as  thoughts  and  desires. 

Q.  Why  was  a  particular  prohibition  given  of 
inward  actions  ? 


A.  Because  the  Jews,  even  the  most  learned 
sort,  were  apt  to  think  there  was  no  offence,  only 
where  the  outward  action  was  committed. 

Q.  What  is  concupiscence  ? 

A.  In  general,  it  is  an  appetite,  desire,  or  in- 
clination. 

Q.  When  is  concupiscence  a  sin  ? 

A.  When  we  concur  voluntarily. 

Q.  How  do  we  concur  ? 

A.  There  are  three  degrees  in  concurring. 
The  first  is  an  involuntary  motion,  or  bare 
impression  from  nature,  which  is  not  sinful. 
The  second  is  voluntary,  in  dwelling  on  it  with 
delectation ;  but  this  is  sinful.  The  third  is  a 
consent  to  what  is  unlawful ;  this  is  also  more 
sinful.  There  is  also  a  consent  in  the  delecta- 
tion ;  but  this  is  not  a  consent  to  the  outward 
action,  as  in  the  third  degree. 

Q.  What  are  we  commanded  by  this  com- 
mandment ? 

A.  To  entertain  chaste  and  modest  thoughts 
and  desires. 


THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT. 


Q.  Which  is  the  tenth  commandment  ? 

A.  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  goods, 
etc. 

Q.  What  things  are  forbidden  by  this  com- 
mandment ? 

A.  All  unlawful  desires,  that  tend  to  the 
prejudice  of  our  neighbor's  goods  or  sub- 
stance. 

Q.  Were  not  these  things  forbidden  by  the 
seventh  commandment? 

A.  The  seventh  commandment  forbids  only 
outward  actions  against  justice ;  the  tenth  for- 
bids inward  actions,  on  account  of  the  Jews,  who 
imagined  such  desires  were  not  sinful.  Some 
join  these  two  last  commandments  into  one,  and 
divide   the   first   into  two ;  but  that  division  is 


contrary  to  St.  Augustine's  opinion,  which  is 
the  more  common,  and  generally  received  in  the 
Church,  and  agrees  with  that  division  of  the 
commandments  which  I  have  here  set  down. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  covetous  desires  to  be 
great  sins  ? 

A.  From  the  first  epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  Timo- 
thy, where  he  says,  "  They  who  would  become 
rich,  fall  into  temptation,  and  into  the  snare  of 
the  devil,  and  into  many  unprofitable  and  hurt- 
ful desires,  which  drown  men  to  destruction  and 
perdition."  Chap.  vi.  ver.  9. 

Q.  In  what  manner  do  persons  become  guilty 
of  this  commandment  ? 

A.  In  the  same  manner  as  they  offend  by 
carnal  concupiscence,  viz.:  By  taking  a  pleasure 


96 


EXPIvANATION   OF   THE   TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


in  thinking  of,  and  inwardly  consenting  to  un- 
just actions. 

Q.  Give  me  some  particular  instances  of  this 
kind? 

A.  It  is  a  sin  to  wish  a  scarcity  of  provisions, 
upon  a  view  that  a  person  may  sell  his  goods 
dearer,  or  to  hoard  up  com  to  the  prejudice  of 
the  poor.  It  is  a  sin  to  envy  another  for  his 
riches,  honors,  preferments,  praises,  or  any 
other  external  goods,  or  internal  gifts  of  nature, 
or  grace.  In  fine,  it  is  a  sin  to  desire  what 
belongs  to  others,  unless  it  be  accompanied 
with  lawful  circumstances,  etc. 

Q.  What  are  we  commanded  by  this  com- 
mandment ? 

A.  To  entertain  honest  thoughts  and  desires, 
and  be  contented  with  our  own  estate  and  con- 
dition. 

Q.  Is  it  possible  for  us  to  keep  all  the  ten 
commandments ;  for  are  there  not  some  things 
in  the  second  table  of  the  law,  which  seem  to 
be  impossible  ?  See  St.  Luke  i.  6.  Matt.  xix. 
17.  Matt,  xi,  29,  30. 

A.  Yes,  it  is  possible  to  keep  them,  and  not 
only  possible,  but  even  necessary  and  eas}',  by 
the  assistance  of  God's  grace ;  for  there  is 
nothing  commanded  by  them,  but  what  the  law 
of  nature,  and  right  reason  dictates  to  us,  and 


therefore  ought  to  be  observed  and  done,  even 
if  it  were  not  commanded  us ;  neither  is  there 
any  thing  commanded  in  the  second  table,  but 
what  every  body  expects  and  desires  others 
should  do  to  him ;  therefore  we  must  do  the 
same  to  others,  according  to  that.  "  All  things, 
whatsoever  you  will,  that  men  do  to  you,  do 
you  also  to  them,  for  this  is  the  law;" -Matt. 
vii.  12.  Besides,  it  would  be  making  God  un- 
just, and  a  mere  tyrant,  to  command  impos- 
sibilities under  pain  of  eternal  damnation,  (as 
we  find  in  the  Scriptures,  he  does  the  keeping 
of  his  commandments)  if  it  was  not  in  our  power 
to  keep  them.  See  Exodus  xx.  5.  Deut.  xxvii. 
26.    Matt.  V.   19.     Matt.  xx.  17. 

Q.  Why  then  do  so  many  Protestant  writers, 
and  even  Luther  himself,  pretend  and  say,  that 
it  is  impossible  to  keep  all  the  commandments  ? 

A.  Because  they  are  not  willing  to  oblige 
themselves  to  the  observance  of  them,  but  had 
rather  make  God  the  author  of  sin,  by  com- 
manding impossibilities  (a  most  high  blasphemy) 
and  justify  their  own  iniquities,  by  saying, 
they  cannot  help  it,  than  humbly  acknowledge 
and  confess  their  sins,  with  purpose  to  amend 
by  compliance  wit^,  and  acceptance  of  the  law 
of  God. 


ST.  DOMINIC. 


Fathers 
Mother 


St.  Dominic,  during  his  apostolical  labors,  institutetl  the  celebrated  devotion  of  the  Rosary,  consisting  of  the  recital  of  fifteen  "Our 
lers  "  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  "  Hail  Marys,"  in  honor  of  the  fifteen  principal  mysteries  of  the  life  of  our  blessed  Saviour  and  Holy 


ST.  DIONYSIUS.  BISHOP  OF  PARIS. 

Of  all  the  Roman  missiouaries  sent  into  Gaul,  St.  Dionysius  carried  the  faith  the  furthest  into  the  country.     A  glorious  martyrdom 
crswned  bis  labors  and  that  of  his  companions,  who  gave  up  their  lives  for  the  salvation  of  souls  and  the  exaltation  of  the  name  of  Christ 


ommandments  of  the 
Church  Expounded. 


Q.  Has  the  church  power  to  make  laws  bind- 
ing in  conscience? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  For  what  reason  ? 

A.  First,  because  the  Scriptures  say,  all  supe- 
riors are  to  be  obeyed ;  Rom.  xiii.  2.  Secondly, 
if  the  civil  magistrate  has  that  power,  with  more 
reason  the  church  may  pretend  to  it.  Thirdly, 
because  the  Scriptures  command  obedience  to 
the  church;  Matt,  xviii.  17. 

Q.  It  is  suflScient  to  obey  the  law  of  nature, 
and  God's  law.  What  need  then  is  there  of 
obeying  the  laws  of  the  church  ? 

A.  Both  the  law  of  nature  and  the  law  of  God 
demand  obedience  to  all  superior  powers.  Again , 
human  laws,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  specify 
obedience,  as  to  particulars  of  time,  place,  and 
persons,  which  the  law  of  God  mentions  com- 
monly in  general.  Besides,  if  we  do  not  obey 
the  church,  we  are  not  entirely  obedient  to  God : 
for  according  to  the  word  of  God,  whosoever 
despiseth  the  church,  despiseth  God  himself: 
Luke  X.  16.  Therefore  we  must  obey  the  pre- 
cept of  the  church. 

Q.  Is  it  a  sin  to  break  any  of  the  church  pre- 
cepts ? 

A.  Yes ;  because  God  commands  us  under 
pain  of  damnation  to  obey  the  church ;  for  our 
Saviour  enjoins  us  to  look  on  every  one,  who 
will  not  hear  and  obey  the  church,  as  a  heathen 
and  a  publican.     Matt,  xviii.  17.     And  as  they 


who  break  the  just  laws  of  a  kingdom  oflfend 
God  and  deserve  punishment ;  so  they  who 
oppose  the  church's  laws,  offend  God,  and  deserve 
punishment.  They  "  who  resist  power,  resist 
the  ordinance  of  God ;  and  they  who  resist,  bring 
damnation  to  themselves."     Rom.  xiii.  2. 

Q.  How  many  are  the  precepts  of  the  church  ? 

A.  Chiefly  six,  relating  to  holy-days,  fasting, 
confession,  communion,  tythes,  and  marriage. 

Q.  Which  is  the  first  precept  of  the  church  ? 

A.  It  concerns  the  keeping  of  holy-days. 

Q.  What  are  holy-days  ? 

A.  They  are  days  consecrated  and  set  apart 
for  the  practice  of  religious  duties. 

Q.  Has  the  church  authority  to  ordain  the 
keeping  of  feasts  or  holy-days  ? 

A.  Yes,  she  has ;  for  Christ's  church  is  no 
way  inferior  to  the  synagogue,  which  ordained 
and  kept  many,  which  Christ  himself  approved, 
when  he  kept  the  dedication  of  the  temple ;  Dent, 
xvi.  Lev.  xxiii.  Maca.  iv.  Job  x.  22.  She 
has  the  example  of  the  church  in  the  apostles' 
days,  which  translated  the  solemnity  of  the  Sab- 
bath to  Sunday,  and  appointed  the  feasts  of 
Christmas,  Easter,  and  Whitsuntide.  St.  Clem- 
ent (who  was  St.  Peter's  disciple)  records  in  his 
eighth  book  of  the  apostolical  constitutions,  that 
the  apostles  ordered  the  celebrating  St.  Stephen's 
and  other  of  their  fellow  apostles'  days,  after 
their  death  ;  Acts  xv.  41.  And  we  read  that  St. 
Paul  went  through  Syria,  and  Cilicia,  confirming 


(9') 


98 


COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE   CHURCH   EXPOUNDED. 


the  churches ;  Acts  xvi.  4.  Commanding  them 
to  observe  the  precepts  of  the  apostles,  and  of 
the  seniors  or  ancients.  And  accordingly  we 
keep  the  feasts  commanded  by  the  church.  Prot- 
estants themselves  command  many,  but  they 
keep  few,  and  as  they  please. 

Q.  For  what  ends  in  particular  were  holy-days 
appointed  ? 

A.  To  return  thanks  to  God  for  some  remark- 
able favor,  and  to  preserve  it  in  our  memory. 
As,  namely,  Sunday,  to  return  thanks  for  the 
creation,  preservation,  and  providing  us  with  all 
necessaries,  and  conveniences.  As  also,  because 
Christ  rose  again  and  sent  down  the  Holy  Ghost 
on  that  day. 

Q.  Why  are  holy-days  appointed  for  saints  ? 

A.  First,  to  return  thanks  to  God,  for  the  favor 
he  has  done  to  mankind,  by  making  them  instru- 
ments of  his  glory,  by  their  doctrine  and  good 
example  ;  and  therefore  we  celebrate  their  nativ- 
ity, death,  and  any  other  remarkable  passage  of 
their  lives. 

Q.  What  is  the  principal  end  of  these  com- 
memorations ? 

A.  That  we  may  invoke  their  assistance,  and 
make  good  resolutions  to  imitate  their  example, 
where  we  find  it  applicable  to  our  circumstances  ; 
and  to  fill  our  souls  with  holy  desires  and  long- 
ings after  that  blessed  state  they  now  enjoy  in 
heaven. 

Q.  Wh}'  have  we  no  command  or  instance  in 
the  Scriptures  to  celebrate  those  feasts  ? 

A.  We  are  advised  by  the  Scriptures,  to  do  any 
thing  that  tends  to  God's  glor}',  and  our  own 
spiritual  profit ;  nor  is  there  any  occasion  of  a 
particular  precept  for  that  purpose.  Besides,  the 
old  Scripture  mentions  holy-da3's,  without  any 
command  from  God ;  Exod.  xxiii.  Numb.  xxix.  and 
from  the  beginning  of  the  new  law,  Sundays  and 
other  days,  were  appointed  by  the  church,  with- 
out any  express  mention  in  the  Scriptures.  It 
is  sufficient  that  we  are  commanded  to  hear  and 
obey  the  church  in  religious  practices. 

Q.  What  is  forbidden,  and  commanded  by  this 
precept? 

A.  The  obligations  are  the  same  with  those  of 


Sundays,  viz.:  Hearing  mass,  abstaining  from 
servile  works,  and  spending  the  day  in  religious 
duties,  as  reading  good  books,  going  to  confes- 
sion and  communion,  etc.  Yet  dispensations  for 
laboring  are  more  easily  granted ;  but  still  mass 
is  to  be  heard,  and  the  church  must  judge  of 
the  reason  for  dispensing. 

Q.  Which  is  the  second  precept  of  the  church? 

A.  Fasting. 

Q.  What  is  fasting,  and  how  many  sorts  of 
fasting  are  there  ? 

A.  Fasting  is  abstaining  from  nourishment. 
But  there  are  several  ways  of  fasting,  viz.:  Fast- 
ing from  sin,  which  is  the  end  of  all  fasting. 
Natural  fasting,  which  is  abstaining  from  all 
meat  and  drink,  which  the  church  requires  from 
those  who  go  to  communion.  Ecclesiastical  fast- 
ing, which  is  abstaining  from  all  flesh-meats,  and 
eating  but  one  meal  in  the  four  and  twenty 
hours,  on  such  days  as  the  church  commands. 

Q.  Is  there  any  precept  of  the  law  of  nature 
or  divine  law  for  fasting  ? 

A.  The  law  of  nature  obliges  all  persons  to 
abstain  from  all  such  nourishments,  that  are 
prejudicial  to  the  body  or  soul,  by  committing 
excess.  There  was  a  precept  of  fasting  when 
the  fruit  was  forbidden  to  our  first  parents; 
Gen.  ii.  17.  God  gave  several  precepts  of  fasting 
in  the  law  of  Moses ;  both  as  to  distinction  of 
meats,  and  the  time  when  they  were  to  abstain. 
The  gospel  advises  fasting,  and  commands  it  in 
general ;  but  the  distinction  of  meats,  time,  and 
manner,  are  only  a  precept  of  the  church  ;  2  Par. 
XX.  Joel,  i.  2.  Jona.  iii.  Luke  ii.  37.  Matt.  xvii. 
20.  Matt.'  vi.  17. 

Q.  Does  not  the  apostle  St.  Paul  say,  that 
the  distinction  of  meats  is  the  doctrine  of 
devils  ? 

A.  Yes,  and  so  do  we  call  it  a  doctrine  of 
devils,  in  the  sense  of  the  Manichees,  and  other 
heretics,  who  taught  that  certain  meats  were 
created  b}'^  the  devil,  and  consequently  bad  in 
themselves.  But  the  meats  we  abstain  from, 
we  know  to  be  from  God,  and  good  in  them- 
selves ;*  we    eat    them    with    thanksgiving  the 

*  See  Tiletnot.  Tom.  ii.  p.  231.  et  280. 


COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE   CHURCH   EXPOUNDED. 


99 


day  before,  and  the  day  after  the  fast;  we  take 
them  to  be  the  most  substantial  and  nourish- 
ishing  food;  for  which  reason  we  abstain  from 
them  in  order  to  subdue  the  lust  of  the  flesh, 
or  do  penance  for  our  sins:  and  neither  this 
great  apostle,  nor  any  one  that  understands 
and  follows  him,  ever  said,  that  this  laudable 
and  pious  distinction  is  the  doctrine  of  devils; 
it  being  manifest  that  every  one  can,  for  the 
good  of  his  soul  or  body,  lawfully  abstain  from 
what  meat  he  pleases;  nay,  the  same  apohtle 
says,  "wherefore,  if  meat  scandalize  my  brother, 
I  will  never  eat  flesh,  lest  I  should  scandalize 
my  brother."  i  Cor.  vii.  13.  Besides,  if  all 
distinction  of  meats  were  unlawful,  the  great 
St.  John  Baptist  had  been  guilty  of  the  doc- 
trine of  devils;  for  he  drank  neither  wine  nor 
strong  drink;  and  his  food  was  locusts  and 
wild  honey.  Matt.  iii.  4.  Matt.  xi.  18.  The 
prophet  Daniel  had  been  guilty,  for  he  says  of 
himself,  "  flesh  and  wine  entered  not  into  my 
mouth  for  three  weeks."  Dan.  x.  3. 

Q.  But  does  not  our  Saviour  Christ  himself 
say,  that  what  enters  into  the  mouth  does  not 
defile  a  man  ? 

A.  Yes,  these  indeed  are  his  words,  but  do 
not  belong  to  this  point ;  for  no  one  surely 
will  urge  this  text,  which  may  seem  to  be 
against  fasting  in  general,  except  libertines  and 
impious  persons,  who  give  full  scope  to  their 
evil  inclinations,  and  would  fain  discredit  all 
restraining  and  mortification  of  the  flesh;  who 
impose  upon  ignorant  and  weak  people,  and 
manifestly  profane  the  word  of  God,  in  pre- 
tending to  prove  that  Christ  declared  festing 
to  be  an  idle  and  useless  action.  When  even 
our  Saviour  commends  St.  John  Baptist's  rig- 
orous abstinence  and  other  austerities;  and 
fasted  himself  forty  days  and  forty  nights  for 
our  instruction;  Matt.  xi.  Matt.  iv.  2,  when 
also  he  tells  us  that  certain  devils,  "cannot  be 
overcome  but  by  prayer  and  fasting;"  Mark 
ix.  28.  And  that  the  children  or  companions  of 
the  bridegroom,  that  is,  his  own  disciples  or  fol- 
lowers, should  fast  when  he  was  gone  from 
them ;  Luke  v.  35,  which  they  undoubtedly  did : 


witness  what  St.  Paul,  writing  to  the  Corinthi- 
ans, says  of  himself,  and  the  preachers  of  the 
gospel,  2  Cor.  vi.  5.  In  a  word,  the  body  of  the 
Scripture,  the  practice  of  the  servants  of  God, 
nay,  even  the  liturgy,  or  common  prayer-book 
of  the  modern  church  of  England,  will  rise  in 
judgment  against  these  loose  livers,  "  whose 
God  is  their  belly,  and  whose  end  is  perdition," 
Phil.  iii.  19.  To  explain  now  the  meaning  of 
our  Saviour's  words,  it  must  be  observed  that 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  were  very  careful  to 
wash  their  hands,  their  dishes,  and  cups,  before 
they  eat  or  drank,  lest  they  should  be  defiled ; 
although  they  were  inwardly  full  of  unclean- 
ness  and  iniquity :  they  saw  our  Saviour's  dis- 
ciples eat  bread  without  washing  their  hands, 
and  therefore  they  boldly  reproached  him  for  it, 
upon  which  he  answered  them,  saying :  "  what 
enters  into  the  mouth  does  not  defile  a  man,  but 
what  proceeds  out  of  the  mouth,  and  comes  from 
the  heart,  defiles  a  man  ;  for  from  the  heart  pro- 
ceeds evil  thoughts,"  etc.  Mat.  xv.  11.  Now  it 
is  plain,  that  our  Saviour  says  nothing  here 
against  fasting  ;  for  even  after  Christ  had  spoken 
the  aforesaid  words,  eating  of  hog's-flesh  would 
have  defiled  the  souls  of  the  apostles,  and  of 
the  whole  Jewish  nation  ;  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians would  have  been  defiled  by  eating  blood  or 
strangled  meat,  which  was  forbid  ;  and  though 
all  meats  are  clean  in  themselves,  yet  to  eat  meat 
that  is  forbidden,  doth  defile  the  soul,  as  the 
apple  defiled  Adam's,  and  as  taking  of  drink  to 
excess  defiles  the  drunkard  ;  not  that  it  was  the 
forbidden  fruit,  but  the  sin  of  disobedience  that 
defiled  Adam,  nor  is  it  the  wine  or  strong  liquor, 
but  intemperance  or  drunkenness  that  defiles  the 
drunkard. 

Q.  Now,  although  I  clearly  see,  that  it  is 
both  lawful  and  laudable  to  fast,  yet  I  do  not 
well  see  that  the  church  can  command  us  to  fast. 

A.  The  Jewish  church  often  ordained  fasts. 
The  people  of  Ninive  ordered  an  universal  fast. 
The  church  of  England  do  sometimes  proclaim 
and  order  a  general  fast;  it  is  therefore  mani- 
fest that  the  Catholic  church,  can  more  war- 
rantably  oblige  us  to  fast,  after  the  example  of 


lOO 


COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH   EXPOUNDED. 


the  apostles,  who  commanded  the  primitive 
Christians  to  abstain  from  blood  and  strangled 
meat,  i  Esdr.  viii.  21.  2  Chron.  xxii.  2.  Jer. 
xxxvi.  9.     Jona.  iii.  5.     Acts  xv.  20. 

Q.  Why  is  fasting  commanded  by  the  church, 
and  what  are  the  benefits  ? 

A.  There  are  several  inducements  for  fasting, 
I  viz. :  First,  out  of  obedience  to  God  and  his 
fchurch.  Secondly,  as  is  a  part  of  religion, 
hence  it  is  recommended  in  the  Scriptures  as  a 
token  of  humiliation,  a  bridle  to  the  concupi- 
scence of  the  flesh,  a  part  of  prayer,  a  means 
to  obtain  grace,  and  the  remission  of  sins, 
appeasing  God's  anger,  casting  out  the  devil, 
and  in  satisfaction  for  sin. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  Jewish  ceremony,  and  only  a 
mere  outward  performance  ? 

A.  So  it  is  made  by  some  who  fast  only  out 
of  policy  and  interest,  viz.:*  To  increase  the 
breed  of  cattle,  to  promote  the  fishing  trade, 
in  order  to  establish  a  nursery  of  sailors,  and 
for  the  manning  of  the  fleet.  But  it  was  always 
practiced  in  the  old  law ;  and  since  Christianity 
was  established,  as  a  religious  duty,  and  had 
the  same  effect  as  prayer,  alms,  and  other  out- 
ward practices,  when  accompanied  with  due 
dispositions,  as  intention,  attention,  and  good 
motives:  for  certainly  fasting  in  order  to  chas- 
tise the  flesh,  and  keep  it  in  subjection  to  the 
spirit,  and  promote  virtue,  is  as  much  a  religious 
performance  as  prayer,  and  alms,  though  when 
proper  dispositions  are  wanting,  both  prayer, 
alms,  and  all  other  outward  practices  are  vain, 
and  hypocritical ;  hence  there  are  three  sorts  of 
fasting,  viz. :  Politic,  hypocritical,  and  reli- 
gious. 

Q.  In  what  manner  is  fasting  commanded  by 
I  the  church  ? 

A.  By  abstaining  from  certain  meats  upon 
certain  days. 

V  Q.  What  sorts  of  meats  are  forbidden  on  days 
of  fasting? 

A.  Chiefly  flesh,  and  sometimes  eggs,  and 
white-meats,  as  milk,  butter,  cheese,  etc. 

Q.  Are    not   all    meats    good,    and   where  is 

•See  an  Act  of  Parliament  of  the  5th  of  Q.  Eliz.  Cliap.  v. 


there  any  example,  or  precept  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, to  make  a  distinction  of  meats  ? 

A.  All  meats  are  good  in  themselves,  but 
bad  when  they  are  abused,  viz. :  When  they  are 
used  with  excess,  the  law  of  nature  forbids 
them,  and  when  they  are  made  use  of,  contrary 
to  the  law  of  God  or  his  church  (which  we  ought 
to  obey)  they  are  bad,  because  they  are  forbid- 
den. Was  not  the  forbidden  fruit  good  in  itself, 
were  not  unclean  beasts  good  of  themselves, 
were  not  blood  and  strangled  meats  good  though 
forbidden  by  the  apostles  ?  Hence  we  have 
both  examples  and  precepts  for  distinction  of 
meats.     Acts  xv.  20. 

Q.  On  which  days  is  fasting  chiefly  com- 
manded ? 

A.  The  forty  days  of  Lent:  the  vigils  or  eves 
of  several  particular  feasts.  The  ember-days, 
and  Fridays  by  the  custom  of  England ;  with 
abstinence  from  flesh  on  the  rogation  days,  and 
Saturdays  :  and  other  times  according  to  the  cus- 
tom of  nations  or  laws  of  the  universal  church. 

Q.  By  whom  was  Lent  instituted,  and  why  do 
you  fast  those  forty  days  ? 

A.  The  fast  of  Lent  is  supposed  to  be  of  apos- 
tolical institution  ;  according  to  St.  Augustine, 
Tertullian,  St.  Jerom,  and  other  ancient  fathers 
of  the  church.*  But  be  this  as  it  will,  it  is  cer- 
tainly of  a  very  ancient  date;  for  it  appears  from 
the  fifth  canon  of  the  first  general  council  of 
Nice,  that  in  the  fourth  century  the  Lenten  fast 
was  well  established  both  in  the  East  and  West. 
We  fast  the  forty  days  of  Lent,  that  we  may  in 
some  sort  imitate  the  forty  days'  fast  of  our 
Saviour  Christ,  and  that  all  may  do  penance,  and 
obtain  pardon  of  God  for  their  sins :  that  all  may 
be  duly  disposed  for  a  worthy  celebrating  Christ's 
passion,  and  receiving  the  blessed  sacrament  at 
Easter;  and  that  thereby  we  may  partake  of  the 
merits  of  Christ's  sufferings ;  and  that  we  may 
rise  from  sin,  and  live  united  to  Christ  by  his 
holy  grace,  obtained  by  the  worthy  fruits  of 
penance. 

*  See  St.  Aug.  Epis.  xxxvi.  alias  Ixxxvi.  ad  Casu.  Chap.  xi.  N. 
XXV.  Tert.  L.  de  jeju.  paulo  post  initi.  St.  Jer.  Eps.  liv.  ad  Mar- 
cellus. 


COMMANDMENTS   OF   THE  CHURCH   EXPOUNDED. 


lOI 


Q.  Why  do  you  fast  on  vigils  ? 

A.  That  mortifying  our  appetites,  and  doing 
penance  thereon  for  our  sins,  we  may  better 
prepare  ourselves  for  a  devout  celebrating  the 
feasts  that  follow,  and  recommend  to  God,  by 
fasting  and  prayer,  the  present  necessities  of 
the  faithful. 

Q.  Why  are  ember-days  made  fasts,  and  why 
so  called  ? 

A.  They  are  so  called  from  embers,  or  ashes, 
used  formerly  on  days  of  public  penance,  to 
humble  and  put  us  in  mind,  that  dust  we  are, 
and  into  dust  we  must  return.  There  are  three 
of  them,  at  the  four  seasons  of  the  year  viz.: 
Spring,  summer,  autumn  and  winter,  being  the 
Wednesday,  Friday  and  Saturday,  of  the  first 
week  in  Lent,  of  Whitsun  week,  of  the  third  week 
in  September,  and  of  the  third  week  in  Advent. 
They  are  commanded  to  be  kept  in  prayer  and 
fasting,  according  to  the  example  of  the  apos- 
tles. Acts  xiii.  2,  3.  First,  in  order  to  prevail 
with  Almighty  God  to  provide  the  flock  of 
Christ  with  able  and  virtuous  pastors,  and  to 
beseech  him,  that  he  would  permit  none  (who 
are  ordained  at  those  times)  to  enter  into  the 
sacred  order  of  priesthood,  but  such  as  are 
called  by  him  to  the  ministry  of  his  church. 
Secondly,  to  thank  and  beseech  God  for  the 
received  and  expected  fruits  of  the  earth,  to 
satisfy  him  for  the  abuses  of  his  gifts,  and  to 
do  penance  for  the  sins  committed  within  these 
seasons. 

Q.  Why  on  Fridays  in  England  ? 

A.  In  memory  that  Christ  suffered  for  us  on 
a  Friday :  and  to  move  us  to  do  penance  for 
our  sins,  which  was  the  cause  of  his  sufferings  : 
and  this  custom,  agreeably  to  our  ancient  canons, 
has  the  force  of  a  law. 

Q.  Why  do  you  abstain  from  flesh  on  the 
rogation  days ;  which  be  they,  and  why  so 
called  ? 

A.  The  rogation  days,  are  the  three  days 
immediately  following  the  fifth  Sunday  after 
Easter;  and  they  are  so  called  from  the  Latin 
word  rogOy  which  signifies  to  ask  or  request. 
These    days    are    solemnized    throughout    the 


whole  church  with  abstinence  from  flesh,  and 
public  prayers  for  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  on 
which  also,  in  Catholic  countries,  a  procession 
is  made,  that  the  whole  church,  both  laity  and 
clergy,  may  be  represented  as  present  to  ac- 
knowledged God's  goodness,  and  providence 
over  us,  and  to  pray  for  the  continuance 
thereof. 

Q.  Why  do  you  abstain  from  flesh  on  Satur- 
days ? 

A.  To  prepare  ourselves  for  a  devout  keep- 
ing of  the  Sunday. 

Q.  Why  is  the  Litany  read,  procession,  and 
abstinence  made  on  St.  Mark's  day  ? 

A.  To  supplicate  and  beseech  God  to  preserve 
us  from  all  pestilential  distempers. 

Q.  In  what  manner  is  fasting  performed  on 
the  aforesaid  days  ? 

A.  Sometimes  by  only  eating  one  meal  a  day, 
and  abstaining  from  flesh.  Other  times  by 
abstaining  only  from  flesh,  but  with  liberty  of 
eating  more  meals  than  one;  and  these  are 
called  days  of  abstinence. 

Q.  Is  it  allowed  to  take  a  collation  at  night  ? 
When  is  the  one  meal  to  be  eaten  ?  Is  it 
allowed  to  drink  any  time  of  the  day  ? 

A.  A  moderate  collation,  viz:  A  crust  of  bread, 
or  the  like,  at  night,  is  allowed,  by  a  general 
custom  of  the  church.  The  meal  is  to  be  eaten 
about  noon,  and  not  sooner,  unless  in  case  of  a 
journey,  or  some  other  good  reason.  As  for 
drinking,  it  is  the  more  common  opinion,  that 
it  is  no  breach  of  the  fast  to  take  a  little  drink 
when  very  dry  or  thirsty,  or  for  some  other  real 
necessity ;  yet  it  is  n-ot  supposed  that  it  is  allowed 
to  sit  tippling,  for  the  sake  of  company,  or 
through  a  love  or  desire  of  drink,  and  the 
reason  is,  because  strong  drink  excites  and 
inflames  the  inordinate  desires  of  the  flesh,  as 
much  or  more  than  meat ;  besides,  as  I  have 
already  said,  fasting  was  instituted  by  the 
church,  in  order  to  subdue  our  disorderly  pas- 
sions, to  do  penance,  and  make  satisfaction  for 
our  sins. 

Q.  How  is  the  obligation  to  be  understood  of 
eating  but  one  meal  ? 


102 


COMMANDMENTS   OF  THE   CHURCH   EXPOUNDED. 


A.  It  is  to  be  understood  so,  that  after  once 
eating  or  breaking  the  fast,  it  is  a  new  sin  as 
often  as  a  person  eats. 

Q.  In  what  cases  are  persons  excused  in  eating 
flesh,  and  more  meals  than  one  on  fasting  days  ? 

A.  The  cases  are  reduced   to  these  three,  in 
general,  viz. :  Incapacitj',  necessity,  and  labor. 
•      Q.  What  sort  of  incapacity  does  excuse,  and 
what  necessity  ? 

A.  As  to  one  meal  a  day,  young  people,  till 
they  arrive  at  the  age  of  one  and  twenty,  are 
excused;  though,  as  they  advance  in  years,  they 
are  advised  to  accustom  themselves  to  the  usage 
of  the  church  more  or  less.  Also  old  persons, 
who  are  very  weak  or  feeble,  are  excused  :  but  it 
is  to  be  observed,  that  no  persons,  how  old  soever, 
are  exempt,  unless  a  considerable  weakness  does 
accompany  their  age ;  for,  by  all  that  I  can  find, 
the  notion  of  people  being  exempt  from  fasting 
when  arrived  at  the  age  of  sixty-three,  is  ground- 
less; as  may  be  seen  in  a  book  entitled  a  Treatise 
of  Tasting,  by  R.  P.  Thomas,  Cong.  Orat.  Part 
the  1st,  Cap.  xvii.*  Also  infirm  persons,  breed- 
ing women,  and  those  who  give  suck,  are  ex- 
cused ;  as  likewise  common  beggars,  and  such  as 
are  not  in  a  capacity  to  make  one  full  meal,  by 
reason  of  their  poverty. 

Q.  What  sort  of  labor  will  excuse  to  eat  more 
than  one  meal  ? 

A.  When  the  labor  is  hard,  and  impairs  their 
strength,  for  instance,  laboring  men  and  trades- 
men, as  smiths,  carpenters,  and  all  such  as  are 
forced  to  gain  their  living  by  the  sweat  of  their 
bodies ;  as  also  all  such  as  are  upon  tedious  and 
necessary  journeys. 

Q.  Are  persons  in  the  aforesaid  cases  per- 
mitted to  eat  flesh  ? 

A.  No,  they  are  not,  unless  their  case  requires 
it,  and  then  they  are  in  all  cases  to  observe  the 
rules  of  the  church,  in  order  to  obtain  a  dispen- 
sation. 

Q.  What  are  the  methods,  in  order  to  obtain  a 
dispensation  ? 

A.  They  are  to  advise  with,  and  have  the  con- 
sent both  of  their  physician  and  spiritual  director, 

*  Et  ex  St  Basil.  Hom.  ii.  de  jejn. 


and  observe  their  orders,  both  as  to  the  substance 
and  manner. 

Q.  What  if  the  case  be  evident  or  doubtful, 
and  access  cannot  be  had  either  to  the  physician 
or  director  ? 

A.  If  the  case  is  evident,  and  access  cannot  be 
had  to  the  persons  aforesaid,  in  that  case  a  person 
is  to  follow  his  own  conscience,  with  the  advice 
of  some  knowing  religious  person.  If  doubtful, 
he  must  wait  till  he  can  consult  his  physician 
or  director,  and  not  incline  to  favor  himself. 

Q.  Is  a  person  dispensed  with  at  liberty  to 
eat  flesh,  etc.,  as  often  as  he  pleases  ? 

A.  No;  that  is  to  be  specified  in  particular, 

Q.  Who  are  to  grant  dispensations  ? 

A.  The  pope,  for  the  whole  church  ;  bishops, 
for  their  diocese ;  and  pastors,  to  particular  per- 
sons under  their  charge. 

Q.  Which  is  the  third  precept  of  the  church  ? 

A.  It  concerns  the  time  when  persons  ought 
to  confess  their  sins. 

Q.  Are  all  persons  obliged,  by  the  divine  law, 
to  confess  their  sins,  and  is  it  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  salvation  ? 

A.  It  is  necessary  for  all  persons  who  have 
been  guilty  of  mortal  sin  after  baptism  :  Num. 
V.  6.  John  XX.  23.  James  v.  16.  Acts  xix.  18, 
19.  For  confession,  accompanied  with  due  requi- 
sites, is  commanded  by  God  as  the  ordinary 
means  for  remission  of  sins  committed  after 
baptism :  but  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary 
actually,  but  only  in  desire,  when  it  cannot  be  • 
made. 

Q.  What  has  the  church  commanded  as  to 
confession  ? 

A.  The  fourth  general  council  of  Lateran, 
which  was  held  in  the  j^ear  1215.  Can.  xxi.  has 
ordered  all  to  confess  their  sins  once  a  year, 
without  specifying  the  time  (and  that  it  be  made 
to  one's  own  priest),  though  the  church  in  the 
council  of  Trent,  Sess,  xiv.  C.  v.  et  C.  viii.  seems 
to  specify  that  the  annual  confession  be  made  in 
Lent,  in  order  for  the  better  disposing  of  the 
faithful  for  their  paschal  communion.  Now,  the 
reason  why  the  church  commands  all  the  faith- 
ful to  confess   at  least  once  a  year,  is  because 


COMMANDMENTS   OF   THE   CHURCH    EXPOUNDED. 


103 


she  is  sensible  of  the  negligence  of  many  in 
their  soul's  concern  ;  and  therefore,  as  a  tender 
mother,  puts  them  in  mind  of  their  obligation  in 
this  point. 

Q.  Who  is  one's  own  priest  ? 

A.  The  pope,  our  bishop,  and  our  own  pastor 
or  parish  priest. 

Q.  Is  the  confession  that  is  made  to  a  priest, 
who  is  not  approved  of  by  the  bishop,  invalid  ? 

A.  Yes,  and  it  is  even  so  defined  by  the  church, 
in  the  fourth  general  council  of  Lateran,  etc. 
Can.  xxi.  et  Concil.  Baj.  Chap.  viii.  et  Concil. 
Rhem.  And  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  con- 
fession made  to  any  priest  who  is  not  empowered 
by  the  bishop,  is  not  only  invalid,  but  the  peni- 
tent likewise  becomes  guilty  of  a  grievous  sin, 
by  a  breach  or  violation  of  this  third  precept  of 
the  church. 

Q.  At  what  age  are  we  obliged  to  go  to  con- 
fession ? 

A.  When  we  come  to  the  use  of  reason,  which 
is  ordinarily  conceived  to  be  at  eight  years  of 
age,  for  then  we  generally  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil,  and  may  fall  into  sin. 

Q.  Is  it  certain  that  we  are  not  obliged  to 
go  to  confession,  but  once  a  year  ? 

A.  The  church  obliges  us  to  no  more ;  but 
then  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  church,  by  this 
precept,  does  not  take  oflF  the  obligation,  which 
every  one  may  have,  of  confessing  oftener :  since 
all  who  are  guilty  of  mortal  sin  are  obliged  to 
confess  as  often  as  there  is  any  apparent  dan- 
ger of  death,  by  sickness,  war,  sea,  or  any  dan- 
gerous undertaking ;  as  likewise  before  receiv- 
ing any  of  the  sacraments  (except  baptism)  the 
benefit  whereof,  if  duly  considered,  should  move 
us  often  to  confess  our  sins,  and  not  to  neglect 
it,  as  is  too  commonly  done:  for  he  who 
defers  his  eternal  welfare  from  day  to  day,  and 
from  week  to  week,  is  both  void  of  reason  and 
conscience ;  since  it  depends  of  himself  (with 
the  grace  of  God)  to  repent  and  confess  his  sins. 
Besides,  our  Saviour  himself  commands  us  to 
be  always  prepared,  because  we  know  not  the 
day  nor  the  hour  when  death  will  call  upon  us. 
Luke  xii.  40.     Moreover,  it  is  to  be  feared,  as  it 


commonly  happens,  that  those  careless  Christians, 
who  confess  their  sins  but  once  or  twice  a  year, 
do  make  a  bad  confession. 

Q.  Which  is  the  fourth  precept  of  the  church  ? 

A.  It  concerns  the  time  when  persons  ought 
to  communicate,  or  receive  the  blessed  sacra- 
ment. 

Q.  What  is    the  precept  ef  the  church  con 
cerning  communion  ? 

A.  In  the  primitive  ages  Christians  received 
it  every  day ;  by  degrees,  they  were  ordered  to 
receive  upon  several  great  feasts ;  at  last,  the 
fourth  general  council  of  Lateran,  Can.  xxi. 
decreed,  under  pope  Innocent  the  Illd  that  all 
of  both  sexes  were  obliged  to  communicate  once 
a  year,  at  the  time  of  Easter,  and  that  within 
their  own  parish  church  ;  and  this  decree  is  rati- 
fied by  the  council  of  Trent. 

Q.  How  do  you  compute  the  time  of  Easter, 
when  people  are  obliged  to  communicate  ? 

A.  From  Palm-Sunday,  until  Low-Sunday, 
inclusively,  by  a  decree  of  Eugenius  the  IVth. 

Q.  Are  there  no  exceptions,  as  to  the  decree 
of  Innocent  III.  in  the  Lateran  council  ? 

A.  Yes ;  by  a  license  from  the  pope,  our 
bishop,  or  pastor,  persons  may  communicate  out 
of  their  parish  church.  Again,  it  is  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  confessor,  if  there  is  occasion 
to  defer  communion,  until  after  Easter. 

Q.  Are  people  obliged  to  receive  the  blessed 
sacrament  at  any  other  time  of  the  year  ? 

A.  Yes,  when  persons  are  in  danger  of  death, 
which  is  an  ecclesiastical  custom  all  over  the 
church,  and  has  the  force  of  a  law  ;  and  several 
national  councils  do  expressly  command  it. 
Hence,  several  divines  hold,  there  is  a  divine 
precept  for  it,  grounding  themselves  on  the 
council  of  Nice,  where  it  is  called  a  necessary 
viaticum.  Besides,  it  is  to  be  observed,  that 
though  the  church  only  obliges  us  to  commu- 
nicate once  a  year ;  5'et  she  exhorts  us  to  a 
frequent  communion,  provided  we  come  with  the 
necessary  dispositions ;  and  the  reason  is, 
because  great  fruit  is  reaped  from  this  heavenly 
nourishment.  Matt.  xi.  28.  And  that  it  is  to 
be  feared,  that  those  who  make  use  of  the  food 


Z04 


COMMANDMENTS   OF   THE   CHURCH   EXPOUNDED. 


of  eternal  life,  but  once  or  twice  a  year,  make 
no  g^eat  account  of  their  salvation. 

Q.  At  what  age  are  we  obliged  to  receive  the 
holy  communion  ? 

A.  When  we  come  to  sense  and  understand- 
ing, so  as  to  be  capable  to  discern  the  greatness 
of  this  mystery,  which  is  conceived  ordinarily  to 
be  at  about  twelve  years  of  age ;  but  it  is  first 
requisite,  that  we  be  well  instructed  in  the  cate- 
chism or  Christian  doctrine. 

Q.  What  punishment  does  the  church  inflict 
on  those  who  comply  not  with  this  precept,  and 
that  which  we  spoke  on  last  ? 

A.  She  orders  them  to  be  banished  from  the 
communion  of  the  faithful,  and  deprived  of 
Christian  burial  :*  but  this  excommunication 
does  not  fall  upon  those  whom  the  pastor  puts 
ofi"  for  a  time,  in  order  that  they  should  do 
penance,  and  duly  prepare  themselves. 

Q.  Is  there  any  divine  precept  of  receiving  the 
blessed  sacrament  incumbent  upon  all,  and  is  it 
necessary  for  salvation  ? 

A.  It  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation, 
as  baptism  is  for  infants,  and  penance  for 
sinners :  j^et  there  is  a  divine  precept  of  receiv- 
ing, one  time  or  other,  either  actually  or  in 
desire,  founded  in  these  words  of  our  Saviour 
Christ :  "  Unless  you  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of 
man,  and  drink  his  blood,  you  shall  not  have 
life  in  you."    John  vi.  54. 

Q.  What  do  you  say  concerning  infants 
receiving  the  blessed  sacrament  ? 

A.  There  is  no  divine  precept  for  infants 
receiving  the  holy  sacrament,  for  they  cannot 
prove  themselves,  as  St.  Paul  requires ;  i  Cor. 
xi.  28,  and  they  have  a  right  to  heaven  by  bap- 
,\tism  alone. 
]     Q.  Which  is  the  fifth  precept  of  the  church  ? 

A.  Payment  of  tithes. 

Q. '  What  are  tithes  ? 

A.  The  tenth  part  of  the  products  of  the 
earth. 

Q.  To  whom  are  tithes  payable?  On  what 
account  ?     And  by.  what  law  ? 

A.  They  are  payable  to  the  ministers  of  the 

•  See  Cone.  4.  Later. 


church,  in  order  to  support  them  creditably,, 
without  any  interruption  to  their  spiritual 
duties.  They  are  demanded  as  a  part  of 
religion,  and  an  acknowledgment  of  God's 
supreme  dominion  over  all  the  earth,  and  the 
fruits  thereof  are  assigned  for  the  benefit  of  his 
representatives,  employed  in  religious  matters : 
they  are  also  due  by  the  law  of  nature,  "  for  a 
laborer,"  as  St.  Paul  says,  "  is  worthy  of  his  hire 
or  reward."  i  Tim.  v.  i8.  And  in  another 
place,  he  says,  that  "  they  who  serve  the  altar, 
live  by  the  altar."  i  Cor.  ix.  13.  They  are 
likewise  due  by  human  laws,  civil  and  ecclesias- 
tical, established  for  that  purpose.  Hence  we 
read,  in  the  14th  chapter  of  Genesis,  ver.  20,  and 
the  7th  of  the  Hebrews,  ver.  2,  that  Abraham 
paid  tithes  to  Melchisedec,  who  was  the  high 
priest.  Hence,  in  the  law  of  Moses,  the  Levites, 
or  sacerdotal  race,  were  ordered  by  Almighty 
God  to  have  all  the  tithes  paid  to  them ;  and, 
besides,  had  five  large  cities  settled  upon  them, 
with  all  their  dependencies  and  lands  belonging 
to  them.     Levi,  xxvii. 

Q.  Is  the  tenth  part  precisely  due  by  the  law 
of  nature,  or  law  of  God  ? 

A.  It  was  due  precisely  by  God's  appointment 
among  the  Jews ;  but  the  Mosaic  law  being 
abolished  by  the  gospel,  all  the  church  could 
demand,  was  a  competent  subsistence  for  the 
ministry,  till,  by  degrees,  the  tithes  were  again 
ordered  for  the  ministry,  by  civil  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal laws,  as  they  now  stand,  according  to  the 
different  customs  of  nations.  Num.  xviii.  ver. 
21  et  28.     Mala.  iii.  10. 

Q.  Which  is  the  sixth  precept  of  the  church  ? 

A.  It  concerns  the  time  of  celebrating  mar- 
riage. 

Q.  When  are  marriages  not  to  be  solemnized, 
according  to  the  precept  of  the  church  ? 

A.  From  the  first  Sunday  of  Advent,  until  the 
Epiphany  or  Twelfth-Day  be  past :  and  from 
Ash  Wednesday  until  Low-Sunday  be  past. 

Q.  Why  is  the  celebration  of  marriage  forbid- 
den at  these  times  ? 

A.  Because  they  are  times  appointed  by  the 
church    for   penance,  prayer,  or    devotion,   and 


COMMANDMENTS   OF  THE   CHURCH   EXPOUNDED. 


105 


therefore  not  proper  to  be  spent  in  carnal  pleas- 
ures, and  public  feasting.  This  prohibition  is 
of  ancient  date,  and  confirmed  by  the  council  of 
Trent  ;*  and  is  agreeable  to  the  advice  of  the  holy 
Scriptures. 

*Sess.  24.  Decrt.  de  Reform.   Matri.  Cap.  x.     See  Joel  xi.  16,  et 
I  Cor.  vii.  5,  et  i  Pet.  iii.  7, 


Q.  Are  there  no  exceptions  ? 

A.  Yes,  when  there  is  danger  of  scandal,  or  a 
foreign  long  journey  to  be  taken,  etc.  But  then 
the  marriage  is  to  be  performed  privately,  and 
the  reasons  are  to  be  allowed  of  by  the  superiors 
of  the  church. 


ACRAMENTS    IN    GENERAL 


Expounded. 


n  A  (D  d^lk^iia  CD  Si 

qj  ^u  OS  ^j^  rj^  tu  w  OB 


Q.  What  is  the  signification  of  the  word  sac- 
rament ? 

A.  Among  profane  writers,  it  has  several  sig- 
nifications ;  but,  as  it  is  used  in  the  Scriptures 
and  ecclesiastical  authors,  it  is  taken  for  a  hid- 
den or  mysterious  work ;  and  in  general  is 
a  visible  sign  of  some  holy  thing. 

Q.  In  what  other  sense  are  the  sacraments  of 
the  new  law  a  sign  ? 

A.  St.  Thomas  says,  they  are  a  commemora- 
tive of  Christ's  passion  and  merit ;  a  demonstra- 
tive of  grace  present,  and  a  prognostic  of  future 
glory. 

Q.  What  is  a  sign,  and  how  many  sorts  of 
signs  are  there  ? 

A.  A  sign,  in  general,  is  what  puts  us  in  mind 
of  something  else  ;  of  which  there  are  two  kinds, 
one  natural,  the  other  arbitrary.  For  instance, 
smoke  is  a  natural  sig^  of  fire :  the  rainbow  is  a 
sign  of  God's  promise,  that  there  should  not  be 
another  deluge.  Gen.  ix.  Some  signs  are  prac- 
tical, others  speculative.  Of  the  first  kind  are 
the  sacraments,  which  produce  grace;  of  the 
second  kind,  was  the  brazen  serpent,  represent- 
ing Christ's  crucifixion. 

Q.  What  is  properlj'^  a  sacrament  of  the  new 
law? 

A.  It  is  a  visible  sign  of  inward  invisible 
grace,  instituted  or  appointed  by  Christ  for  man's 
sanctification. 


(io6) 


Q.  Can  only  God  institute  sacraments  ? 

A.  As  God  is  the  only  author  of  grace,  so  he 
only  can  ordain  signs  that  are  capable  of  pro- 
ducing grace. 

Q.  What  has  the  council  of  Trent  defined  con- 
cerning Christ  being  the  author  of  the  sacra- 
ments ? 

A.  So  as  to  be  understood  that  Jesus  Christ 
immediately  instituted  them :  though  such  a 
power  might  have  been  given  to  his  church  in- 
strumentally.* 

Q.  What  sort  of  sacrament  was  St.  John 
Baptist's  baptism  ? 

A.  The  council  of  Trent  defines,  it  had  not 
the  same  effect  with  the  baptism  of  Christ. f 

Q.  Are  not  holy  water,  blessed  bread,  and 
other  consecrated  things,  sacraments  ? 

A.  No,  we  call  them  sacramentals  or  signs 
only  of  holiness.  They  give  not  sanctifying 
grace,  but  only  actual  grace,  as  being  outward 
parts  of  prayer;  they  cause  not  actual  grace 
by  their  own  force,  nor  has  man  power  to 
assign  actual  grace  to  such  things.J 

Q.  Were  there  no  sacraments  before  the  law 
of  grace  ?  Which  were  they,  and  what  effect 
had  they  ? 

A.  The  divine    worship  always    required  the 

*  Sess.  vii.  Can.  i.  de  Sacr.  in  gen. 
t  Sess.  vii.  Can.  i.  de  Baptis. 
t  Ex  opere  operate. 


SACRAMENTS   IN    GENERAL  EXPOUNDED. 


107 


use  of  visible  signs  suitable  to  the  state  man 
lived  in. 

Q.  What  sacraments  belonged  to  the  law  of 
nature  ? 

A.  The  sacrifices,  and  other  outward  tokens 
signifying  a  belief  in  the  Messiah. 

Q.  What  sacraments  belonged  to  the  law  of 
Moses  ? 

A.  They  were  very  numerous,  viz. :  Circum- 
cision, the  paschal  lamb,  ordination  of  priests ; 
and  in  general  all  their  sacrifices  were  signs 
of  what  would  happen  under  the  law  of  grace. 

Q.  What  effect  ha;d  those  sacraments  ? 

A.  They  were  only  speculative  signs  of  sanc- 
tifying grace :  yet  they  conferred  a  legal  sanc- 
tity, which  consecrated  the  performers  so  far 
as  to  make  them  obedient  to  the  law  of  Moses. 

Q.  What  are  we  to  believe  as  to  the  matter 
and  form  of  the  sacraments,  and  how  are  they 
to  be  conceived  ? 

A.  Eugenius  the  IVth,  in  his  decree,  in  the 
council  of  Florence,  which  was  held  in  the  year 
1439,  declares,  that  every  sacrament  requires 
matter,  form,  and  intention  of  doing  what  the 
church  does.  Now  the  matter  a:id  form,  are 
not  to  be  taken  strictly  and  properly ;  but  only 
metaphorically,  that  is,  for  some  sensible  thing, 
action,  words  or  signs,  to  determine  the  mean- 
ing. 

Q.  What  is  Calvin's  opinion  concerning  the 
form  of  sacraments  ? 

A.  He  pretends  the  words  are  not  consecra- 
tory,  but  only  concionatory  or  instructive,  and 
serve  only  to  nourish  the  faith  of  the  receiver. 
An  opinion  condemned  by  the  council  of 
Trent,*  and  manifestly  false,  as  appears  in 
the  sacrament  of  baptism,  where  the  infant  has 
no  faith,  and  is  incapable  of  instruction. 

Q.  Were  the  matter  and  form  of  the  sacra- 
ments determined  and  specified  by  Christ? 

A.  Most  of  them  were  specified.  Yet  several 
divines  are  of  opinion,  that  the  matter  and  form 
of  ordination  was  only  determined  in  general, 
it  being  left  to  the  church,  to  specify  the 
particular  matter  and  form ;  which  always  were 

*Sess.  vii.  Can.  v.  de  Sacr.  in  gen. 


to  be  such,  as  expressed  the  power  that  was 
given.  Whereby  these  divines  easily  reconcile 
the  rituals  of  ancient  times,  among  the  Latins ; 
and  the  difference  between  the  Grecian  and 
Latin  rituals,  where  there  is  some  variety  in 
the  matter  and  form.  According  to  these 
divines,  though  Christ  appointed  the  contract 
to  be  the  matter  of  the  sacrament  of  matrimony ; 
yet  the  church  has  a  power  to  specify  the  nature 
of  the  contract:  as  the  council  of  Trent  did,* 
by  declaring  clandestine  contracts,  which  before 
were  only  unlawful,  to  be  afterwards  void  or 
null,  and  not  a  sufficient  matter. 

Q.  Is  it  lawful  to  change  the  matter  and 
form  of  the  sacraments  ?  And  in  what  cases 
is  it  forbidden  or  allowed  ? 

A.  An  essential  variation,  makes  the  sacra- 
ment invalid.  Now  a  variation  is  essential,  if 
a  different  matter  is  made  use  of,  or  the  sense 
of  the  form  altered :  but  if  the  alteration 
happen  only  in  the  ceremonies,  it  is  only  acci- 
dental, and  destroys  not  the  sacrament ;  for 
instance,  the  form  of  baptism  is  valid  in  any 
language :  as  also,  if  through  ignorance  of  the 
Latin  tongue,  one  should  say,  e£-o  te  baptizo 
in  nomine  patris^  et  filio^  et  spiritus  sanctus.  If 
there  be  a  doubt  of  the  form,  it  is  to  be  repeated 
conditionally.  The  form  of  baptism  is  invalid, 
if  a  person  should  say,  I  baptize  thee  in  the 
name  of  God,  or  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity, 
because  they  are  not  equivalent  to  the  true 
form. 

Q.  Who  are  the  ministers  of  the  sacraments  ? 

A.  Only  bishops  and  priests,  by  their  office ; 
though  the  laity  in  some  cases  are  the  ministers ; 
as  for  instance,  a  layman,  in  case  of  necessity, 
where  a  priest  is  not  to  be  had  ;  as  also  heretics, 
schismatics,  etc.,  may  validly  baptize,  if  they 
make  use  of  the  true  matter  and  form,  and 
intend  to  do  what  the  church  does ;  as  it  is 
defined  in  several  councils  against  the  Donatists. 
Neither  is  the  state  of  grace  requisite  to  the 
validity  of  the  sacrament,  in  the  minister;  as 
it  is  defined   against  Wickliffe.f     Women  may 

•  Sess.  xxiv.  decret.  de  Reform.  Matri. 

t  Con.  Trid.  Sess.  vii.  Can.  xii.  de  Sacr.  in  gen. 


io8 


SACRAxMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


also   baptize  validly,   and   lawfully  in  case  of 
necessity. 

Q.  Are  ministers  the  causes  of  g^ce  in  the 
sacraments  ? 

A.  They  are  only  the  instruments ;  God  is 
the  only  principal  cause,  as  he  is  in  working 
miracles. 

V    Q.  Does    the    minister    sin    mortally,    if  he 
•administers  a  sacrament  in  the  state  of  mortal 
sin? 

A.  Yes,  but  the  ritual  sa5'S,  that  if  he  has 
not  an  opportunity  of  confessing,  he  is  to  make 
an  act  of  contrition. 

Q.  What  if  the  minister  is  in  the  state  of 
mortal  sin,  can  a  person  receive  a  sacrament 
from  him? 

A.  In  extreme  necessity  he  may :  he  may 
also  without  extreme  necessity,  if  the  minister 
is  not  denounced  by  the  church ;  and  even 
otherwise,  if  there  is  any  urgent  occasion ;  but 
if  there  is  no  urgent  occasion,  he  co-operates 
with  the  sin ;  yet  care  must  be  taken,  not  to 
judge  rashly  of  the  minister's  state. 

Q.  What  intention  is  required  in  the  min- 
ister ?  What  effects  do  the  sacraments  pro- 
duce ?  In  what  manner  do  they  produce 
g^ace  ?  What  is  the  proper  grace  of  every 
sacrament  ?  What  number  of  sacraments  are 
there  in  the  new  law  ? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  intention,  in  general, 
is  a  violation,  or  act  of  determining  of  a 
thing  by  the  means ;  it  is  requisite  to  every 
rational  action,  and  much  more  to  every 
religious  action. 

Q.  How  piany  kinds  of  intention  are  men 
capable  of? 

A.  Chiefly  three,  \-iz.:  Actual,  which  is  ac- 
companied with  an  actual  attention  of  the 
mind,  to  the  thing  we  are  about.  A  virtual 
intention,  is  when  the  actual  intention  is 
judged  to  remain  in  its  force,  by  not  being 
expressly  retracted,  or  interrupted  by  too  long 
a  time.  An  habitual  intention  is  the  facility 
of  performing  a  thing,  obtained  by  habit  or 
custom,  without  any  actual  reflection,  or  virtual 
influence,  upon  the  work. 


Q.  Apply  these  matters  to  the  ministers  of 
the  sacraments  ? 

A.  An  actual  intention  is  most  desirable,  a 
virtual  intention  is  sufficient,  an  habitual  in- 
tention is  not  sufficient. 

Q.  In  what  cases  is  there  a  defect  of  a 
sufficient  intention  ? 

A.  If  a  minister  performs  the  work  in  a. 
ludicrous  manner.  If  he  retracts  his  intention. 
If  he  is  asleep,  drunk,  or  mad ;  he  has  either 
no  intention,  or  only  an  habitual  one. 

Q.  Is  it  necessary  to  intend  the  effect  of 
the  sacrament  ? 

A.  No,  otherwise  heretics  and  Pagans  could 
not  baptize  validly.  It  is  sufficient  to  have 
an  intention  of  doing  what  the  church  of 
Christ  does,  without  considering  which  is  the 
true  church. 

Q.  What  intention  is  required  in  those  who 
receive  the  sacraments  ? 

A.  At  least  an  habitual  intention,  and  gen- 
erally actual,  or  virtual  intention,  that  they 
may  receive  lawfully.  Yet  there  is  something 
particular  in  the  case  of  extreme-unction,  when 
an  interpretative  intention  is  sufficient,  accord- 
ing to  the  practice  of  the  church. 

Q.  Are  not  dispositions  reqiiired  in  the 
receivers  ? 

A.  Yes,  several,  as  faith  in  some,  and 
charity  in  others ;  not  that  the  sacrament  is 
not  given  without  them,  but  that  grace  is  not 
g^ven  without  them. 

Q.  What  benefit  has  the  receiver  who  par- 
takes of  a  sacrament  without  due  disposi- 
tions ? 

A.  He  receives  the  character  in  the  three 
sacraments  of  baptism,  confirmation  and  order, 
though  not  the  particular  sacramental  grace; 
which,  however,  is  bestowed  upon  him,  when 
the  fiction  or  impediment  is  removed  by  true 
penance,  (at  the  same  time  he  is  supposed, 
when  he  receives  the  said  sacraments,  to  have 
the  general  dispositions  for  the  character,  viz.: 
Intention,  etc.).  This  recovering  of  the  sacra- 
mental grace,  is  expressly  asserted  by  St. 
Augustine,  and  is  the  opinion  of  the  church. 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


109 


Q.  What  is  particularly  to  be  observed,  con- 
cerning those  who  receive  the  sacraments  ? 

A.  First,  as  to  infants,  no  dispositions  are 
required.  As  to  adult  persons,  several  disposi- 
tions are  required,  to  make  the  sacraments 
valid,  viz.:  Intention  and  consent,  excepting 
the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist ;  other  disposi- 
tions are  required  in  the  adult,  to  receive  the 
effect,  viz.:  Sanctifying  grace,  faith,  contrition, 
or  attrition,  etc. 

Q.  What  eflFect  have  the  sacrameutals,  viz.: 
Exorcisms,  crossing,  agnus  dei,  holy  water, 
etc.,  and  how  do  they  produce  their  eflfects  ? 

A.  The  chief  effects  are,  pious  thoughts,  or 
actual  grace ;  the  remission  of  venial  sin,  by 
means  of  such  grace ;  the  remission  of  temporal 
pain ;  driving  away  temptations,  and  the  devil ; 
restoring  to  corporal  health.  But  these  effects 
are  not  infallibly  produced  by  virtue  of  the 
sacramentals  alone :  so  that  they  produce  their 
effects,  as  being  an  outward  part  of  the  prayers 
of  the  church,  and  of  the  pious  prayers  of  those 
who  make  use  of  them. 

Q,  You  say  the  sacraments  produce  grace,  in 
what  manner  is  this  done  ?  Do  they  all  pro- 
duce the  same  sort  of  grace  ? 

A.  They  all  produce  grace  in  the  nature  of 
channels  or  vehicles,  where  God  is  as  principal, 
the  minister  as  joint  instrument,  the  elements 
as  separate  instruments.  As  to  the  grace 
conferred,  it  is  different  in  most  of  the  sacra- 
ments ,  some  confer  the  first  grace,  as  baptism 
and  penance,  and  they  are  called  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  dead;  others  confer  an  increase 
of  grace,  and  are  called  the  sacraments  of  the 
living,  as  are  all  the  rest  of  the  sacraments. 

Q.  Give  me  a  distinct  account  of  the  specific 
grace,  conferred  by  each  of  the  sacraments  ? 
/  A.  The  grace  of  baptism  is  regenerative,  it 
remits  original  sin,  entitles  to  the  name  of 
Christian,  and  gives  a  right  to  partake  of  the 
other  sacraments.  The  grace  of  confirmation 
is  strengthening,  and  gives  courage  to  profess 
the  true  faith.  The  grace  of  the  holy  eucharist 
is  nutritive,  and  unites  us  to  Christ.  The 
^race  of  penance   is   remissive  of  actual   sins, 


and  occasions  sorrow  for  them,  and  protection 
against  a  relapse.  The  grace  of  extreme-unction 
strengthens  the  sick  person  against  temptations, 
at  that  time,  and  procures  health.  The  grace 
of  order  disposes  the  ministry  to  perform  their 
functions  with  spiritual  profit.  The  grace  of 
matrimony  enables  the  parties  to  comply  with 
the  burdens  of  their  state.  1 

Q.  Is  not  a  character  the  effect  of  some  of 
the  sacraments,  and  what  are  the  properties 
belonging  to  it  ? 

A.  A  character  is  a  spiritual  power  in  the 
soul,  whereby  a  person  is  distinguished  from 
others,  and  made  capable  of  receiving,  and 
giving  other  sacraments,  and  performing  what 
belongs  to  the  divine  worship. 

Q.  Which  are  the  properties  of  the  sacra- 
mental character? 

A.  It  is  given  only  in  three  sacraments,  viz. : 
Baptism,  confirmation,  and  orders.*  It  is  indel- 
ible. It  is  a  quality  distinct  from  the  soul, 
but  some  divines  say  the  contrary. 

Q.  How  many  sacraments  are  there  in  the 
new  Law  ? 

A.  Seven,  viz.:  Baptism,  confirmation,  eucharist, 
penance,  extreme-unction,  holy  orders,  and  matri- 
mony. The  divine  will  was  the  chief  reason  of 
the  number.  But  there  is  a  certain  analogy, 
between  a  corporal  and  spiritual  life.  A  Chris- 
tian is  born  spiritually  by  baptism  ;  the  spiritual 
life  is  increased,  and  strengthened  by  confirma- 
tion ;  it  is  nourished  by  the  eucharist :  when 
sick,  it  is  purged  by  penance ;  when  danger- 
ously ill,  it  is  restored  by  extreme-unction; 
economy  is  preserved  in  spiritual  matters  by 
order;  the  species  is  preserved  by  marriage, 
and  grace  g^ven  to  answer  the  ends  of  that 
state. 

Q.  Why  do  the  Scriptures  and  ancient  fathers 
never  mention  the  number  of  the  sacraments  to 
be  seven  ? 

A.  They  never  mention  the  number  to  be 
two ;  it  is  sufl&cient  to  mention  the  things. 
So  the  Scriptures  never  mention,  that  there  are 
twelve  principal  articles  of  our  belief,  to  which 

*  Ccn.  Trid.  Sess.  vii.     Can.  ix.  de  Sacr.  in  gen. 


no 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


all  the  rest  are  reduced ;  neither  do  they  ever 
mention  the  word  trinity  or  consubstantiality. 
There  was  no  occasion  to  mention  the  number, 
until  the  dispute  arose,  and  this  it  was,  which 
made  the  church  mention  the  number,  which 
she  defined  in  the  general  councils  of  Florence 
and  Trent.* 

Q.  Do  not  the  number  of  orders,  viz. :  Episco- 
pac)',  priesthood,  deaconship,  etc.,  increase  the 
number  of  sacraments  ? 

A.  No,  they  are  all  resolved  into  priesthood 
which  is  the  plenitude  of  orders ;  all  the  others 
are  as  it  were,  species  or  branches  of  priest- 
hood. 

Q.  What  do  you  say  as  to  the  dignity,  and 
necessity  of  the  sacraments  respectively  ? 

A.  It  is  defined  by  the  council  of  Trent,  that 
they  are  not  all  equal  in  dignity,  and  that  the 
eucharist  is  the  most  excellent,  as  being  the 
fountain  of  all  grace.f  As  to  the  necessity, 
it  is  defined  by  the  council  of  Trent,  that  they 
are  necessary  to  salvation ;  but  some  in  one 
manner,  and  some  in  another.^  For  instance, 
baptism  is  absolutely  necessary  for  infants. 
Baptism  and  penance  are  necessarj'  for  the 
adult,  either  actually  or  in  desire.  Matrimony 
is  necessary*  for  the  whole,  but  not  for  every 
particular.  Order  is  necessarj^  for  those,  who 
perform  the  sacerdotal  functions.  The  euchar- 
ist, confirmation,  and  extreme-unction,  are  neces- 
sary, according  to  the  precepts  of  God  and 
his  church,  at  certain  times,  but  not  absolutely, 
when  not  obtainable. 

Q.  As    there    are    a    great    number  of  cere- 


monies made  use  of  in  administering  the  sacra- 
ments, let  me  have  your  opinion  of  them  ? 

A.  Ceremonies  are  external  performances, 
made  use  of  either  by  Christ,  the  apostles,  or 
the  church  afterwards ;  not  essential  to  the 
sacraments,  but  instituted  for  decency,  and  to 
promote   devotion. 

Q.  Is  it  lawful  for  any  particular  person,  or 
even  national  church,  to  alter  the  ceremonies? 

A.  No,  if  they  are  approved  of,  and  prac- 
ticed by  the  whole  church,  and  handed  down 
by  tradition,  from  the  earliest  times  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  because  these  are  supposed  to  have 
been  in  use,  from  Christ  and  his  apostles. 
Such  as  those  are  exorcisms,  sufflation,  the 
sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism,  anointing,  impos- 
ing of  hands,  etc. 

Q.  Is  it  not  superstition,  to  make  use  of 
ceremonies  ? 

A.  By  no  means,  superstition  is  to  make 
use  of  outward  performances,  expecting  bless- 
ings from  them,  which  neither  nature,  nor 
appointment,  can  promise  or  produce.  The 
ceremonies  the  church  makes  use  of,  are  in  the 
nature  of  prayer,  of  which  they  are  a  part.  Now 
God  has  annexed  certain  blessings  to  prayer. 

Q.  But  are  not  many  of  the  ceremonies 
ridiculous,  and  a  hindrance  to  true  devotion, 
by  their  number? 

A.  Not  at  all ;  they  are  significative,  and 
represent  all  the  pious  duties  of  the  Christian 
religion ;  and  if  any  appear  ridiculous,  the 
church  takes  care  to  retrench  them,  and  reform 
herself  in  all  matters  of  discipline. 


BAPTISM  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  is  baptism  ? 

A.  It  is  an  exterior  washing  of  the  body, 
under  a  certain  form  of  words ;  or  thus,  it  is 
the  first  and  most    necessary    sacrament,  insti- 

•Trid.  Sess.  vii.     Can.  i.  de  Sacr.  gen. 
t  Sess.  vii.     Can.  iii.  de  Sacr.  in  gen. 
i  Sess.  vii.     Can.  iv.  de  Sacr.  in  gea. 


tuted  by  Christ,  to  free  us  from  original  sin, 
and  all  actual  sin  committed  before  baptism ; 
it  makes  us  children  of  God  and  his  church  ; 
it  is  the  first  sacrament,  because  before  it  no 
other  sacrament  can  be  validly  received ;  it  is 
the  most  necessary,  for  unless  a  man  be  bom 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


in 


again  of  water,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  can- 
not enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.    Jo.  iii.  5. 

Q.  How    many    sorts   of  baptism  are  there  ? 

A.  We  commonly  reckon  three,  viz.  :  i, 
baptism  of  water ;  2,  of  the  spirit ;  3,  and  of 
blood  ;*  but  the  first  is  only  properly  a  sacra- 
ment. 

Q.  What  is  the  baptism  of  the  spirit,  and 
what  effects  has  it  ? 

A.  It  is  a  true  contrition,  with  an  ardent 
desire  of  baptism,  if  it  cannot  be  otherwise 
obtained ;  it  remits  both  original  and  actual 
sin,  but  not  always  the  temporal  pain  due  to 
sin.f 

Q.  What  is  the  baptism  of  blood  and  what 
are  its  effects  ? 

A.  It  is  a  martyrdom,  and  remits  original 
and  actual  sin,  with  all  the  temporal  pain. 
Hence  the  holy  innocents  are  esteemed  mar- 
tyrs, as  being  baptized  in  their  own   blood.J 

Q.  When  was  the  sacrament  of  baptism  first 
instituted  by  Christ ;  and  when  were  Christians 
first  obliged  to  receive  it  ? 

A.  It  was  instituted  before  Christ's  passion ; 
some  holy  fathers  and  divines  say,  it  was 
instituted  when  Christ  was  baptized  by  St. 
John ;  others,  when  Christ  said,  unless  a  man 
be  born  again  of  water  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
St.  John  iii.§  St.  Augustine  says,  Christ  bap- 
tized the  apostles;  but  be  this  as  it  will,  it 
is  certain  they  baptized  all  persons,  after  the 
ascension  of  our  Saviour,  according  to  the 
commission  they  received  from  Jesus  Christ, 
when  he  said,  go,  teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 
And  that  the  obligation  then  began,  as  the 
gospel  was  promulgated. 

Q.  Which  is  the  essential  matter  of  baptism  ? 

A.  Natural  water,  as  it  is  defined  in  the 
council  of  Trent ;  ||   so  that  artificial  water,  or 

♦  I,  Aquse  ;  2,  Flaminis ;  3,  Sanguinis. 

t  St.  Aug.  L.  4.  de  Bap.  C.  22,  23  et  25. 

J  St.  Cypri.  Ep.  bcxiii.  ad  jubaianu. 

j  St.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  in  nat  St  A«g.  Sam.  29,  36  et  27  de  Bap. 

I  Sess.  vii.  Can.  ii  de  Bap. 


Other  liquids,  are  not  a  proper  matter.  It  must 
also  be  applied  by  ablution,  so  that  ice,  unless 
dissolved,  is  not  sufiicient :  besides,  the  water 
ought  to  be  consecrated,  according  to  the 
Ritual ;  but  this  is  not  absolutely  necessary, 
only  upon  account  of   the  precept. 

Q.  After  how  many  ways  may  this  ablution 
be  performed  ? 

A.  Three,  by  immersion,  that  is,  plunging 
and  dipping  the  body.  Secondly,  by  infusion, 
or  effusion.  Thirdly,  by  aspersion  upon  some 
particular  part.  It  is  probable  the  apostles 
baptized  by  aspersion,  or  effusion ;  because 
3,000  were  baptized  in  one  day.  Acts  ii.  41. 
Yet  in  the  primitive  ages,  the  practice  was  to 
baptize  b}?^  three  immersions,  which  the  church 
has  altered  for  three  infusions.  One  infusion 
is  sufiicient,  as  to  the  validity  of  the  sacrament, 
as  also  without  making  the  sign  of  the 
cross. 

Q.  Which  is  the  form  of  baptism,  and  how  is 
it  to  be  explained  ? 

A.  The  necessary  form  are  these  words :  I 
baptize  thee  in  .the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Some  add 
the  word.  Amen,  brt  it  is  not  in  the  Roman 
Ritual.  Again,  we  are  to  baptize  in  the  name,  as 
St.  Augustine  says,  and  not  in  the  names.  Neither 
is  baptism  valid,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  in  the 
name  of  God,  or  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity : 
because  they  do  not  express  the  mystery ;  and 
tradition  requires  a  distinct  signification.  Again, 
it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  same  person  who 
applies  the  matter,  must  pronounce  the  form, 
otherwise  the  baptism  is  invalid. 

Q.  Why  are  the  apostles  in  the  Scripture 
said  to  have  baptized  in  tl:  t  name  of  Christ  ? 
Acts  viii.    12. 

A.  St.  Cyprian  and  other  Fathers  say,  that 
in  the  name  of  Christ  signifies  b}'  the  authority 
'  of  Christ ;  but  that  they  at  the  same  time  made 
use  of  the  distinct  form.  St.  Thomas,  as  also 
the  Roman  catechism  say,  if  the  name  of  Christ 
was  only  made  use  of,  it  was  by  a  particular 
dispensation,  to  the  end,  the  power  of  Christ 
might  particularly  be  established  at  that  time. 


112 


SACRAMENTS    IN   GENERAL,  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Is  it  necessary  to  salvation,  that  all  per- 
sons, even  infants,  should  be  baptized  ? 

A.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  for  all  adult 
persons  to  be  actually  baptized  if  they  can :  or 
in  desire,  where  it  cannot  be  actually  obtained. 
As  for  infants,  they  are  to  be  actually  baptized; 
as  is  defined  against  the  Pelagians ;  and  since 
against  the  Calvinists,  in  the  council  of  Trent.* 
This  doctrine  is  grounded  upon  the  words  of 
our  Saviour  Christ,  where  he  says,  unless  a 
man  be  bom  again  of  water  and  the  holy 
spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.     St.  John  iii.  5. 

Q.  Is  baptism  to  be  deferred  until  infants  are 
able  to  answer  for  themselves  ? 

A.  No;  the  contrary  is  defined  against  the 
Anabaptists,  by  the  council  of  Trent. 

Q.  Is  a  child  half  born  to  be  baptized? 

A.  If  life  appear,  it  may :  if  life  be  doubtful, 
the  ritual  orders  baptism  under  condition,  f 
The  same  ritual  orders  the  baptism  of  a  monster 
under  condition. 

Q.  Which  are  the  efiects  of  baptism? 

A.  A  total  remission  of  original  and  actual 
sin,  with  the  pains  due  to  them.  Hence,  no 
satisfaction  is  appointed,  when  adult  persons 
are  baptized.  Again,  all  spiritual  and  super- 
natural gifts  are  given  at  the  same  time.  It 
is  an  entire  regeneration,  or  new  life;  it  gives 
a  right  to  all  the  other  sacraments ;  it  opens 
the  gates  to  heaven ;  it  gives  a  character,  and 
cannot  be  reiterated.  All  these  points  are  defined 
by  the  council  of  Trent. 

Q.  What  is  to  be  said  concerning  the  minister 
and  place  of  baptism  ? 

A.  Every  man  is  a  minister,  in  case  of  neces- 
sity, that  is  to  say,  when  a  priest  cannot  be  had, 
using  the  true  matter  and  form,  with  an  inten- 
tion of  doing  what  the  church  does :  but  only 
the  bishop  or  parish  priest  is  the  proper  minister 
by  office,  |  or  one  deputed  by  the  ordinary.  Hence 
chaplains  are  not  to  baptize  by  office,  nor  superiors 
of  religious  orders.     Hence  there  is  a  regulation 

•  Sess.  vii.  Can.  viii.  de  Bap. 
t  Sub  conditione. 
t  Ex  officio. 


to  be  observed,  when  there  is  urgent  necessity, 
viz. :  A  man  is  to  be  preferred  to  a  woman,  and 
those  in  higher  orders  to  those  in  lesser.  As  to 
place,  the  rituals  order  it  to  be  in  the  church, 
unless  in  princes'  children,  and  even  then  it  is 
to  be  done  in  an  oratory,  and  the  water  fetched 
from  the  parish  church. 

Q.  Is  it  lawful  to  receive  baptism  ? 

A.  No,  it  is  not  lawful  to  receive  it,  upon 
any  account,  more  than  once.  Heb.  vi.  ver.  4, 
6.  And  the  reason  is,  because  it  imprints  a 
spiritual  character  in  the  soul,  which  shall  re- 
main forever,  either  to  our  great  joy  in  heaven, 
or  our  confusion  in  hell. 

Q.  What  are  the  penalties  for  re-baptiziug  ? 

A.  By  the  old  civil  law,  it  was  death ;  and 
now,  by  the  canons  of  the  church,  it  is  irregu- 
larity, and  otherwise  punishable. 

Q.  What  is  required  of  him  who  has  a  mind 
to  receive  baptism  ? 

A.  It  is  required  of  him,  and  he  promises 
to  God,  to  renounce  the  devil,  his  works,  his 
pomps,  and  all  his  vanities.  Moreover,  it  is 
necessary  for  him,  who  is  come  to  the  use  of 
reason  before  he  receives  baptism,  to  have 
faith,  a  true  and  hearty  sorrow  and  detestation 
for  all  his  sin,  and  to  begin  to  love  God.* 

Q.  What  do  you  understand  by  the  works, 
pomps,  and  vanities  of  the  devil  ? 

A.  By  the  works  of  the  devil,  we  under- 
stand all  kinds  of  sin.  By  the  pomps  and 
vanities  of  the  devil,  we  understand  vain-glory, 
wordly  ambition,  and  every  other  kind  of 
pride. 

Q.  For  what  end  are  godfathers  and  god- 
mothers appointed  us,  and  what  is  the  discipline 
of  the  church  as  to  this  point? 

A.  That  they  may  answer  for  and  instruct 
us,  in  case  our  parents  should  die,  or  be  want- 
ing or  negligent  in  that  part  of  their  duty ; 
which  obligation  lies  on  them.  At  present, 
since  the  council  of  Trent,  there  is  to  be  only 
one  godfather  and  one  godmother,  and  no  more ; 
and  they  ought  both  to  be  Catholics,  and  of  a 
good  reputation.     According  to  the  council  of 

*  Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  e.  6. 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL  EXPOUNDED. 


"3 


Trent,  a  spiritual  aflBnity  is  contracted  between 
the  baptized  and  the  sponsors,  as  also  between 
the  father  and  mother  of  the  baptized,  and  the 
sponsors  ;  but  not  between  the  sponsors  them- 
selves. This  affinity  is  an  impediment,*  not 
only  making  marriage  unlawful,  but  also  invalid, 
between  the  parties.  It  is  also  to  be  noted, 
that  he  who  baptizes  the  child,  contracts  a  spir- 
itual affinity  with  the  child,  and  with  the  child's 
parents  :  but  where  a  child  is  baptized  without 
the  ceremonies,  in  case  of  necessity,  there  is  no 
affinity  contracted,  when  the  ceremonies  are 
performed  afterwards  ;  and  the  reason  is,  because 
that  ceremony  is  not  a  sacrament.  This  is 
declared  by  Innocent  III. 


Q.  Are  we  bound  to  fulfill  all  that  our  god- 
fathers and  godmothers  have  promised  in  our 
name? 

A.  We  certainly  are ;  for  it  is  upon  that  con- 
dition we  are  admitted  to  baptism,  and  were 
made  members  of  the  Church,  and  heirs  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.     Gal.  v.  3,  6. 

Q.  What  obligation  does  baptism  lay  upon 
us? 

A.  To  believe  firmly  all  that  the  Catholic 
Church  teaches.  Secondly,  to  keep  faithfully 
all  the  commandments  of  God  and  his  Church. 
Rom.  vi.  3,  4.  And  lastly,  to  follow  diligently 
the  example  of  our  Saviour  Christ,  and  his 
saints,     i  Pet.  ii.  21. 


CONFIRMATION  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  is  confirmation? 

A.  It  is  a  sacrament  conferred  by  a  bishop, 
by  imposition  of  hands,  and  unction  with  chrism, 
under  a  certain  form  of  words,  and  instituted  to 
confirm  the  baptized  in  the  faith  of  Christ  and  his 
Church,  and  to  resist  all  temptations  against  it. 

Q.  What  grounds  have  you  to  believe  it  is 
properly  a  sacrament  ? 

A.  First,  from  the  Scriptures,  where  we  read, 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  Chap,  viii,  when 
Peter  and  John  were  sent  to  confirm  the 
Samaritans,  by  imposition  of  hands,  to  receive 
the  Holy  Ghost,  though  they  had  already  been 
baptized.  Heb.  vi.  2  ;  2  Cor.  i.  21,  22  ;  Acts  xix. 
5,  6.  Secondly,  from  the  holy  fathers,  who  all 
agree  that  confirmation  is  a  sacrament.f 

Q.  That  ceremony  was  used  only  in  those 
times,  to  give  the  Holy  Ghost  visibly,  in  order 
to  work  miracles  and  other  gifts. 

A.  That  was  one  effiact  proper  then,  but  it  also 
gave  sanctifying  grace;    and  was  practised  in 

*  Impedimentum  dirimens. 

t  See  St.  Ambr.  de  Sacr.  L.  iii.  C.  2,  et  L.  de  Spin  Sane.  C.  6,  et 
7.  St.  Aug.  deTriuit.  L.  15,  C.26etinPs.  26.  Tertul.  L.  de  Bap. 
C  8,  et  L.  de  Resur.  C.  8,  St.  Hier.  Contr.  Lucifer,  Tom.  iv.  Part  2. 
8 


every  age  since,  for  the  latter  purpose,  as  the 
fathers  all  assert. 

Q.  Do  Protestants  hold  it  to  be  a  sacrament  ? 

A.  No ;  only  a  ceremony,  for  instruction  of 
youth  in  their  faith,  after  they  have  arrived  at 
the  use  of  reason,  and  to  put  them  in  mind  of 
their  baptismal   vows.     But,  though    they  will 
not  in  formal  terms  call  it  a  sacrament,  yet  they 
will  own  the  antiquity  and  use  of  it,  from   the 
Apostles'  time ;    and,  by  their  book  of  common 
prayer,  it    is  ordered,   that    "As    soon   as   the 
children  can  say,  in  their  mother  tongue,  the 
creed,    the   Lord's  prayer,    the    ten    command- 
ments," etc.   they  be  brought  to  the  bishop,  by 
one  that  shall  be  their  godfather  or  godmother, 
and  the  bishop  shall  confirm  him,  etc.     "  For  as 
much  as  confirmation  is  administered  to  them 
who  are   baptized,   that    by  the    imposition    of 
hands   and  prayer,  they  may  receive  strength 
and  defence  against  all  temptations  to  sin,  and 
the  assaults  of  the  world  and  the  devil."     Now, 
what  is  the  strength  and  defence  which  they 
receive  against  the  temptations  of  sin,  the  world, 
and  the  devil,  but  the  grace  of  God  ?     If  then 
they  own  grace  to  be  given  thereby,  they  ought 


114 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


to  owu  it  to  be  a  sacrament,  as  having  all  requis- 
ites to  a  sacrament,  viz. :  Matter,  form,  and  a  pro- 
per minister.  And  it  is  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
Chap,  viii,  that  the  visible  sign  of  the  imposition 
of  hands  has  annexed  to  it  an  invisible  grace, 
viz. :  The  imparting  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  conse- 
quently, confirmation  is  a  visible  sign  of  invisi- 
ble grace,  and  therefore  is  a  sacrament. 

Q.  What  is  the  matter  of  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  Imposition  of  hands  and  unction  with 
chrism. 

Q.  The  Scriptures  make  no  mention  of  unction 
with  chrism. 

A.  This  is  known  by  constant  traditions  of 
the  primitive  fathers,  who  expressly  assert  it. 
The  immediate  matter  is  the  anointing ;  the 
remote  matter  is  the  chrism.  Both  Scripture 
and  fathers  make  imposition  of  hands  part  of  the 
ceremony ;  as  also  chrism  is  mentioned  by  all 
the  fathers.*  And  it  is  defined  by  the  council 
of  Trent,  that  virtue  is  to  be  ascribed  also  to  the 
chrism.  Some  divines  think  the  Apostles  made 
use  of  chrism,  otherwise  their  immediate  succes- 
sors would  not  have  used  and  imposed  it.  This 
opinion  seems  to  be  agreeable  to  St.  Paul,  where 
he  says,  he  who  confirmeth  us  with  3'ou  in 
Christ,  and  who  have  anointed  us,  who  hath  also 
sealed  us,  and  hath  given  the  earnest  of  the 
spirit  in  our  hearts.     2  Cor.  i.  21,  22. 

Q.  What  is  chrism,  and  why  was  it  assumed 
for  that  use  ? 

A.  It  is  an  ointment  made  of  oil  of  olives  and 
balsam :  an}''  other  oil  is  not  sufficient  matter. 
Now,  oil  has  several  qualities  which  signify  the 
effect  of  this  sacrament,  viz. :  Spiritual  strength 
and  purity  of  conscience,  and  presentation  from 
rust,  that  is,  from  sin ;  and  the  sweetness  of 
balsam,  the  odor  of  a  good  life. 

Q.  Is  it  requisite  that  the  chrism  be  conse- 
crated, and  that  by  a  bishop  ? 

A.  Yes,  it  is  requisite  to  the  validity  of  the 
sacrament;  though  some  divines  are  of  a  con- 
trary opinion. 

•  St.  Aug.  in  Ps.  44,  ver.  9,  et  L.  3,  de  Trini.  C.  27.  St  Greg,  in 
I  C  Cant  St  Anibr.  in  Ps.  118,  et  L.  de  Spirit  Sane.  C.  3.  Cone. 
Laod.  C.  28.  Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  vii.  Can.  ii.  de  Confir. 


Q.  Who  is  the  minister  of  confirmation  ? 

A.  A  bishop  is  the  only  ordinary  minister, 
as  it  is  decreed  in  the  general  council  of 
Florence.  Besides,  the  council  of  Trent  has 
defined,  that  a  bishop  is  the  only  ordinary 
minister ;  *  and  this  appears  from  the  Scripture 
itself,  where  we  read,  in  the  eighth  of  the 
Acts,  that  Peter  and  John  were  sent  to  confirm 
the  Samaritans.  This  has  been  the  constant 
tradition  and  practice  of  the  Church,  as  we 
learn  from  St.  Cyprian,  St.  John  Chrysostom, 
St.  Jerom,  etc.  However,  St.  Thomas  and 
some  other  divines  hold,  that  the  pope  can 
dispense  with  a  private  priest,  to  administer 
this  sacrament,  provided  he  makes  use  of  the 
chrism  consecrated  by  a  bishop :  but  St.  Bona- 
venture  and  others  think  no  such  dispensation 
can  be  granted  by  the  pope. 

Q.  What  is  the  form  of  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  It  is  the  prayer  made  use  of,  to  implore 
the  assistance  and  bestowing  of  the  Holy  Ghost : 
and  the  words  joined  with  the  unction,  viz.: 
N.  I  sign  thee  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  I 
confirm  thee  with  the  chrism  of  salvation,  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen. 

Q,  Why  is  no  mention  made  of  the  aforesaid 
form  of  confirmation,  in  the  writings  of  the 
fathers,  and  ancient  rituals  ? 

A.  The  fathers  purposely  declined  mention- 
ing the  nature  of  the  sacraments,  especiallj^ 
the  form.  As  for  rituals,  the  form  of  words 
sometimes  was  varied,  though  it  was  always 
a  prayer  signifying  the  nature  of  the  s?.cra- 
ment. 

Q.  What  are  the  particular  effects  of  con- 
firmation? 

A.  It  bestows,  in  the  first  place,  an  increase 
of  our  baptismal  grace  :  it  also  confers  upon  us 
the  Holy  Ghost,  with  all  his  gifts.  Again,  it 
gives  a  particular  grace  confirming  persons  in 
their  faith,  and  protecting  them  against  heresy, 
and  gives  a  spiritual  courage  and  strength  to 
resist  all  the  visible  and  invisible  enemies  of 
our  faith.     It  also  makes  us  perfect  Christians; 

*  Sess.  vii.  Can.  iii. 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL  EXPOUNDED. 


"5 


and  lastly,  gives  a  character  of  being  complete 
soldiers  of  Christ;  2  Cor.  i.  21,  22,  which  char- 
acter is  indelible,  and  therefore  this  sacrament 
cannot  be  repeated.  Hence,  those  that  are  to 
be  confirmed  are  obliged  to  be  so  much  the 
more  careful  to  come  to  this  sacrament  worthily, 
since  it  can  be  received  but  once;  and  if  they 
then  receive  it  unworthily,  they  have  no  share 
in  the  grace  which  is  thereby  communicated 
to  the  soul;  instead  of  which,  they  incur  the 
guilt  of  a  grievous  sacrilege. 

Q.  Who  are  capable  of  receiving  confirma- 
tion, and  what  dispositions  are  required  ? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  the  person  must  be 
baptized.  Again,  infants  are  capable,  because 
it  was  the  custom  formerly  to  confirm  children 
immediately  after  they  were  baptized  ;  but  now, 
not  until  the  perfect  itse  of  reason;  and  then 
they  are  obliged  to  know  the  principal  articles 
of  their  faith,  to  confess  their  sins,  and  by  a 
true  contrition,  to  be  in  the  state  of  grace;  it 
is  also  advisable  to  receive  it  fasting,  but  this 
is  not  of  strict  obligation. 

Q.  What  say  you  as  to  the  necessity  of 
receiving  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  It  is  not  of  that  absolute  necessity,  but 
that  persons  may  be  saved  without  it;  yet  there 
is  a  precept  for  receiving  it,  which  obliges  all 


adult  persons,  when  they  have  a  fit  opportunity ; 
or  else  they  are  guilty  of  a  mortal  sin,  if  it 
be  omitted,  out  of  contempt,  or  any  gross  neglect ; 
and  that  they  foresee  they  cannot  have  an  oppor- 
tunity hereafter :  but  as  the  ritual  expresses, 
or  when  the  persons  are  exposed  to  dangerous 
temptations,  either  inward  or  outward,  of  losing 
their  faith ;  for  in  such  circumstances,  they  omit 
the  proper  means,  provided  by  the  law  of  God  to 
resist  them. 

Q.  What  ought  to  be  done  after  receiving  con- 
firmation ? 

A.  We  ought  to  give  most  hearty  thanks  to 
God,  for  the  abundance  of  grace  we  have  received 
from  him ;  to  take  a  firm  resolution  to  spend  our 
lives  Christianly,  and  to  profess  our  faith 
openly;  "  for  with  the  heart  we  believe  unto 
justice,  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made 
unto  salvation."  Rom.  x.  9,  10.  We  ought 
earnestly  to  ask  of  God  the  fruits  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  etc. 

Q.  What  is  the  obligation  that  a  Christian 
takes  upon  him  in  confirmation  ? 

A.  He  lists  himself  there  for  a  soldier  of 
Christ ;  and  consequently  is  obliged,  after  hav- 
ing received  this  sacrament,  to  fight  manfully 
the  battles  of  his  Lord. 


THE   EUCHARIST  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  is  the  holy  Eucharist  ? 

A.  It  is  a  sacrament  wherein  are  contained 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  under  the  forms 
or  appearances  of  bread  and  wine,  given  for 
our  spiritual  nourishment. 

Q.  By  what  names  is  it  usually  known? 

A.  It  was  called  in  the  primitive  Church,  and 
by  the  holy  fathers  Eucharist,  which  is  a  Greek 
word,  and  signifies  thanksgiving ;  and  is  applied 
to  this  sacrament,  because  of  the  thanksgiving, 
which  our  Saviour  Christ,  offered  in  the  first 
institution  of  it,  according  to  St.  Matthew  xxvi. 
27 ;  St.    Mark    xiv.    23 ;    St.    Luke   xxii.    19. 


And,  because  of  the  thanksgiving  with  which 
we  are  obliged  to  ofi'er  and  receive  this  great 
sacrament  and  sacrifice,  which  contains  the 
fountain  of  all  grace,  the  standing  memorial 
of  our  redemption,  and  the  pledge  of  a  happy 
eternity.  It  is  called  the  Lord's  supper,  because 
it  was  instituted  by  Christ  at  his  last  supper. 
It  is  called  the  Viaticum,  as  being  the  bread 
of  a  Christian  during  the  journey  of  this  life. 
It  is  called  the  holy  communion,  because  all 
partakers  are  joined  in  faith  and  love  by  it.  It 
is  called  the  sacrifice,  being  by  immolation 
oflfered  to  God. 


it6 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Is  it  a  memorial,  and  of  what? 

A.  It  is  in  general  a  memorial  of  love,  being 
the  greatest  of  legacies.  It  is  a  memorial  of 
Christ's  passion.  It  is  demonstrative  of  g^ace 
present,  and  prognostic  of  future  glory. 

Q.  How  does  the  eiicharist  differ  from  the 
rest  of  the  sacraments  ? 

A.  First,  in  dignity ;  hence,  it  is  called  the 
hoi}'  sacrament.  Secondly,  it  contains  the 
fountain  of  g^ace.  Thirdly,  there  is  a  miracu- 
lous conversion,  by  destroying  the  matter. 
Fourthly,  it  consists  not  only  in  use  but  in  a 
permanent  thing. 

Q.  What  figures  were  there  formerly  of  the 
eucharist,  and  how  did  they  represent  it  ? 

A.  It  was  prefigured  by  Melchisedec's  oflfering 
bread  and  wine,  as  to  the  matter ;  for  Christ 
was  a  priest  according  to  the  order  of  Melchi- 
sedec.  As  to  the  effect,  it  was  prefigured  by 
the  manna,  which  had  all  sorts  of  delicious 
tastes.  As  to  the  thing  contained,  Christ's  body 
that  suffered,  it  was  prefigured  by  all  the  sacri- 
fices, immolated  by  the  law  of  Moses.  Hence, 
Christ  is  called  the  "  Lamb  slain  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  world."  But  the  most  express  figure 
was  the  killing  and  eating  of  the  paschal  lamb. 
The  blood  of  the  lamb  was  sprinkled  on  their 
doors,  whom  the  destroying  angel  spared.  So 
the  blood  of  Christ  is  sprinkled,  to  redeem 
men  from  sin.  Christ  again,  is  called  the  in- 
nocent Lamb.  Again  the  paschal  lamb  was  eaten 
with  unleavened  bread. 

Q.  What  is  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church 
concerning  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  That  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  is 
changed,  by  the  words  of  consecration,  into  the 
real  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.  That  under 
each  form  is  truly  and  really  the  bod}^  and 
blood ;  as  also  the  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which  by  the  apostatical  union  is  insepa- 
rable from  his  body  and  blood.  That  whosoever 
receives  under  one  kind  alone,  receives  whole 
Christ,  as  much  as  if  he  received  under  both. 
That  by  dividing  the  species,  the  body  of  Christ 
is  not  hurt,  but  remains  entire  under  the  least 
particle. 


Q.  In  what  manner  is  Christ  present  in  this 
sacrament  ? 

A.  By  the  true  and  real  presence  of  his 
divine  and  human  nature,  and  not  in  figure 
only,  as  some  would  have  it. 

Q.  Is  the  body  of  Christ  present  in  the 
eucharist,  after  a  natural,  corporeal,  and  visible 
manner,  as  he  was  upon  earth  before  he  suf- 
fered ? 

A.  No ;  for  according  to  St.  Paul,  there  is  a 
natural  body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body; 
so  that  it  may  be  called  a  spiritual  body  in 
the  sense  of  St.  Paul,  speaking  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body,  where  he  says,  "  it  is  sown 
a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body." 
I  Cor.  XV.  44.  Not  but  that  it  still  remains  a 
true  body,  as  to  all  that  is  essential  to  a  body ; 
for  surely  no  one  will  pretend  to  say  that  the 
body  of  Christ,  which  is  now  in  heaven,  is  not 
the  same  true  and  real  body  which  was  born 
of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  which  suf- 
fered upon  the  cross.  And  as  Christ's  body 
has  now  the  qualities  of  a  glorified  body,  as 
being  spiritualized,  so  it  partakes  in  some 
measure  of  the  qualities  and  properties  of  a 
spirit.  Therefore,  it  is  easier  conceived  how 
Christ's  body  may  be  in  the  sacrament,  without 
extension  or  greatness  of  place  ;  for  as  a  spirit 
requires  no  extension  for  its  being,  so  neither 
does  a  body  when  it  is  become  spiritual  and 
immortal ;  and  since  Christ's  body  is  in  the 
eucharist,  in  the  manner  of  being,  as  it  was  in 
after  his  resurrection,  viz. :  Incorruptible,  im- 
mortal, and  impassible,  (Christ  rising  from  the 
dead,  dies  no  more,  death  shall  no  more  have 
dominion  over  him,  Rom.  vi.  9).  So,  it  is  not  to 
be  imagined  Christ  suffers  when  the  sacrament 
is  broken,  eaten,  and  the  like.  Thus  may  be 
conceived  how  Christ's  body  may  be  whole  and 
entire  in  every  part,  after  the  sacred  host  is 
divided  ;  and  also,  how  it  may  be  in  many  places 
at  once  :  for  though  we  cannot  easily  understand 
this  possible  to  an  extended  body,  remaining  in 
its  corporeal  manner  of  being,  yet  there  is  no 
such  difficulty  in  relation  to  a  spirit,  or  any  other 
thing,   in  its   manner   of    being   like   a  spirit ; 


SACRAMENTS  IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


117 


because  a  spirit  has  no  dependence  on  place,  nor  is 
confined  either  to  it,  or  by  it.  Neither  is  it  more 
strange  for  Christ  to  be  in  the  blessed  sacrament, 
and  at  the  same  time  in  heaven,  than  it  was  for 
him  to  be  in  heaven,  and  at  the  same  time  on 
earth,  when  he  appeared  to  St.  Paul ;  Acts  ix.  29. 
Nor  after  all,  are  our  senses  to  guide  us  in  this, 
or  in  any  other  mystery  of  faith ;  but  faith 
itself  viz. :  The  word  of  God,  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who  says,  "  this  is  my  body ;  "  i  Cor.  xv.  8. 
His  power  and  truth  make  it  to  be,  what  he 
solemnly  asserts  ;  this  we  believe,  as  well  as  all 
other  mysteries  upon  his  word,  proposed  unto 
us  by  his  Church ;  upon  his  word  we  rely,  by 
which  he  made  all  things  out  of  nothing,  and 
changes  the  nature  of  things,  when,  and  as  he 
pleases  ;  as  when  he  changed  Lot's  wife  into  a 
pillar  of  salt,  Genesis  xix.  Water  into  blood. 
Exodus  vii.  As  likewise  water  into  wine,  John 
ii.  9.  Neither  is  the  difiiculty  greater  here  in 
believing  upon  God's  word,  against  our  senses, 
than  in  believing  upon  God's  word,  the  young 
man  to  be  an  angel,  Mark  xvi ;  Matthew  xxviii. 
The  dove  and  fiery  tongues  to  be  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Matt,  iii..  Acts  ii.;  when  to  our  senses 
they  appear  otherwise.  God's  word  makes 
things  infinitely  surer  to  us,  than  our  senses ; 
for  alas,  how  often,  and  easily  are  our  senses 
deceived?  while  God's  word  can  never  deceive 
us  :  we  ought  therefore,  always  to  submit  to  it, 
when  we  know  it  to  be  God's  word. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  from  God's  word  the 
real  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
to  be  in  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  I  prove  it  from  no  less  than  four  diflfer- 
ent  places,  in  the  New  Testament,  delivered  by 
Christ  himself,  at  the  time  of  his  instituting 
this  sacrament,  viz.,  from  the  26th  chapter  of 
St.  Matthew,  from  the  14th  of  St.  Mark,  from 
the  22d  of  St.  Ivuke,  and  from  the  nth  of  the 
ist  epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians  ;  in 
all  these  places,  Christ  himself  assures  us,  that 
what  he  gives  us  in  the  blessed  sacrament,  is 
his  own  body  and  blood.  First,  in  the  26th  of 
St.  Matthew  we  read,  ver.  26,  27,  "  And  as  they 
were  at  supper,  Jesus  took   bread  and   blessed 


it,  and  broke  it,  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples, 
and  said ;  take,  and  eat,  this  is  my  body :  and 
having  taken  the  chalice,  he  gave  thanks,  and 
gave  it  to  them,  saying,  drink  ye  all  of  this  ;  for 
this  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
shall  be  shed  for  many  to  the  remission  of  sins." 

Secondly,  In  the  14th  of  St.  Mark  we  read,  ver. 
22,  23,  et  24.  "  And  when  they  had  been  eating, 
Jesus  took  bread  and  blessed  it,  and  broke  it, 
and  gave  it  to  them,  and  said ;  take,  eat,  this 
is  my  body ;  and  having  taken  the  chalice, 
giving  thanks,  he  gave  it  to  them ;  and  they 
all  drank  of  it.  And  he  said  to  them,  this  is 
my  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which  shall 
be  shed  for  many." 

Thirdly,  In  the  2 2d  of  St.  Luke  we  read,  ver. 
19,  20.  "  And  when  he  had  taken  bread,  he 
gave  thanks,  and  broke  it,  and  gave  it  to  them, 
saying;  this  is  my  body  which  is  given  for 
you ;  do  this  for  a  commemoration  of  me.  In 
like  manner  (he  took)  also,  the  chalice,  after 
he  had  supped,  saying ;  this  chalice  is  the  New 
Testament  in  my  blood,  which  shall  be  shed 
for  you." 

Fourthly,  In  the  nth  of  the  ist  epistle  of  St. 
Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  we  read,  ver.  23,  24, 
25.  "  I  received  from  the  Lord,  that  which  I 
also  delivered  to  you,  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed, 
took  bread,  and  giving  thanks,  broke  it,  and 
said :  take  ye  and  eat,  this  is  my  body,  which 
shall  be  delivered  for  you ;  do  this  in  remem- 
brance of  me.  In  like  manner  also,  (he  took) 
the  chalice  after  he  had  supped ;  saying,  this 
chalice  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood,  do 
this,  as  often  as  you  shall  drink  it,  in  remem- 
brance of  me." 

Q.  Why  do  you  take  these  words  of  Christ, 
at  his  last  supper,  according  to  the  letter,  rather 
than  in  a  figurative  sense  ? 

A.  I  have  many  reasons  to  offer  why  we 
take  the  words  of  Christ  (which  he  spoke  at 
his  last  supper)  in  their  plain  and  literal  sense. 
First,  because,  whatever  Christ  has  plainly  and 
expressly  said  in  Scripture,  ought  to  be  under- 
stood by  us,  in  the  literal  and  proper  sense  of 


Ii8 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


the  words,  where  the  case  will  admit  of  it : 
this  is  what  our  adversaries  themselves,  either 
do,  or  must  allow ;  otherwise,  it  is  not  possible 
to  prove  by  Scripture,  that  an3'  one  text  of 
the  Gospel  ought  to  be  taken  literally  and 
properly.  Now,  it  is  certain  that  Christ  has 
plainly  and  expressly  said  in  the  Scripture  that 
what  he  iiistituted  at  his  last  supper,  was  the 
same  body  and  blood  which  he  gave  for  the 
life  of  the  world :  and  there  is  no  doubt  but 
that  the  body,  which  he  gave  and  sacrificed  for 
us,  and  the  blood  which  he  shed  for  us,  was 
his  true  and  real  body  and  blood :  Christ,  says 
St.  Paul,  gave  himself  for  his  Church,  Ephesians 
V.  26.  And  in  another  place,  St.  Paul  says,  that 
Christ  entered  by  his  own  blood  into  the  sanc- 
tuar}^  Hebrews  ix.  12.  Therefore,  the  words  of 
Christ,  which  he  spoke  at  his  last  supper,  in 
the  institution  of  the  blessed  sacrament,  ought 
to  be  taken  in  the  literal  and  proper  sense  of 
the  words.  Secondly,  when  God,  speaks  in  the 
holy  Scripture,  with  an  express  design  to  make 
kno^^•n  to  us  some  new  institution  or  command, 
upon  which  our  salvation  depends ;  or  to  dis- 
cover some  high  mystery  of  faith,  which  was 
entirely  new  to  the  world,  and  which  was  neces- 
sary for  the  world  to  know,  but  could  not  be 
known  only  from  his  words  ;  then,  if  ever,  we 
have  good  reason  to  believe  the  word  of  God 
speaks  plainl}',  and  ought  to  be  taken  in  the 
natural  and  literal  sense  of  the  words :  now, 
here,  our  Saviour  spoke  those  words,  this  is  my 
bod}',  this  is  my  blood,  at  the  institution  of  a 
great  sacrament  upon  which  our  salvation 
depends,  with  an  express  design  to  reveal  a 
high  mystery  of  faith,  which  was  entirely  new 
to  the  world,  and  which  was  necessary  for  the 
world  to  know,  but  could  not  be  known  to  his 
disciples  only  from  his  words.  We  conclude, 
then,  that  his  words  upon  such  an  occasion, 
ought  in  all  reason  to  be  understood  in  the 
plain,  obvious,  and  literal  sense;  especially, 
since  there  is  no  absurdit}'^  or  contradiction  in 
the  literal  sense,  which  can  oblige  us  to  have 
recourse  to  a  figurative  meaning,  since  there  is 
nothing  in  the  belief  of  the  real  presence,  but 


what  is  clearly  within  the  sphere  of  infinite 
power ;  nay,  it  is  an  easier  thing  to  comprehend 
that  God  can  change  one  thing  iuto  another, 
than  make  all  things  out  of  nothing,  as  he  did 
the  world.  Thirdly,  because  Christ  was  af  that 
time  making  a  covenant  which  was  to  last  to 
the  end  of  the  world.  He  was  enacting  a  law, 
which  was  to  be  for  ever  observed  in  his  Church, 
He  was  instituting  a  sacrament,  which  was  to 
be  frequented  by  all  the  faithful.  In  fine,  he 
was  making  his  last  will  and  testament,  and 
therein  beqiieathing  to  his  disciples,  and  to  us 
all,  an  admirable  legacy  and  pledge  of  his  love. 
Now,  such  is  the  nature  of  all  these  things, 
viz.:  Of  a  covenant,  of  a  law,  of  a  sacrament,  of 
a  last  will  and  testament,  that  he  who  makes  a 
covenant,  a  law,  a  last  will  and  testament,  etc., 
alwaj'-s  designs  that  what  he  covenants,  appoints, 
or  ordains,  should  be  rightly  observed  and  ful- 
filled ;  so,  of  consequence,  he  always  designs  that 
it  should  be  rightly  vinderstood,  and  therefore 
he  always  expresses  himself  in  the  most  plain 
and  clear  terms.  This  is  what  all  wise  men 
ever  observe  in  their  covenants,  laws,  or  last 
wills,  industriously  avoiding  all  obscure  expres- 
sions, which  may  give  occasion  to  their  being 
misunderstood.  This  is  what  God  himself 
observed  in  the  old  covenant,  in  all  the  cere- 
monies and  moral  precepts  of  the  law;  all  are 
expressed  in  the  most  clear  and  plain  terms. 
It  then  can  be  nothing  less,  than  impeaching 
the  wisdom  of  the  Son  of  God,  to  imagine  that 
he  should  institute  the  chief  of  all  his  sacra- 
ments, under  such  a  form  of  words,  which  in 
their  plain,  natural,  and  obvious  meaning,  imply 
a  thing  so  widely  different  from  what  he  gives 
therein,  as  his  own  body  is  from  a  bit  of  bread ; 
or  in  fine,  to  believe  that  he  would  make  his 
last  will  and  testament  in  words,  affectedly 
ambiguous  and  obscure;  which  if  taken  accord- 
ing to  that  sense,  which  the}'  seem  evidently  to 
express,  must  lead  his  children  into  a  pernicious 
error  concerning  the  legacy,  which  he  bequeaths 
them.  In  effect,  it  is  certain  that  our  Saviour 
Christ,  foresaw  that  his  words,  would  be  taken 
according  to  the  letter,  by  the  greatest  part  of 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL  EXPOUNDED. 


119 


Christians ;  and  that  the  Church,  even  in  her 
general  councils,  would  interpret  his  words  in 
this  sense.  It  must  be  then  contrary  to  all 
probability,  that  he,  who  foresaw  all  this,  would 
affect  to  express  himself  in  this  manner  in  his 
last  will,  had  he  not  really  meant  what  he  said; 
or  that  he  should  not  have  somewhere  explained 
himself  in  a  more  clear  way,  to  prevent  the 
dreadful  consequence  of  his  whole  Church's 
authorizing  an  error,  in  a  matter  of  the  greatest 
importance ;  particularly  when  he  was  then 
speaking  alone  to  his  beloved  Apostles  and 
bosom  friends,  to  whom  he  was  always  accus- 
tomed to  explain  in  clear  terms  (as  St.  Mark 
assures  us)  whatever  was  obscure  in  his  par- 
ables or  other  discourses  to  the  people.  Chap. 
iv.  ver.  11  et  34.  Fourthly,  because  I  have  the 
authoritj'  of  the  best  and  most  authentic  inter- 
preter of  God's  word,  viz.:  The  holy  Catholic 
Church,  which  has  always  understood  these 
words  of  Christ,  in  their  plain  literal  sense, 
and  condemned  all  those  who  have  presumed  to 
wrest  them  to  a  figurative  one :  witness  the 
many  synods  held  against  Berengarius,  and  the 
decrees  of  the  general  councils  of  Lateran,  Con- 
stance, and  Trent.  Now,  against  this  authority, 
the  Scripture  assures  us,  the  gates  of  hell  shall 
never  prevail.  St.  Matt.  xvi.  ver.  18.  And 
with  this  interpreter,  Christ  has  promised  that 
he  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  spirit  of  truth,  will 
abide  for  ever.     St.  Matt,  xx ;  St.  John  xiv. 

Q.  But  are  not  many  of  Christ's  sayings  to 
be  understood  figuratively,  as  when  he  says,  I 
am  the  door,  I  am  the  true  vine,  etc.  ?  Why 
then  may  not  the  words  of  the  institution  of 
the  last  supper  be  also  understood  figuratively? 

A.  It  is  a  very  bad  argument  to  pretend  to 
infer,  that  because  some  of  Christ's  words  are 
to  be  taken  figuratively,  therefore  all  are  to 
be  taken  so :  at  this  rate  an  Arian  might 
pretend  that  when  our  Saviour  in  holy  Scrip- 
ture is  called  God,  and  the  Son  of  God,  it  is 
onl}'^  figuratively,  because  he  is  in  other  places 
figuratively  called  a  door,  a  vine.  There  is  a 
manifold  disparity  between  the  case  of  the 
expressions  you  mention,  viz.:   I  am  the  door, 


the  vine,  etc.,  and  the  words  of  the  last  supper, 
this  is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood.  First,  because 
the  former  is  delivered  as  parables  and  simili- 
tudes, and  consequently  as  figures ;  the  latter 
are  the  words  of  a  covenant,  sacrament,  and  last 
will,  and  therefore  are  to  be  understood  accord- 
ing to  their  most  plain  and  obvious  meaning. 
Secondly,  because  the  former  are  explained  by 
Christ  himself  in  the  same  place  in  a  figura- 
tive sense,  but  the  latter  are  not.  Thirdly, 
because  the  former  are  worded  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  carry  with  them  the  evidence  of  a  figure, 
so  that  no  man  alive  can  possibly  take  them  in 
any  other  than  a  figurative  meaning :  for  who 
will  pretend  to  say  that  our  Saviour  was  really 
a  door,  or  a  vine-tree  ?  but  the  latter  are 
expressed,  and  so  evidently  imply  the  literal 
sense,  that  they  who  have  been  the  most  desir- 
oiis  to  find  a  figure  in  them  have  been  puzzled 
to  do  it.  This  was  the  case  of  Luther  him- 
self, as  we  learn  from  his  epistle  to  his  friends 
at  Strasburg.*  And  of  Zuinglius,  as  we  learn 
from  his  epistle  to  Pomeranus.  f 

Q.  But  may  not  the  sign  or  figure  be  called 
by  the  name  of  the  thing  signified  ?  And  have 
we  not  instances  of  this  in  Scripture  ? 

A.  In  certain  cases,  when  a  thing  is  already 
known  to  be  a  sign  or  figure  of  something 
else,  which  it  signifies  or  represents,  it  may 
indeed  be  said  according  to  the  common  laws 
of  speech,  and  the  use  of  the  Scripture,  to  be 
such  or  such  a  thing,  that  is  it  signifies  or 
represents  such  a  thing ;  as  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  parables,  ancient  figures  and  the  like. 
But  it  is  not  the  same  in  the  first  institution  of 
a  sign,  or  figure,  because  when  a  thing  is  not 
known  beforehand  to  be  a  sign  or  representa- 
tion of  some  other  thing,  to  call  it  abruptly  by 
a  foreign  name,  would  be  contrary  to  all  laws 
of  speech,  and  both  absurd  and  unintelligible, 
as  if  you  should  say  that  a  morsel  of  bread  is 
London  bridge,  or  that  a  bit  of  cheese  is  Can- 
terbury church ;  because  by  an  art  of  memory 
they  put  you  in  mind  of  those  buildiugs :  but 
this  would   be   justly  censured   as  nonsensical 

*  Tom.  5,  fol.  502.  t  Fol-  256- 


I20 


SACRAMENTS  IN  GENERAL  EXPOUNDED. 


and  unworthy  of  a  wise  man  :  just  so  it  would 
have  been  if  our  blessed  Saviour  at  his  last 
supper,  without  acquainting  his  disciples  before- 
hand, that  he  designed  to  speak  figuratively, 
should  have  abruptly  told  them,  this  is  my 
body,  this  is  my  blood,  had  he  not  meant  that 
they  were  really  so.  For  abstracting  from  the 
change  which  Christ  was  pleased  to  make  in 
the  elements  by  his  Almighty  word,  a  bit  of 
bread  has  no  more  similitude  to  Christ's  body 
than  a  morsel  of  bread  has  to  London  bridge ; 
so  that  nothing  but  the  real  presence  of  Christ's 
body  and  blood,  could  verify  his  words  at  his 
last  supper,  or  vindicate  them  from  being  highly 
absurd  and  unworthy  the  Son  of  God. 

Q.  But  do  not  these  words  which  our 
Saviour  spoke,  viz. :  Do  this  in  remembrance 
of  me,  Luke  xxii.  19,  determine  his  other 
words  to  a  figurative  sense  ?  For  the  remem- 
brance or  commemoration  of  a  thing  supposes 
it   to  be  absent. 

A.  These  words,  do  this  in  remembrance  of 
me,  inform  us,  indeed,  of  the  end  for  which 
we  are  to  oflFer  up,  and  receive  the  body  and 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  viz. :  For  a  perpetual 
commemoration  of  his  death  and  passion,  as 
St.  Paul  teaches  us,  i  Corinthians  xi.  26. 
But  they  no  ways  interfere  with  those  other 
words,  this  is  my  body,  and  this  is  mj'  blood ; 
so  as  to  explain  away  the  real  presence  of 
Christ's  body  and  blood.  It  is  certain,  St. 
Matthew  and  St.  Mark  never  looked  upon 
those  words,  do  this  in  remembrance  of  me, 
as  a  necessary  explication  of  the  words  of  the 
institution,  this  is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood, 
as  any  ways  altering  or  qualifj'ing  the  natural 
and  literal  meaning  of  them;  since  they  have 
in  their  gospels  quite  omitted  those  words,  do 
this  in  remembrance  of  me.  As  to  what  3'ou 
allege,  that  the  remembrance  of  a  thing  sup- 
poses it  to  be  absent,  I  answer,  that  whatso- 
ever things  we  may  be  liable  to  forget,  whether 
really  present  or  really  absent,  may  be  the 
object  of  our  remembrance ;  for  what  can  be 
more  intimately  present  to  us  than  God,  and 
yet  the  Scripture  commands    us    to    remember 


our  Creator,  Ecclesiastes  xii.  i,  though  in  him 
we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being,  Acts  xvii. 
28.  So  that  this  command  of  remembering 
Christ,  is  no  ways  opposite  to  his  real  pres- 
ence :  but  the  most  that  can  be  inferred  from 
it  is,  that  he  is  not  visibly  present ;  which  is 
very  true ;  and  therefore,  lest  we  should  forget 
him,  this  remembrance  is  enjoined. 

Q.  But  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been 
said,  is  it  not  the  greatest  absurdity,  and  even 
blasphemy,  to  say  that  a  man  can  make  his 
God,  or  that  a  priest  can  turn  a  wafer,  or  a 
bit  of  bread  into  his  Saviour? 

A.  It  never  was  the  belief  of  the  Catholic 
Church  that  the  bread  is  changed  by  the 
priest  into  the  body  and  blood,  soul  and 
divinity,  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  believe,  indeed, 
as  I  have  already  said,  that  by  the  almighty 
power  of  God,  making  use  of  the  ministrj'^  of 
the  priest,  the  bread  is  changed  into  the  body 
of  Christ :  but  we  neither  do  nor  ever  did 
believe  and  teach,  that  the  bread,  which  is  a 
material  substance,  is  changed  into  the  soul, 
which  is  a  spirit ;  much  less  do  we  believe 
and  teach  that  it  is  changed  into  the  divinity; 
nay,  we  believe  it  to  be  blasphemy,  and  heresy, 
to  imagine  any  such  thing :  we  believe,  it  is 
true,  that  the  body  and  blood,  soul  and  divinity, 
of  Jesus  Christ,  are  truly  and  really  present 
in  the  blessed  sacrament,  and  that  Christ  is  con- 
tained whole  and  entire  under  either  kind ;  not 
that  the  bread  and  wine  are  changed  into  Christ's 
soul  or  divinity;  but  that  the  bread  and  wine 
are  only  changed,  or  converted  into  his  body  and 
blood ;  however,  by  the  natural  connexion  b}- 
which  Christ's  body  and  blood  (which  is  now 
risen  from  the  dead  to  die  no  more)  is  always 
accompanied  with  the  soul,  and  the  divinity  with 
both  body  and  soul,  by  reason  of  the  hypostatical 
union  of  the  divine  and  human  nature  in  Christ; 
we  therefore  believe  that  Christ's  soul  and 
divinity  are  also  present,  not  by  change  or  con- 
version, but  by  concomitance.*  Therefore  it  is 
not  our  belief,  that  a  priest  can  make  his  God,  etc, 

Q.  Have  you  any  thing  more  to  add  by  way 

•Sec  Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  xiii.  C.  3  et  4. 


SACRAMENTS  IN  GENERAL.  EXPOUNDED. 


121 


of  proof  out  of  Scripture,  in  favor  of  the  real 
presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the 
blessed  sacrament? 

A.  Yes,  I  have  several  more  strong  proofs,  as, 
first,  from  the  words  of  Christ  spoken  to  the 
Jews  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  St.  John ;  and 
secondly,  from  the  first  epistles  of  St.  Paul  to  the 
Corinthians,  the  tenth  and  eleventh  chapter ; 
thirdly,  from  the  ancient  figures  of  the  encharist, 
which  demonstrate  that  there  is  something  more 
noble  in  it  than  bread  and  wine,  taken  only 
in  remembrance  of  Christ ;  fourthly,  from  the 
unerring  authority  of  the  Church  in  her  deci- 
sions, in  relation  to  this  controversy ;  all 
which  I  shall  here  pass  over  for  brevity  sake, 
since  they  are  already  excellently  well  ex- 
plained by  an  eminent  divine,  in  a  book 
entitled,  "  The  Catholic  Christian,"  etc. 

Q.  Besides  these  arguments  from  Scripture 
and  Church  authority,  have  you  any  thing  else 
to  allege  in  proof  of  the  real  presence  ? 

A.  Yes,  first,  the  authority  of  all  the  ancient 
fathers,  whose  plain  testimonies  may  be  seen 
in  an  appendix  to  a  book  entitled  a  Specimen 
of  the  Spirit  of  the  Dissenting  Teachers,  etc. 
Secondly,  the  perpetual  consent  of  the  Greeks, 
and  all  the  oriental  Christians  demonstrated 
by  Monsieur  Arnaud,  and  others,  in  a  book 
entitled.  La  Perpetuite  de  la  Foy,  etc.*  Con- 
firmed by  the  authentic  testimonies  of  their 
patriarchs,  archbishops,  bishops,  abbots,  etc.  By 
the  writings  of  their  ancient  and  modem 
divines :  and  by  all  their  liturgies :  and  even 
acknowledged  by  many  Protestant  writers.  See 
Sir  Edwin  Sandy's  relation  of  the  religion  of 
the  west,  p.  233.  Dr.  Potter's  answer  to  charity 
mistaken,  p.  225.  Bishop  Forbes  on  the  Euch- 
arist. Dr.  Nicholai  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
etc.f  Now,  what  can  be  a  more  convincing 
evidence  of  this  doctrine's  having  been  handed 
down  by  tradition  from  the  Apostles,  than  to 
see  all  sorts  of  Christians,  who  have  any  pre- 
tensions to  antiquity,  agreeing  in  it.  Thirdl}', 
both  ancient  and  modern  Church  history  fur- 
nishes us  with  many  instances  of  miracles,  the 


'h-y.  C.  JO,  II,  et  13,  T.  i. 


t  L.  i.  C.  3,  P.  22. 


best  attested,  which  from  time  to  time  have 
been  wrought  in  testimony  of  this  same  truth, 
of  which  in  divers  parts  of  Christendom  there 
are  standing  monuments  to  this  day.  My  last 
proof  is,  from  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England,  as  it  is  delivered  in  her  catechism, 
which  is  printed  in  the  common  prayer  book, 
which  acknowledges  that  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  are  verily  and  indeed  taken  and 
received  by  the  faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, which  expresses  the  real  and  substantial 
presence  of  Christ's  body  and  blood  in  the  sac- 
rament, as  fully  as  any  Catholic  can  do :  for  if 
verily  and  indeed  be  not  the  same  as  really  and 
truly,  and  of  as  full  force  to  exclude  a  mere  figura- 
tive presence,  I  confess  I  am  yet  wholly  ignorant 
of  the  signification  even  of  the  most  common 
words ;  and  it  will  be  impossible  to  know  what 
men  mean,  even  when  they  deliver  themselves 
in  the  plainest  terms.  So  that  it  must  either 
be  owned  that  the  words  of  Christ's  institution 
import  a  real  and  substantial  presence  of  his 
body  and  blood,  even  according  to  Protestant 
doctrine,  or  we  must  suppose  the  Church  of 
England  guilty  of  a  most  scandalous  equivoca- 
tion or  gross  contradiction ;  for  how  that  can 
be  verily  and  indeed  taken  and  received  which 
is  not  verily  and  indeed  there,  is  a  greater 
mystery  than  transubstantiation. 

Q.  You  have  satisfied  me  as  to  this  point: 
but  pray  what  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Church 
concerning  the  matter  of  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  The  matter  is  bread  and  wine,  viz.: 
Wheaten  bread  and  wine  of  the  grape,  which 
Christ  made  use  of;  and  without  them  the 
consecration  is  not  valid, 

Q.  Why  are  bread  and  wine  made  use  of? 

A.  It  is  in  the  first  place,  the  divine  will. 
Again,  by  reason  of  the  analogy,  with  respect 
to  the  end  and  effect.  They  signify  a  spiritual 
nourishment.  They  represent  Christ's  passion, 
or  separation  of  his  blood  from  his  body. 

Q.  Is  bread  to  be  leavened  or  unleavened  ? 

A.  It  is  certain  that  Christ  used  unleavened 
bread,  because  he  celebrated  the  last  supper  on 


122 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


the  first  day  of  the  Azyms,  or  unleavened 
bread :  see  St.  Matt.  xxvi.  7,  17 ;  St.  Mark  xiv. 
12 ;  St.  Luke  xxii.  7,  when  the  Jews  were  for- 
bid, under  pain  of  death  (as  we  read  in  Exodus 
xii.  15,  etc.),  to  eat  any  leavened  bread,  for 
those  seven  days ;  nay,  they  were  even  forbid 
to  keep  it  in  their  houses.  However,  there  is 
no  divine  precept.  Hence,  the  Greek  Church 
are  allowed  to  consecrate  in  leavened  bread. 

Q.  Is  water  to  be  mixed  with  the  wine  ? 

A.  Yes,  by  the  Church  precept ;  and,  it  is 
probable  after  Christ's  example.  Water  repre- 
sents the  water  which  flowed  from  our  Saviour's 
side :  not  but  that  consecration  without  water 
is  valid. 

Q.  Is  the  consecration  valid  in  wine  only,  or 
bread  only? 

A.  Yes ;  but  there  is  a  divine  precept  not 
to  separate  them,  from  these  words  of  Christ, 
"  Do  this  for  a  commemoration  of  me,"  etc.,  St. 
Luke  xxii.,  i  Cor.  x.  Besides,  unless  they  are 
consecrated  together,  they  do  not  represent 
Christ's  passion  distinctly. 

Q.  What  is  the  form  of  this  sacrament? 

A.  The  sufficient  and  necessary  form  of  the 
consecration  of  bread,  are  these  words  :  "  This 
is  my  body :  "  of  wine,  "  This  is  the  chalice  of 
my  blood,  of  the  new  and  everlasting  testament, 
a  mystery  of  faith,  which  shall  be  shed  for  you 
and  for  many,  to  the  remission  of  sins."  The 
prayer,  and  words  before  and  after,  are  only 
necessary,  by  reason  of  the  Church  precept. 
These  forms  are  known  by  the  Scripture  and 
constant  doctrine  of  the  fathers :  for,  as  the 
catechism  of  the  council  of  Trent  argues,  "  Do 
thts,^''*  falls  upon  the  words,  as  well  as  upon 
the  signification. 

Q.  What  is  transubstantiation  ? 

A.  It  is  the  conversion  or  change  of  the 
bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ. 

Q.  In  what  manner  is  this  performed?  Is 
the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  annihilated  ? 
Is  Christ's  body  created  anew,  or  does  it  for- 
sake Heaven  ? 

*Hoc  facite. 


A.  No :  it  is  done  by  a  total  change  of  one 
substance  into  the  other,  by  the  almighty  power 
of  God,  to  whom  nothing  is  hard  or  impossible ; 
who  daily  changes  bread  and  wine,  by  digestion, 
into  our  body  and  blood. 

Q.  How  can  there  be  a  change  of  substances, 
seeing  that  on  one  hand,  the  bread  and  wine  still 
remain  in  their  natural  properties,  viz. :  Their 
quality,  extension,  color,  and  taste ;  they  are 
tangible,  they  retain  their  usual  property  of 
nourishing,  nay,  they  are  subject  to  corruption. 
Are  Christ's  body  and  blood  subject  to  these 
affections  ?  Are  they  extended,  are  they  seen, 
touched,  can  they  be  moved,  or  subject  to  cor- 
ruption ? 

A.  What  appears  to  the  senses  are  not  the 
substance,  but  only  the  accidents  of  bread  and 
wine ;  and  even  local  extension  is  not  essential 
to  a  body ;  so  that,  though  the  substance  of 
bread  and  wine  are  changed,  they  still  retain 
their  natural  properties,  under  the  new  sub- 
stance, into  which  they  are  miraculousl}'^ 
chauged.  Now,  these  properties,  which  are  still 
retained,  belong  not  to  Christ's  body  and  blood 
immediately,  but  are  the  accidents  of  the  former 
substance.  Hence  extension,  motion,  visibility, 
tangibility,  nourishment,  and  corruption,  are  not 
ascribed  in  Christ's  body  and  blood,  only  in- 
directly, and  in  appearance. 

Q.  By  this  transubstantiation,  the  evidence  of 
all  our  senses,  and  reason  too,  seems  to  be 
destroyed,  which  God  bestowed  upon  rational 
creatures,  as  a  rule  or  guide  to  judge  of  all 
matters  whatever;  so  that  they  cannot  be  de- 
ceived without  injury  to  the  divine  goodness  and 
veracity,  in  providing  us  with  a  deceitful  guide. 

A.  The  senses  are  commonly  the  mediums  of 
true  information,  but  in  no  cases  the  judges; 
judgment  being  an  act  of  the  understanding. 
However,  in  some  cases,  the  senses  are  not  proper 
mediums  or  true  informers,  being  detected  of 
'  false  information,  both  in  natural  and  super- 
natural things.  For  instance,  our  sight  gives 
false  information  concerning  the  bigness  of  the 
celestial  bodies,  that  the  stars  are  no  bigger  than 
walnuts,  and  the  sun  no  bigger  than   a  plate, 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


123 


when  at  the  same  time  they  are  bigger  than  the 
whole  earth.  The  senses  all  gave  a  wrong  in- 
formation concerning  the  divine  nature  of 
Christ,  as  also  that  he  who  appeared  to  the 
women  in  the  monument  was  a  man,  although 
the  Scripture  says  he  was  an  angel.  St.  Mark 
xvi. ;  St.  Matthew  xxviii.  In  the  same  manner, 
the  reasoning  faculty  is  not  a  true  judge,when  it  is 
under  the  direction  of  ignorance,  passion,  malice 
etc.  There  is  a  distinction  to  be  made  between 
the  faculty  of  reason  and  the  right  use  of  it.  For 
instance,  the  faculty  of  reason  is  a  false  informer, 
when  it  pretends  to  penetrate  into  the  mysteries 
of  faith.  Hence,  both  the  senses  and  reasoning, 
though  in  other  things  true  informers,  yet  in 
mysteries  of  faith  are  liable  to  mistake,  as  in  the 
trinity ;  so  that,  though  our  senses  speak  bread 
and  wine ;  faith  and  reason,  rightly  made  use  of, 
correct  their  information  :  for  to  say  you  would 
believe  your  senses  rather  than  God,  is  blas- 
phemy. 

Q.  Do  not  miracles  entirely  depend  upon  the 
testimony  of  the  senses  ?  Why  then  shall  we 
not  believe  that  to  be  only  bread,  where  all  our 
senses  declare  it  to  be  so  ? 

A.  We  believe  not  miracles,  purely  upon  the 
testimony  of  the  senses,  but  from  reason.  But 
the  case  is  not  parallel.  In  miracles,  there  is 
no  contrary  circumstance  or  precept,  to  neglect 
their  information  ;  but  in  the  eucharist,  we  are 
to  believe  Christ's  words,  which  are  inconsistent 
with  the  information  of  sense.  In  many  cases, 
all  our  senses  are  wrong  informers,  as  reason 
tells  us;  and  why  should  we  depend  upon  them, 
when  both  faith  and  reason  inform  us  of  their 
misrepresentation  ? 

Q.  When  Christ  changed  water  into  wine, 
the  people  judged  there  was  the  substance, 
from  the  qualities  it  had  of  wine.  If  therefore 
bread  retains  the  same  qualities,  we  may  con- 
clude it  has  the  substance. 

A.  The  case  is  not  parallel.  The  testimony 
of  the  .senses  was  sufficient  to  convince  them  it 
was  true  wine,  since  there  was  no  circumstance 
or  words  made  use  of  by  Christ,  to  signify  there 
were  only  the  accidents  or  species  of  wine  in 


the  substance  of  water.  Now,  in  the  eucharist, 
the  words  of  Christ,  "  This  is  my  body,"  can- 
not be  verified,  if  the  substance  of  bread 
remained :  otherwise,  our  Saviour  should  have 
said,  "  In  this  bread  is  my  body,  and  in  this 
wine  is  my  blood  :  "  but  as  our  Saviour  said  no 
such  thing,  but  on  the  contrarj;-  absolutely 
declared  that  what  he  gave  to  his  Apostles  was 
his  body,  in  this  latter  case  the  senses  cannot 
be  true  informers. 

Q.  By  what  power  is  this  change  made,  and 
why  is  it  called  transubstantiation,  seeing  there 
is  no  such  Avord  in  the  Scriptures  ?  And  why 
may  not  the  Lutherans'  opinion  be  allowed, 
who  affirm,  there  is  consubstantiation,  that  is, 
that  both  the  substance  of  bread,  and  Christ's 
body,  are  present  ? 

A.  We  have  it  by  constant  tradition,  that  the 
change  is  made  by  the  words  pronounced  in 
consecration,  whereby  God  himself  acts  as  prin- 
cipal, and  the  priests  as  instrumental,  in  the 
person  of  Christ ;  and  therefore  the  priest  does 
not  say,  "  This  is  the  body  of  Christ ;"  but 
"  This  is  my  body."  It  is  true,  there  is  no 
such  word  as  transubstantiation  in  the  Scrip- 
ture, in  express  terms,  but  only  equivalently, 
and  therefore  the  council  of  Trent  says,  it  is 
a  proper  word  to  express  that  mystery.  In  the 
same  manner,  there  are  no  such  words  in  the 
Scripture  as  consubstantiation,  trinity,  person, 
or  original  sin,  but  all  are  found  there  equiva- 
lent. As  for  consubstantiation,  condemned  by 
the  council  of  Trent,  against  the  Lutherans,  it 
does  not  verify  Christ's  words ;  for  then  he 
should  have  said,  "Here  is  my  body."*  So 
there  is  a  necessity  of  a  change,  by  transub- 
stantiation. This  is  what  many  learned  Prot- 
estants have  urged  against  Luther  and  his  fol- 
lowers. See  the  Bishop  of  Meaux's  History  of 
the  Variations  of  the  Protestant  Churches.f 

Q.  Is  not  the  eucharist  often  called  bread 
after  the  consecration?  And  why,  if  it  is  not 
really  bread  ? 

A.  It  is  still  called  bread,  and  nothing  can 
be  more  agreeable  to  the    common  practice  of 

*  Hie  est  Corpus  meum.     f  Lib.  ii.  Numb.  31,  32,  33. 


124 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


men,  and  the  rules  of  speech.  First,  because  it 
has  to  our  senses  all  the  natural  appearances 
and  effects  of  bread  and  wine :  for  this  reason, 
angels,  in  the  Scripture,  are  called  men.  Joshua 
V.    13;   Genesis    xix ;    Luke   xxiv.  4;   Acts    i. 

10.  Secondly,  because  it  was  bread  and  wine 
before  consecration.  Thus  God  said  to  Adam, 
"  Dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  thou  must 
return,"  Genesis  iii.  19.  Aaron's  rod,  which  was 
changed  into  a  serpent.  Exodus  vii.  10,  is  still 
called  a  rod,  because  made  from  it.  Thirdly,  it 
is  called  bread,  because  it  is  the  bread  of  life, 
the  spiritual  food  and  nourishment  of  the  soul. 

Q.  But  what  will  you  say  to  our  Saviour's 
calling  the  sacrament  the  fruit  of  .the  vine? 
St.  Matt.  xxvi.  29. 

A.  If  it  were  certain  our  Saviour  had  so 
called  the  consecrated  wine  of  the  blessed  sac- 
rament, it  would  prove  no  more  than  St.  Paul's 
calling  the  consecrated  host,   bread;     i  Cor.  x. 

11,  that  is  it  would  only  show  that  the  name 
of  wine,  or  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  might  be  given 
to  it,  from  having  the  accidents  and  appearance 
of  wine,  and  having  been  consecrated  from  wine. 
But  there  is  all  the  reason  in  the  world  to 
think,  that  this  appellation  of  "  the  fruit  of  the 
vine "  was  given  by  our  Saviour,  not  to  the 
consecrated  cup  or  chalice,  but  to  the  wine  of 
the  paschal  supper,  which  they  drank  before 
the  institution  of  the  sacrament :  this  will 
appear  evident,  from  the  2  2d  chapter  of  St. 
Luke,  to  any  one  who  will  but  read,  from  the 
14th  verse  to  the  21st,  where  it  is  plain  ;  that 
it  was  not  the  sacramental  cup,  but  that  which 
was  drank  with  the  passover,  to  which  our 
Saviour  gives  the    name  of   "  the  fruit  of   the 


vine. 


Q.  The  ancient  fathers  often  called  this  sacra- 
ment a  figure  and  sign,  which  seems  not  to 
import  grace  present. 

A.  It  cannot  be  a  sacrament,  without  being  a 
figure  or  sign ;  but  the  fathers  in  no  place  call  it 
a  symbol  or  figure  only  ;  so  as  to  deny  or  ex- 
clude the  verity  and  substance  of  Christ's  body 
and  blood  from  being  contained  under  them. 
The   eucharist   is   called   the  sign  or  figure  of 


Christ's  body,  upon  account  of  the  species,  which 
represent  it  not  as  absent,  but  really  present. 
Hence  Tertulliau  says,  Christ  did  not  doubt  to 
say,  "  This  is  my  body,"  when  he  gave  the 
figure  of  his  body ;  so  divines  say,  it  is  a  full 
figure,  not  an  empty  one.* 

Q.  Which  are  the  articles  of  faith  that  follow 
from  the  real  presence,  and  are  defined  by  the 
Church  ? 

A.  First,  against  the  Lutherans,  that  the 
reality  subsists  without  the  use,  and  not  only 
while  it  is  taken.  Again,  that  every  particle 
contains  the  true  body  and  blood,  in  the  conse- 
cration of  both  species.  Again,  that  the  soul 
and  divinity  of  Christ  are  also  present.  Again, 
that  the  body  and  blood  are  present,  by  force  of 
the  words  of  consecration,  and  both  present 
under  each  species,  by  concomitance.  Again, 
that  Christ,  in  the  sacrament,  is  to  be  adored 
with  divine  worship.  That  when  the  species  are 
divided  or  broken,  the  whole  body  of  Christ  is 
in  every  particle,  but  undivided  in  itself.  That 
when  the  species  are  corrupted,  the  body  of  Christ 
is  not  corrupted,  but  ceases  to  be  present.  Lastly, 
that  the  body  of  Christ  is  not  every  where  as  the 
Ubiquitarians  affirm,  but  only  in  heaven  locally, 
and  in  the  eucharist  sacrameutally. 

Q.  What  is  the  principal  effect  of  the  eucha- 
rist? 

A.  To  bestow  nutritive  grace,  and  in  greater 
plenty  than  any  other  sacrament :  though  it 
does  not  confer  first  grace,  but  supposes  it 
already  given  by  penance.  Hence,  remission  of 
sin  is  not  the  proper  effect.  The  eucharist,  as  a 
sacrament,  only  profits  those  who  receive  it.f 
But,  as  it  is  a  sacrifice,  it  profits  others.  Venial 
sins  hinder  not  the  nutritive  grace :  yet  they 
slacken  the  growth  of  virtue  like  a  bad  soil. 

Q.  Who  are  rightly  disposed  to  receive  the 
eucharist  ? 

A.  Divines  distinguish  three  sorts  of  per- 
sons. First,  such  as  receive  the  sacrament 
only,  without  the  effect.  Secondly,  those  who 
receive    the    effect    only    by  faith,    and    ardent 

*  Figura  plana  o  vacua, 
t  Ex  opere  operaiu. 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAI.  EXPOUNDED. 


125 


charity,  not  having  an  opportunity  to  receive 
the  sacrament  itself:  yet  these  do  not  receive 
the  proper  sacramental  grace.  Thirdly,  such 
as  receive  both  the  sacrament  and  the  effect. 
The  first  communion  is  called  sacramental 
only,  the  second  spiritual  only,  the  third  sac- 
ramental and  spiritual.  Hence  it  is  defined 
by  the  council  of  Trent,*  that  faith  alone  is 
not  a  sufiicient  preparation  ;  but  there  must  be 
a  true  contrition,  and  not  a  supposed  one,  but 
acquired  by  confession  if  there  be  an  oppor- 
tunity of  having  a  confessor :  all  which  are 
required  by  St.  Paul,  when  he  says,  "  Let  a 
man  prove  himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of  this 
bread,  and  drink  of  this  cup ;  for  he  who  eats 
and  drinks  unworthily,  eats  and  drinks  dam- 
nation to  himself,  not  discerning  the  body 
of  our  Lord."  i  Cor.  xi.  28.  The  Church  so 
expounds  the  preparation  that  is  required. 
Again,  this  precept  of  confessing  extends  even 
to  priests,  who  are  obliged  by  oflEce  to  cele- 
brate, unless  a  confessor  is  wanting ;  and  then 
the  council  of  Trent  says,  they  are  to  make  an 
act  of  contrition,  and  afterwards  quam  primum 
confiteri^  which  words,  as  Pope  Alexander  Vllth 
declares,  import  the  first  opportunity,  and  not 
the  stated  time  of  the. priest's  usual  confession. 
In  fine,  in  order  to  receive  the  blessed  sacra- 
ment worthily,  and  the  eflFects  thereof,  we  must 
be  in  the  state  of  grace,  that  is,  free  from 
all  mortal  sin,  and  affection  to  venial.  We 
must  also  approach  with  a  right  intention : 
first,  to  glorify  God,  and  give  him  thanks  for 
so  great  a  favor  and  blessing,  in  bestowing 
upon  us  his  only  Son  ;  secondly,  to  strengthen 
our  souls  in  spiritual  life,  and  to  gain  an 
increase  of  charity  and  all  other  virtues ;  and 
thirdly,  to  obtain  the  grace  and  assistance  of 
Almighty  God,  in  order  to  correct  all  our  fail- 
ings and  imperfections,  and  to  overcome  such 
and  such  temptations. 

Q.  How  is  fasting  required  in  the  case  of 
communion  ? 

A.  There  is  an  ecclesiastical  precept  (which 
St.  AugTistinef  says,  was  all  the  Church  over  in 

•  Sess.  xiii.  Can.  xi.  f  Epist.  ad  Janu.  54,  alias  118,  n.  6. 


his  time)  that  no  communicant  should  either 
eat  or  drink  from  the  midnight  before.  Yet  St. 
Augustine  observes,  that  on  Maundy-Thurs- 
day, it  was  a  custom  to  receive  not  fasting,  in 
honor  and  memory  of  Christ's  last  supper.  How- 
ever, when  the  sacrament  is  given,  by  way  of 
viaticum,  in  danger  of  death,  fasting  is  not 
necessary.  i 

Q.  Is  there  an  obligation  of  receiving  under 
both  kinds  ? 

A.  There  is  no  divine  precept.  There  is 
indeed  a  divine  precept  of  taking  the  body  and 
blood,  which  is  complied  with  under  one  kind 
alone ;  because,  as  I  said  before,  undei-  either 
kind  is  contained  both  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ. 

Q.  Yet,  methinks,  the  precept  is  divine,  and 
that  it  falls  upon  both  eating  and  drinking, 
which  requires  both  kinds.  For  in  the  first 
place,  the  institution  was  such,  and  the  Apostles 
received  at  Christ's  hands  in  both  kinds.  Again, 
it  was  expressed  by  these  words,  unless  you 
eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  his 
blood,  you  shall  not  have  life  in  you,  St.  John 
vi.  54.  Besides,  it  was  the  practice  in  the 
primitive  ages,  to  receive  both  kinds.  Again, 
Pope  Gelasius  I.  who  lived  in  the  fifth  century, 
commanded  communion  under  both  kinds. 

A.  It  is  owned,  both  kinds  were  given  to  the 
Apostles  at  the  institution,  but  every  circum- 
stance at  the  institution  was  not  a  divine  pre- 
cept. As  to  the  words,"  unless  you  eat  and  drink," 
John  vi.  54,  they  are  not  to  be  understood  of 
the  distinct  actions,  but  only  of  partaking  of 
the  body  and  blood:  for  in  the  same  chapter, 
life  everlasting  is  promised  to  those  who  eat 
only;  "  he  that  eats  of  this  bread,  shall  live  for 
ever,"  verse  59.  Again,  "  if  any  one  eateth  me 
the  same  shall  also  live  by  me,"  verse  58.  You 
see  eating  alone  will  suffice.  Again,  the  Scrip- 
ture, in  many  places,  speaking  of  the  holy  com- 
munion, makes  no  mention  of  the  cup;  see  St. 
Luke,  etc.,  chapter  xxiv.  30,  31;  Acts  ii.  42, 
46,  et  chap.  XX.  7.  Besides,  it  is  to  be  observed, 
that  whosoever  receives  the  body  of  Christ, 
must    certainly  receive    his   blood  at  the  same 


is6 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL  EXPOUNDED. 


time,  since  the  body  which  he  receives  is  a 
living  body  (for  Christ  can  die  no  more,  says 
St.  Paul,)  Rom.  vi.  9,  which  cannot  be  without 
his  blood :  there  is  no  taking  Christ  by  pieces ; 
whoever  receives  him,  receives  him  wholly.  So 
that  the  faithful  are  no  ways  deprived  of  any 
part  of  the  grace  of  this  sacrament,  by  receiving 
in  one  kind  only :  and  the  reason  is,  because 
the  grace  of  this  sacrament  being  annexed  to 
the  real  presence  of  Christ,  who  is  the  fountain 
of  all  grace ;  and  Christ,  being  as  truly,  and 
really  present  in  one  kind,  as  in  both;  conse- 
quently, he  brings  with  him  the  same  grace  to 
the  soul,  when  received  in  one  kind,  as  he  does 
when  received  in  both.  Again,  many  learned 
Protestants  have  acknowledged,  that  there  is  no 
command  in  Scripture,  for  all  to  receive  in  both 
kinds.  See  Luther  in  his  epistle  to  the  Bohe- 
mians. Bishop  Forbes,  lib.  2.  de  Euch.  cap.  i.  2. 
White,  Bishop  of  Ely,  in  his  treatise  on  the 
Sabbath,  p.  97.  And  Bishop  Montague,  Orig. 
p.  97.  But  abstracting  from  what  has  been 
said,  our  adversaries  have  no  reason  to  object 
against  us,  for  defrauding  the  laity  of  part  of 
the  grace  of  the  sacrament;  since  they  deprive 
them  of  the  whole,  viz.:  Both  body  and  blood, 
as  receiving  neither  one  nor  the  other,  but  only 
a  little  bread  and  wine.  As  for  the  practice  of 
the  primitive  ages,  both  kinds  were  commonly 
taken,  but  not  always :  for  the  ancient  fathers 
give  an  account,  that  in  time  of  persecution. 
Christians  took  only  the  consecrated  bread, 
which  they  carried  home  with  them.  Also, 
abstemious  persons,  who  had  an  aversion  to 
wine,  only  received  the  consecrated  bread. 
Again,  infants  received  only  the  consecrated 
.  wine.  Pope  Gelasius,  indeed,  ordered  both 
(cinds  to  be  given,  in  order  to  detect  the  Mani- 
cheans,  who  abstained  from  wine,  on  account 
that  they  held  wine  to  be  a  liquor  of  the  devil's 
invention,  and  communicated  only  in  the  other 
kind,  upon  that  belief  This  was  the  ground 
of  Pope  Gelasius's  prohibition ;  but  afterwards, 
in  Pope  Leo  the  second's  time,  it  was  free  to 
communicate  in  one,  or  both  kinds. 

Q.  When  did  the  custom  of  communicating  in 


both  kinds,  cease,  and  what  i  easons  were  there 
to  order  only  one  kind  ? 

A,  It  ceased  by  degrees.  And  the  reasons 
were  these:  first,  there  was  danger  of  great 
irreverences,  by  spilling  the  consecrated  wine, 
when  the  communicants  were  very  numerous. 
Secondly,  lest  the  wine  being  reserved  for  the 
sick,  it  should  grow  sour  and  be  corrupted. 
Thirdly,  to  confound  those  heretics,  who  believed 
Christ's  body  was  without  his  blood.  And 
lastly,  this  discipline  of  the  Church  was  con- 
firmed by  the  general  council  of  Constance,  in 
the  year  1414;  to  put  a  stop  to  the  Hussites, 
and  other  heretics,  who  held  that  both  kinds 
were  of  divine  precept. 

Q.  Can  the  Church  still  order  or  permit  both 
kinds  to  be  received  ? 

A.  Yes,  if  she  shall  judge  the  reasons  to  be 
sufficient. 

Q.  But  did  not  Christ  expressly  command  the 
receiving  in  both  kinds,  when  he  said,  drink  ye 
all  of  it  ?     Matt.  xxvi.  xxvii. 

A.  These  words  were  addressed  to  the  twelve 
Apostles  only,  no  other  being  present  at  the 
last  supper,  and  the  precept  was  by  them  all 
fulfilled ;  "  and  they  all  drank  of  it."  St. 
Mark  xiv.  23.  And  this  command  is  constantly 
observed  by  the  bishops  and  priests  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  as  often  as  they  consecrate. 
But  this  is  no  more  an  argument  for  the 
laity's  being  obliged  to  drink  the  cup,  than 
their  being  obliged  to  consecrate,  to  forgive 
sins,  or  preach  the  gospel;  St.  Luke  xxii.  19; 
St.  John  XX.  22 ;  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  19.  Be- 
cause we  find  in  the  Scripture,  Christ  com- 
manded the  Apostles  so  to  do. 

Q.  Are  priests  obliged  to  receive  both  kinds  ? 

A.  Yes,  when  they  consecrate ;  and  the 
reason  is,  because  the  eucharist  is  a  sacrifice, 
as  well  as  a  sacrament.  Now,  unless  both 
kinds  are  consecrated  and  offered  by  the 
priest,  and  received,  it  does  not  represent 
Christ's  passion. 

Q.  May  not  deacons  consecrate  ? 

A.  By  no  means :    do  this,  *  was  directed    to 

*Hoc  facite. 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


127 


bishops  and  priests  only.  However,  deacons  may 
be  the  extraordinary  distributers  of  the  sacra- 
ment ;  as  it  was  sometime  a  practice  in  the 
primitive  ages. 

Q.  What  is  a  sacrifice,  and  how  does  that 
appellation  agree  with  the  eucharist? 

A.  A  sacrifice,  properly  so  called,  is  an 
external  oblation  or  ofifering  made  to  God 
alone,  by  a  lawful  minister,  with  a  change  in 
the  thing  offered  by  consumption,  in  testi- 
mony of  his  supreme  power.  Now  this  agrees 
with  the  eucharist,  because  the  eucharist  is  "n 
oblation  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  oflfered  under  the  outward  and  sensible 
signs  of  bread  and  wine,  to  God  alone,  by  the 
ministry  of  the  priests  of  the  Church,  law- 
fully consecrated  and  empowered  by  Christ ; 
and  this  oblation  is  accompanied  with  a  real 
change  and  destruction  of  the  bread  and  wine, 
by  the  consecration  of  them  into  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  and  a  real  exhibiting  of 
Christ  our  victim,  heretofore  immolated  upon 
the  cross,  and  here  mystically  dying,  in  the 
separate  consecration  of  the  two  different  spe- 
cies ;  and  this  oblation  is  made  to  God,  to 
acknowledge  his  sovereign  power,  to  render  him 
our  homage,  and  for  all  other  ends  for  which 
sacrifices  are  offered  to  his  divine  Majesty. 

Q.  What  are  the  ends  for  which  sacrifice  in 
the  old  law  was  offered,  and  is  still  to  be  offered, 
to  God  ? 

A.  For  these  four  ends.  First,  for  God's  own 
honor  and  glory,  by  acknowledging  his  sove- 
reignty, and  paying  him  our  homage.  Secondly, 
to  give  God  thanks  for  all  his  blessings. 
Thirdly,  to  beg  pardon  for  our  sins.  Fourthly, 
to  obtain  grace  and  all  blessings  from  his  divine 
Majesty. 

Q.  Have  the  servants  of  God,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world,  been  always  accustomed 
to  honor  him  with  sacrifices  ? 

A.  Yes,  they  have.  Witness  the  sacrifice  of 
Abel ;  Gen.  iv.  The  sacrifice  of  Noah ;  Gen. 
viii.  The  sacrifice  of  Melchisedec ;  Gen.  xiv. 
The  sacrifices  of  Abraham  ;  Gen.  xv.  et  xxii. 
The  sacrifices  of  Job,  i.  et  xiii.     And  the  many 


different  kinds  of  sacrifices  prescribed  in  the  law 
of  Moses. 

Q.  How  is  a  sacrifice,  properly  so  called,  dis- 
tinguished from  other  oblations,  viz.:  Prayer, 
good  works,  and  a  contrite  heart  ? 

A.  These  want  requisites,  viz. :  They  are  either 
spiritual  oblations  only,  or  are  not  offered  only 
by  a  priest ;  nor  is  there  any  change  to  testify 
God's  supreme  dominion. 

Q.  How  many  kinds  of  sacrifice  belonged  to 
the  old  law? 

A.  Chiefly  five :  first,  holocaust,  where  the 
whole  was  consumed  or  burnt,  and  thereby 
given  fully  to  God  without  reserve,  for  the  more 
perfect  acknowledgment  of  his  sovereignty. 
Secondly,  propitiatory,  or  sin-offerings,  for  ap- 
peasing God's  anger  and  remitting  sin.  Thirdly, 
eucharistic,  for  returning  thanks.  Fourthly, 
impetratory,  for  obtaining  blessings ;  and  fifthly, 
pacific,  or  peace-offerings,  which  were  both  eucha- 
ristic and  propitiatory. 

Q.  Why  are  all  those  sacrifices  now  abol- 
ished ? 

A.  Because,  they  were  but  figures  of  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ ;  and  therefore,  were  to  give 
place  to  his  sacrifice,  as  being  only  figures  of 
the  truth. 

Q,  Were  the  sacrifices  of  the  old  law  figures 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  new  ? 

A.  Yes,  both  of  Christ's  passion,  and  of  the 
eucharist. 

Q.  What  is  the  mass,  and  from  whence  is 
the  word  derived  ? 

A.  The  mass,  in  one  sense,  may  be  called 
the  liturgy  of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  but,  prop- 
erly speaking,  it  is  the  sacrifice,  or  oblation  of 
Christ's  body  and  blood,  under  the  appearance, 
or  species,  of  bread  and  wine :  and  consists  in 
the  consecration  of  the  bread  and  wine,  into 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ ;  and  the  offering 
up  of  this  same  body  and  blood  to  God,  by  the 
ministry  of  the  priest,  for  a  perpetual  memorial 
of  Christ's  sacrifice  upon  the  cross.  As  to 
the  word  mass,  some  are  of  opinion  that  it 
comes  from  the  Hebrew  word  missach,  which 
signifies    a    voluntary  offering;    Dent.  xvi.  10. 


128 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL  EXPOUNDED. 


But  others  are  of  opinion,  tliat  it  is  derived 
from  the  Latin  word,  missio,  or  ruissa,  that  is, 
dismission,  or  sending  away ;  because  the  cate- 
chumens and  others,  were  formerly  dismissed, 
as  not  being  permitted  to  be  present  at  this 
sacrifice,  only  from  the  beginning  till  the  offer- 
tory, and  the  gospel  and  sermon  being  ended, 
the  deacon  publicly  said,  ite  missa  est,  go  out 
all  you  who  are  infidels,  catechumens,  and  peni- 
tents :  for  the  mass  of  the  faithful  is  now  to 
begin.  Hence,  at  the  end  of  the  mass,  the 
words,  ite  missa  est,  are  still  retained,  and  now 
the  meaning  is,  depart,  for  the  mass  is  ended. 
But  be  this  as  it  will,  the  name  is  of  very 
ancient  use  in  the  Church,  as  appears  from  St. 
Ambrose,  St.  Leo,  and  St.  Gregory.* 

Q.  How  does  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  differ 
from  the  sacrifice  Christ   made  upon  the  cross  ? 

A.  There  is  no  difference  as  to  the  host,  or 
thing  offered,  nor  as  to  the  principal  priest  who 
offers ;  the  chief  offerer  being  Christ  himself 
The  difference  therefore  is  only  in  the  manner 
of  the  offering,  the  one  was  bloody,  the  other 
unbloody ;  for  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross 
Christ  really  died,  and  therefore  it  was  a  bloody 
sacrifice ;  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  he  only 
dies  mystically,  inasmuch  as  his  death  is  rep- 
resented in  the  consecrating  apart  the  bread 
and  wine,  to  denote  the  shedding  of  his  sacred 
blood  from  his  body  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  therefore  this  is  an  unbloody  sacrifice,  and 
of  course  a  commemorating  sacrifice,  which  has 
all  its  virtue  from  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross. 

Q.  Is  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  offered  to 
saints  ? 

A.  No ;  only  to  God ;  the  saints  are  only 
mentioned,  to  give  praise,  and  thanksgiving  to 
God  for  them,  and  that  they  may  join  in  prayer 
with  us,  and  for  us. 

Q.  Is  the  mass  a  true  and  proper  sacrifice? 

A.  Yes,  it  is. 

Q.  How  can  it  be  a  true  and  proper  sacri- 
fice, since  a  true  sacrifice  requires  a  change,  or 
mactation,  or  immolation,  in  the  thing  offered  ? 

*St.  Amb.  Iv.  2,  Epis.  14,  ad  sororem.  St.  I/CV.  Epis.  81,  ad  dios- 
cortL     St  Greg.  Horn.  6,  in  Evang. 


now  in   the  mass   these  things   are  not   to  be 
found. 

A.  In  bloody  sacrifices  a  mactation,  or  slay- 
ing, was  necessary,  but  not  in  others ;  Mel- 
chisedec's  was  a  true  and  proper  sacrifice,  and 
so  were  the  pacific  sacrifices  of  the  old  law ; 
however,  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  there  is 
a  real  change,  by  the  real  conversion  of  the 
bread  into  his  body,  as  also  a  mystical  immola- 
tion or  death ;  when  the  body  and  blood,  are, 
as  it  were,  separated  by  distinct  consecrations. 

Q.  Have  you  any  texts  of  Scripture  for  proof 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  ? 

A.  Yes ;  besides  many  figures  of  this  sacri- 
fice in  the  Old  Testament  (of  which  the  most 
evident  is  that  of  the  bread  and  wine  offered 
to  Melchisedec,  the  priest  of  the  most  high 
God;  according  to  whose  order,  Christ  is  said 
to  be  a  priest  for  ever.  Gen.  xiv.  i8.  Psalm 
ex.  And  that  as  the  holy  fathers*  take  notice 
by  reason  of  this  new  sacrifice  of  the  eucharist)  we 
have  the  prophecy  of  Malachi  i.  lo,  ii,  where 
God,  rejecting  the  Jewish  sacrifices,  declares 
his  acceptance  of  the  sacrifice  or  pure  offering, 
which  should  be  made  to  him  in  every  place 
among  the  Gentiles ;  which  text  the  ancient 
fathers,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  urge  to  show 
that  the  eucharist  is  a  sacrifice.  See  St.  Jus- 
tin, St.  Irenseus,  St.  Chrysostome,  St.  Augus- 
tine, etc.f  In  the  New  Testament  St.  Paul 
tells  us,  that  under  the  new  law  we  have  an  altar 
(and  consequently  a  sacrifice)  whereof  they 
have  no  right  to  eat  who  serve  the  tabernacle, 
Heb.  xiii.  lo,  that  is,  they  who  continue  in 
the  service  of  the  old  law.  And  in  the  loth 
chapter  of  his  ist  epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
from  the  14th  verse  to  the  21st,  he  makes  a 
parallel  between  the  partakers  of  the  Chris- 
tian sacrifice,  and  those  who  partake  of  the 
Jewish  or  heathenish  victims,  so  as  evidently 
to  suppose,  that  the  Christian  table,  which  he 
mentions,  verse  21,  is  an  an  altar  where  Christ 
is  mystically  immolated,  and  afterwards    eaten 

*  See  St.  Cypr.  epist.  63.  St.  Chryst.  Horn.  35  St.  Jerom.  epist. 
126,  ad  Evan.  St.  Aug.  Cone,  i,  in  Ps.  33.  L.  15.  de  Civ.  Dei.,  etc. 

t  St.  Just  in  Dial,  cum  Trypho.  St.  Irenae.  L.  4.  C.  32.  St. 
Chryst  in  Ps.  92.     St.  Aug.  L.  18.  de  Civ.  Dei.  C.  35. 


^^--g^ 


THK  DKSCENT  FROM  THE  CROSa 


Consider  the  sighs  and  tears  of  the  Virgin  Mother,  with  what  pangs  she  embraced  the  bloody  remains  of  her  beloved  Jesus.  Here 
unite  your  tears  with  those  of  His  disconsolate  Mother.  Reflect  that  your  Jesus  would  not  descend  from  the  cross  until  He  consummated 
the  work  of  redemption,  and  that  at  His  departure  from  as  well  as  His  entrance  into  the  world  He  would  be  placed  in  the  bosom  of  His 
beloved  Mother.  Hence  learn  constancy  in  your  pious  resolutions  ;  cleave  to  the  standard  of  the  cross.  Consider  with  what  purity  that 
soul  should  be  adorned,  which  receives  in  the  blessed  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  Christ's  most  sacred  Body  and  Blood. 


VISION  OF  OUR  LORD  TO  ST.  FRANCIS  OF  ASSISI. 

In  the  year  1221,  while  the  saint  was  praying  with  fervent  devotion,  Jesus  appeared  to  him  and  said  :  "  Francis,  demand  what  thou 
wilt  for  the  salvation  of  nations." 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


129 


by  the  faithful,  as  in  the  Jewish  and  heathen- 
ish sacrifices,  the  victim  was  first  oflFered  on 
the  altar,  and  then  eaten  by  the  people.  From 
whence  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  infers,  verse  16, 
that  they  who  were  partakers  of  this  great  sac- 
rifice of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  ought 
not  to  be  partakers  with  devils,  by.  eating  the 
meats  sacrificed  to  idols.  The  sacrifice  of  the 
mass  is  also  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  xiii.  2,  where  we  read  in  the  Protes- 
tant Testament,  As  they  ministered  to  the 
Lord,  and  fasted,  etc.  In  the  Greek  original  it 
stands  thus.  As  they  were  sacrificing  {Aeztotir- 
goimta7i)  to  the  Lord  and  fasting,  the  Holy 
Ghost  said,  separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for 
the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them.  Where 
the  Greek  word,  which  we  have  rendered  in 
English,  sacrificing,  is  the  self  same  which  to 
this  day  is  used  by  the  Greeks  to  express  the 
sacrifice  of  the  mass.  Besides  these  arguments 
from  Scripture,  for  the  sacrifice  offered  to  God 
in  the  blessed  eucharist,  we  have  the  authority 
and  perpetual  tradition  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
from  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  Witness  the 
most  ancient  liturgies  of  all  churches  and 
nations.  Witness  the  manifold  testimonies  of 
councils,  and  fathers  of  all  ages.  Witness  the 
frequent  use  in  all  Christian  antiquity,  of  the 
names  of  altar,  sacrifice,  oblation,  priest,  etc. 
Witness,  in  fine,  the  universal  consent  of 
Christians  of  all  denominations  before  Luther's 
time,  in  offering  up  the  eucharist  as  a  sacri- 
fice ;  which  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  cannot  be 
contested. 

Q.  But  does  not  St.  Paul  say,  that  Christ, 
by  one  offering,  viz.,  that  of  the  cross,  hath 
perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified? 
Heb.  X.  14.  What  room  then  can  there  be  for 
the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  ? 

A.  What  the  Apostle  says  is  certainly  true, 
that  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  upon  the  cross,  is 
that  one  offering  by  which  we  are  perfected 
for  ever ;  because  the  whole  world  was  redeemed 
by  that  one  sacrifice,  and  all  other  means  of 
our  sanctification  or  salvation  have  their  force 
and  eflEcacy  from  that  one  offering :  yet  as  that 
9 


one  offering,  by  which  Christ  bath  perfected 
for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified,  is  no  way 
injured,  by  his  supplications,  which  as  man  he 
makes  for  us  to  his  Father  in  heaven ;  where,  as 
the  same  Apostle  tells  us,  he  ever  liveth  to  make 
intercession  for  us,  Heb.  vii.  25,  so  neither  is 
it  any  ways  injured,  but  highly  honored  by 
the  representing  of  the  same  offering  to  God 
in  the  sacrifice  of  the  altar. 

Q.  But  St.  Paul  tells  us  that  Christ  does 
not  offer  himself  often,  Heb.  ix.  25.  What 
say  you  to  this  ? 

A.  St.  Paul  speaks  there  of  his  offering 
himself  in  a  bloody  manner  by  dying  for  the 
redemption  of  the  world,  which  was  to  be  but 
once.  But  though  the  price  of  our  redemption 
was  to  be  paid  but  once,  yet  the  fruit  of  it  was 
to  be  daily  applied  to  our  souls,  by  those 
means  of  grace  which  Christ  has  left  in  his 
Church ;  that  is,  by  the  sacraments,  and  sac- 
rifice. 

Q.  Have  you  any  thing  more  to  allege  for 
proof  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  ? 

A.  Yes ;  we  have  the  words  of  the  institu- 
tion, as  they  are  related  by  St.  Luke,  xxii.  19, 
20.  This  is  my  body  which  is  given  for  you. 
This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood, 
which  ( cup )  is  shed  for  you.  Now,  since  we 
really  believe  by  the  words  of  consecration, 
that  the  bread  and  wine  are  truly  changed 
into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ;  and  con- 
sequently, that  our  victim,  which  for  us  was 
immolated  upon  the  cross,  is  in  the  mass 
exhibited,  and  presented  to  God.  The  mass 
therefore  is  properly  an  offering  or  sacrifice ; 
and  it  is  also  a  propitiatory  sacrifice ;  for  if 
the  cup,  viz. :  The  blood  of  Christ  be  shed 
for  us,  that  is,  for  our  sins,  it  must  needs  be 
propitiatory,  at  least  by  applying  to  us  the 
fruit  of  the  bloody  sacrifice  of  the  cross. 

Q.  But  what  need  was  there  of  the  sacrifice 
of  the  mass,  since  we  were  fully  redeemed  by 
the  sacrifice  of  the  cross  ? 

A.  First,  that  we  might  have  in  the  sacrifice 
of  the  mass,  a  standing  memorial  of  the  death 
of  Christ.     Secondly,  that   by  the  sacrifice   of 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


the  mass  the  fruit  of  his  death  might  daily 
be  applied  to  our  souls.  Thirdly,  that  his 
children  might  have,  until  the  end  of  the 
world,  an  external  sacrifice,  in  which  they 
might  join  together  in  the  outward  worship  of 
religion;  as  the  servants  of  God  had  always 
done,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world. 
Fourthly,  that  in  and  by  this  sacrifice  they 
might  unite  themselves  daily  with  their  high 
priest  and  victim  Christ  Jesus ;  and  daily 
answer  the  four  ends  of  sacrifice. 

Q.  What  effects  has  the  eucharist  as  a  sacrifice? 

A.  The  council  of  Trent*  has  defined  that 
it  is  more  than  a  sacrifice  of  praise,  or  a  mere 
commemoration  of  Christ's  passion,  and  that 
it  is  latreuticum,  that  is  to  say,  by  it  we  give 
to  God  divine  honor;  eucharisticum,  that  is, 
by  it  we  give  thanks  to  God,  for  his  benefits 
and  mercies  bestowed  upon  us  ;  propitiatorium, 
that  is,  by  it  we  obtain  pardon  and  remission 
of  our  sins;  impetratorium,  that  is,  by  it  we 
obtain  new  graces  and  blessings. 

Q.  Does  it  remit  sin,  or  the  pain  due  to  sin, 
by  way  of    satisfaction? 

A.  It  is  propitiatory,  and  satisfactory'^,  by 
virtue  of  the  divine  institution ;  as  to  pain, 
both  in  this  world,  and  purgatory,  when  it  is 
applied  with  due  dispositions,  and  according  to 
the  intention  of  the  Church,  it  being  the  best 
of  satisfactory  or  good  works. 

Q.  Is  the  mass  of  a  wicked  priest,  as  valu- 
able as  that  of  a    just  one? 

A.  It  has  the  same  effect  absolutely,  because 
a  wicked  man  offers  in  the  person  of  Christ  and 
the  Church ;  yet  the  private  devotion  of  the 
good  priest  may  add  to  the  efiScacy  in  other 
respects. 

Q.  For  whom  is  mass  offered  ? 

A.  For  all  the  faithful  both  living  and  dead, 
as  also  for  all  infidels,  heretics,  etc.,  that  they 
may  be  converted  ;  yet,  their  particular  names 
are  not  to  be  mentioned  in  the  mass. 

Q.  What  advantage  is  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass  to  the  living  and  the  dead  ? 

A.  It  procures  to  the  living  the  merits  and  the 

*  Sess.  xxii.  Can.  iii. 


fruit  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  that  is,  the 
grace  we  stand  in  need  of,  especially  to  those  for 
whom  it  is  said,  and  those  who  assist  devoutly  at 
it.  As  to  the  dead,  it  lessens  their  pains  in  pur- 
gatory, and  hastens  their  deliverance  out  of  it.* 

Q.  What  means  all  the  ceremonies  of  the 
mass,  and  how  can  additions  be  made  to  the 
sacrifice  instituted  by  Christ  ? 

A.  They  have  a  spiritual  meaning  and  are 
instructive :  they  are  added,  some  by  Christ 
himself,  others  by  the  Apostles,  others  since  by 
the  Church,  but  are  not  essential,  yet  they  can- 
not be  omitted  without  a  great  sin.  We  shall 
explain  these  ceremonies  hereafter. 

Q.  How  ought  persons  to  hear  mass,  and  with 
what  affection  ? 

A.  With  great  respect,  devotion  and  attention, 
Jeremiah  xviii.  lo,  and  with  that  affection  for     I 
which  sacrifices  were  instituted,  that  is,  with  a 
devout  acknowledgment  of  our  duty   to  God ; 
with  an  earnest  desire  to  appease  the  wrath  of     > 
God,  which  we  have  deserved  for  our  sins  ;  and    ' 
also  with  thanksgiving  to  our  blessed  Saviour, 
that  he  has  vouchsafed  to  leave  to  his  Church 
his  own  precious  body  and  blood,  as  a  pledge  of 
his  love,   to  be  offered  up  to  his  eternal  Father    . 
by  us,  in  testimony  of  the  aforesaid  acknowledg-    | 
ment,  and  as  a  means  to  appease  his  deserved    . 
anger. 

Q.  But  what  think  you  of  those  who,  during 
the  time  of  mass,  instead  of  attending  to  this 
great  sacrifice,  suffer  themselves  to  be  carried 
away  with  willful  distractions  ? 

A.  Such  as  these  do  not  hear  mass,  that  is 
they  do  not  fulfill  the  Church  precept,  nor  satisfy 
the  obligation  of  the  day,  but  rather  mock  God, 
whilst  outwardly  they  pretend  to  honor  him, 
when  their  heart  is  far  from  him.  The  like  is  to 
be  said  of  those  who  in  time  of  mass  are  laugh- 
ing or  talking,  or  who  pass  the  greater  part  of 
the  time  in  criminal  amusements.  These  sort 
of  persons  must  also  answer  for  the  scandal  they 
give  by  their  ill  example,  and  for  their  hinder- 
ing others  from  attending  to  their  duty  ;  as  well 

*  St.  Aug.  L.  9,  Confess.     2  Mach.  xii.  ver.  43,  etc.     Cone.  Trid. 
Sess.  xxii.  Cp.  ii.  Can.  iii. 


SACRAMENTS   IN  GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


131 


as  for  tlieir  profaning  these  most  sacred  mys- 
teries, by  such  an  unchristian  behavior  at  this 
holy  time. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  prejudice  to  the  faithful,  that 
mass  is  said  in  an  unknown  tongue  ? 

A.  No ;  for  the  mass  contains  only  those 
prayers  which  the  priest  alone  is  commanded  to 
say,  as  the  mediator  between  God  and  his  people. 
Neither  are  the  people  ignorant  of  what  is 
said,  since  they  have  the  mass  expounded  and 
Englished  in  their  ordinary  prayer  book  ;  and  it 
is  visible  to  any  unprejudiced  eye,  that  there 
is  far  more  devotion  among  Catholics  at  mass, 
than  there  is  at  the  Protestants'  common  prayer. 

Q.  Can  you  explain  to  me,  by  some  example, 
how  a  person  may  devoutly  and  profitably 
assist  at  this  sacrifice,  though  he  be  ignorant 
of  the  prayers  which  the  priest  is  saying? 

A.  Yes,  we  can  ;  for  what  do  you  think,  if 
you,  or  any  good  Christian,  had  been  present 
upon  Mount  Calvary,  when  Christ  was  offering 
himself  upon  the  cross,  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world ;  would  not  the  very  sight 
of  what  was  doing  (provided  that  you  had  the 
same  faith  in  Christ  as  you  now  have),  have 
sufficed  to  excite  in  your  soul  most  lively  acts 
of  the  love  of  God,  thanksgiving  for  so  great 
a  mercy,  detestation  for  your  sins,  etc.,  though 
you  could  neither  hear  any  word  from  the 
mouth  of  Christ  your  high  priest,  nor  know 
in  particular  what  passed  in  his  soul  ?  Just 
so  in  the  mass,  which  is  the  same  sacrifice  as 
that  which  Christ  offered  upon  the  cross,  be- 
cause both  the  priest  and  the  victim  are  the 
same.  It  is  abundantly  sufficient  for  the  peo- 
ple's devotion,  to  be  well  instructed  in  what  is 
then  doing,  and  to  excite  in  their  souls  suitable 
acts  of  adoration,  praise,  thanksgiving,  repen- 
tance, etc.,  though  they  understand  not  the 
particular  prayers  used  by  the  priest  at  that 
time.  Besides,  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  devout 
and  profitable  concurring  in  sacrifice  offered  to 
God,  that  the  people  should  hear  or  recite  the 
same  prayers  with  the  priest ;  nay,  even  the 
very  seeing  of  him  is  more  than  what  God  was 
pleased  to  require  in  the  old   law.     Hence   we 


find,  that  the  whole  multitude  of  the  people 
were  praying  without,  when  Zachary  went  into 
the  temple  to  burn  incense.  St.  Luke  i.  10. 
And  it  was  expressly  ordered  that  there  should 
be  no  man  in  the  tabernacle  or  temple,  when 
the  high  priest  went  with  the  blood  of  the 
victims  into  the  sanctuary,  to  make  atonement. 
Leviticus  xvi.  17. 

Q.  But  does  not  St.  Paul  condemn  the  use 
of  unknown  tongues  in  the  liturgy  of  the 
Church  ?  I  Corinthians  xiv. 

A.  Whoever  will  but  read  that  whole  chapter 
with  attention,  will  easily  see,  that  St.  Paul 
speaks  not  a  word  of  the  liturgy  of  the  Church, 
but  only  reprehends  the  abuse  of  the  gift  of 
tongues,  which  some  among  the  Corinthians 
were  guilty  of,  who  out  of  ostentation 
affected  to  make  exhortations  or  extempore 
prayers  in  their  assemblies,  in  languages  utterly 
unknown,  which,  for  want  of  an  interpreter, 
could  be  of  no  edification  to  the  rest  of  the 
faithful.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the  practice 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  where  all  exhortations, 
sermons  and  such  like  instructions,  are  made 
in  the  vulger  language,  where  there  is  no  want 
of  interpreters,  since  the  people  have  the 
Church  offices  interpreted  in  their  ordinary 
prayer  books  ;  and  the  pastors  are  commanded 
to  explain  often  to  them,  particularly  upon 
Sundays  and  holy-days,*  the  mysteries  con- 
tained in  the  mass.  Besides,  after  all,  though 
the  Latin  be  a  dead  language,  yet,  in  the  sense 
of  St.  Paul,  it  cannot  be  called  an  unknown 
tongue,  since  there  is  no  language  in  Europe 
more  universally  understood,  there  being  scarce 
a  village  without  somebody  who  understands  it. 

Q.  But  why  does  the  Church  celebrate  the 
mass  in  Latin,  rather  than  in  the  vulgar 
language  ? 

A.  First,  because  it  is  her  ancient  language, 
used  in  all  her  sacred  offices,  even  from  the 
Apostles'  days,  throughout  all  the  western  parts 
of  the  world,  and  therefore  the  Church,  who 
hates  novelty,  desires  to  celebrate  her  liturgy 
in  the  same  language  as  the  saints  have  done 

*Conc.  Trid.  Sess.  xxii.  Cap.  8. 


132 


SACRAMENTS   IN   GENERAL   EXPOUNDED. 


for  so  many  ages.  Secondly,  for  a  greater 
uniformity  in  the  public  worship;  that  so  a 
Catholic,  in  whatsoever  country  he  chances  to 
be,  may  still  find  the  liturgy  performed  in  the  same 
manner,  and  in  the  same  language,  to  which 
he  is  accustomed  at  home.  Thirdly,  to  avoid 
the  changes  to  which  all  vulgar  languages, 
as  we  find  by  experience,  are  daily  exposed. 
Nor  is  this  method  peculiar  to  the  Catholic 
Church  alone:  for  all  the  oriental  -schismatics, 
how  different  soever,  use,  in  their  liturgies, 
their  ancient  languages,  which  have  long  since 
ceased  to  be  understood  by  the  people ;  as  we 
learn  from  Monsieur  Renaudot,  in  his  Disser- 
tation upon  the  Oriental  Liturgies,  chap.  vi. 
The  Greeks  say  mass  in  the  old  Greek,  of 
which  the  common  people  (as  Mr.  Brerewood, 
in  his  Inquiries,  says)  understand  little  or 
nothing.  C.  ii.  p.  12.  The  Ethiopians  and 
Armenians  say  mass  in  the  old  Ethiopian  and 
Armenian  tongue,  which  none  but  the  learned 
understand.  The  Syrians,  Indians,  and  Egypn 
tians,  say  mass  in  S3Tiac,  though  Arabic  is 
their    vulgar   language.     The    Muscovites    say 


mass  in  Greek,  though  it  is  not  the  language 
of  the  people,  who  speak  nothing  but  a  kind 
of  Sclavonian.  So  that  those  who  declaim  so 
violently  against  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
for  not  having  the  public  service  in  the  vulgar 
tongues,  have  the  universal  practice  of  Chris- 
tendom against  them.  And  what  is  very  remark- 
able, is,  that  the  Protestants  have  furnished  us 
with  an  excellent  argument  against  themselves, 
for  having  the  divine  service  celebrated  in  such 
a  language  as  the  people  do  not  understand: 
for  we  read,  in  Dr.  Heylin's  History  of  the 
Reformation,  p.  128,  etc.,  that,  in  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's time,  "The  Irish  Parliament  passed  an 
act  for  the  uniformity  of  common  prayer;  with 
permission  of  saying  the  same  in  Latin,  where 
the  minister  had  not  the  knowledge  of  the 
English  tongue.  But  for  translating  it  into 
Irish,  there  was  no  care  taken.  The  people  are 
required  by  that  statute,  under  severe  penalties, 
to  frequent  their  churches,  and  to  be  present  at 
the  reading  the  English  liturgy,  which  they 
understood  no  more  of  than  they  do  of  the 
mass." 


ENANCH 


«<^     v36     ^     t^ 


KXPOUNDED. 


s*®^^®*© 


Q.  What  is  the  signification  of  the  word 
penance  ? 

A.  It  is  much  the  same  with  repentance; 
and,  according  to  the  Latin  and  Greek,  is  used 
to  signify  a  change  of  the  mind. 

Q.  What  is  the  ecclesiastical  use  of  the 
word? 

A.  It  is  sometimes  taken  for  a  certain  virtue 
belonging  to  justice,  and  is  a  sincere  grief  for 
having  offended  God,  with  a  firm  purpose  to 
offen'd  him  no  more.  Again,  it  is  taken  for  a 
sacrament,  which  is  a  sorrow  for  sins  committed 
after  baptism,  including  confession,  and  a  pur- 
pose of  making  satisfaction.  So  that  it  is  a 
sacrament,  whereby  the  sins  we  commit  after 
baptism  are  forgiven  us. 

Q.  When  was  this  sacrament  first  instituted  ? 

A.  There  was  an  intimation  and  promise  of 
it,  when  our  Saviour  said,  "  Whatsoever  you 
shall  bind  upon  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven ; 
and  whatsoever  you  shall  loose  upon  earth, 
shall  be  loosed  .in  heaven."  St.  Matt,  xviii. 
1 8.  Which  promise  was  actually  performed, 
after  our  Saviour's  resurrection;  when  "he 
breathed  upon  his  Apostles,  and  said  to  them, 
receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost;  whose  sins  you 
shall  forgive,  they  are  forgiven  them;  and  whose 
sins  yon  shall  retain,  they  are  retained."  St. 
John,  XX.  2  2,  13 


Q.  How  do  you  prove  from  hence  that  pen- 
ance is  a  sacrament  ? 

A.  From  the  notion  and  definition  of  a  sac- 
rament, viz.:  An  outward  and  visible  sign  of 
inward  grace,  ordained  by  Jesus  Christ.  The 
outward  or  visible  sign,  is  the  sinner's  confes- 
sion, and  the  form  of  absolution  pronounced 
by  the  priest ;  the  inward  grace  is  the  remis- 
sion of  sins,  promised  by  Jesus  Christ.  See  St. 
John  XX.  22,  23.  The  institution  of  Christ  is 
gathered  from  the  same  place,  and  from  St. 
Matt,  xviii.  18. 

•Q.  What  is  the  matter  and  form  of  this 
sacrament  ? 

A.  The  matter  is  twofold,  viz.:  Remote  and 
immediate.  The  remote  matter  is  sin,  mortal 
and  venial :  the  immediate  are  the  acts  of  the 
penitent,  viz.:  Contrition,  confession,  and  satis- 
faction.    The  form  are  the  words  of  absolution. 

Q.  To  what  end  is  this  sacrament  instituted  ? 

A.  For  the  remission  of  sins  committed  after 
baptism. 

Q.  Is  this  sacrament  necessary  for  salvation? 

A.  Yes,  it  is  as  necessary  as  baptism,  in 
regard  of  those  who  fall  into  mortal  sin  after 
they  are  baptized.* 

*St.  Cypr.  Ep.  57,  ad  Cornel.  St.  Chrys.  L.  3,  de  Sacred.  St. 
Ambr.  L.  1 ,  de  Poenit.  Cp.  2.  St.  Aug.  Ep.  288,  ad  Honorat  Con, 
Trid.  Sess.  vi.  C.  xiv. 


(133) 


134 


PENANCE  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Are  not  the  words  importing  a  power  of 
forgiving  and  retaining  sin,  sufficiently  verified 
by  the  power  given  to  the  Apostles  to  preach 
the  gospel  ? 

A.  This  indeed  the  Calvinists  pretend,  but 
falsel}',  there  being  two  distinct  ceremonies 
instituted  for  that  purpose,  viz.:  Baptism,  and 
penance,  as  the  fathers  expressly  affirm,  besides 
preaching.  See  St.  Ambrose,  in  his  book  of 
Penance. 

Q.  What  differences  are  observable  between 
baptism  and  penance? 

A.  In  baptism,  sin  is  forgiven,  by  a  true 
contrition,  as  a  necessary  preparation  in  the 
adult.  It  requires  not  confession  :  it  remits  the 
whole  pain  due  to  sin:  it  absolves  not  juridi- 
cally :  it  g^ves  a  character,  and  cannot  be 
repeated.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  infants ; 
and  to  adults,  at  least  in  desire,  if  otherwise 
not  obtainable.  As  for  penance,  jurisdiction  is 
necessarj'^ :  it  requires  certain  dispositions,  viz.: 
A  sorrow  and  purpose  to  sin  no  more :  it  may 
be  repeated :  it  requires  confession,  but  it  does 
not  remit  all  the  pain  due  to  sin :  lastly,  it 
requires  satisfaction. 

Q.  What  is  it  to  forgive  sin  ? 

A.  It  is  to  pronounce  the  words  of  absolution 
ministerially,  under  Christ,  the  principal  cause. 
So  that  we  do  not  believe  that  man  can  forgive 
sins  by  his  own  power,  as  no  man,  by  his  own 
power,  can  raise  the  dead  to  life :  because  both 
the  one  and  the  other  equally  belong  to  the 
power  of  God.  But  as  God  has  sometimes 
made  man  his  instrument  in  raising  the  dead 
to  life,  so  we  believe  that  he  has  been  pleased 
to  appoint  that  his  ministers  should,  in  virtue 
of  his  commission,  as  his  instruments,  and  by 
his  power,  absolve  repenting  sinners.  And 
this  is  what  the  Protestants  pretend  to  believe, 
as  well  as  we;  for  we  find  in  their  common 
prayer  book,  in  the  order  for  the  visitation  of 
the  sick,  where  they  prescribe  a  form  of  abso- 
lution, the  same  in  substance  as  that  used  in 
the  Catholic  Church :  which  is  as  follows : 
Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  left  power  to 
his  Church   to   absolve  all   sinners    who   truly 


repent,  and  believe  in  him,  of  his  great  mercy 
forgive  thee  thine  offences :  and,  by  his  author- 
ity committed  to  me,  I  absolve  thee  from  all 
thy  sins,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen. 

Q.  What  is  it  to  retain  sins  ? 

A.  It  is  to  refuse  or  defer  absolution  for  sin, 
or  to  inflict  penalties  for  sin. 

Q.  Pray  tell  me  in  what  cases  is  a  confessor 
to  refuse  or  defer  absolution. 

A.  The  rule  of  the  Church  is  to  defer  abso-      i 
lution    (excepting    the    case    of    necessity)    to     ' 
those  of  whose   disposition   the   confessor    has 
just  cause    to  doubt ;    and  to   refuse    or   deny       \ 
absolution  to  those  who  are  certainly  indisposed       ' 
for  it ;  which  is  the  case  of  all  such  as  refuse 
to  forgive  their  enemies,  or  to  restore  ill-gotten 
goods,  or   to  forsake    the  habits    or    immediate 
occasions  of  sin  ;  or,  in  a  word,  to  comply  with 
any   part    of   their    duty,    to   which    they    are      / 
obliged  under  mortal  sin.* 

Q.  What  is  contrition,  and  why  so  called  ? 

A.  It  is  an  inward  sorrow  of  the  mind,  for 
having  offended  so  good  a  God,  with  a  firm 
purpose  not  to  offend  him  any  more.  It  is  so 
called,  because  the  word  contrition  signifies  a 
bruising,  or  breaking  a  thing  into  pieces,  which 
is  metaphorically  applied  to  the  heart,  which  is 
as  it  were  bruised  and  broken  by  grief 

Q.  How  many  sorts  of  contrition  ^re  there  ? 

A.  Two ;  perfect  and  imperfect. 

Q.  What  is  perfect  contrition  ? 

A.  It  is  a  hearty  sorrow  for  having  offended 
God,  including  a  love  of  God  above  all  things, 
as  he  is  good  in  himself 

Q.  What  is  imperfect  contrition  ? 

A.  It  is  a  sorrow  for  having  offended  God, 
upon  account  of  the  pains  of  hell,  the  turpitude 
of  sin,  or  some  other  imperfect,  but  supernatural 
motive. 

Q.  By  what  name  do  you  call  imperfect  contri- 
tion, and  how  does  it  differ  from  perfect  contrition  ? 

A.  It  is  called  attrition.  Now,  as  to  the  dif- 
ference, they  differ  in  their  motive.     The  motive 


*SeeRit.  Rom.  de  Sacratn.  Pceni  et  Doert. 
Prop.  1679.     Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  xiv,  Cap.  4. 


Inn.  II  coutr.  65. 


PENANCE   EXPOUNDED. 


135 


of  perfect  contrition  is  God,  as  he  is  good  in 
himself.  The  motive  of  attrition  is  fear  of 
punishment,  etc.  Yet  here  also  the  motive 
must  be  supernatural,  and  the  sorrow  must 
proceed  from  actual  grace.  Again,  they  differ 
in  their  effects.  The  first  is  capable  to  justify 
a  person  without  the  sacrament  of  penance, 
who  has  a  desire,  but  not  the  opportunity  of  a 
confessor.  The  second  only  disposes  a  person 
for  justification  in  the  sacrament. 

Q.  When  are  we  obliged  to  make  an  act  of 
contrition  ? 

A.  Chiefly  upon  the  following  occasions,  viz.: 
In  danger  of  death :  again,  as  often  as  we 
receive  any  of  the  sacraments,  if  we  have  not 
the  convenience  of  confessing. 

Q.  Are  we  obliged  to  make  so  many  distinct  acts 
of  contrition,  according  to  the  number  of  our  sins  ? 

A.  No;  one  true  act  of  contrition  extends  to 
all,  yet  a  diligent  examen  of  every  sin,  is  to  be 
premised  before  we  make  our  confession. 

Q.  What  is  confession,  and  how  many  sorts 
are  there  ? 

A.  Confession  in  general,  is  a  declaration  of 
a  person's  sins,  which  ma}'^  be  either  general, 
or  particular,  public,  or  private,  to  God,  or  to 
man,  by  way  of  advice,  or  sacramental. 

Q.  What  is  sacramental  confession  ? 

A.  It  is  an  accusation  of  our  sins  to  a  proper 
priest;  that  is  to  say,  to  a  priest  who  is 
approved  of  by  the  bishop,  etc.,  in  order  to 
receive  absolution. 

Q.  Can  you  bring  any  Scripture,  which 
recommends  the  confession  of  our  sins  to  the 
ministers  of  God,  and  can  you  prove  it  to  be 
commanded  by  Christ  ? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  I  can  produce  the  pre- 
cept of  God  in  the  Old  Testament,  where  he 
expressly  commands,  that  when  a  man  or 
woman,  shall  commit  any  sin,  that  men  commit, 
to  do  a  trespass  against  the  Lord,  and  that 
person  be  guilty,  then  they  shall  confess  their 
sins,  which  they  have  done,  etc. ;  Numbers  v. 
6,  7.  Secondly,  the  example  of  the  people,  who 
hearkened  to  the  preaching  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  who  were  baptized  by  him,   confessing 


their  sins;  St.  Matt.  iii.  6.  Thirdly,  the  com- 
mand of  St.  James,  confess  your  sins  one  to  ' 
another,  chapter  v.  verse  16,  that  is,  to  the 
priests  of  the  Church.  Fourthly,  the  practice 
of  the  first  Christians,  many  that  believed  came, 
and  confessed,  and  declared  their  deeds.  Acts. 
xix.  18.  Now,  as  to.  the  command  of  Christ,  '( 
for  the  confession  of  our  sins  to  his  ministers;  | 
I  prove  it  from  the  commission  which  he  gave 
to  them,  when  he  said  to  his  Apostles,  receive 
ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whose  sins  you  shall  for-  i 
give,  they  are  forgiven  ;  and  whose  sins  you  j 
shall  retain,  they  are  retained  ;  St.  John  xx. 
ver.  22,  23.  Here  he  gave  them,  and  their 
successors,  viz.:  The  bishops  and  priests  of  his 
Church,  commission  or  power  to  remit  sin. 
Again,  the  Apostles  and  their  successors,  were 
made  spiritual  judges,  by  Christ  our  Lord, 
and  had  a  power  from  him  to  bind  and  loose 
from  sin,  as  we  read  in  the  i8th  chapter  of 
St.  Matthew,  verse  18.  Amen,  I  say  to  you, 
whatsoever  you  shall  bind  on  earth,  shall  be 
bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  you  shall 
loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven.  Here 
he  made  them  judges  and  physicians  of  our 
souls :  therefore  it  follows,  by  a  necessary  con-  • 
sequence,  that  the  laity  were  obliged  to  confess 
their  sins  to  them  :  for  how  could  they  exer- 
cise this  power,  and  pronounce  sentence,  unless 
they  first  knew  the  state  of  the  sinner's  con- 
science, neither  could  they  prescribe  such 
remedies,  and  give  such  advice  as  was  neces- 
sary for  the  penitent's  cure,  or  amendment, 
unless  they  first  knew  the  particular  qualities 
and  condition  of  the  several  sins  the  penitent 
commits,  which  cannot  be  without  confession ; 
so  that  we  conclude  with  St.  Augustine,  that  to 
pretend  that  it  is  enough  to  confess  to  God  alone, 
is  making  void  the  power  of  the  keys  given  to 
the  Church,  that  is,  contradicting  the  gospel,  and 
making  void  the  commission  of  Christ.  Horn. 
xlix.;  St.  Matt.  xvi.  19. 

Q.  Are  Christians  obliged  to  confess  all  their 
sins  ? 

A.  Yes ;  all  mortal  sins  that  can  be  remem- 
bered after  a   diligent  examen.     Moreover,  the 


136 


PENANCE   EXPOUNDED. 


penitent  is  to  declare  their  number,  species, 
and  circumstances  ;  not  only  the  circumstances 
as  alter  the  kind  or  nature  of  the  sin,  but  also 
according  to  some  divines,  such  as  very  much 
aggravate  the  guilt.  Now,  as  to  venial  sins, 
there  is  no  strict  obligation  to  confess  them ; 
but  if  it  be  doubtful  whether  the  sin  be  mortal 
or  venial,  he  is  to  confess  it  under  that  doubt. 
Q.  By  what  rule  shall  a  person  be  able  to 
know  whether  his  sins  are  mortal  or  venial  ? 
A.  All  those  sins  are  to  be  esteemed  mortal, 
which  the  word  of  God  represents  to  us  as 
hateful  to  God,  against  which  it  pronounces  a 
wo,  or  of  which  it  declares,  that  such  as  do 
those  things  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  Of  these  we  have  many  instances, 
both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  See 
Isaiah  v.  Ezek.  xviii.  Romans  i.  29,  30,  31. 
I  Cor.  vi.  9,  10.  Galatians  v.  19,  20,  21. 
Ephesians  v.  5.     Apoc.  xxi.   8. 

Q.  In  what  cases  is  confession  sacrilegious 
and  void  ? 

A.  If  any  mortal  sin  is  wilfully  omitted,  or 
a  diligent  examen  neglected,  either  as  to  num- 
ber or  species  of  the  sins,  or  for  want  of  a 
true  sorrow  for  sin,  or  a  firm  purpose  of  amend- 
ment. The  confession  is  also  invalid,  if  the 
priest  to  whom  he  made  it,  has  not  the  necessary 
faculties  and  approbation.  But,  in  case  the 
penitent  omits  any  sin,  after  a  diligent  examen, 
the  confession  is  valid ;  however,  if  afterwards 
he  calls  to  mind  any  sin  he  omitted,  he  is  to  con- 
fess it ;  if  he  remembers  it  before  communion,  it 
ought  to  be  confessed  before  he  goes  to  com- 
munion ;  if  he  remember  it  after  communion,  he 
must  confess  it  in  his  next  confession. 

Q.  Is  it  a  great  sin  to  conceal,  through  shame 
or  fear,  any  moral  sin  in  confession  ? 

A.  Yes ;  it  is  a  grievous  sin,  because  it  is 
lying  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  which  Annanias 
and  Saphira  were  struck  dead,  by  a  just  judg- 
ment of  God ;  Acts  v.  James  ii.  10.  It  is  acting 
deceitfully  with  God,  and  that  in  a  matter  of 
the  utmost  consequence.  It  is  a  sacrilege,  as 
being  an  abuse  of  the  sacrament  of  penance, 
and    is    generally   followed   by   another    great 


sacrilege,  in  receiving  unworthily  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ.  And  what  is  still  more 
dreadful,  such  sinners  seldom  stop  at  the 
first  bad  confession,  and  communion  but 
usually  go  on  for  a  long  time  in  these  sins, 
and  very  often  die  in  them.  But,  it  is  not  only 
a  great  crime,  but  also,  a  great  folly  and  madness 
to  conceal  one's  sins,  in  confession ;  because, 
such  offenders  know  very  well  that  these  sins 
must  be  confessed,  or  that  they  must  burn  for 
ever  in  the  flames  of  hell  for  them  ;  and  they 
cannot  be  ignorant,  that  these  bad  confessions, 
do  but  increase  their  burden,  by  adding  to  it  the 
dreadful  g^ilt  of  repeated  sacrileges,  which  they 
will  have  far  more  difficulty  of  confessing,  than 
these  very  sins  of  which  they  are  now  so  much 
ashamed. 

Q.  But  suppose  the  sinner  has  been  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  make  a  bad  confession,  or  perhaps  a 
great  many  bad  confessions ;  what  must  he  do  to 
repair  this  fault,  and  to  reinstate  himself  in 
God's  grace  ? 

A.  He  must  apply  himself  to  God,  by  hearty 
prayer  for  his  grace  and  mercy  ;  and  so  prepare 
himself  to  make  a  general  confession  of  all  his 
sins,  at  least  from  the  time  he  first  made  a  bad 
confession  ;  because,  all  the  confessions  he  has 
made,  since  he  began  to  conceal  his  sins,  were 
all  sacrilegious ;  and  consequently,  null  and  void; 
and  therefore,  must  be  all  repeated  again. 

Q.  What  observation  do  you  make  concerning 
the  secrecy  of  confession,  both  in  regard  of  the 
penitent  and  the  confessor  ? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  obligation  of 
a  public  confession  of  private  sins.  Again,  we 
are  not  to  discover  other  person's  sins,  but  only 
our  own.  As  to  the  confessor,  he  is  obliged  to 
perpetual  secrecy,  both  by  the  law  of  nature,  the 
law  of  God,  and  his  Church  ;  so  that  whatever  is 
declared  in  confession,  the  confessor  can  never 
discover  it,  either  directly,  or  indirectly,  to  any 
one,  upon  any  account  whatsoever;  nay,  not 
even  to  save  his  own  life.*  The  violation  of 
this  secrecy,  is  punished  with  deposition  and. 
perpetual  penance. 

*  See  Deere.  Inno.  xi.  i68a. 


PENANCE   EXPOUNDED. 


137 


Q.  Tell  me  now  in  short,  how  many,  and 
what  are  the  conditions  necessary  for  the  worthy 
receiving  the  sacrament  of  penance  ? 

A.  There  are  five  ;  first,  to  examine  our  con- 
sciences. Secondly,  to  conceive  a  hatred  and 
detestation  against  sin,  and  a  sorrow  for  having 
fallen  into  it,  and  incurred  the  displeasure  and 
wrath  of  God.  Thirdly,  to  make  a  firm  resolu- 
tion of  sinning  no  more.  Fourthly,  to  make  a 
good  confession  of  all  our  sins  to  a  priest,  who  is 
approved  by  the  Church.  Fifthly,  a  resolution 
of  making  satisfaction  to  God  and  our  neighbor, 
according  to  our  ability. 

Q.  Who  is  the  proper  minister  of  penance, 
and  qualified  to  hear  confessions  ? 

A.  Only  those,  who  are  lawfully  ordained  to 
offer  up  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  and  have 
priest's  orders. 

Q.  Has  every  priest  power  to  absolve  from 
sin  ? 

A.  In  answer  to  this,  we  are  to  observe,  that 
there  are  two  powers  a  priest  is  endowed  with. 
One  is  a  power  of  binding  and  loosing  the 
soul,  called  the  power  of  order:  the  other  is 
a  power,  of  exercising  the  power  of  binding 
and  loosing,  and  is  called  the  power  of  juris- 
diction. The  first  power  is  given  when  a 
priest  is  ordained,  and  made  capable  of  absolv- 
ing :  the  other  a  priest  does  not  receive,  until 
subjects  are  allotted  him,  on  whom  he  is  to 
exercise  that  power,  which  is  conferred  upon  him 
by  the  pope,  bishop,  or  other  prelates,  who  have 
jurisdiction.  So  that  every  priest  has  not  the 
power  of  jurisdiction,  and  by  consequence,  every 
priest  cannot  absolve  from  sin.  How  much 
therefore  does  it  behove  all  penitents,  to  be  very 
careful  to  make  use  of  a  priest  who  has  the 
power  of  jurisdiction,  that  is,  of  one  who  is 
rightly  approved  ;  because,  if  they  confess  to  one 
who  is  not  approved  of  by  the  bishop  of  the 
place,  their  confession  is  null,  and  the  priest's 
absolution  is  of  no  force  or  value.  As  to  what 
may  be  objected,  that  there  are  some  priests  who 
are  exempt  from  the  power  and  jurisdiction  of 
the  bishop,  as  having  faculties  from  the  superior 
of  their  own  order,  by  virtue,  of  a   privilege 


granted  to  them  by  the  pope :  to  this  I  answer, 
that  there  are  no  such  privileges  and  exemp- 
tions now  in  England  ;  for  all  such  privileges 
and  exemptions  which  have  formerly  been 
granted,  are  all  recalled  by  Innocent  the  XII's 
decree,  in  the  year  1695,  as  also  by  the  decree 
of  Benedict  XIV,  in  the  year  1745,*  which 
expressly  obliges  all  regular  priests,  of  what 
denomination  soever  here  in  England,  to  a 
strict  submission  and  obedience  to  the  bishops, 
in  respect  to  the  jurisdiction,  or  power  of 
administering  the  sacraments. 

Q.  What  is  the  form  of  absolution  ? 

A.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  absolve  thee,  and 
I,  by  his  authorit)'',  absolve  thee,  as  far  as  I 
have  power,  and  thou  standest  in  need,  from 
all  thy  sins,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen. 

Q.  What  is  satisfaction  ? 

A.  It  is  doing  what  is  sufficient,  or  what  is 
required  from  a  person,  for  the  injury  he  does 
to  another. 

Q.  What  is  sacramental  satisfaction  ? 

A.  It  is  undergoing  the  penalty  imposed  by 
the  priest,  towards  repairing  the  injur}''  done 
to  God's  honor,  and  redeem  the  temporal  pain 
due  to  sin. 

Q.  Which  are  the  penalties  whereby  we  may 
satisfy  for  sin  ? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  all  calamities  human 
life  is  subject  to,  when  they  are  willingly 
embraced  for  that  purpose.  Again,  fasting, 
prayer,  and  alms,  with  all  other  pious  works. 

Q.  In  what  manner  do  we  repair  God's 
honor,  by  the  aforesaid  pains,  and  why  ? 

A.  They  are  all  recommended,  and  commanded 
in  the  Scriptures,  by  Almighty  God.  We  are 
to  submit  with  patience  to  all  temporal  calami- 
ties in  compliance  with  Divine  Providence. 
By  prayer,  we  submit  our  soul,  and  regulate 
all  its  faculties  to  the  divine  will.  By  fasting, 
we  punish  the  body  for  committing  excesses. 
By  alms,  we  satisfy  for  the  ill  use  we  make 
of  the  goods  of  fortune.     For  as    all    sins    are 

*  See  Innocent  XII,  decree  in  Mr.  Dodd's  Church  History  of 
England,  volume  3  ;  page  528. 


138 


PENANCE   EXPOUNDED. 


committed  against  God,  our  neighbour,  and 
ourselves;  so  all  duties  to  God  are  contained 
under  prayer,  both  internal  and  external ;  duties 
toward  our  neighbor,  as  acts  of  fraternal  love, 
etc.,  are  contained  under  alms.  Duties  toward 
ourselves,  as  mortification  and  the  like,  are 
contained  under  fasting. 

Q.  Whence  have  priests  the  power  of  impos- 
ing penalties  or  satisfactory  works  ? 

A.  From  Christ,  who  gave  them  power  of 
binding  and  loosing,  both  from  sins  and  the 
penalties  due  to  sin  ;  as  in  temporal  tribunals, 
the  power  that  frees  from  death,  extends  to 
assign,  or  pardon  punishment,  proper  to  reform 
the  oflfender. 

Q.  Which  are  the  chief  properties  of  the 
penalty  imposed? 

A.  They  satisfy  for  the  temporal  pain,  and 
ought  to  be  medicinal,  that  is,  proper  to  reform 
the  sinner. 

Q.  Is  satisfaction  an  essential  part  of  the 
sacrament  of  penance  ? 

A.  An  intention  of  satisfaction  is  essential, 
but  actual  satisfaction,  belongs  only  to  the 
integrity  of  the  sacrament ;  for  the  absolution 
is  valid,  before  the  satisfaction  is  performed; 
though  in  some  cases  it  is  requisite  that  satis- 
faction precede  absolution. 

Q.  This  doctrine  of  satisfaction  supposes  a 
false  thing,  viz.:  That  some  pain  is  due  to  sin 
after  the  fault  is  pardoned. 

A.  Divines  distinguish  between  eternal  pain 
and  temporal  pain  ;  the  eternal  pain  is  forgiven, 
but  the  temporal  pain  commonly  remains,  as 
it  appears  both  from  the  necessity  of  the  thing, 
the  instance  of  David,  who  was  punished  by  the 
death  of  his  children,  after  his  sins  were  for- 
given;  2  Kings  xii,  and  other  instances  of 
temporal  calamities,  inflicted  for  offences  though 
pardoned.  And  this  method  of  temporal  pain 
is  the  foundation  of  our  faith  as  to  sacramental 
satisfaction,  indulgences,  purgatory  and  prayer 
for  the  dead. 

Q.  Can  one  person  satisfy  for  another? 

A.  Yes ;  it  is  defined  by  the  Church,  and 
appears    in   the    prayers   of  persons,  etc.     Yet 


medicinal  satisfaction  is  personal,  and  cannot 
be  communicated  to  another. 

Q.  What  is  an  indulgence  ? 

A.  It  is  a  remission  of  the  temporal  punish- 
ment due  to  sins,  after  the  sins  themselves,  as 
to  the  guilt  and  the  eternal  punishment,  are 
forgiven  by  the  sacrament  of  penance,  or 
perfect  contrition.  Hence  nothing  can  be  more 
grossly  misrepresented  than  indulgences  are  by 
our  adversaries;  for  the  generality  of  Protestants 
imagine  that  an  indulgence  is  a  leave  to  com- 
mit sin,  or  at  least,  that  it  is  a  pardon  for 
sins  to  come ;  whereas  it  is  no  such  thing.  For 
we  believe  there  is  no  power  in  heaven  or  earth 
that  can  give  leave  to  commit  sin ;  and  con- 
sequently there  is  no  giving  pardon  beforehand 
for  sins  to  come. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  that  the  Church  has 
received  a  power  from  Christ  to  grant  indul- 
gences, that  is,  to  discharge  a  penitent  sinner 
from  the  debt  of  the  temporal  punishment 
which  remains  due  to  sins? 

A.  I  prove  it  from  the  promise  which  Christ 
made  to  St.  Peter,  I  will  give  unto  thee  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven :  St.  Matt.  xvi. 
13.  And  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth, 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou 
shalt  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven.* 
Which  promise  made  without  any  exception, 
reservation,  or  limitation,  must  needs  imply  a 
power  of  loosing  all  such  bonds  as  might  other- 
wise hinder,  or  retard  a  Christian  soul  from 
entering  heaven. 

Q.  How  does  an  indulgence  take  off  the 
obligation  of  personal  satisfaction  ? 

A.  It  takes  off  the  penal  but  not  the  medicinal 
part. 

Q.  Do  indulgences  for  the  dead  remit  the 
pains  in  purgatory  ? 

A.  Not  by  way  of  absolution  or  jurisdiction, 
but  only  by  way  of  prayer,  or  suffrage  accepted 
by  God.f 

Q.  What  dispositions  are  required  to  gain  an 
indulgence  ? 

*  See  Cone.  Trid.  Fess.  xxv.  Deere,  de  ludul. 
t  See  Bellar.  L.  2.  de  purga. 


PENANCE  EXPOUNDED. 


139 


A.  The  person  must  be  in  tbe  state  of  grace, 
confess,  and  communicate,  and  perform  the 
things  required  while  he  is  in  the  state  of 
grace. 

Q.  What  is  a  plenary  indulgence  ? 

A.  If  duly  obtained,  it  is  a  remission  of  all 
the  temporal  punishment  due  to  past  sins. 

Q.  What  is  a  particular  indulgence  ? 

A.  It  is  a  remission  of  part  of  the  temporal 
punishment  due  to  sin. 

Q.  I  suppose  this  is  meant  by  an  indul- 
gence of  seven,  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  days 
or  years.  But  I  comprehend  not  the  meaning 
of  this  calculation. 

A.  According  to  the  ancient  canons  and  dis- 
cipline of  the  Church,  temporal  punishments  of 
such  a  number  of  days  or  years,  were  decreed 
for  certain  sins :  and  when  there  was  suflEcient 
reason  to  shorten  the  time,  it  was  called  an 
indulgence. 

Q.  But  these  canons  being  no  longer  in 
force,  I  do  not  see  what  can  be  the  present 
meaning  of  an  indulgence,  for  so  many  days 
or  years.  If  a  sinner  is  obliged  no  longer  to 
those  punishments,  he  is  free,  and  stands  not 
in  need  of  an  indulgence. 

A.  Though  those  canons  are  not  in  force, 
the  law  of  God  is  still  in  force,  which  requires 
temporal  punishment  for  sin,*  and  the  Church 
by  the  power  it  has,  relaxes  as  much  pun- 
ishment as  was  formerly  inflicted  by  the  ancient 
canons. 

Q.  Has  not  Christ  abundantly  satisfied,  both 
for  sin,  and  the  punishment  due  to  it,  both 
temporal  and  eternal  ?  Can  the  Church  dis- 
pose of  the  merits  and  satisfaction  of  Christ? 

A.  Christ  has  abundantly  satisfied  and  laid 
up  the  treasure  for  that  purpose,  but  the  remedy 
is  to  be  applied  accordingly  as  he  has  ordered. 
It  is  applied  by  the  sacraments,  and  good  works 
for  the  remission  of  sin  ;  it  is  applied  by  indul- 
gences for  the  remission  of  temporal  pun- 
ishment, as  there  shall  be  found  just  occasion, 

Q.  What  is  a  jubilee  ? 

\.  It  is  a  solemn  plenary  indulgence,  accom- 

•SeeBellar.  L.  i.  de  Indulg. 


panied  with  certain  privileges,  relating  to  cen- 
sures and  dispensations,  granted  to  the  inferior 
pastors  of  the  Church  by  the  supreme  pastor, 
and  specified  in  his  bulls,  or  orders  directed  to 
them  for  that  purpose  ;  and  it  is  so  called  from 
the  resemblance  it  bears  with  the  jubilee  year 
in  the  old  law  (which  was  a  year  of  remission, 
in  which  bondsmen  were  restored  to  liberty, 
and  every  one  returned  to  his  possession)  ; 
Levit.  XXV.  27.  But  according  to  some  it  is 
so  called  from  the  Latin  word  jubilatio,  which 
signifies  joy  or  exultation,  because  it  causes  a 
spiritual  joy  in  the  souls  of  all  who  are  made 
partakers  thereof:  it  is  granted  every  twenty- 
fifth  year,  as  also  upon  other  extraordinary 
occasions,  to  such  as  being  truly  penitent, 
shall  worthily  receive  the  blessed  sacrament, 
and  perform  the  other  conditions  of  fasting, 
alms,  and  prayer,  usually  prescribed  at  such 
times.. 

Q.  What  are  the  fruits  or  effects,  which 
usually  are  seen  among  Catholics  at  the  time 
of  a  jubilee? 

A.  At  that  time  the  Church  most  pressingly 
invites  all  sinners  to  return  to  God  with  their 
whole  hearts,  and  encourages  them  by  setting 
open  her  spiritual  treasure  in  their  favor ;  so 
that  the  most  usual  effects  of  a  jubilee  are  the 
conversions  of  great  numbers  of  sinners,  and 
the  multiplying  of  all  sorts  of  good  works 
among  the  faithful.  So  far  it  is  from  being 
true,  that  indulgences  are  an  encouragement  to 
sin,  or  an  occasion  of  a  neglect  of  good  works, 
as  our  adversaries  unjustly  object. 

Q.  What  is  irregularity? 

A.  It  is  a  disability  of  becoming  a  cleric,  or 
exercising  clerical  functions,  occasioned  either 
by  nature,  or  personal  faults,  ordained  by  the 
law,  for  the  greater  honor  of  God,  and  the 
sacred  function. 

Q.  How  many  defects  render  persons  irregular? 

A.  Chiefly  seven,  viz.:  Of  the  mind,  as  gross 
ignorance,  etc.,  of  the  body,  as  eunuch,  deform- 
ity, etc.  Birth,  as  bastards,  etc.  Servitude, 
as  slaves,  etc.  Want  of  age,  required  by  the 
council    of    Trent.      Again,    bigamy,    want    of 


140 


PENANCE  EXPOUNDED. 


lenity,  as  murderers,  hangmen,  butchers,  judges, 
and  witnesses,  in  case  of  death,  etc. 

Q.  What  criminal  defects  render  persons 
irregular  ? 

A.  Chiefly  five,  viz. :  Re-baptizing  ;  receiving 
or  exercising  spiritual  functions,  contrary  to 
the  canons ;  heresy ;  all  concerned  in  murder, 
or  voluntary  mutilation ;  and  an  infamous  life. 

Q.  Does  irregularity  annul  ordination? 

A.  No ;  it  only  renders  the  receiving  and 
exercise  unlawful  and  sinful. 

Q.  How  prove  you  that  there  is  a  power  in 
the  Church  of  excommunicating? 


A.  First,  from  the  power  of  the  keys ;  also 
from  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew, 
where  it  is  said.  If  he  will  not  hear  the 
Church,  let  him  be  to  thee  as  a  heathen  and 
a  publican,  ver.  17.  And  from  the  2d  epistle 
of  St.  John,  where  he  says,  Receive  him  not 
into  the  house,  nor  say  unto  him,  peace  be  to 
you,  ver.  10.  And  likewise  from  the  ist 
epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  5th 
chapter.  With  such  a  one  do  not  so  much  as 
eat,  ver.  11,  and  in  the  same  chapter,  Deliver 
such  a  one  over  to  Satan,  ver.  5. 


EXTREME   UNCTION   EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  is  extreme  unction,  and  why  so 
called  ? 

A.  It  is  anointing  the  sick  by  a  priest,  under 
a  certain  form  of  words.  It  is  called  extreme, 
because  it  is  applied  only  to  dying  persons, 
and  with  respect  to  former  unctions,  as  iu 
baptism,  confirmation,  etc.,  it  is  the  last. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  that  this  anointing 
of  the  sick  is  a  sacrament?  when,  and  by 
whom,  was  it  instituted? 

A.  Because  it  is  an  outward  sign  of  an 
inward  and  spiritual  grace.  The  anointing, 
together  with  the  prayers  that  accompany  it, 
are  the  outward  sign ;  the  inward  grace  is  the 
forgiveness  of  sins,  promised  in  these  words 
of  St.  James,  If  he  be  in  sins,  they  shall  be 
forgiven  him,  chap.  v.  ver,  15.  It  is  uncertain 
when  this  sacrament  was  instituted.  But  the 
council  of  Trent*  has  declared,  that  it  was 
instituted  by  Christ,  and  promulgated  by  St, 
James,  in  the  5th  chapter  of  his  epistle,  where 
it  is  commanded,  Is  any  one  sick  among  you, 
let  him  call  for  the  priests  of  the  Church, 
and  let  them  pray  over  him,  anointing  him 
with  oil,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord :  and  the 
prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick  man,  and 
the   Lord    shall    ease   him ;    and    if    he    be   in 

•  Sess.  xiv.  Can.  i.  de  Extr.  Unct.  et  Can.  iii. 


sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven  him,  ver.  14,  15. 
It  is  also  intimated  by  St.  Mark,  in  the  6th 
chapter,  where  it  is  said,  the  Apostles  anointed 
with  oil  many  that  were  sick,  ver.   13. 

Q.  What  is  the  matter  and  form  of  this 
sacrament,  who  is  the  minister  of  it,  and  is  it 
necessary  for  salvation  ? 

A.  The  immediate  matter  is  oil  of  olives, 
blessed  by  a  bishop,  as  the  council  of  Trent* 
declares.  The  form  are  these  words :  "  By 
this  holy  unction,  and  his  own  most  tender 
mercy,  may  the  Lord  pardon  thee  whatsoever 
sins  thou  hast  committed  by  thy  sight,  by 
thy  hearing,"  and  so  of  the  other  senses.  The 
only  minister  is  a  bishop  or  priest.  And 
though  the  sacrament  is  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary, yet  it  is  necessary,  both  by  divine  and 
ecclesiastical  law.  All  these  points  are  declared 
by  the  words  of  St.  James,  above   quoted. 

Q.  Who  may  receive  this  sacrament? 

A.  Only  adult  persons,  and  such  as  are  in 
danger  of  death,  by  sickness,  or  by  wounds ; 
but  not  infants,  and  such  as  are  fools,  and 
always  mad.  Some  divines  say,  children  of 
seven  years  of  age  may  receive  it,  being 
capable  of  venial  sin,  though  they  never  com- 
municated. 

*  See  Sess.  xiv.  de  lust.  Sacra.  Extr.  Unct.  Can.  i. 


PENANCE   EXPOUNDED. 


141 


Q.  Are  persons  to  be  anointed  before  a 
battle,  or  persons  condemned,  or  in  a  ship- 
wreck ? 

A.  No. 

Q.  When  ought  this  sacrament  to  be  given  ? 

A.  In  every  sickness,  where  there  is  danger 
of  death :  but  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  we 
ought  not  to  defer  it  till  the  last  hour,  or 
agony  of  death ;  because  it  is  much  more 
profitable  for  the  sick  person  to  receive  it 
whilst  he  has  leisure,  reason,  and  memory,  to 
prepare  himself  for  it. 

Q.  How  ought  a  person  to  prepare  himself 
for  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  If  he  be  in  mortal  sin,  he  must  clear  his 
conscience,  by  a  true  and  sincere  confession. 
He  ought  also  to  make  an  act  of  contrition,  at 
the  time  he  receives  it,  and  to  beg  of  God  to 
forgive  him  the  sins  which  he  has  committed, 
by  every  organ  or  part  that  is  anointed. 

Q.  But  suppose  he  has  lost  his  speech,  and 
therefore  cannot  confess  his  sins ;  what  ought 
he  then  to  do? 

A.  In  that  case,  he  must  make  an  act  of 
contrition,  or  sorrow  for  his  sins,  and  give  signs, 
that  he  has  a  desire  to  obtain  the  forgiveness 
of  them,   and   to  receive  the   extreme   unction. 

Q.  Can  this  sacrament  be  given  to  persons 
out  of  their  senses? 


A.  Yes ;  if  they  desired  it  before,  or  very 
probably  would  have  desired  it. 

Q.  What  parts  are  to  be  anointed  ? 

A.  The  eyes,  ears,  nose,  lips,  hands  and 
feet,  and  in  some  cases  the  reins,  but  not  in 
women.  When  any  member  is  wanting,  the 
nearest  part  is  to  be  anointed. 

Q.  What  are  the  effects  of  this   sacrament? 

A.  First,  it  remits  all  venial  sins,  and  mortal 
sins  forgotten :  secondly,  it  remits  something 
of  the  debt  of  punishment  due  to  past  sins : 
thirdly,  it  heals  the  soul  of  her  infirmity  and 
weakness,  and  a  certain  propension  to  sin, 
contracted  by  former  sins,  which  are  apt  to 
remain  in  the  soul,  as  the  unhappy  relics  of 
sin :  fourthly,  it  gives  strength  and  grace  to 
the  soul,  to  bear  with  patience  the  pains  and 
illness  of  the  body,  and  it  arms  her  against 
the  temptations  of  her  spiritual  enemies  :  fifthly, 
it  restores  corporal  health,  if  God  sees  it  expedi- 
ent for  the  good  of  the  soul. 

Q.  Can  the  same  person  receive  this  sacra- 
ment more  than  once  ? 

A.  Yes ;  but  not  in  the  same  illness,  unless 
it  should  be  of  long  continuance,  and  that  the 
state  of  the  sick  person  should  be  changed,  so 
as  to  recover  out  of  danger,  and  then  fall  into 
the  like  case. 


HOLY  ORDERS   EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  is  holy  order  ? 

A.  It  is  a  sacrament  by  which  the  ministers 
of  Christ  are  consecrated  for  their  sacred  func- 
tions, and  receive  grace  to  discharge  them  well. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  that  holy  orders  are  a 
sacrament  ? 

A.  Because  they  are  a  visible  sign,  instituted 
by  Christ  to  confer  grace.  The  outward  and 
visible  sign  is  found  in  the  imposition  of  the 
bishop's  hands,  and  prayer.  Acts  vi.  6.  et  xiii. 
3.  After  which  manner  we  find  the  seven 
deacons  were   ordained ;    as   also  St.  Paul    and 


St.  Barnabas.  The  invisible  grace  conferred  by 
this  imposition  of  hands,  is  attested  by  St.  Paul, 
in  his  second  epistle  to  Timothy,  where  he 
says.  Stir  up  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  in 
thee,  by  the  imposition  of  my  hands,  chap.  i. 
6.  Hence  it  is  evident,  that  this  sacrament  was 
instituted  by  Christ ;  for  the  apostles,  of  them- 
selves, could  not  annex  the  gift  of  grace  to 
any  outward  sign  or  ceremony. 

Q.  When  did  Christ  institute  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  At  his  last  supper,  when  he  said  to  his 
apostles.    Do  this   in  remembrance  of  me.     St. 


142 


PENANCE   EXPOUNDED. 


Luke  xxii.  19.  And  after  his  resurrection,  he 
confirmed  it  with  a  new  power,  when,  breathing 
on  them,  he  said,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost; 
whose  sins  you  shall  forgave,  they  are  forgiven 
them ;  and  whose  sins  you  shall  retain,  they 
are  retained.  St.  John  xx.  22,  23.  These  two 
powers  being  the  essential  parts  of  priesthood, 
viz. :  To  concentrate  and  oflFer  the  unbloody  sacri- 
fice of  his  body  and  blood,  and  to  forgive  sins. 

Q.  Who  is  the  minister  of  this   sacrament? 

A.  A  bishop  onl}-,  as  it  is  defined  in  the 
council  of  Trent.*  Hence  it  says,  confirming 
and  ordaining  is  not  common  to  priests. 
Titus  i.  5. 

Q.  Can  any  bishop  confer  orders  ? 

A.  Heretics  and  schismatics  may  validly,  but 
not  lawfully,  ordain ;  yet,  by  the  decree  of  the 
council  of  Trent,  no  alien  bishop  can  ordain 
priests,  without  dismissory  letters  from  the 
proper  bishop. 

Q.  To  whom  does  the  right  of  mission,  voca- 
tion, and  election,  of  the  ministry,  belong  ? 

A.  To  the  pastors  of  the  church,  viz.:  The 
bishops  and  the  pope. 

Q.  But  suppose  some  should  pretend,  as  the 
first  reformers  did,  to  an  extraordinary  calling 
or  mission. 

A.  Let  them  prove  their  extraordinary  mission 
from  God,  by  some  miracles  or  the  like,  and 
then  they  say  something  to  the  purpose. 

Q.  Is  it  not  lawful  for  any  one  to  take  upon 
him  priestly  power,  without  the  ordination  of 
the  Catholic  Church  ? 

A.  No,  it  is  not;  because  it  is  usurping  a 
power,  which  no  ways  belongs  to  them ;  which 
we  find  has  been  severely  chastised  b}'  Almighty 
God,  in  the  person  of  Ozias,  as  also  in  the  per- 
sons of  Core,  Dathan,  and  Abiram ;  2  Paral. 
xxvi.  19;  Numb.  xvi.  32,  etc. 

Q.  What  need  is  there  for  ordaining  those 
w'ho  have  already  the  spirit  of  God  in  them,  viz.: 
The  inward  unction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
of  itself  sufficiently  authorizes  any  one  to 
administer  and  preach  the  word  of  God  with- 
out anv  further  ceremony  ? 

*Sess.  xxiii.  Can.  vii. 


A.  This  doctrine  was  unheard  of  in  the 
Church,  whilst  it  was  governed  by  the  Apostles  ; 
for,  in  those  times,  we  read,  that  bishops,  priests, 
and  deacons,  were  constantly  ordained  by  the 
imposition  of  hands ;  nor  was  it  lawful  for  any 
one  to  presume  to  preach,  and  administer  the 
sacraments,  unless  he  were  first  so  ordained, 
and  sent  by  the  lawful  pastors  of  the  Church. 
Acts  xiv.  23 ;  I  Tim.  iv.  14.  Nay,  even  St. 
Paul  and  St.  Barnabas,  though  they  were  imme- 
diately called  to  the  apostleship  by  God  himself, 
as  the  Scripture  testifies ;  yet  we  see  they  were 
afterwards  ordained  with  the  iisual  ceremony  of 
laying  on  hands.  Acts  ix.  15 ;  Acts  xiii.  2. 
This  extraordinary  example,  recorded  in  holy 
writ  is  a  most  convincing  proof  that  ordination 
is  indispensably  necessary,  to  all  who  enter  into 
the  sacred  ministry,  since  St.  Paul  himself  \<"as  not 
excepted,  who,  if  he  had  not  been  ordained,  had 
not  partaken  of  the  priesthood.  It  is  therefore 
a  high  and  sacrilegious  presumption,  for  any 
man  to  take  upon  him  to  preach  the  gospel,  to 
administer  the  sacraments,  and  have  the  care 
of  souls;  unless  he  is  first  ordained,  and  sent 
by  those  who  were  ordained,  by  lawful  pastors 
in  the  Church,  before  him,  according  to  the 
sacrament  which  Christ  has  instituted  for  that 
purpose,  verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that 
entereth  not  by  the  door,  into  the  sheepfold, 
but  climbeth  up  some  other  way,  the  same  is 
a  thief  and  a  robber.  St.  John  x.  i.  Now  it  is 
evident,  that  none  but  the  bishops  and  priests 
of  the  Catholic  Church  derived  their  ordination 
and  mission  from  the  Apostles  ;  and  that  the 
pastors  of  all  other  churches  have  climbed  up 
into  the  fold  by  another  way. 

Q.  What  and  how  many  are  the  conditions 
necessary  for  him  who  is  to  receive  holy 
orders  ? 

A.  There  are  five  principal  ones. 

Q.  Which  is  the  first  ? 

A.  That  he  be  called  by  God,  as  Aaron  was. 
I  Heb.  V.  4.  So  that  he  must  not  choose  this 
holy  state,  of  his  own  head. 

Q.  How  shall  a  person  know  whether  he  be 
called  by  God? 


PENANCE  EXPOUNDED. 


143 


A.  If  he  has  the  conditions  we  are  going  to 
speak  of;  and  if  his  spiritual  director,  after  a 
due  trial,  councils  or  advises  him  to  it,  then  he 
ma}'-  well  presume  he  is  called  by  God  :  yet,  after 
all,  he  ought  to  fear  and  tremble ;  for  Judas, 
though  he  was  called  by  God  himself,  was  mis- 
erably lost.  St.  Matthew   x.  4;  John   xvii.  12. 

Q.  Is  it  not  sufficient  that  he  has  a  great 
desire  to  be  of  the  Church,  and  that  his  par- 
ents design  him  for  it  ? 

A.  No ;  for  it  often  happens  that  this  great 
desire  comes  not  from  God,  but  either  from 
the  love  of  idleness  and  ease,  or  from  an 
expectation  of  gaining  honor  and  esteem  in 
the  world,  or  from  some  other  disorderly  pas- 
sion, which  deserves  the  curse  of  God.  As  for 
parents,  they  are  often  as  worldly  and  as  vain 
as  their  children ;  moreover,  they  are  commonly 
ignorant  of  the  obligations  of  a  churchman, 
and  of  the  dangers  of  this  high  calling  ;  so  that, 
as  our  Saviour  said  to  the  children  of  Zebe- 
dee  and  their  mother,  they  know  not  what 
they  ask.    St.  Matt.  xx.  22. 

Q.  What  is  the  second  condition  ? 

A.  A  resolution  and  sincere  desire  of  spend- 
ing his  health  and  life,  in  promoting  the  glory 
of  God,  and  in  working  out  his  own  salvation, 
and  that  of  his  neighbors. 

Q.  What  is  the  third  condition  ? 

A.  An  honest,  virtuous,  and  exemplary  life.* 

Q.  What  is  the  fourth  condition  ? 

A.  He  must  be  free  even  from  all  hidden 
mortal  sins,  at  least  for  a  long  time  before  he 
receives  this  sacrament,  and  be  in  love  and 
peace  with  God  and  man ;  for  it  is  to  the  min- 
isters of  the  Church,  God  spoke,  saying,  Be 
ye  clean,  who  carry  the  vessels  of  the  Lord. 
Levit.  xxi.  8. 

Q.  What  is  the  fifth  condition  ? 

A.  A  learning  and  knowledge  enough  to  in- 
struct and  guide  others,  both  by  word  and  ex- 
ample, according  to  the  law  of  God  and  his 
Church ;  for  God  warns  the  ignorant,  saying, 
Because  thou  hast  rejected  knowledge,  I  will 
aLso  reject  thee,  that  thou  shalt  not  be  a  priest 

*  See  Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  xziii.  Cap.  xii. 


to  me.  Ose.  iv.  6.  And  it  is  to  the  ministers 
of  the  Church  Christ  says,  You  are  the  light 
of  the  world.  Let  your  light  shine  before  men, 
that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify 
your  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  St.  Matt.  v.  13, 
14.  See  the  epistle  of  Pope  Benedict,  Dec.  14, 
1740. 

Q.  Which  are  the  virtues  that  are  most  requi- 
site in  those  persons  who  aspire  to  the  ecclesi- 
astical  state  ? 

A.  The  spirit  or  love  of  prayer,  chastity, 
temperance,  prudence,  humility,  contempt  of 
the  world,  patience  in  adversity,  fortitude,  or 
strength  of  mind,  love  of  retirement,  to  be 
laborious,  and  given  to  study,  i  Timothy  iii.;  12 
Timothy  iii. 

Q.  What  persons  are  incapable  of  receiving 
holy  orders  ? 

A.  All  those  who  are  not  baptized,  all  her- 
maphrodites, and  all  women.  I  permit  not  a 
woman  to  teach,  says  St.  Paul,  i  Tim.  ii.  12; 
I  Cor.  xiv.  34.  Hence  the  Pepusiani,  who  or- 
dained women,  were  declared  heretics,  as  St. 
Epiphanius  gives  an  account. 

Q.  How  many  orders  are  there  ? 

A.  Only  one  total,  but  seven  partial,  which 
makes  but  one  sacrament  of  ordination ;  for 
they  have  all  a  reference  to,  and  are  included 
in,  priesthood. 

Q.  How  are  they  called  ? 

A.  Priest,  deacon,  sub-deacon,  acolyth,  exor- 
cist, lector,  and  porter. 

Q.  Why  are  not  bishops  reckoned  among  the 
rest? 

A.  If  you  reckon  episcopacy,  then  indeed 
there  are  eight  orders ;  but  commonly  it  is  not 
named  with  the  rest,  because  it  is  an  eminent 
degree,  which  surpasseth  them  all,  as  being  the 
source  from  whence  all  the  rest  are  derived ;  for 
they  all  proceed  from  it,  and  end  in  it;  and  as, 
in  a  kingdom,  the  king  is  not  reckoned  in  the 
number  of  the  officers  that  govern  under  him, 
because  his  power  is  transcendent,  and  runs 
through  all  the  magistrates  of  the  kingdom ;  so, 
in  like  manner,  the  bishop  is  not  ordinarily 
reckoned  in  the  number  of  the  other  orders,  for 


144 


PENANCE   EXPOUNDED. 


he  is  iu  his  Church,  as  the  king  in  his  kingdom, 
the  prince  and  head  of  all  ecclesiastical  hier- 
archy, or  holy  principality. 

Q.  What  is  the  respective  function  of  each 
order  ? 

A.  The  office  or  function  of  a  priest  is  to 
consecrate,  or  offer  sacrifice,  to  forgive  sins,  ad- 
minister the  sacraments,  and  preach  God's  word, 
etc.  A  deacon  is  to  assist  the  bishop  or  priest 
in  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  to  read  the  gospel, 
etc.  A  sub-deacon  offers  the  sacred  vessels  to 
the  deacon,  and  reads  the  epistle,  etc.  An 
acolyth  prepares  the  cruets,  and  carries  the  lights, 
etc.  An  exorcist  reads  the  exorcisms,  to  ex- 
pel the  devil,  etc.  A  lector  reads  the  prophecies, 
etc.  A  porter  takes  care  to  admit  none  but  the 
faithful  into  the  Church,  and  keeps  the  Church 
decent. 

Q.  Why  are  some  orders  called  lesser,  others 
greater  ?  and  which  be  they  ? 

A.  The  greater  orders  are  priesthood,  deacon, 
and  sub-deacon  :  and  they  are  so  called,  because 
they  regard  the  sacrifice  immediately ;  the  others 
lesser,  because  more  remotely. 

Q.  Are  all  the  orders  called  holy  ? 

A.  No ;  only  the  greater,  for  the  reason  given. 

Q.  What  is  a  hierarchy  ? 

A.  It  is  a  holy  government   of   sacred  min- 


isters, viz.:  Bishops,  priests  and  ministers,  in- 
stituted by  Christ,  for  the  sauctification  of 
mankind.* 

Q.  Are  the  ministers  all  equal  ? 

A.  No ;  the  pope  is  by  divine  right  the  head, 
and  bishops  are  by  divine  right  above  priests, 
both  by  the  power  of  order  and  jurisdiction ; 
that  is,  a  bishop  can  ordain,  and  confirm,  and 
demand  obedience  over  priests.  See  St.  Matt. 
xvi.  i8,  19;  St.  John  xxi.  15;  St.  Luke  xxii. 
Philipp.  i.  I ;  I  Tim.  iii.  2  ;  Tit.  i.  7 ;  Acts  xx.  28. 

Q.  Does  not  St.  Hierome  say,  that  bishops  and 
priests  are  the  same  ? 

A.  No ;  on  the  contrary,  he  expressly  says, 
priests  cannot  ordain :  indeed  he  says,  in  the 
beginning  they  were  promiscuously  styled 
presbyters,  or  seniors,  in  the  Scriptures ;  and 
moreover,  that  simple  priests  had  a  share  in 
jurisdiction;  but  not  that  simple  priests  could 
claim  jurisdiction,  by  divine  right.  Hence,  the 
Arians  were  declared  heretics,  for  making  priests 
and  bishops  equal. 

Q.  What  is  the  proper  function  of  a  bishop  ? 

,A.  To  govern  in  chief;  to  chastise  the  wicked 
and  disobedient,  by  excommunicating  them  ;  to 
preach  and  exhort ;  to  administer  the  sacraments 
of  confirmation,  and  holy  orders. 


MATRIMONY  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  is  matrimony  ? 

A.  It  is  a  lawful  contract  between  a  man  and 
a  woman,  whereby  they  deliver  up  a  right  to 
each  other's  bodies,  in  order  t6  propagate  their 
species. 

Q.  When  was  this  contract  first  instituted  ? 

A.  It  was  first  instituted  by  Almighty  God, 
between  our  first  parents  in  the  earthly  paradise, 
Gen.  ii.  And  this  institution  was  confirmed  by 
Jesus  Christ,  in  the  New  Testament,  where  he 
says.  What  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no 
man  put  asunder,  St.  Matt.  xix.  4,  5,  6.  And 
our  blessed  Saviour,  in  order  to  show  that  this 


state  is  holy,  and  not  to  be  condemned,  or 
despised,  was  pleased  to  honor  it  with  his  first 
miracle  wrought  at  the  marriage  of  Cana  in 
Galilee  ;  St.  John  ii. 

Q.  For  what  end  was  matrimony  instituted  ? 

A.  For  the  procreation  of  children,  which 
may  serve  God  here,  and  people  heaven  here- 
after; as  also  for  a  remedy  against  concupis- 
cence: and  for  the  benefit  of  conjugal  society, 
that  man  and  wife  may  mutually  help  one 
another,  and  contribute  to  one  another's  salvation. 

Q.  Is  matrimony  a  sacrament  ? 

*Conc.  Trid.  Sess.  xxiii.  Can.  vi. 


PENANCE  EXPOUNDED. 


145 


A.  Yes. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  it  to  be  a  sacra- 
ment ? 

A.  Because  it  is  a  conjunction  made  and 
sanctified  by  God  himself,  and  not  to  be  dis- 
solved by  any  power  of  man ;  as  being  a  sacred 
sign,  or  mysterious  representation,  of  the  indis- 
soluble union  of  Christ  and  his  Church.  Hence, 
St.  Paul  expressly  calls  it  a  great  sacrament, 
Eph.  V.  3 1,  32  ;  or  mystery  ;  with  regard  to  Christ 
and  his  Church.  And  the  holy  fathers  all  agree, 
it  confers  grace  for  the  purposes  above  men- 
tioned ;  see  St.  Ambrose,  and  St.  Augustine.* 

Q.  Was  matrimony  always  a  sacrament  ? 

A.  No ;  not  till  it  was  elevated  to  that  dignity, 
by  Christ  in  the  law  of  grace. 

Q.  Is  marriage  between  Jews  and  infidels,  and 
persons  unbaptized,  a  sacrament  ? 

A.  No :  yet  it  is  a  natural  contract  among 
them,  aud  obliges  the  parties  as  such. 

Q.  What  is  the  matter  and  form  of  this  sacra- 
ment ? 

A.  As  the  Church  has  not  decided  this  point, 
there  are  two  opinions  concerning  it :  the  one 
is,  that  the  matter  is  the  mutual  delivery  of 
their  bodies ;  and  the  form,  the  words,  or  out- 
ward signs,  whereby  this  delivery  is  accepted. 
Others,  especially  Melchior  Cano,  Estius,  and 
Sylvius,  think  the  delivery,  or  contract,  to  be 
the  matter ;  but  the  form  to  be  the  words  of  the 
priest,  I  join  you  together  in  matrimony,  etc., 
or  some  other  words  equivalent.  Now,  the  differ- 
ence in  these  opinions  is ;  the  former  make  the 
contractors  to  be  the  ministers  of  the  sacrament. 
But  the  latter  make  the  priest  to  be  the  minis- 
ter of  the  sacrament,  and  the  contractors  only 
ministers  of  the  civil  contract. 

Q.  What  is  the  effect  of  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  It  gives  a  special  grace  for  the  religious 
educating  of  children,  and  bearing  with  the 
difiiculties,  and  complying  with  the  obligations 
of  the  state,  and  to  be  faithful  and  loving  to 
each  other. 

Q.  How  comes    it    then,    that  so  many  mar- 

*  St.  Amb.  L.  i.  de  Abra.  C.  7.  St.  Aug.  L.  de  bono  Conitto.  C 
18,  et  h.  de  Nup.  et  Core.  C.  10. 
10 


riages   are  unhappy,  if  matrimony  be  a  sacra- 
ment which  gives  so  great  a  grace  ? 

A.  Because,  the  greatest  part  do  not  receive 
it  in  the  dispositions  they  ought :  they  consult 
not  God  in  their  choice,  but  only  their  own 
lust  or  temporal  interest;  they  prepare  not 
themselves  for  it,  by  putting  themselves  in  the 
state  of  grace ;  and  too  often  are  guilty  of 
freedoms  before  marriage,  which  are  not  allow- 
able by  the  law  of  God. 

Q.  In  what  dispositions  ought  persons  to 
receive  this  sacrament  ? 

A.  They  ought  to  be  in  the  state  of  grace, 
by  confession ;  their  intention  ought  to  be  pure, 
viz. :  To  embrace  this  holy  state  for  the  ends 
for  which  God  instituted  it ;  and  if  they  be 
under  the  care  of  parents,  etc.,  they  ought  to 
consult  them,  and  do  nothing  in  this  kind 
without  their  consent. 

Q.  What  are  the  obligations  of  the  married 
couple  ? 

A.  First,  to  be  united  and  live  together 
during  life  ;  St.  Mark  x.  Secondly,  to  be  faith- 
ful to  one  another,  as  they  have  promised  in 
marriage;  i  Corinthians  vii.  4,  etc.  Thirdly, 
to  assist  one  another  in  their  distress ;  to  bear 
patiently  the  indiscretion,  weakness  and  bur- 
dens of  each  other ;  Galatians  vi.  2  ;  Colossians 
iii.  Fourthly,  to  get  their  children  baptized  as 
.soon  as  possible;  and  to  instruct  and  bring 
them  up  Christian-like ;  Ephesians  vi.  Fifthly, 
to  give  good  example  to  their  children,  and  to 
their  whole  family,  and  to  engage  all  to  serve 
God,  and  pray  to  him,  especially  morning  and 
evening ;  2  Corinthians  xii.  14.  Hence,  all 
jealousies,  bitterness,  hatred,  reproaches,  con- 
tentions, scolding,  fretfulness,  abuses  and  ex- 
cessive love  of  their  children  and  the  world, 
are  to  be  avoided ;  as  also,  all  immoderate 
affection,  without  reason  or  decency,  for  one 
another,  whereby  they  make  slight  account  of 
the  law  and  love  of  God;  St.  Peter  iii.  i. 
Again,  the  wife  is  obliged  to  be  submissive, 
and  obedient  to  her  husband  in  all  things  that 
are  not  contrar^^  to  the  law  of  God ;  for  the 
man    is   the    head  of  the  woman,    as  Christ  is 


146 


PENANCE   EXPOUNDED. 


the  head  of  the  Church;  Ephesians  v.  She 
must  likewise  be  careful  that  she  does  not 
miscarry  through  her  own  fault ;  nor  must  she 
let  the  infant  sleep  in  the  same  bed  with  her, 
or  its  nurse,  for  the  space  of  a  twelve  month, 
for  fear  it  should  be  overlaid;  Rom.  Rit.  The 
husband  is  obliged  to  be  loving  and  careful  of 
his  wife,  and  provide  for  her  and  his  family ; 
Ephesians  v.  28,  etc. 

Q.  Can  man  and  wife  separate  or  break  the 
marriage  contract,  so  as  to  be  at  liberty  to 
marry  another? 

A.  There  are  several  cases  wherein  they  may 
separate,  as  to  cohabitation,  with  the  approba- 
tion of  the  Church ;  but  the  contract  can  never 
be  broke  or  annulled,  so  as  to  have  liberty  to 
marry  again,  as  the  council  of  Trent  has 
defined  against  late  heretics,  who  allow  of 
parting  and  re-marrying,  in  case  of  adultery.* 

Q.  Can  marriage  be  dissolved  (quoad  vincu- 
lum) by  a  person's  entering  into  religion  ? 

A.  The  council  of  Trent  f  has  declared,  that 
if  the  marriage  be  not  consummated,  it  may  be 
annulled,  by  entering  into  religion ;  and  the 
reason  is,  because,  as  yet,  they  are  not  one 
flesh. 

Q.  Were  not  the  Jews  accustomed  to  break 
the  marriage  contract,  and  marry  again  ? 

A.  Such  a  custom  was  permitted  by  their 
law,  (upon  account  of  the  hardness  of  their 
hearts,)  St.  Matthew  xix.  8,  and  a  bill  of 
divorce  granted  in  some  cases ;  but  they 
abused  the  law,  extending  it  to  cases  not 
allowed  of;  besides,  it  was  not  approved  of, 
but  only  permitted  by  divine  appointment; 
however,  our  Saviour  recalled  that  law;  St. 
Mark  x. 

Q.  Is  it  lawful  to  have  more  wives  than  one  ? 

A.  No;  for  it  is  expressly  forbid  by  the  law 
of  God.  See  St.  Matt,  xix.;  St.  Mark  x.;  St. 
Luke  xvi.  ;    i  Cor.  vi. 

Q.  Did  not  the  ancient  patriarchs  keep 
several  wives  at  the  same  time  ? 

A.  This  was  done  by. divine  dispensation,  as 

*  Sess.  xxiv.  de  ref.  matr. 
t  Sess.  zxiv.  initio. 


the  council  of  Trent  (following  St.  Augustine, 
etc.,)  declares.  Polygamy  not  being  against 
a  first,  but  only  a  secondary  precept  of  the  law 
of  nature,  which  God  can  dispense  with.  How- 
ever, it  never  was  permitted  for  a  woman  to 
have  more  husbands  than  one,  this  being 
against  the  first  precept  of  the  law  of  nature, 
viz. :  The  procreation  of  children,  which  would 
be  obstructed  thereby. 

Q.  Are  all  persons  qualified  to  enter  into 
the  contract  of  marriage  ? 

A.  No ;  because  sometimes  the  contract  may 
be  against  the  law  of  nature,  the  law  of  God, 
and  human  laws,  both  civil  and    ecclesiastical. 

Q.  Is  the  contract  void  where  persons  lie 
under  incapacity  from  those  laws  ? 

A.  Impediments  are  of  two  kinds,  some 
annul  the  contract ;  others  only  render  the 
contract  unlawful. 

Q.  Has  the  Church  power  to  appoint  those 
impediments  ? 

A.  Yes ;  for  so  it  is  expressly  defined  in  the 
council  of  Trent.* 

Q.  Which  are  the  chief  impediments  render- 
ing the  contract  of  marriage  illegal  ? 

A.  A  simple  vow  of  chastity,  or  to  become 
religious.  Secondly,  espousals  with  another, 
or  a  mutual  promise  of  future  marriage. 
Thirdly,  to  solemnize  marriage  on  days  pro- 
hibited by  the  Church. 

Q.  In  what  cases   are  espousals  dissolvable  ? 

A.  By  mutual  cbnsent ;  by  marriage ;  by 
entrance  into  religion ;  a  long  absence,  not 
returning  at  the  time  appointed,  or  thereabouts  ; 
want  of  age ;  afiinity  or  consanguinity  super- 
vening ;  a  notable  deformity  of  body  happening 
after ;  fornication,  heresy  supervening ;  if  any 
condition  promised  is  not  fulfilled ;  a  capital 
crime ;  holy  orders ;  an  insupportable  cruel 
temper ;  if  anything  happens  after,  which 
would  have  hindered  the  promise.  Yet  in  all 
these  cases  the  Church  is  to  be  consulted. 


*  Sess.  xxiv.  Can.  iv.  de  matr. 


PENANCE  EXPOUNDED. 


147 


Q.  At  what  time  is  marriage  prohibited  by 
the  Church? 

A.  From  the  first  Sunday  in  Advent,  till  the 
Epiphany,  or  Twelfth-Day  be  past ;  or  from 
Ash- Wednesday,  till  after  Low-Sunday.* 

Q.  Which  are  the  chief  impediments  that 
render  the  contract  of  marriage  null  ? 

A.  Holy  orders,  or  solemn  profession  in  any 
religious  order ;  or  if  the  contract  is  between 
persons  a-kin,  either  in  afl&nity  or  consan- 
guinity, viz.  :  Within  the  fourth  degree  :  again, 
if  either  party  be  not  baptized;  as  also  clandes- 
tined  marriages,  that  is  without  the  parish 
priest  or  one  deputed  by  him,  and  at  least  two 
witnesses,  but  this  is  only  an  impediment  where 
the  council  of  Trent  is  received.f 

Q.  How  far  is  the  consent  of  parents  requi- 
site in  marriage  ? 

A.  It  is  a  great  sin  to  marry  without  their 
knowledge  and  consent,  unless  there  be  plain 
reasons  not  to  ask  it:  for  the  Scripture  every 
where  mentions,  parents  giving  their  children 
in  marriage.  However,  the  council  of  Trent 
has  decreed,  that  marriage  without  their  con- 
sent is  valid.J 

Q.  Does  the  Catholic  Church  allow  those  of 

*  Con.  Trid.  Sess.  xxiv.  de  reform,  matr.  C.  x. 
t  Sess.  xxiv.  de  reform,  matr.  Cap.  i. 
{Sess.  xxiv,  de  reform,  matr.  Cap,  L 


her  communion  to    marry    with  those  who  are 
of  a  different  communion  ? 

A.  She  has  often  prohibited  such  marriages, 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  councils  of  Illiberis, 
Laodica,  Chalcedon,  Agde,*  etc.  And  the  rea- 
son is,  first,  because  she  would  not  have  her 
children  communicate  in  sacred  things,  such 
as  matrimony  is,  with  those  that  are  out  of  her 
communion.  Secondly,  because  such  marriages 
are  apt  to  give  occasion  to  disturbances  in 
families,  whilst  one  of  the  parties  draws  one 
way,  and  the  other  another.  Thirdly,  because 
there  is  a  danger  of  the  Catholic  party  being 
perverted,  or  at  least  of  not  being  allowed  the 
free  exercise  of  religion.  Fourthly,  because 
there  is  a  danger  of  the  children  being  brought 
up  in  error,  of  which  we  have  seen  several  bad 
instances.  However,  sometimes,  and  in  some 
places,  the  pastors  of  the  Church  for  weighty 
reasons  have  been  forced  to  dispense  with  this 
law,  and  tolerate  such  marriages.  But  it  is  to 
be  observed,  that  these  bargains  are  by  no 
means  to  be  allowed  of,  by  which  the  contract- 
ing parties  agree  to  have  the  boys  brought  up 
in  the  religion  of  the  father,  and  the  girls  to 
follow  the  mother;  for  God  and  his  Church 
will  have  no  such  division,  nor  give  up  their 
right  to  any  one. 

*See  Concil.  IIH.  Can.  xvi.  Laodi.  Can.  x.  Chal.  Can.  xiv.  Agd« 
Can.  Ixvii. 


XPOUNDING 


^ 


OP"    SIN 


Q.  What  is  sin  ? 

A.  It  is  defined  by  St.  Augustine  to  be  any 
tbought,  word,  or  deed,  against  the  law  of  God*; 
which  includes  all  sins  of  omission,  which  are 
interpreted  in  an  affirmative  sense.  It  also 
includes  all  human  laws,  civil  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal, which  are  God's  laws  radically  ;  for  as  St. 
Paul  sa5's,  he  who  resisteth  power,  resisteth  the 
ordinance  of  God.     Rom.  xiii.  2. 

Q.  Is  it  necessarj'  to  avoid  sin  above  all 
things,  and  why  ? 

A.  Yes,  it  is  necessary ;  and  the  reason  is, 
because  it  is  sin  alone  that  makes  us  enemies 
to  God,  and  damns  us  eternally.  Jer.  ii.  19.  i 
Jo.  iii.  6,  etc. 

Q.  What  is  required  to  make  an  action 
sinful  ? 

A.  It  must  be  voluntary,  and  it  is  said  to  be 
voluntary,  when  it  proceeds  from  knowledge 
and  deliberation,  and  without  force.  For 
instance,  the  actions  of  children  and  madmen, 
and  of  one  dragged  to  idolatry,  are  not  volun- 
tary. 

Q.  What  kind  of  fear  mitigates  sin,  and  how 
shall  it  be  known  ? 

A.  The  fear  of  great  evil,  as  death,  etc., 
whereby   persons    of  the  strongest  resolutions, 

*L.  22.  cont  Faust,  C.  xxvii. 


are  driven  to  evil  actions.  But  there  is  a  dif- 
ference between  the  law  of  nature,  and  divine 
positive  laws ;  human  laws,  Ecclesiastical  and 
civil.  In  the  latter,  viz. :  Ecclesiastical  and 
civil,  the  fear  of  death,  or  some  great  evil,  may 
commonly  excuse  the  offender  totally,  but  not  in 
the  two  first.  I  say  commonly,  for  if  the  public 
good  be  concerned,  he  is  not  excused.  For 
instance,  a  soldier  cannot  desert  his  post ;  nor 
can  a  Catholic  eat  flesh  on  prohibited  days, 
when  the  honor  of  the  church  is  concerned. 

Q.  Does  concupiscence  render  an  action  in- 
voluntary ? 

A.  No,  it  rather  increases  it. 

Q.  When  does  ignorance  make  an  action 
involuntarj'  ? 

A.  In  three  cases,  viz. :  When  we  are  not 
obliged  to  know ;  when  not  affected ;  when 
otherwise  we  should  not  have  done  the  action. 

Q.  What  things  are  to  be  considered  to  know 
the  nature  of  moral  action  ? 

A.  Several,  viz.  :  Knowledge,  will,  intention, 
election  or  choice,  council,  consent  and  fact. 

Q.  How  many  sorts  of  moral  actions  are 
there,  and  how  known  ? 

A.  In  general  two,  good  and  bad ;  which  are 
known  by  their  object,  end,  and  circumstances, 
so  that  no  action  is  indiflferent  (in  individuo). 


(148) 


EXPOUNDING  OF  SIN. 


149 


Q.  Pray  tell  me  how  many  kinds  of  sins 
there  are? 

A.  Two,  viz.  :  Original  and  actual. 

Q.  What  is  original  sin,  and  which  are  the 
evils  we  suflfer  by  it  ? 

A.  Original  sin,  is  the  sin  in  which  we  are 
all  born,  through  the  disobedience  of  our  first 
father  Adam.  Rom.  v.  12.  Eph.  ii.  3.  The 
evils  which  proceed  from  it,  are  death,  sickness, 
labor,  and  inclination  and  facility  to  do  evil,  a 
slackness  and  difi&culty  to  do  good  ;  and  lastly, 
an  eternal  loss  of  heaven,  unless  we  are 
cleansed  by  baptism.     St.  Jo.  iii.  5. 

Q.  What  is  actual  sin  ? 

A.  It  is  the  sin  we  commit  ourselves,  such 
as  cursing,  swearing,  lying,  stealing,  etc. 

Q.   How  many  ways  is  actual  sin  committed  ? 

A.  Several,  viz. :  By  thoughts,  words,  deeds, 
or  actions ;  by  infirmity,  ignorance,  malice, 
omission,  etc. 

Q.  How  many  kinds  of  actual  sins  are  there  ? 

A.  Two,  mortal  and  venial. 

Q.  What  is  mortal  sin  ? 

A.  It  is  a  sin  whereby  we  lose  the  grace  and 
love  of  God,  and  make  ourselves  liable  to  eternal 
damnation.     St.  James  i.  15. 

Q.  Why  is  it  called  mortal  sin? 

A.  Because  it  kills  the  soul. 

Q.  How  can  that  be  since  the  soul  is  im- 
mortal ? 

A.  Because,  as  I  said  before,  by  mortal  sin 
the  soul  loses  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  its 
spiritual  life ;  and  makes  itself  guilty  of  the 
eternal  flames  of  hell,  which  is  the  worst  of 
death.     Rom.  viii.  9  et  10.      Psalm  xxxiii.  22. 

Q.  Can  a  person  be  damned  for  only  one  mortal 
sin  ? 

A.  Yes,  certainly;  for  the  devils  have  been 
damned  for  one  bad  thought. 

Q.  What  is  venial  sin? 

A.  It  is  a  much  less  offence,  whereby  the  grace 
of  God  is  not  lost;  but  it  lessens  his  love  in 
our  hearts.  Prov.  xxiv.  16.  St.  Matthew  xii. 
36. 

Q.  What  rules  can  you  give  that  we  may 
know  mortal  sins  from  venial  ? 


A.  The  principal  rules  are  these.  First, 
mortal  sins  are  marked  in  the  Scripture  by  the 
word  wo,  the  threats  of  deserving  death,  eternal 
pain,  excluding  from  heaven,  etc.  Secondly,  the 
opinion  of  the  fathers  and  divines,  when  they 
all  agree;  and  when  they  diff"er  to  follow  the 
safer  part.  The  third  general  rule,  is  reason, 
viz.:  When  the  dishonor  done  to  God,  and 
injury  to  our  neighbor,  is  notoriously  against 
the  love  of  God  and  charit}'. 

Q.  What  consideration  may  induce  us  to 
judge  sins  are  only  venial? 

A.  Chiefly  two,  viz. :  Surreption  or  surprise, 
and  smallness  or  trifle  of  matter. 

Q.  Can  a  sin  that  is  venial  become  mortal  ? 

A.  No,  because  it  is  a  contradiction.  How- 
ever, venial  sins  dispose  a  person  to  commit 
mortal;  for  as  Ecclesiasticus  tells  us,  C.  xix.  i. 
He  who  contemneth  small  faults,  shall  fall  by 
degrees  into  greater. 

Q.  Can  a  sin  that  is  mortal  of  its  nature, 
be  only  venial  by  accident  ? 

A.  Yes,  in  three  cases  chiefly,  viz.:  To  steal  a 
trifle.  Secondly,  for  want  of  deliberation.  And 
thirdly,  for  want  of  sufi5.cient  use  of  reason,  as 
in  children,  and  persons  half  asleep.* 

Q.  Can  a  sin  that  is  only  venial  of  its  own 
nature,  become  mortal  by  accident  ? 

A.  Yes,  for  instance,  he  who  thinks  a  venial 
to  be  a  mortal  one,  and  yet  commits  it.  Second- 
ly, by  contempt.     Thirdly,  by  danger.f 

Q.  Which  are  the  most  common  venial  sins  ? 

A.  These  following,  viz.:  Idle  words;  small 
excesses  in  eating  or  drinking;  too  much 
pleasure  in  diversions;  jocose  lies,  or  lies  out 
of  excuse;  coming  late  to  prayers;  neglecting 
alms ;  harsh  words ;  and  flattering  speeches ; 
small  thefts;  distractions  in  time  of  prayer  not 
fully  resisted,  etc. 

Q.  Are  we  obliged  to  avoid  venial  sins,  and 
why  ? 

A.  We  ought  undoubtedly ;  and  the  reason 
is,  because  they  are  a  token  of  the  want  of  zeal 
for  God's    service;    they    likewise    weaken    the 

•  See  St  Tho.  i.  2.  Ques.  88.  art.  6  in  Corp. 
t  St.  Tho.  i.  2.  q.  88.  ait.  2.  in  Corp. 


X50 


EXPOUNDING   OF  SIN. 


will,  and  incline  it  to  mortal  sin,  for  a  wound 
neglected  gangrenes,  and  a  garment  torn  is  to 
be  immediately  mended;  besides,  it  diminishes 
tbe  grace  of  God,  and  makes  us  liable  to 
g^evous  torments,  wbich  we  must  suffer  in 
purgator}'  if  we  do  not  make  satisfaction  in 
this  life. 

Q.  Can  venial  sins  be  forgiven  without  the 
(  sacrament  of  penance  ? 

A.  Yes,  by  sacramentals,  viz.:  Holy  water, 
signing  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  alms,  fast- 
ing, etc.  Yet  these  things  suppose  the  per- 
former to  be  in  the  state  of  grace,  that  is  to 
sa}-,  free  from  all  mortal  sin,  and  that  every 
work  is  accompanied  with  inward  devotion,  and 
acts  of  the  mind;  because  the}'  do  not  produce 
their  effects  by  their  own  force. 

Q.  Which  are  the  intrinsic  causes  of  sin  ? 

A.  Ignorance  of  the  understanding;  passion 
of  the  sensitive  appetite,  and  malice  of  the  will. 

Q.  What  is  ignorance,  and  how  does  it  con- 
cur to  sin  ? 

A.  It  is  a  three-fold,  viz.:  Invincible,  affected, 
and  supine. 

Q.  What  is  invincible  ignorance  ? 

A.  When  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  know  a 
thing,  and  it  excuses  from  sin.* 

Q.  What  is  affected  ignorance  ? 

A.  When  a  person  knows  not  a  thing  which 
he  is  obliged  to  know,  and  might  have  known 
it,  but  neglected  it.  This'  does  not  excuse  from 
sin. 

Q.  What  is  supine  ignorance? 

A.  When  a  thing  may  be  known  with  ease. 
This  excuses  not  from  sin. 

Q.  What  are  the  things  we  are  obliged  to 
know? 

A.  First,  all  Christian  or  religious  duties. 
Secondly,  what  belongs  to  our  particular  state 
or  calling. 

Q.  What  is  passion,  and  when  does  it  excuse 
or  aggravate  sin?f 

A.  A   sin  of   passion  is   called   a   sin  of  in- 

*See  St.  Tho.  i.  2.  q.  76,  art.  2.  2.  St.  Aug.  de  Gra.  et  de  Lib. 
Arb.  C.  iii.  n.  5. 

fN.  B. — By  passion,  we  mean  any  strong  or  vehement  emotion  of 
the  soul,  as  inclination,  desire,  etc. 


firraity ;  it  is  grounded  in  self-love.  Passion 
does  not  excuse  from  sin ;  yet  strong  passion 
diminishes  it,  because  it  renders  sin  less  volun- 
tary. If  passion  is  so  violent  as  to  hinder 
reason  entirely,  it  excuses  from  sin.  But  pas- 
sion consequent,  or  which  comes  after  sin, 
aggravates  it;  but  antecedent,  or  going  before, 
diminishes  it. 

Q.  What  is  a  sin  of  malice? 

A.  It  proceeds  from  clear  knowledge,  reflec- 
tion, or  habit,  and  is  a  great  aggravation. 

Q.  What  is  a  sin  of  omission? 

A.  It  is  the  omitting  to  do  what  God  or  his 
church  commands  ;  as  for  example,  if  a  rich  per- 
son neglects  to  give  alms,  or  any  one  should 
neglect  to  say  his  daily  prayers,  or  neglect  to 
hear  mass  when  he  can,  upon  a  Sunday,  etc. 

Q.  What  is  a  circumstance,  and  how  many 
circumstances  are  there  ? 

A.  It  is  something  belonging  to  an  action, 
but  not  of  its  substance.  Aristotle  and  St. 
Thomas  name  several,  viz. :  Who,  what,  where, 
with  what  help,  why,  how,  when.  Who,  denotes 
the  person,  as  whether  a  religious  man  or  lay- 
man, a  relation  or  otherwise,  a  married  person 
or  single.  This  circumstance  is  to  be  declared 
in  sins  of  impurity,  murder,  etc.  What,  denotes 
the  quantity,  as  how  much,  or  whether  conse- 
crated or  not.  This  circumstance  is  to  be  de- 
clared in  sins  of  theft.  Where,  denotes  the 
place,  as  whether  in  the  church,  or  any  other 
sacred  place:  this  circumstance  is  to  be  declared 
in  sins  of  theft,  murder  and  carnal  sins  in  fact. 
With  what  help,  denotes  the  scandal  given,  where- 
by others  might  be  in  danger  of  being  drawn  into 
sin,  or  whereby  God  may  be  dishonored,  and  his 
church  brought  into  contempt :  this  circumstance 
chiefly  regards  all  public  sins.  Why,  denotes  the 
motive,  intention,  or  end:  this  circumstance  is 
to  be  declared,  when  the  end  of  doing  an  action 
is  a  mortal  sin  in  itself,  as  for  example,  to  steal 
a  sword,  with  a  design  or  intention  to  kill  a 
man  with  it.  How,  denotes  whether  done  out 
of  ignorance  or  knowledge.  When,  denotes  the 
time  how  long.  This  circumstance  properly 
belongs  to  the  sins  of  desire,  anger,  and  ill-will ; 


EXPOUNDING  OF  SIN. 


151 


so  that  persons  should  declare  how  long  they 
continued  in  the  same  dismal  desires,  anger, 
hatred,  and  the  like,  without  interruption. 

Q.  What  circumstances  are  we  obliged  to 
express  in  confession  ? 

A.  All  those  which  change  the  species  or 
nature  of  the  sin,  as  the  council  of  Trent  has 
defined.*  Again,  all  those  circumstances  which 
change  not  the  species,  but  which  very  much 
aggravate,  according  to  the  most  probable  opin. 
ion,  are  to  be  confessed,  viz. :  Stealing  from  the 
indigent,  etc. 

Q.  Whence  do  sins  derive  their  enormity? 

A.  Sins  derive  their  nature  from  the  object ; 
and  the  more  worthy  the  object  that  is  abused, 
the  greater  is  the  sin.  Hence,  sins  imme- 
diately against  God  are  greater  than  those 
against  ourselves  or  neighbors.  Spiritual  sins 
are  greater  than  carnal.  Sins  against  our  neigh- 
bor's soul  are  greater  than  those  against  his 
person  or  goods,  but  this  is  to  be  taken  when 
equally  compared ;  as  the  ruin  of  a  man's  soul 
is  worse  tban  the  destruction  of  his  person  or 
goods.  Again,  the  enormity  may  be  compared 
as  to  the  cause  :  hence  sins  of  malice  exceed  sins 
of  ignorance  and  passion. 


Q.  Which  are  the  degrees  whereby  sins  are 
committed  ? 

A.  These  four,  viz.:  Suggestion,  delectation, 
consent,  and  fact. 

Q.  What  is  suggestion,  and  how  far  sinful? 

A.  Suggestion  is  the  first  impression  of  a  temp- 
tation :  it  is  not  sinful  if  only  resisted.  In 
carnal  sins,  it  is  often  a  venial  sin,  especially 
when  occasion  is  given  to  it  by  dangerous 
objects. 

Q.  What  is  delectation  ? 

A.  It  is  to  take  pleasure  in  thinking  on 
what  is  sinful,  though  there  be  no  consent  to 
commit  the  fact.  If  the  fact  be  a  mortal  sin, 
the  delectation  is  a  mortal  sin :  if  the  fact  be 
venial,  the  delectation  is  only  venial.  This 
delectation  commonly  happens  in  sins  of  the 
flesh,  envy,  anger,  revenge,  etc.  Now  this 
delectation  may  happen  two  ways,  by  taking  a 
pleasure  in  the  thought,  or  in  the  thing  itself, 
and  by  consenting  to  the  pleasure.  When 
there  is  delectation  in  the  pleasure,  it  is  called 
morosa,  and  is  accompanied  with  consent,  viz.: 
In  the  voluntary  delight. 

Q.  What  is  consent  ? 

A,  When  a  person  resolves  to  commit  the  sin. 


THE  SEVEN   DEADLY  SINS   EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Which  are  the  seven  deadly  or  capital  sins  ? 

A.  Pride,  covetousness,  luxury,  envy,  glut- 
tony, anger,  sloth. 

Q.  Why  are  they  called  deadly  or  capital  sins  ? 

A.  Because  they  are  the  source  and  root  of 
all  other  sins. 

Q.  What  is  pride ;    and  is  it  a  great  sin  ? 

A.  It  is  an  inordinate  desire  of  esteem,  and 
being  above  others,  viz.:  To  think  we  have  good 
from  ourselves ;  to  think  we  have  good  from 
another,  but  by  our  own  merits ;  to  pretend  to 
have  what  we  have  not.  By  pretending  to 
have  things,  so  as  to  despise  others,  as  if  they 
*Sess.  xxiv.  C.  V.  et  Can.  vii. 


had  them  not.  There  is  not  a  sin  more  griev- 
ous or  more  dangerous ;  for  it  is  the  sin  of  the 
fallen  angels  ;  and  of  the  first  man.  It  is  the 
sin  which  we  have  the  greatest  difficulty  to 
preserve  ourselves  from ;  and  the  last  we  over- 
come. Eccle.  X.  7.  I  Pet.  V.  5.  Isa.  xiv.  12, 
etc.     Gen.  iii.  5. 

Q.  How  many  branches  are  there  of  pride? 

A.  Eight,  viz.:  Vain-glory,  ambition,  disobe- 
dience, boasting,  hypocrisy,  contention,  obsti- 
nacy, and  curiosity. 

Q.  Explain  every  particular. 

A.  Vain-glory  is  a  manifestation  of  a  per- 
son's own  excellency  before  men :  for  instance, 


t 


I5« 


EXPOUNDING   OF  SIN. 


by  expecting  to  be  esteemed  for  things  not 
worthy  of  praise,  as  for  wicked  things  and  the 
like.  Secondly,  by  expecting  esteem  from  those 
who  are  not  competent  judges,  as  from  igno- 
rant people.  Thirdly,  by  expecting  esteem, 
when  the  motive  is  bad,  as  it  happens  in 
prayer  and  alms.  In  these  cases,  where  the 
':  the  object  is  mortal,  the  sin  is  mortal.  Ambi- 
:  tion  is  an  inordinate  desire  of  honors.  Dis- 
obedience is  preferring  a  man's  own  will  to  the 
will  of  a  lawful  superior.  Boasting  is  a  mani- 
festation of  a  person's  own  excellenc}',  by 
words.  Hypocrisy  is  a  dissimulation  of  holi- 
ness, either  by  words  or  actions.  Contention 
is  properly  maintaining  what  is  contrary  to  truth, 
by  words.  Discord  is  adhering  to  a  man's  own 
opinion,  with  making  a  partj'.  Curiosity  is  a 
disordinate  desire  of  knowing  more  than  is 
necessary,  or  convenient,  or  profitable. 

Q.  What  considerations  will  abate  pride  ? 

A.  The  defects  of  soul  and  body,  ignorance, 
error,  others'  perfections,  follies,  misfortunes, 
and  to  remember  that  holy  lesson  of  our  Saviour 
Christ,  Learn  of  me,  because  I  am  meek  and 
humble  of  heart,  St.  Matt  xi.  29,  and  to  con- 
sider that  we  are  sinful  dust,  and  shall  soon 
return  again  to  dust :  and  that  whatsoever  good 
we  have  or  do,  is  the  free  g^ft  of  God.  Its 
opposite  virtue  is  humility,  which  inclines  us 
to  conceive  a  mean  opinion  of  ourselves,  Gal. 
vi.  3,  to  require  neither  esteem  nor  respect  of 
others ;  to  despise  no  person ;  and  to  sufier 
contempt  and  disrespect  patiently  and  calmly. 
St.  Luke  xxi.  19.  This  is  a  virtue  so  neces- 
sary, that  no  one  can  be  saved  without  it, 
according  to  the  express  words  of  our  Saviour 
Christ.     St.  Luke  xviii.  17. 

Q.  What  is  covetousness  ? 

A.  It  is  a  disordinate  or  immoderate  desire 
or  love  of  riches  or  worldly  goods. 

Q.  When  is  the  love  of  worldly  things  im- 
moderate ? 

A.  When  the  heart  of  man  is  tied  to  them. 

Q.  How  can  we  know  when  the  heart  is  tied 
to  the  world  ? 

A.  By  one  of  these  four  signs.     First,  when 


a  person  is  overjoyed  for  possessing,  or  over- 
sad  for  losing,  any  earthly  thing,  Ps.  li.  9.  2 
Cor.  vii.  10.  Secondly  when  he  acquires  or 
keeps  any  thing  unjustl}-,  Isa.  xxxiii.  i.  Thirdly, 
when  he  seeks  greedil}^  after  worldl}^  goods,  or 
retains  them  with  too  great  an  affection,  i  Tim. 
vi.  9.  Fourthl}',  when  he  is  not  bountiful  to  the 
poor,    according  to  his  ability,  St.  Luke  xi.  41. 

Q.  If  this  be  true,  there  are  but  few  who  are 
not  covetous. 

A.  Very  right ;  there  are  but  few :  for  every 
one  is  covetous,  who  is  tied  to  his  share  of  this 
world,  although  he  came  lawfully  by  it,  Jer. 
viii.  10.     Phil.  ii.  21. 

Q.  Can  the  poor  be  covetous? 

A.  Yes  ;  the  poorest  person  is  covetous,  if  he 
loves  the  riches  he  has  not,  St.  Matt.  xiii.  22, 
or  if  he  thinks  it  a  misfortune  for  him  to  be 
poor,  and  is  impatient  in  his  poverty. 

Q.  Which  are  the  crimes  that  usually  attend 
a  covetous    mind  ? 

A.  All  sorts  of  injustices,  viz. :  Treachery,  like 
Judas,  who  betrayed  our  Saviour.  Deceit,  or 
fraud.  Falsehood,  when  fair  words  draw  persons 
on,  as  in  trafficking.  Perjury,  when  a  false 
oath  backs  their  words.  Violence,  when  covetous- 
ness induces  a  person  to  steal.  Solicitude,  an 
unquiet  mind,  in  obtaining  and  preserving 
riches,  Obdurateness  against  the  poor,  in  refus- 
ing to  assist  them  in  their  wants. 

Q.  What  considerations  are  profitable  against 
covetousness,  and  what  is  the  virtue  opposite  to 
it? 

A.  To  consider  that  vre.  brought  nothing  with 
us  into  the  world,  nor  shall  carry  any  thing  out 
of  it,  I  Tim.  vi.  7.  That  God  has  promised,  if 
we  seek  in  the  first  place  his  kingdom  and  its 
justice,  that  all  other  things  shall  be  added 
unto  us,  St.  Matt.  vi.  33.  To  consider  the 
threats  pronounced  against  it  in  the  Scripture. 
The  dangers  it  exposes  men  to;  the  difficulty 
of  being  saved ;  since  our  Saviour  has  told  us,  / 
that  it  is  harder  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  heaven 
than  for  a  camel  to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle.  Matt.  xix.  24.  To  consider  that  amend- 
ment  is    almost    impossible.     The    neglect    of 


EXPOUNDING   OF   SIN. 


153 


spiritual  duties.  The  folly  of  the  vice.  The 
extravagances  of  heirs.  The  shortness  of  this 
life.  The  pains  of  hell,  and  joys  of  heaven. 
The  virtue  opposite  to  this  vice,  is  liberality, 
which  weans  our  hearts  from  earthly  things, 
and  inclines  us  to  share  our  goods  freely,  not 
with  the  rich,  and  persons  in  easy  circum- 
stances, but  with  the  poor,  for  it  is  much  better 
to  give  than  to  take.  Acts.  xx.  35.  And  St. 
Paul  says,  that  God  loves  a  cheerful  giver,  2 
Cor.  ix.   7. 

Q.  What  is  luxury  ? 

A.  An  inordinate  desire  of  carnal  sins,  or 
delights  of  the  flesh;  which  is  an  abominable 
sin,  and  ought  not  to  be  so  much  as  named 
among  Christians,  Eph.  v.  3. 

Q.  Are  all  carnal  pleasures  inordinate  ? 

A.  All  but  between  man  and  wife. 

Q.  When  is  a  person  guilty  of  this  odious 
sin? 

A.  Not  only  when  he  commits  the  fact,  but 
likewise  when  he  wilfully,  with  delight  or 
pleasure.  Job  xxxi.  i ,  hearkens  to,  looks  upon, 
or  thinks  of,  any  thing  whatsoever,  which  any 
ways  moves  him  to  this  detestable  sin,  Eph.  v.  4, 
5.  Matt.  v.  28. 

Q.  What  are  the  remedies  against  lust,  and 
what  is  the  virtue  opposite  to  it  ? 

A.  Flying  the  occasions ;  fasting ;  avoiding 
idleness,  and  bad  company  ;  reading  good  books ; 
guarding  the  senses,  but  most  especially  the 
eyes ;  meditating  on  hell ;  constant  prayer ; 
modest  in  dress  ;  to  confess  often,  and  communi- 
cate with  devotion.  The  virtue  opposite  to  this 
vice  is  chastity,  which  is  a  purity  of  body  and 
mind,  making  us  abstain  from  carnal  pleasures  : 
it  is  an  angelical  virtue,  which  God  bestows 
upon  people  of  prayer  upon  the  obedient,  and 
humble,  Wisd.  viii.  21.  James  iv.  6.  There  is 
no  virtue  that  renders  persons  more  acceptable 
to  God,  than  this  of  chastity,  Rev.  xiv.  4. 

Q.  What  is  envy  ? 

A.  It  is  a  sadness  or  repining  at  the  worldly 
or  spiritual  good  of  our  neighbor,  because  it 
seems  to  lessen  our  own,  or  a  rejoicing  at  his 
damage  or  distress. 


Q.  What  branches  has  envy  ? 

A.  Want  of  love  for  our  neighbor;  whispering 
or  talking  to  break  friendship  ;  detraction,  a  tak- 
ing away  another's  reputation  ;  rash  j  udgment, 
reproach,  contempt  of  others,  hatred,  etc.  So 
detestable  is  this  vice,  that  God  warns  us  not 
to  eat  with  an  envious  man.  Proverbs  xxiii.  6, 
being  contrary  to  charity,  and  human  society. 
It  makes  men  like  devil's,  whose  nature  is  malice. 
By  the  devil's  envy,  death  entered  into  this 
world.  Sap.  ii.  24.  It  caused  Cain  to  kill  his 
brother.  Genesis  iv.  and  the  Jews,  our  Saviour 
Christ ;  and  seeing  it  destroys  in  man  the  love 
of  God  and  our  neighbor,  and  fills  the  world 
with  innumerable  mischiefs,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  it  is  put  among  the  vices  that  exclude 
from  heaven,  Galatians  v.  21.   i  Peter  ii.   i. 

Q.  What  are  the  remedies  to  cure  envy  ? 

A.  To  consider  the  unreasonableness  of  the 
sin,  which  neither  increaseth  our  happiness, 
nor  diminishes  that  of  our  neighbors  ;  that  it 
robs  us  of  charity,  and  deforms  us  to  the  like- 
ness of  the  devil  or  evil  spirits,  who  continually 
go  about  to  devour  us ;  for  it  is  a  kind  of  death 
to  them,  to  see  that  man  is  happier  than  them- 
selves, I  Peter  v.  8.  To  consider  the  disturbance 
it  gives  to  a  person.  To  place  our  affections 
only  on  future  happiness.  The  virtue  opposite 
to  this  vice  is  charity,  or  brotherly  love,  which 
consists  in  doing  and  wishing  as  much  good  to 
our  neighbor  as  we  would  have  others  do  to  us, 
St.  John  xiii.  35.  This  is  the  chief  badge  of 
a  Christian.  Again,  humility  is  a  very  power- 
ful virtue,  in  order  to  overcome  this  odious 
vice;  for  whosoever  is  humble,  is  not  sorry 
that  his  neighbor  is  more  rich,  more  learned, 
and  more  esteemed,  than  himself 

Q.  What  is  gluttony  ? 

A.  An  inordinate  desire  of  meat  or  drink. 

Q.  How  many  ways  are  there  of  offending  in 
this  kind  ? 

A.  Chiefly  five,  viz. :  First,  to  eat  unseason- 
ably to  please  the  appetite.  Numbers  xi.  5. 
Proverbs  xxi.  17.  Secondly,  to  desire  delicacies, 
or  not  to  be  satisfied  without  choice  meat  and 
drink,  Ezekiel  xvi.  49.     Thirdly,  to  eat  or  drink 


154 


EXPOUNDING   OP  SIN. 


to  excess,  so  as  to  make  a  person  sick,  Eccle- 
siastes  xxxvii.  32.  Fourthly,  to  eat  with  greedi- 
ness.   Fifthly,  to  seek  for  what  is  most  pleasing. 

Q.  Which  is  the  worst  and  most  destructive 
kind  of  gluttony  ? 

A.  Drunkenness. 

Q.  What  is  drunkenness  ? 

A.  A  disordinate  use,  and  desire  of  intoxi- 
cating liquor,  so  as  by  it  to  lose  any  share  of 
our  reason,  or  senses. 

Q.  How  is  it  sinful  or  excusable? 

A.  It  is  excusable,  if  a  person  knows  not  the 
strength  of  the  liquor;  if  out  of  surprise  he 
drinks  too  much,  more  than  to  satisfy  nature, 
it  is  only  a  venial  sin :  but  if  he  knows  the 
strength  of  the  liquor,  and  will  drink  to  excess, 
it  is  a  mortal  sin ;  1  Corinthians  vi.  10.  Isaiah 
V.  22.  It  is  likewise  a  grievous  .sin,  as  often 
as  it  is  a  considerable  prejudice,  either  to  body, 
estate,  or  family :  it  is  also  a  mortal  sin,  to 
cause  wilfully  another  to  be  intoxicated. 

Q.  What  are  the  eflfects  of  drunkenness  ? 

A.  Dullness  and  incapacity,  both  in  regard 
of  temporal  and  spiritual  duties.  Irregularity 
of  the  passions.  Loquacity,  or  an  unbridled 
use  of  the  tongue,  in  lying,  swearing,  and 
profane  discourse.  Scurrility,  in  abusing  and 
exposing  our  neighbor.  Uncleanness,  by  pollu- 
tion, vomiting,  etc. 

Q.  What  remedies  are  there  against  the  sin 
of  drunkenness,  and  what  is  the  virtue  opposite 
to  it? 

A.  To  consider,  that  it  makes  a  man  worse 
than  a  beast ;  as  also  to  consider  the  abstinence 
of  Christ  and  his  saints ;  that  it  brings  beggary, 
diseases,  and  damnation.  To  reflect  on  the 
happiness  of  an  abstemious  life.  The  virtue 
that  is  opposite  to  it,  is  temperance,  which 
bridles  the  inordinate  desire  of  meat  and  drink, 
as  likewise  all  other  disorderly  passions. 

Q.  What  is  anger? 

A.  It  is  an  inordinate  desire  of  revenge,  or 
of  punishing  those  who  displease  us. 

Q.  How,  and  when  is  anger  innocent  or  sin- 
ful? 

A.  It  is  a  natural  passion  of  the  soul,  and 


may  be  either  good  or  bad.  A  superior  sins 
not  in  being  angry,  or  desiring  to  punish  a 
fault  in  a  subject :  but  in  others,  it  is  both 
against  justice  and  charity :  and  even  superiors 
may  sin  in  excess  of  anger? 

Q.  What  branches  are  there  in  anger? 

A.  Scolding,  when  anger  breaks  forth  into 
contradiction  by  words,  and  ends  in  threats  and 
blows.  Swelling  with  anger,  as  when  a  person 
ruminates  in  his  mind,  by  how  many  ways  he 
will  take  revenge.  Contumely,  when  a  person 
makes  use  of  injurious  words,  reflecting  upon 
other's  morals,  imperfection  of  body  and  mind, 
or  misfortunes.  Malediction,  by  wishing  another 
some  evil,  from  God,  the  devil,  or  some  mis- 
fortune. Indignation,  when  we  refuse  to  see,  or 
converse  with  others  through  anger.  Clamor, 
when  we  attack  another  with  confused  language, 
without  any  regard  to  what  is  said.  Blasphemy, 
when  in  anger  we  use  injurious  words,  either 
against  God,  his  saints,  or  any  holy  thing. 
Lastly,  manslaughter  and  murder.  All  which 
are  grievous  sins,  in  the  sight  of  God,  St. 
Matt.  v.   22.     Gal.  v.  20.     Eph.  iv.  31. 

Q.  What  are  the  remedies  against  anger,  and 
what  is  the  virtue  opposite  to  it  ? 

A.  Meekness,  which  suppresseth  in  us  all 
passion  and  desire  of  revenge :  patience,  which 
is  a  voluntary  suffering  of  all  injuries,  hard- 
ships, miseries,  troubles,  labor,  and  poverty,  for 
God's  sake,  as  Christ  has  done.  St.  Peter  ii.  23. 
To  remember  the  example  of  our  blessed  Saviour 
in  his  sufferings,  who  calls  upon  all  his  followers ; 
learn  of  me,  because  I  am  meek,  etc.  St.  Matt, 
xi.  29,  To  consider  the  evil  effects,  as 
quarreling,  fighting,  murder.  Resisting  the 
first  attack ;  silence,  which  will  pacify  our 
neighbor ;  the  obligation  of  brotherly  love ;  to 
consider  and  do  all  things  rationally  and  dis- 
creetly, with  the  eyes  and  light  of  faith ;  and 
to  beg  earnestly  the  grace  of  God  so  to  do. 
2  Cor.  iv.  17.     St.  James  i.  17. 

Q.  What  is  sloth? 

A.  It  is  an  unwillingness,  or  laziness  of  the 
mind  to  perform  those  duties  which  are  required 
to  save  man's  soul. 


EXPOUNDING  OF  SIN. 


155 


Q.  When  is  a  person  guilty  of  sloth? 

A.  First,  when  he  does  not  take  proper 
care  of  his  own  serious  affairs ;  i  Thess. 
iv.  II.  I  Cor.  xiv.  38.  Secondly,  when  he 
does  not  take  pains  to  know  the  things  which 
every  Christian  is  obliged  to  know ;  or  when 
he  acts  not  according  to  his  knowledge,  nor 
reaps  any  profit  from  it.  Thirdly,  when  he 
neglects  the  obligations  of  his  state  and  calling, 
and  is  given  to  idleness,  etc.  i  Tim.  v.  13. 
Fourthly,  when  he  spends  his  time  in  insigni- 
ficant and  frivolous  affairs  :  such  as  unprofitable 
discourse,  visits,  plays,  etc.  Fifthly,  when  he 
neglects  the  service  of  God,  and  uses  no  dili- 
gence to  overcome  his  failings,  or  to  advance 
in  virtue. 

Q.   Is  sloth  a  great  sin  ? 

A.  Yes,  certainly  it  is  a  deadly  sin;  for  our 
Saviour  assures  us,  that  every  tree  that  yieldeth 
not  good  fruit,  shall  be  cut  down  and  cast  into 
the  fire.  St.  Matt.  vii.  19.  And  again,  cast, 
says  he,  the  unprofitable  servant  into  utter 
darkness  where  there  shall  be  weeping  and 
gnashing  of  teeth.  St.  Matt.  xxv.  30.  Hence> 
an  idle  life  is  quite  contrary  to  the  gospel, 
which  prescribes  a  watchful,  laborious,  and 
penitential  life  ;  it  requires  self-denial,  forsaking 
the  world,  crucifying  the  flesh,  abounding  in 
every  good  work,  the  working  our  salva- 
tion with  fear  and  trembling:  Phil.  ii.  12. 
Not  to  be  weary  in  doing  good ;  Gal.  vi. 
9,  to  walk  circumspectly;  to  understand  what 
is  the  will  of  God;  to  redeem  time;  to 
walk  worthy  of  our  vocation ;  Eph.  v.  16. 
Wherein  is  sufficiently  condemned  an  idle  life, 


which  exposes  persons  to  many  temptations  and 
dangers,  and  brings  them  under  the  guilt  of 
many  sins,  and  the  neglect  of  the  greatest 
duties,  in  making  this  life  9,  sacrifice  to  self- 
love,  in  wasting  their  time,  their  money,  etc. 
For  all  which  they  stand  accountable  to 
Almighty  God,  and  so  should  fly  idleness,  as 
the  broad  and  large  way  that  leads  to  perdition.  I 

Q.  Which  are  the  effects  of  sloth  ? 

A.  Tepidity,  which  is  a  coldness  in  devotion : 
pusillanimity,  which  is  a  cowardice  to  under- 
take what  a  person  has  in  his  power,  or  is  able 
to  perform  :  aversion  for  spiritual  things  :  weari-  ■ 
ness  of  life :  distrust  of  God's  mercy :  incon- 
stancy, or  a  want  of  resolution  to  prosecute 
every  Christian  dut3^ 

Q.  Which  are  the  remedies  against  sloth ; 
and  by  what  virtues  is  it  overcome  ? 

A.  To  consider  the  labors  of  Jesus  Christ, 
of  his  apostles,  martyrs,  confessors,  virgins,  etc. 
To  consider  the  easiness  of  spiritual  duties, 
and  with  what  diligence  men  labor  for  temporal 
advantages.  That  every  one  is  to  account  for 
the  time  he  loses.  That  heaven  is  only  be- 
stowed upon  laborers.  To  pass  no  day  without 
doing  some  good  action.  To  call  to  mind  fre- 
quently, the  words  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah, 
chap,  xlviii.  10.  Cursed  is  he  who  does  the 
work  of  God  negligently.  Now  the  chief  virtues 
that  are  opposite  to  sloth,  are  diligence,  which 
makes  us  careful  and  zealous  in  performing  our 
duties,  both  to  God  and  man;  as  also  devotion, 
which  is  a  sincere  endeavor,  and  pious  zeal  for 
the  service  of  good,  and  for  everything  that  re- 
gards our  duty  and  calling.     St.  Mark,  xii.  33. 


THE  THREE  THEOLOGICAL  VIRTUES   EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Which  are   the   three  theological  virtues, 
and  why  are  they  so  called  ? 
'    A.  Faith,   hope,  and   charity;    and   they    are 
called  theological,  because  they  regard    God   as 
their  immediate  object,     i  Cor.  xiii.  13. 

Q.  What  is  faith? 


A.  It  is  a  supernatural  light,  or  divine  virtue, 
infused  by  God  into  the  soul,  whereby  we  firmly 
believe  and  assent,  to  all  things  that  are  revealed 
by  God  and  proposed  by  his  church. 

Q.  Is  faith  a  gift  of  God? 

A.  Yes,  as  it  is  defined  against  the  Pelagians, 


156 


EXPOUNDING   OF   SIN. 


and  even  without  charity,  as  the  council  of 
Trent  has  defined  against  the  Calvinists.  Phil, 
i.  28,  29. 

Q.  Is  faith  necessary  to  salvation  ? 

A.  Yes,  it  is,  as  St.  Paul  assures  us,  where  he 
says,  that  without  faith,  it  is  impossible  to  please 
God.  Heb.  xi.  6.  And  St.  Mark  says,  he  who 
believes  not,  shall  be  condemned.  Chap.  xvi. 
16.  However,  it  does  not  follow  from  hence, 
that  faith  alone  will  save  a  man,  without  good 
works,  as  Luther,  and  other  heretics  have 
taught.*  For  the  fathers  by  their  lives  and 
writings  ;  councils  by  their  decrees  ;  pastors  by 
their  preaching  and  exhorting,  to  do  good  and 
avoid  evil ;  to  keep  God's  commandments,  etc., 
universally  show,  as  the  Scripture  does,  in  sev- 
eral places,  that  faith  alone,  without  good  works, 
will  never  save  a  man.  If  I  should  have  all 
faith,  so  as  to  remove  mountains,  and  have  not 
charity,  I  am  nothing,  says  St.  Paul,  i  Cor.  xiii, 
2.  And  St.  James  declares,  that  faith  without 
works  is  dead  ;  C.  ii.  26.  And  our  Saviour  says, 
if  thou  wilt  enter  into  life,  keep  the  command- 
ments. St.  Matt.  xix.  17.  All  which  is  more 
than  sufficient  to  prove,  that  faith  alone  will 
save  no  man. 

Q.  What  is  the  formal  object  or  motive  into 
which  faith  is  resolved  ? 

A.  The  authority  of  God  revealing,  who  can 
neither  deceive,  nor  be  deceived ;  Heb.  vi.  1 8. 

Q.  Is  not  faith  resolved  into  reason,  human 
authority,  miracles,  etc.  ? 

A.  No;  these  are  only  the  motives  of  credibility, 
which  induce  and  dispose  the  mind  to  believe. 

Q.  Which  are  the  properties  of  faith  ? 

A.  It  is  so  certain,  as  to  exclude  all  doubt- 
ing ;  it  requires  a  pious  affection  of  the  will ; 
it  extends  to  every  thing  that  is  revealed,  either 
explicitly,  or  implicitly ;  so  that  not  to  believe 
all  articles,  is.  at  least,  an  imperfect  faith,  or 
rather  human  faith ;  Heb.  xi.  i . 

Q.  What  is  the  material  object  of  faith  ? 

A.  Every  thing  that  is  revealed,  viz.:  The 
word  of  God,  written,  or  unwritten. 

*  See  Luther  i.  i.  Vit  prop.  15.  18.  f.  SJ.  Senn.  de  Ind.  65.    See 
Bossueti.  Variations  Tom.  i.  L.  i.  P.  8,  q. 


Q.  Is  it  not  sufficient  to  believe  all  that  is 
written  in  the  Bible? 

A.  No,  it  is  not ;  for  we  must  believe  all  apos- 
tolical traditions,  as  St.  Paul  declares  ;  therefore, 
brethren,  says  he,  stand  firm;  and  keep  the 
traditions,  which  you  have  learnt,  whether  by 
word,  or  whether  by  our  epistle.     2  Thess.  ii.  14. 

Q.  From  whom  do  we  receive  the  word  of 
God,  and  the  meaning  of  it  ? 

A.  From  the  Catholic  church. 

Q.  How  is  faith  divided  ? 

A.  Into  human  and  divine,  actual  and  habit- 
ual, internal  and  external,  living  and  dead,  ex- 
plicit and  implicit. 

Q.  How  do  3'ou  explain  these  branches? 

A.  Human  faith  depends  upon  the  informa- 
tion of  man.  Divine  faith  upon  the  informa- 
tion of  God,  proposed  by  motives  of  credibility. 
Habitual  faith  is  the  gift  of  faith,  infused  by 
God,  and  inherent  in  the  soul.  Actual  faith  is 
the  actual  assent  we  give,  to  what  God  has 
revealed.  Internal  faith  is  the  inward  assent 
given  by  the  intellect.  External  faith  is  the 
outward  profession  by  words  or  signs.  Living 
faith  is  joined  with  charity,  or  the  love  of  God, 
as  in  the  just.  Dead  faith  is  that  which  is 
void  of  charity,  as  in  the  wicked.  Hence,  the 
council  of  Trent  has  defined,  that  true  faith  is 
separable  from  charity;  yet,  it  may  be  lost  by 
its  opposite  vice,  viz.:  Infidelity.  Explicit  faith 
is  when  an  article  is  believed  explicitly,  dis- 
tinctly, and  in  distinct  terms,  as  the  Trinity. 
Implicit  faith  is  when  we  believe  in  general, 
ever}''  thing  that  is  revealed,  and  proposed  by 
the  church ;  or  when  we  believe  an  article  not 
in  express  terms,  but  by  believing  an  article 
wherein  it  is  contained;  as  he  who  expressly 
believes  the  Trinity,  believes  implicitly,  that 
the  second  and  third  person  are  consubstantial 
with  the  Father:  again,  he  who  explicitly 
believes  the  incarnation,  implicitly  believes 
Christ  to  have  a  human  soul,   body,    and  will. 

Q.  When  does  an  external  act,  or  public  pro- 
fession of  faith,  oblige? 

A.  As  often  as  God's  honor,  or  the  good  of 
our  neighbor  requires  it:  Acts  iv.  20.     Hence, 


EXPOUNDING  OF   SIN. 


157 


no  one  is  to  deny  his  faith;  for  our  Saviour 
says,  he  who  shall  deny  me  before  men,  I  will 
also  deny  him  before  my  Father  who  is  in 
heaven;  St.  Matt.  x.  33.  Again,  an  internal 
act  of  faith  obliges,  when  baptism  is  received 
by  adult  persons ;  as  also,  when  we  have  a 
temptation  against  faith,  or  when  we  receive  any 
of  the  sacraments,  or  when  we  are  in  danger 
of  death,  etc. 

Q.  Which  are  the  vices  opposite  to  faith  ? 

A.  Infidelity,  apostasy,  heresy.  Infidelity  is 
either  positive,  that  is,  when  a  person  has  faith 
sufficiently  proposed,  or  negative,  that  is,  when 
faith  is  not  sufficiently  proposed.  The  first  is 
sinful,  the  latter  innocent.  Apostasy  is  either 
total,  as  when  Christ  and  his  doctrine  is  denied, 
as  in  Jews,  Turks,  and  Atheists;  or  partial,  as 
when  some  particular  articles  are  rejected. 
Heresy  is  an  obstinate  error  of  those  who  are 
baptized,  against  some  particular  articles  which 
are  of  faith ;  so  that  it  is  to  be  observed,  that 
if  a  person  should  deny  or  obstinately  doubt 
of  only  one  point  of  faith,  he  would  thereby  lose 
his  whole  faith ;  and  the  reason  is,  because  true 
faith  must  always  be  entire,  and  he  who  fails 
only  in  one  article,  is  made  guilty  of  all,  by 
disbelieving  the  authority  of  God,  upon  which 
all  are  equally  grounded. 

Q.  What  is  schism  ?  and  does  it  destroy  faith  ? 

A.  It  is  a  sin  of  disobedience  against  charity, 
and  separation  from  the  church  ;  and  it  is  often 
joined  with  heresy. 

Q.  Is  blasphemy  against  faith  ? 

A.  It  is  a  sin  opposite  to  the  profession  of 
faith  ;  as  being  an  injurious  speech,  or  thought, 
against  God  or  holy  things,  which  either  attrib- 
utes to  God  what  does  not  belong  to  him,  or 
denies  what  does  belong  to  him ;  or  gives  to 
creatures  what  belongs  to  God. 

Q.  What  is  hope  ? 

A.  It  is  a  gift  of  God  or  divine  virtue,  whereby 
we  certainly  and  confidently  expect  life  everlast- 
ing, through  Christ's  merits,  applied  by  our 
endeavors,   as   the  means.     Romans  viii.  24,  25. 

Q.  On  what  is  our  confidence  or  hope  ground- 
ed? 


A.  Upon  the  promises  of  God,  who  affi.rmed, 
that  he  would  give  eternal  happiness  to  such  as 
fulfill  his  law  or  commandments.  Hebrews  vi. 
18,  19.  I  John  iii.  21.  Secondly,  on  the  super- 
abundant merits  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
whereby  God  gives  us  his  grace  in  this  world, 
and  promises  us  his  kingdom  and  everlasting 
bliss  in  the  world  to  come.  St.  John  x.  10. 
Rom.  V.  10. 

Q.  What  are  the  properties  of  hope  ? 

A.  It  supposes  faith.  It  is  founded  on  a  moral 
certainty,  excluding  unreasonable  solicitude;  not 
in  an  infallible  certainty,  as  the  Calvinists  pre- 
tend. It  excludes  not  fear,  but  this  fear  must 
not  be  a  worldly  fear,  which  is  an  apprehension 
of  worldly  pain  only,  but  a  servile  fear  of  eternal 
punishment ;  which  is  good,  as  excluding  the 
will  of  offending:  but  most  especially  the  fear 
attending  hope,  is  a  filial  fear,  which  is  a  fear 
of  offending  God. 

Q.  What  is  the  object  of  hope? 

A.  The  primary  object  of  hope  is  life  ever- 
lasting. The  secondary  object  are  the  means 
of  obtaining  it,  as  grace,  perseverance,  and  good 
works,  proceeding  from  grace.  Hence  the  Quiet- 
ists  are  condemned,  who  pretend  that  perfection 
consists  in  hoping  for  nothing,  not  even  life 
everlasting. 

Q.  When  are  we  obliged  to  make  acts  of 
hope? 

A.  When  we  come  to  the  use  of  reason  and 
begin  to  know  that  God  is  our  last  end,  for 
which  he  created  us ;  being  then  obliged  to 
hope  for  eternal  salvation,  and  means  to  arrive 
thereto;  also  when  we  are  obliged  to  pray,  to 
do  acts  of  penance,  or  beg  any  thing  necessary 
for  our  salvation,  we  must  hope  God  will  not 
be  wanting  on  his  side,  if  we  do  as  we  ought : 
blessed  is  the  man  whose  hope  is  in  the  name 
of  our  Lord,  and  hath  not  regard  to  vanities. 
Psalm  xxxix.  5. 

Q.  What  sins  are  opposite  to  hope  ? 

A.  First,  despair  by  defect,  when  a  person 
has  a  diffidence,  that  God  will  not  save  him, 
or  provide  him  with  the  means,  which  he  there- 
fore neglects.      St.  Matt,  xxvii.  v.     Eph.  iv.  19. 


158 


EXPOUNDING  OF   SIN. 


Gen.  iv.  13.  Secondly,  presumption,  by  rely- 
ing wholly  on  God's  mercy,  without  the  means 
of  good  works.  Rom.  ii.  4,  5.  These  sins  are 
sometimes  joined  with  heresy,  when  a  person 
believes  that  God  can  not  or  will  not  pardon 
his  sins. 

Q.  Can  there  be  true  hope  without  true 
charity  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  as  there  is  true  faith  without  charity, 
but  then  it  is  a  weak  and  imperfect  hope. 

Q.  What  is  charity  ? 

A.  It  is  a  divine  virtue,  or  g^ft  of  God, 
whereby  we  love  God  above  all  things,  for  him- 
self; and  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  for  God's 
sake,  as  he  requires.*  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy 
soul  and  with  all  thy  mind,  etc.  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,  St.  Matt.  xxii. 
37,  etc.  God  is  charity,  saj's  St.  John,  and 
he  that  abides  in  charity,  abides  in  God,  and 
God  in  him,  i  John  iv.   16. 

Q.  What  is  it  to  love  God  above  all  things  ? 

A.  It  is  to  prefer  him,  his  divine  will,  and 
commands,  before  all  things,  purely  for  his 
sake,  so  as  to  be  willing  to  lose  all  things, 
even  life  itself,  rather  than  the  grace  or  love 
of  God  by  mortal  sin.  If  any  one  loves  me, 
he  will  keep  my  commands,  St.  John  xiv.  23. 
And ,  again ;  this  is  the  charity  of  God,  that  we 
keep  his  commandments,  i  John  v.  3.  He 
that  loves  father  or  mother  more  than  me,  is 
not  worthy  of  me.  Matt.  x.  37,  says  our  Saviour 
Christ.  All  transitory  happiness  is  infinitely 
below  the  end  for  which  God  made  us,  and 
therefore  is  as  much  below  our  love  ;  God  having 
made  us  for  himself,  nothing  but  God  can 
make  us  happy ;  the  love  of  the  world  ever 
heaves  us  worse  than  it  found  us,  it  fills  us 
with  a  thousand  disquiets  and  solicitudes  ;  the 
love  of  God  is  the  only  happy  love  ;  when  once 
we  come  to  taste  how  sweet  it  is  to  love  God, 
the  soul  is  charmed  therewith,  it  despises  all 
other  things,  as  rivals  infinitely  below  him; 
the  more  we  love  God,  more  still  we  shall  dis- 
cover in    him    perfections    inviting   us  to   love 

•  St.  Aug.  L.  3.  de  Doct.  Christ.  C.  x.  n.  i6. 


him  :  nor  we  cannot  pretend  to  love  God  with 
our  whole  heart,  soul,  mind  and  strength,  as 
he  requires,  if  we  prefer  our  life,  liberty,  riches, 
pleasures,  or  any  created  thing  whatever  before 
him  ;  we  must  choose  rather  to  lose  all  than 
him,  who  most,  and  only  deserves  our  love. 
He  is  our  Father,  Creator,  Conserver,  Redeemer, 
etc.  Ought  we  not  then  to  give  him  oi:r  hearts, 
our  souls,  and  all  ?  Son,  give  me  thy  heart, 
Prov.  xxiii.  26.  And  St.  Paul  says,  If  any  one 
love  not  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be 
accursed,  i  Cor.  xvi.  22.  Set  your  affections 
on  the  things  that  are  above,  and  not  on  the 
things  that  are  upon  the  earth.  Col.  iii.  2,  which 
never  made  any  one  happy,  nor  can  be  able  to 
do  it. 

Q.  What  is  it  to  love  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves ?  who  is  our  neighbor  ?  and  in  what  order 
is  charity  to  proceed  ? 

A.  To  wish  him  as  much  good,  for  body  and 
soul,  as  to  ourselves  ;  to  do  him  no  wrong,  by 
thought,  word,  or  deed  ;  to  be  ready  to  do  him 
good,  and  hinder  any  harm  we  can  from  befall- 
ing him,  either  in  respect  of  soul  or  body,  chiefly 
for  the  love  of  God,  and  to  love  him  as  ourselves, 
that  is,  as  well  as  ourselves,  not  by  equalit}^,  but 
by  likeness  ;  for  as  our  Saviour  says,  All  things 
whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  do  to  you,  do  3^ou 
also  them,  St.  Matt.  vii.  12.  And  again  ;  This  is 
my  command,  that  you  love  one  another,  as 
I  have  loved  you,  St.  John  xv.  12.  By  this,  all 
men  shall  know  that  you  are  my  disciples,  if  you 
love  one  another,  John  xiii.  35.  Above  all 
things,  have  always  mutual  charity  among  your- 
selves, I  Peter  iv.  8,  which  surely  they  want,  who 
either  upon  account  of  religion,  or  any  other 
pretence,  hate  their  neighbor.  Now,  our  neigh- 
bors are  all  mankind,  even  our  enemies,  whom  we 
are  bound  to  love,  according  to  that  of  our 
Saviour,  I  say  unto  you,  love  your  enemies, 
bless  them  that  curse  you,  and  do  good  to 
them  who  hate  you,  St.  Matt.  v.  44.  The  order 
of  charity  is  this ;  first,  love  God ;  secondly, 
our  own  souls ;  thirdly,  our  neighbor's  souls ; 
fourthly,  our  own  life  and  body ;  fifthly,  the 
life    and   body    of   our  neighbor ;  sixthly,   our 


EXPOUNDING  OF   SIN. 


159 


own  fame  and  temporal  goods ;  seventhly,  tlie 
fame  and  temporal  goods  of  our  neighbor. 
Then,  in  necessity,  relations,  carnal,  spiritual, 
and  civil,  are  to  be  preferred  to  others. 

Q.  What  are  the  chief  qualities  of  charity  ? 

A.  To  esteem,  love,  praise,  and  obey  God 
above  all  things,  so  that  it  is  the  greatest  or 
strongest  aflFection  of  the  soul,  so  as  to  prefer 
his  honor,  good,  and  will,  to  our  own,  or  any 
other's.  Again,  charity  loves  God  upon  his 
own  account,  and  for  his  own  great  perfections, 
because  it  is  a  love  of  perfect  friendship,  which 
immediately  regards  the  good  of  the  object  that 
is  loved,  and  not  barely  a  love  of  concupiscence, 
which  regards  the  good  of  the  lover,  which  is 
only  the  secondary  object  of  charity;  so  that 
charity  has  two  arms,  one  regards  God  imme- 
diately, the  other  ourselves,  which  is  likewise 
loving  God,  because  it  is  obeying  God's  will  to 
love,  or  wish  the  greatest  good  to  ourselves. 
Hence,  the  Quietists  are  condemned,  who  pre- 
tend that  true  charity  excludes  the  secondary 
object,  and  ought  to  make  us  indifferent  to  our 
own  chiefest  good,  and  exclude  all  other  motives, 
even  salvation,  which  they  take  to  be  a  merce- 
nary motive.  Charity,  indeed,  as  St.  Paul 
says,  seeks  not  its  own  interest;  i  Cor.  xiii. 
5.  But  this  is  to  be  understood  either  with 
regard  to  temporal  goods,  or  with  regard  to 
the  primary  object,  but  not  exclusively  of  it. 
The  Scripture  every  where  recommending  God 
to  be  loved  and  served  as  our  reward. 

Q.  Is  charity  necessary  to   salvation  ? 

A.  Yes,  most  certainly  ;  for  our  Saviour  says, 
lie  that  loves  not,  remains  in  death ;  i  John  iii. 
14.  And  St.  Paul  says,  that  if  we  distribute 
all  our  substance  to  feed  the  poor,  and  de- 
liver up  our  bodies  so  as  to  be  burnt,  and  have 
not  charity,  it  will  avail  us  nothing;  i  Cor. 
xiii.  3. 

Q.  Who  are  they  who  have  true  charity  ? 

A.  They  only  who  are  so  affected,  as  would 
rather  die,  and  lose  all  that  is  most  dear  to 
them,  than  break  any  of  God's  commandments : 
this  is  the  love  of  God,  says  St.  John,  that  we 
keep  his  commandments ;  i  John  v.  3.     O  that 


all  could  truly  say  with  the  Apostle,  who  shall 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ,  etc.  ? 
Rom.  viii.  25.  But  alas !  all  seek  the  things 
that  are  their  own,  not  the  things  that  are 
Jesus  Christ's;  Phil.  ii.  21. 

Q.  What  are  the  effects  of  perfect  charity, 
and  how  is  charity  lost? 

A.  It  remits  sins :  charity,  says  St.  James, 
covers  a  multitude  of  sins,  chapter  v.  20.  It 
gives  spiritual  life  to  the  soul ;  we  know,  says 
St.  John,  that  we  are  translated  from  death  to 
life,  because  we  love  the  brethren ;  i  John  iv. 
14.  It  renders  man  acceptable  to  God,  for  he 
that  abides  in  love,  abides  in  God,  and  God  in 
him;  i  John  iv.  16.  Charity  is  lost  by  break- 
ing any  of  God's  commandments  in  any  weighty 
matter.  If  you  love  me  keep  my  command- 
ments ;  St.  John  xiv.  14. 

Q.  Which  are  the  acts  of  charity  ? 

A.  Some  are  interior,  viz. :  A  love  towards  the 
object,  to  wish  it  all  good.  Joy,  when  good 
happens  to  it.  Peace,  by  laboring  to  procure, 
and  join  in  doing  good.  Compassion,  by  being 
moved  with  its  evil,  as  if  it  were  our  own. 
Other  acts  are  exterior,  viz. :  Not  only  acts  of 
benevolence,  but  of  beneficence,  viz.:  Actually 
to  assist  in  procuring  his  good,  both  spiritual  by 
prayer,  good  example,  instruction,  etc.,  as  also 
the  good  of  his  body  by  alms,  etc. 

Q.  What  is  alms  ? 

A.  It  is  an  act  of  mercy,  or  compassion, 
whereby,  for  the  love  of  God,  we  relieve  our 
neighbor  in  all  his  wants,  both  corporal  and 
spiritual. 

Q.  Which  are  the  corporal  alms,  or  works  of 
mercy  ? 

A.  These  seven:  i.  To  feed  the  hungry.  2. 
To  give  drink  to  the  thirsty.  3.  To  clothe  the 
naked;  St.  Matt.  xxv.  35,  36.  4.  To  harbor 
the  poor  with  lodging.  5.  To  visit  the  sick  and 
imprisoned.  6.  To  redeem  the  captives,  and  pay 
the  debts  of  others.  7.  To  bury  the  dead,  St. 
Matt.  xxvi.  lO- 

Q.  Which  are  the  spiritual  alms,  or  works  of 
mercy,  and  how  many  ? 

A.  Seven,  viz.      i.  To  give  good  advice,  or 


i6o 


EXPOUNDING  OP  SIN. 


counsel  to  the  doubtful,  Job  xxix.  21.  2.  To 
correct  or  admonish  those  who  do  amiss ;,  Gal. 
vi.  I.  3  To  instruct  the  ignorant;  Prov. 
xiv.  33.  4.  To  comfort  the  aflSicted;  Rom. 
xii.  17.  5.  To  forgave  injuries  and  offence;  2 
Cor.  i.  4.  6.  To  bear  patiently  person's  ill 
humors ;  James  v.  16.  7.  To  pray  for  the 
living  and  the  dead,  and  for  our  persecutors; 
Matt.  V.  44. 

Q.  When  is  it  that  a  work  of  mercy  is  most 
meritorious  ? 

A.  When  it  is  really  done  for  God's  sake, 
and  applied  to  the  person  that  stands  most  in 
need  of  it. 

Q.  What  are  the  offences  we  ought  to  for- 
give ? 

A.  All   offences  and    injuries,  let     them    be 
never  so  great,  or  many ;  St.  Matt,  xviii.  21,  22. 
Q.  What  is  the  reward  of  the  works  of  mercy  ? 
A.  Mercy  from  God  in  this  life,  and  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  in  the  next. 

Q.  What  shall  be  the  lot  of  those  who  are 
hard-hearted  to  the  poor  ? 

A.  God  himself  affirms,  that  judgment  with- 
out mercy,  and  the  everlasting  fire  of  hell,  are 
allotted  to  those  who  show  no  mercy  to  persons 
iu  distress;  St.  Matthew  xxv.  41,  etc. 
Q.  What  sins  are  opposite  to  charity  ? 
A.  In  the  first  place,  every  mortal  sin,  but 
not  venial  sins,  which  only  lessen  the  fervor 
of  charitable  acts,  and  by  breeding  evil  habits, 
dispose  towards  mortal  sins.  Also,  hatred  of 
our    neighbor,   envy  discord,  schism,  fighting. 


duelling,  unjust  war,  unmercifulness,  and  scan- 
dal, are  all  opposite  to  charity. 

Q.  What  is  scandal,  and  how  many  sorts  of 
scandal  are  there  ? 

A.  Scandal,  if  we  search  the  etymology  and 
derivation  of  the  word,  signifies  something  laid 
in  our  way,  which  is  apt  to  make  us  fall ;  and 
so  it  is  taken  for  the  same  as  a  stumbling-block ; 
and  in  this  sense,  the  Psalmist  says,  they  have 
laid  for  me  a  scandal  or  stumbling-block,  by 
the  way  side ;  Ps.  cxxxix.  6.  From  this 
literal  signification,  scandal  by  a  metaphor,  is 
taken  to  signify  any  thing  that  is  the  cause,  or 
occasion  of  another's  falling  into  sin :  and  ac- 
cordingly, scandal,  by  St,  Thomas,  the  doctor 
of  the  schools,  is  said  to  consist  in  words  or 
actions,  which  are  evil,  and  which  occasions  the 
spiritual  ruin  of  another  person's  soul.  Scandal, 
therefore,  i§  a  sin  of  bad  example,  which  is  apt 
to  draw  or  induce  other  persons  into  sin,  whether 
it  be  by  words,  actions,  or  omissions.  Now, 
there  are  several  sorts  of  scandal,  viz.:  Direct, 
with  an  intention  ;  or  indirect,  as  bad  example. 
Active,  which  is  the  scandalous  action.  Pas- 
sive, which  is  the  spiritual  loss,  or  ruin. 

Q.  By  how  many  ways  may  men  scandalize, 
or  concur  to  the  spiritual  ruin  of  their  neighbor  ? 

A.  Six  ways  directly,  viz.:  By  command,  by 
advice,  by  consent,  by  provoking,  by  praising, 
by  concurring;  Prov.  xvii.  15.  Three  ways 
indirectly,  viz.:  By  silence,  by  not  hindering, 
and  by  not  discovering. 


THE   FOUR   CARDINAL  VIRTUES   EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Which  are  the  four  cardinal  virtues,  and 
why  so  called  ? 

A.  Prudence,  j  ustice,  fortitude  and  temperance; 
Sap.  viii.  7.  They  are  called  cardinal  meta- 
phorically, from  the  Latin  word  cardo,  which 
signifies  a  hinge ;  as  being  the  hinges,  or  general 
rules,  in  the  practice  of  all  other  moral  virtues  : 
and  second  iu  dignity,  to  the  theological  virtues. 


Q.  What  is  prudence? 

A.  It  is  a  moral  virtue,  which  makes  us  wary 
in  all  our  actions,  that  we  may  neither  deceive 
others,  nor  be  deceived  ourselves,  or  which  sug- 
gests to  us,  what  things  are  to  be  embraced,  and 
what  avoided,  with  regard  always  to  God's  com- 
mand ;  and  that  we  do  all  things,  in  their  proper 
time  and  manner ;  St.  Matt.  x.  16;  Eccles.  iii.  32. 


PURGATORY. 

Purgatory  is  a  middle  state  of  souls,  suffering  for  a  time  on  account  of  their  sins.  St.  Paul  writes  to  the  Corinthians  :  "And  the  fire 
shall  try  every  msia's  work  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man's  work  burn  he  shall  suffer  loss  ;  but  he  himself  siaAl  be  saved,  yet  so  as 
by  fire." 


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EXPOUNDING   OF   SIN. 


i6i 


Q.  Which  are  the  functions  of  prudence? 

A.  Three,  viz.:  Previous  consultation,  sound 
judging,  and  execution. 

Q.  How  are  these  functions  to  be  performed  ? 

A.  Eight  ways,  to  consider  things  past :  to 
attend  to  what  is  present :  by  providing  against 
what  may  happen  hereafter :  by  reasoning  upon 
every  point:  by  docility,  or  a  promptitude  to 
be  informed :  b}'  sagacity,  or  quickness  in 
taking,  or  judging:  by  industry,  or  quick 
execution  in  applying  the  means :  by  circum- 
spection, in  reflecting  upon  circumstance :  by 
caution,  in  providing  against  evil  events. 

Q.  Which  are  the  defects  of  prudence  ? 

A.  Precipitation,  to  engage  without  due  re- 
flection. Inconsideration,  the  want  of  attention, 
before  the  choice  of  means.  Negligence,  or 
omission  in  the  execution,  after  a  prudent 
choice. 

Q.  Which  are  the  excesses  in  prudence  ? 

A.  Carnal  prudence,  or  diligence,  in  seeking 
to  please  corrupt  nature.  Craft,  a  subtle  and 
clandestine  way  of  managing,  which  in  facts  is 
called  deceit,  or  tricking,  cunning  or  cheating, 
called  frauds.  Solicitude,  an  anxious  care  in 
obtaining,  or  conserving  worldly  goods,  or 
difiidence  in  providence,  for  fear  of  wanting 
hereafter. 

Q.  What  is  justice? 

A.  It  is  a  moral  virtue,  which  inclines  the 
will  to  give  every  man  his  due,  as  God  re- 
quires ;  Rom.  xiii.  7. 

Q.  In  what  is  justice  grounded? 

A.  In  dominion,  in  birth-right,  in  contract, 
in  g^fts,  in  promises,  etc. 

Q.  What  vices  are  opposite  to  justice? 

A.  Usurpation,  theft,  rapine,  detraction,  usury, 
acceptation  of  persons,  etc. 

Q.  Among  what  persons,  and  by  what  actions 
are  injustices  commonly  committed  ? 

A.  In  purchases,  in  buying,  selling,  the 
price  of  goods:  by  judges,  witnesses,  last  wills 
and  testaments ;  by  servants,  detractors,  etc. 

Q.  What  obligation  arises  from  injustice? 

A.  Restitution  either  in  .  'nd,  or  equivalent ; 
let  it  be  goods  or  reputation. 


Q.  What  is  fortitude? 

A.  It  is  a  moral  virtue,  which  gives  us 
courage  to  endure  all  hardships,  dangers,  and 
even  death  itself,  for  our  faith  and  the  service 
of  God;  Prov.  xxviii.  i;  i  Peter  v.  14,  15;  St. 
Matt.  X.  28. 

Q.  When  is  it  chiefly  practised  ? 

A.  In  bearing  afflictions,  whether  providential, 
or  maliciously  designed,  viz.:  Heat,  cold, 
poverty,  imprisonment,  danger  of  death,  in 
time  of  battle,  wounds,  pains  of  the  body,  or 
mind,  death,  or  martyrdom. 

Q.  Which  are  the  qualities  of  ft)rtitude  ? 

A.  Patience,  not  to  repine  at  hardships, 
longanimity,  not  to  complain  of  the  dilatoriness 
of  assistance. 

Q.  Which  are  the  defects  of  fortitude  ? 

A.  Cowardice,  to  want  boldness  in  dangers, 
that  are  according  to  reason. 

Q.  What  are  the  excesses  of  fortitude? 

A.  To  be  rash  and  expose  one's  self  to  danger 
contrary  to  reason,  as  in  duelling,  etc. 

Q.  What  is  temperance  ? 

A.  It  is  a  moral  virtue,  moderating  man's 
affections,  or  appetites  in  tasting,  and  touching, 
that  is,  eating  and  drinking  according  to  right 
reason  ;  Eccles.  xxxvii.  34  ;  i  Thess.  v.  21 ;  i 
Peter  ii.   11. 

Q.  Which  are  the  chief  branches  belonging 
to  temperance? 

A.  Abstinence,  which  moderates  the  use  of 
eatables,  and  sobriety,  which  moderates  the  use 
of  drink. 

Q.  Which  are  the  opposite  vices  to  temperance? 

A.  Excess,  as  drunkenness,  gluttony,  and 
indecency. 

Q.  Is  it  necessary  for  a  Christian  to  be 
exercised  in  these  virtues  ? 

A.  Yes,  it  is ;  for  we  must  not  only  decline  from 
evil,  but  do  good ;  Ps.  xxxvi.  27. 

Q.  What  are  the  other  virtues  which  our 
Saviour  cliiefl}'  requires  of  us  to  pursue  ? 

A.  Humility,  patience,  meekness,  chastity,  and 
vigilance;  St.  Matt.  xi.  24;  St.  Mark  xiii.  33,  34, 
35,  etc. ;  St.  Luke  xxi.  19. ;  St.  Matt.  v.  28. 


l62 


EXPOUNDING   OF  SIN. 


RELIGION  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  is  religion  ? 

A.  It  is  the  worship  we  pay  to  God  as  the 
supreme  being. 

Q.  How  many  sorts  of  worship  are  there  ? 

A.  Several,  viz.:  Supreme,  inferior,  hyperdulia, 
religious  and  civil,  absolute  and  relative. 
.     Q.  How  do  you  explain  these  several  kinds  ? 

A.  Worship  is  paid  to  things  upon  account  of 
their  excellency.  Supreme  worship  is  paid  to 
God  only,  and  it  is  called  Latria.  Inferior  wor- 
ship is  paid  to  saints  and  holy  things,  and  it  is 
called  dulia.  Hyperdulia  is  paid  on  account  of 
some  singular  excellency  communicated  only  to 
one,  as  to  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary.  Religious 
worship  is  upon  account  of  some  supernatural 
excellency.  Civil  worship  is  on  account  of  some 
natural  or  acquired  excellency.  Absolute  wor- 
ship is  on  account  of  some  inherent  excellency. 
Relative  worship  is  on  account  of  some  relation 
it  has  to  inherent  excellency. 

Q.  Is  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  other  instru- 
ments, the  object  of  supreme  worship? 

A.  No,  they  are  not. 

Q.  Which  are  the  proper  acts  of  religion  ? 

A.  Interior  and  exterior.  Devotion,  or  a 
promptitude  of  the  soul  to  worship  God.  Prayer, 
which  is  raising  the  mind  to  God,  by  meditation, 
or  petitioning  for  what  we  want,  viz.:  Absolutely, 


grace  and  heaven;  conditionally,  all  things  that 
conduce  that  way  ;  also  praise  and  thanksgiving 
are  parts  of  prayer.  Prayer  is  mental  or  vocal, 
public  or  private,  in  set  form  or  extemporary, 
with  attention  or  pharisaical ;  actual  attention 
is  either  to  the  words,  or  to  God  and  pious  objects ; 
an  habitual  intention  is  not  sufficient. 

Q.  Which  are  the  outward  acts  of  religion  ? 

A.  External  worship ;  by  genuflexion,  cross- 
ing, kneeling,  uncovering,  knocking  the  breast, 
incense,  prostration,  oblations,  sacrifice,  erecting 
altars,  dedicating  churches,  vows,  oaths,  etc. 

Q.  Are  all  outward  acts  of  religion  indifferent, 
to  signify  supreme  honor? 

A.  All  excepting  altars,  sacrifice,  and  churches ; 
which  are  all  offered  to  God  alone :  as  for  other 
acts,  they  are  determined  by  the  intention. 

Q.  Is  God  worshiped  by  counsel,  or  particular 
works  not  commanded  ? 

A.  Yes,  by  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and 
obedience. 

Q.  Which  are  the  vices  directly  opposite  to 
religion  ? 

A.  Superstition,  to  adore  God  by  false  ways, 
or  expect  supernatural  effects  from  improper 
causes ;  also  idolatry,  Judaism,  Mahometanism, 
heresy,  divination,  conjuration,  perjury,  blas- 
phemy, sacrilege,  etc. 


LAWS     EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  are  laws  ? 

A.  They  are  the  ordinances  and  command- 
ments of  superior  powers,  as  rules  to  know  what 
is  to  be  performed,  and  what  avoided. 

Q.  How  are  laws  distinguished  ? 

A.  Eternal  and  temporary,  divine  and  human, 
natural  and  positive,  old  and  new,  ecclesiastical 
and  civil,  etc. 

Q.  Explain  the  nature  of  these  laws. 

A.  Eternal,  is  the  divine  will,  in  order  to 
make  our  will  conformable  to  his.     The  law  of 


nature,  is  the  impression  made  by  nature, 
■  informing  us  of  truth  and  falsehood,  right  and 
wrong ;  whereby  we  first  know  general  princi- 
ples, both  speculative  and  practical,  viz.:  That 
something  is  certain,  as  for  example,  our  own 
existence  ;  that  the  s^me  thing  can  be,  and  can- 
not be,  at  the  same  time ;  good  is  to  be  done, 
evil  avoided ;  do  as  you  would  be  done  by.  The 
secondar}?^  principles  are  contained  in  the  deca- 
logue, or  ten  commandments,  and  regard  God, 
our   neighbor,   and    ourselves.     The    third    are 


EXPOUNDING   OF  SIN. 


163 


drawn  from  the  former.  Conscience  is  an  inward 
persuasion,  that  this  or  that  particular  action  is 
good  or  bad.  Now,  conscience  is  sometimes 
rightly  informed,  other  times  erroneous,  prob- 
able, scrupulous,  doubtful,  or  opinionative. 
God's  positive  law  is  what  is  written  in  the  Old 
and  New  Scripture,  or  known  by  tradition.  The 
old  law  is  what  was  delivered  by  Moses,  either 
moral,  judicial,  or  ceremonial.  The  new  law 
are  the  writings  and  traditions  of  Christ  and 
the  evangelists.  The  difference  between  the  old 
and  new  law  is,  they  agree  in  the  law  of  nature, 


and  all  moral  laws :  they  differ  in  the  judicial 
and  ceremonial  laws,  which  are  abrogated.  The 
law  of  Moses  was  but  for  a  time,  as  to  the  judicial 
and  ceremonial  part.  The  old  law  chiefly 
regarded  temporal  felicity  ;  the  new  law,  future 
happiness  :  the  old  law  was  the  figure  ;  the  new 
law,  the  substance.  Human  laws  are  given  by 
men,  and  must  proceed  from  a  lawful  power: 
they  must  be  for  the  public  good,  and  be  promul- 
gated. Ecclesiastical  laws  regard  the  good  of 
the  soul,  civil  laws  regard  life,  liberty,  and 
property  ;  both  equally  binding  in  conscience. 


CRiPTURE,  Tradition,  Councils,  and 


Head  of  the  Church  Expounded. 


SU  ^  ^  d^  ^1^  CB  C&  £12 
w  I9?  la?  rj^  ^Jj  SB  OJ  50 


Q.  What  is  the  Scripture? 

A.  It  is  the  word  of  God,  written  by  persons 
inspired  by  God  himself  to  speak  the  truth ; 
and  it  is  divided  into  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment, which  are  called  canonical  books. 

Q.  Why  are  they  called  canonical  ? 

A.  They  are  so  called  from  the  Greek  word 
canon,  which  signifies  a  rule ;  therefore  we  call 
them  canonical  books,  that  is  to  say,  books 
which  contain  the  rule  of  our  faith. 

Q.  How  many  canonical  books  are  there? 

A.  There  are  many,  which  are  divided  into  five 
sorts,  viz.:  Legal  historical,  sapiential, prophetical, 
and  doctrinal.  The  legal  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  the  five  books  of  Moses,  viz. :  Genesis, 
Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  Deuteronomy. 
The  historical  books  are,  Joshua,  Judges,  Ruth ; 
the  four  books  of  Kings,  the  two  first  of  which 
are  called  by  some  the  books  of  Samuel ;  the 
two  books  of  Paralipomenon,  or  Chronicles ; 
the  two  books  of  Esdras ;  the  books  of 
Nehemiah,  Tobit,  Judith,  Esther,  Job  and  the  two 
books  of  the  Macchabees.  The  sapiential  books 
are  those  of  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  Canticles, 
lor  Song  of  Solomon,  Wisdom  and  Ecclesiasticus. 
•The  prophetical  books  are  the  Psalms  of  David, 
(which  are  also  sapiential,  legal  and  historical) 
the  books  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  with  Baruch, 
Ezekiel,  Daniel ;  and  the  twelve  lesser  prophets, 


(164) 


viz. :  Hosea,  Joel,  Amos,  Obadiah,  Jonah,  Micah, 
Nahum,  Habakuk,  Zephaniah,  Haggai,  Zecha- 
riah,  and  Malachi.  The  doctrinal  chiefly  regards 
those  of  the  New  Testament,  which  are  the  four 
gospels  of  St.  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John ; 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  ;  the  fourteen  Epistles 
of  St.  Paul,  viz. :  His  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
his  two  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  his  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians,  to  the  Ephesians,  to  the 
Philippians,  to  the  Colossians,  his  two  Epistles 
to  the  Thessalonians,  and  his  two  Epistles  to 
Timothy ;  his  Epistle  to  Titus,  to  Philemon, 
and  to  the  Hebrews  ;  the  Epistle  of  St.  James ; 
the  two  Epistles  of  St.  Peter ;  the  three  Epistles 
of  St.  John ;  the  Epistle  of  St-  Jude ;  and  the 
Apocalypse  or  Revelation  of  St.  John.  All 
these  books  are  undoubtedly  canonical,  as  being 
received  and  declared  as  such  by  the  Catholic 
church.  See  the  council  of  Laodicea,  etc.* 
And  consequently,  all  and  every  part  thereof 
are  infallibly  true ;  for  otherwise,  as  St.  Augus- 
tine says,  if  any  part  was  false  or  doubtful,  all 
would  be  uncertain.  However,  certain  it  is, 
that  some  books  are  doubted  of  by  the  Catholic 
church,  which  we  call  Apocryphal ;  that  is  to 
say,    hidden    or    not    certainly  known,    as    not 

*Conc.  Laod.  Can.  60.  et  Cone.  Cartha.  3  Cp.  47.  An.  397.  et 
Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  iv.  An.  1546.  et  St.  Atha.  in  Synop.  St.  Aug.  L. 
^.  4e  Doct  Christ.  C.  8.  n.  12,  etc. 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


165 


being  so  evident  whether  they  were  divine 
Scripture,  because  they  were  not  in  the  Jews' 
canon,  nor  at  first  in  the  church's  canon,  but 
were  never  rejected  as  false  or  erroneous  ;  in 
which  sense  are  the  prayer  of  Manasses,  the 
third  book  of  Bsdras,  and  the  third  of  the 
Macchabees.  As  for  the  fourth  of  Esdras,  and 
fourth  of  Macchabees,  there  is  more  doubt. 
But  as  to  the  book  ascribed  to  Enoch,  the 
gospel  of  St.  Andrew,  St.  Thomas,  St.  Bartho- 
lomew, and  the  like,  mentioned  by  St.  Jerom, 
and  St.  Augustine,*  they  are  in  a  worse  sense 
called  Apocryphal ;  and  are  rejected,  as  con- 
taining manifest  errors. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  for  certain,  which 
books  are  divine  and  canonical  Scripture,  and 
which  not  ? 

A.  By  the  testimony  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
which  without  interruption,  succeeded  the 
Apostles,  and  with  whom  our  Saviour  has 
promised  to  abide,  and  teach  all  truth,  to  the 
end  of  the    world. 

Q.  You  tell  me  the  Scripture  is  the  infallible 
word  of  God :  why  then  does  your  Church 
forbid  the  faithful  to  read  it,  since  nothing 
can  be  more  clear  and  easy  to  be  understood, 
in  all  things  necessary  to  salvation  ?  This 
has  an  ill  aspect,  and  looks  as  though  it  was 
with  design   to    keep    the   people  in  ignorance. 

A.  You  seem  to  mistake  the  case.  The 
Catholic  Church  never  forbid  her  children  the 
reading  of  the  holy  Scriptures :  on  the  con- 
trary, she  always  did  and  does  teach,  that  the 
reading  of  the  holy  Scriptures  (provided  it  be 
with  a  humble  and  reverent  mind,  and  with 
submission  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Church 
from  whom  we  received  them)  is  a  good  and 
laudable  practice,  and  ought  to  be  the  daily 
exercise  of  every  Christian.  Now,  all  the 
restraint  there  ever  was,  and  even  that  not 
general,  was  by  the  fourth  rule  of  the  index 
of  Pope  Pius  the  fourth  ;t  and  this  only  relates 
to  the  reading  of  the  Scripture  in  the  vulgar 
languages,  by   which    he    remits  the  people  to 

*  St.  Jer.  Ep.  ad  Letram,  St.  Aug.  L.  15.  C.  23.  de  civ.  Dei. 
t  See  the  Index  to  the  council  of  Trent. 


their  pastors  and  confessors,  as  the  most  proper 
judges  of  their  capacities,  and  the  disposition 
of  their  souls.  The  reason  of  this  restraint 
was,  in  order  to  arm  the  people  against  the 
danger  of  novelty  and  error :  which  would 
necessarily  follow,  if  every  cobbler  and  tinker 
was  allowed  to  interpret  the  Scripture  accord- 
ing to  their  silly  fancies ;  since  St.  Peter  as- 
sures us,  that  in  St.  Paul's  epistles,  there  are 
some  things  hard  to  be  understood,  which  they 
that  are  unlearned  and  unstable,  wrest,  as 
they  do  also  the  other  Scriptures,  to  their  own 
destruction ;  2  Peter  iii.  16.  Hence  it  follows, 
that  the  Scriptures  are  not  so  clear  and  plain 
as  you  pretend  they  are,  in  all  points  that 
concern  our  salvation ;  otherwise,  it  would  not 
be  truly  said,  that  they  wrest  the  Scriptures 
to  their  own  destruction.  As  to  what  our 
adversaries  allege  against  us,  that  the  true 
reason  of  not  putting  the  Scripture  into  the 
hands  of  every  one,  is  to  keep  the  common 
people  from  discovering  the  errors  and  follies 
of  their  religion.  Nothing  can  be  more  absurd 
than  this  :  because,  if  there  were  any  grounds 
to  fear  the  making  any  such  discover}',  I  ask, 
whether  of  the  two  would  be  best  able  to  do 
it,  the  learned  or  unlearned  ?  surely  the  learned. 
Yet  these  are  all  allowed  to  read  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  are  not  clear-sighted  enough  to 
make  this  discovery.  A  man  must  be  strangely 
blinded  with  prejudice,  not  to  see  the  absurd- 
ity of  this  calumny. 

Q.  Why  may  not  every  particular  Christian 
have  liberty  to  interpret  the  Scripture  accord- 
ing to  his  own  private  judgment,  without 
regard  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Church  ? 

A.  The  reason  is,  first,  because  St.  Peter 
declares,  that  no  prophecy  of  the  Scripture  is 
of  private  interpretation ;  2  Peter  i.  20.  vSec- 
ondly,  because  as  men's  judgments  are  as 
different  as  their  fancies,  such  liberty  as  this 
must  needs  produce  almost  as  many  religions 
as  there  are  men.  Thirdly,  because  Christ 
has  left  his  Church,  and  her  pastors  and  teach- 
ers, to  be  our  guides  in  all  controversies 
relating    to   religion,  and   consequently    in  the 


i66 


SCRIPTURE   AND  TRADITION    EXPOUNDED. 


understanding  of  holy  writ.  He  gave  some 
apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and  some  evan- 
gelists, and  some  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  for  edifj'ing  of  the  body  of  Christ, 
until  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith ;  that 
we  henceforth  be  no  more  children  tossed  to 
and  fro,  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of 
doctrine,  by  slight  of  men  and  cunning  crafti- 
ness, whereby  the}'  lie  in  wait  to  deceive, 
etc.;  Eph.  iv.  ii,  12,  etc.  Lastly,  Protestants 
themselves  confess,  that  as  the  Scriptures  were 
not  written  without  the  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  so  neither  can  they  be  rightly 
interpreted  without  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  now  this  gift  is  not  given  to  every 
one.  For  to  one  is  given  by  the  spirit  the 
word  of  wisdom,  to  another  the  word  of  knowl- 
edge, to  another  prophecy,  etc. ;  i  Cor.  xii.  8. 
From  whence  we  may  conclude  that  the  gift 
of  interpreting  Scripture  is  not  a  gift  for  every 
one,  but  chiefly,  as  we  may  reasonably  suj>- 
pose,  for  such  as  God  has  g^ven,  apostles, 
pastors,  and  doctors  to  his  Church.  As  to 
reformers  in  particular,  it  does  not  appear  that 
they  have  hitherto  been  endowed  with  any 
other  g^ft  but  that  of  contradicting  each  other's 
interpretation,  throughout  all  the  Reformed 
Churches.  Witness  the  Lutherans,  Calvinists, 
Anabaptists,  Independents,  Arians,  Socinians, 
etc.  The  Lutherans  say,  that  the  Scripture 
teaches  them  to  hold  the  real  presence ;  the 
Calvinists  say,  that  it  teaches  them  to  deny 
it;  those  of  the  Church  of  England  say,  that 
the  Scripture  teaches  them  to  baptize  infants ; 
the  Anabaptists  say,  that  it  teaches  them  to 
condemn  it ;  the  Arians  and  Socinians  say, 
that  the  Scripture  teaches  them  that  Christ  is 
a  creature ;  and  other  Protestants  say,  it  teaches 
them  to  believe  that  he  is  the  eternal  Creator 
of  all  things.  Now  no  one  will  say,  that  this 
is  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  So  that  Prot- 
estants themselves,  on  the  one  hand,  confessing 
that  the  Scriptures  cannot  be  rightly  inter- 
preted without  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
.and   it   being   evident   on  the  other  hand  that 


Protestant  Churches,  from  their  contradicting 
one  another  have  not  that  gift,  we  therefore 
conclude  that  they  have  not  a  right  to  judge 
of  the  sense  of  Scripture,  and  expound  it  for 
themselves.  Besides,  if  the  very  disciples  of 
Christ  could  not  understand  the  Scriptures, 
without  an  interpreter,  as  we  find  by  St.  Luke 
they  could  not ;  xxiv.  27,  et  54.  Can  it  then 
be  supposed  that  every  private  man  and  woman 
among  Protestants  are  better  enlightened  than 
they  were?  If  the  Apostles  themselves  did 
not  understand  the  holy  Scriptures,  till  our 
Saviour  opened  their  understanding ;  St.  Luke 
xxiv.  54.  Let  this  at  least  teach  reformers, 
that  natural  talents  alone  are  not  sufficient  for 
expounding  Scripture,  unless  their  understand- 
ing be  by  our  Saviour  Christ  in  like  manner 
opened. 

Q.  Are  not  all  necessary  points  of  doctrine 
contained  in  the  holy  Scripture  ?  and  is  not  the 
Scripture  the  sole  rule  of  faith  ? 

A.  No ;  for  we  find  that  St.  Paul  taught 
many  things  to  his  flock  at  Thessalonica  and 
Corinth,  by  word  of  mouth,  which  are  not  in 
his  epistles,  and  yet  nevertheless  he  enjoins 
them  to  believe,  as  being  of  equal  authority 
with  what  he  had  written.  We  command  you, 
brethren,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  you  withdraw  yourselves  from  every 
brother  that  walketh  disorderly,  and  not  after 
the  tradition  he  received  of  us ;  2  Thess. 
iii.  6.  And  again,  I  pray  you,  brethren, 
that  you  remember  me  in  all  things,  and  keep 
the  traditions  as  I  have  delivered  them  to 
you;  I  Cor.  xi.  2.  St.  John  likewise  assures 
us,  that  all  our  Saviour  did  and  taught  for 
the  salvation  of  mankind  is  not  written ;  John 
xxi.  25.  In  short,  this  doctrine  implies  a  con- 
tradiction ;  for  if  nothing  is  to  be  believed 
with  divine  faith,  but  what  is  clearly  contained 
in  the  Scripture,  then  this  very  doctrine,  which 
our  adversaries  thus  boldly  affirm,  is  not  to  be 
believed  :  because  it  is  no  where  to  be  found 
in  Scripture ;  for  where  is  it  written  in  the  holy 
Scripture,  that  the  Apostles  were  commanded 
by  our  Saviour  Christ  to  write  all  that  he  and 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


167 


^: 


themselves     had     taught  ?     In    a    word,     will 
he    Church    of    England    say,    that    the   fol- 

\  lowing  articles  are  not  to  be  believed,  viz.: 
That  the  Virgin  Mary  was  always  a  virgin ; 
that  the  Sabbath  was,  by  divine  authority, 
translated  to  the  Sunday  ;  that  the  Christian 
Passover,  or  Easter,  is  always  to  be  celebrated 
on  a  Sunday ;  that  infants  are  to  be  baptized ; 

i  that  the  baptism  of  heretics  is  valid ;  and  that 
the  Apostles'  creed  is  of  divine  authority? 
Yet  certainly  these  articles  are  not  clearly  con- 

j  tained  in  the  holy  Scripture,  but  Protestants 
received  them  from  the  tradition  of  the  Church 
of  Rome.     Therefore  it  is  plain  that  all  neces- 

1  sarjr  points    of   doctrine   are  not   contained  in 

'  the  holy  Scripture.  Now,  from  what  has  been 
said,  it  follows  to  a  demonstration,  that  the 
Scripture  alone,  without  the  tradition  of  the 
Apostles,  and  interpretation  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  cannot  be  the  sole  rule  of  faith ; 
because,  as  I  have  already  proved,  there  are 
many  things  that  are  necessary  to  be  believed, 
which  are  not  contained  in  the  Scripture. 
Besides,  we  do  not  find  that  there  is  one  text 
in  the  whole  Scripture  that  clearly  and 
expressly  afiirms,  that  the  Scripture  alone  is 
the  whole  and  sole  rule  of  faith.  Again,  the 
Scripture  alone  cannot  be  the  sole  rule  of 
faith,  because  one  great  article  of  the  Christian 
faith,  is  to  believe  that  these  books  are  divine 
Scripture.  Now  this  we  could  never  have 
known,  but  by  the  tradition  and  declaration  of 
the  Catholic  Church ;  for  the  Scripture  itself 
no  where  gives  us  a  catalogue  of  the  canonical 
books.  It  no  where  affirms,  that  all  and  every 
one  of  those  books  which  are  contained  in 
the  Protestant  Bible  or  Testament,  are  the 
infallible  word  of  God.  Our  adversaries,  there- 
fore, are  very  unhappy  in  their  choice  of  a 
rule  of  faith,  which  is  not  only  without  any 
foundation  from  the  Scripture,  but  even 
excludes  the  Scripture  from  being  any  part 
of  their  faith,  as  not  coming  under  their  only 
rule  by  which  they  pretend  to  steer  in  matters 
of  faith. 

Q.  What  is  tradition  ? 


A,  All  such  points  of  faith,  or  Church  disci- 
pline, which  are  not  clearly,  or  not  at  all 
expressed  in  the  Scripture;  but  were  taught 
or  established  by  the  Apostles,  and  have  care- 
fully been  preserved  in  the  Church  ever  since. 

Q.  How  many  sorts  of  traditions  are  there  ? 

A.  Chiefiy  two,  viz. :  Apostolical,  and  ecclesi- 
astical ;  the  apostolical  are  those  which  had 
their  origin,  or  institution  from  the  Apostles : 
such  as  the  number  of  the  sacraments ;  the 
Apostles'  creed ;  infants'  baptism ;  the  I^ord's 
day;  receiving  the  blessed  sacrament,  fasting; 
mixing  water  with  the  wine  in  the  eucharist ; 
and  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism, 
etc.  The  ecclesiastical,  are  such  as  had  their 
institution  from  the  Church ;  as  many  cere- 
monies always  in  use  time  after  time,  such  as 
fasts,  feasts,  blessing  of  water,  candles,  bread, 
etc. 

Q.  How  are  we  to  know  what  traditions  are 
truly  apostolical,  and  what  not  ? 

A.  In  the  same  manner,  and  by  the  same 
authority,  by  which  we  know  what  Scriptures 
are  apostolical,  and  what  not ;  this  is  by  the 
authority  of  the  apostolic  Church,  guided  by  the 
unerring  spirit  of  God. 

Q.  What  Scripture  can  you  bring  in  favor 
of  tradition  ? 

A.  From  the  ^26.  chap.,  ver.  7,  Deuter- 
onomy. Ask  thy  Father  and  he  will  show  thee, 
thy  elders,  and  they  will  tell  thee ;  i  Cor.  iv. 
2 ;  Psal.  xviii.  5,  etc.  Again  out  of  the  2d 
Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians,  xi.  2  ; 
2  Thess.  iii.  6.  Therefore,  brethren,  stand  fast, 
and  hold  the  traditions  which  ye  have  been 
taught,  where  by  word  or  epistle,  2  Tim.  i.  13, 
et  chap.  ii.  2.    et  chap.  iii.  14  ;  chap.  ii.  25. 

Q.  What  are  councils,  and  how  many  kinds  ? 

A.  They  are  assemblies  of  the  superiors  of 
the  Church  to  consult  about  faith,  and  other 
spiritual  matters  ;  and  they  are  either  universal, 
national,  provincial,  or  diocesan. 

Q.  Who  presides  over  them  ? 

A.  The  pope  in  a  universal ;  the  primate  in 
a  national ;  the  metropolitan  in  a  provincial ; 
and  the  bishop  in  a  diocesan. 


i68 


SCRIPTURE  AND  TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  How  many  general  councils  do  you  reckon, 
and  which  are  they  ? 

A.  They  are  commonly  computed  these 
twenty.  The  eight  first  are  called  the  Eastern 
or  Greek  general  councils. 

1.  The  council  of  Nice,  held  under  Pope  Sil- 
vester, anno  325,  in  which  the  Arian  heresy 
was  condemned. 

2.  The  council  of  Constantinople,  held  under 
Pope  Damascus,  anno  381,  against  the 
Macedonians,  Eunomians,  and  Apollina- 
rists. 

3.  The  council  of  Ephesus,  held  under  Pope 
Celestinus  I,  anno  431,  against  the  Nestori- 
ans. 

4.  The  council  of  Chalcedon,  held  under  Pope 
Leo  I,  anno  451,  against  the  Eutychians. 

5.  The  2d  council  of  Constantinople,  held 
under  Pope  Virgilius,  anno  553,  against 
Origenists. 

6.  The  3d  council  of  Constantinople,  held 
under  Pope  Agatho,  anno  680,  against  the 
Monothelites. 

7.  The  2d  council  of  Nice,  held  under  Pope 
Adrian  I,  anno  787,  against  the  Iconoclasts. 

8.  The  4th  council  of  Constantinople,  held 
under  Pope  Adrian  II,  anuo  869,  against 
Photius. 

The  Western  or  Latin  general    councils. 

9.  The  ist  council  of  Lateran,  held  under 
Pope  Calixtus  II,  anno  1122,  for  the  recovery 
of  the  Holy  Land. 

10.  The  2d  council  of  Lateran,  held  under 
Pope  Innocent  II,  anno  11 39. 

11.  The  3d  council  of  Lateran,  held  under 
Pope  Alexander  III,  anno  11 79,  against  the 
Albigenses,  who  maintained  the  errors  of 
the  Manichaeans. 

12.  The  4th  council  of  Lateran,  held  under 
Pope  Innocent  III,  anno  12 15,  against  the 
Waldenses  and  Albigensens. 

13.  The  1st  council  of  Lyons,  held  under  Pope 
Innocent  IV,  anno  1245,  ^^^  ^^^  recovery  of 
Holy  Land. 

14.  The  2d  council  of  Lyons,  held  under  Pope 
Gregory    X,    anno    1274,     in     which    the 


Greeks  renounced  their  schism,  but  relapsed 
soon  after. 

15.  The  council  of  Vienne  held  under  Pope 
Clement  V,  anno  131 1,  against  the  Dul- 
cinians  and  Beguardins,  as  also  for  the 
recovery  of  the  Holy  Land. 

16.  The  council  of  Pisa,  called  in  the  time  of 
Gregory  XII,  anno  1409,  which  put  a  stop 
to  the  schism,  and  deposed  both  the  con- 
tending pontiffs,  viz. :  Gregory  XII,  and  I 
Benedict  XIII,  and  chose  Alexander  V,  by 
whom  this  council  was  approved. 

17.  The  council  of  Constance,  held  under  Pope 
John  XXIII,  anno  1414,  which  broke  the 
neck  of  the  long  schism,  and  condemned 
the  errors  of  Wickliffe  and  Huss. 

18.  The  council  of  Florence,  held  under  Pope 
Eugenius  IV,  anno  1439,  in  which  the 
Greeks  renounced  their  schism. 

19.  The  5th  council  of  Lateran,  held  under 
Pope  Julius  II,  anno  15 12,  Pope  Leo  X, 
concluded  it,  anno  15 17,  for  the  recovery 
of  the  Holy  Land.  Some  divines  dispute 
whether  this  was  a  general  council. 

20.  The  council  of  Trent,  held  by  Paul  III, 
etc.,  anno  1545,  against  the  errors  of  Luther 
and  Calvin.  Pope  Pius  IV,  brought  this 
council  to  a  happy  conclusion,  anno    1563. 

Q.  Who  is  the  pope,  and  what  power  has  he  ? 

A.  He  is  the  bishop  of  Rome,  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  visible  head  of  the  Church,  and  has 
jurisdiction  over  the  whole  Church. 

Q.  What  is  the  Catholic  doctrine  as  to  the 
pope's  supremacy  ? 

A.  It  is  comprised  in  these  two  articles :  i. 
That  St.  Peter,  by  divine  commission,  was 
head  of  the  Church  under -Christ.  2.  That  the 
pope  or  bishop  of  Rome  is  successor  to  St. 
Peter,  is  at  present  head  of  the  Church,  and 
Christ's  Vicar  upon  earth. 

How  do  you  prove  St.  Peter's  supremacy  ? 

A.  First,  from  the  i6th  chapter  of  St.   Mat- 
thew   verses    18,    19 ;  where  our  Saviour  says, 
Thou  art  Peter,  (that  is  a  rock)  and  upon  this 
rock  will  I  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of    ' 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against   it.     And   I    will 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


169 


give  unto  thee  tlae  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven  :  and  whatsoever  thou 
shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven. 
Secondly,  from  the  2 2d  chapter  of  St.  Luke, 
verses  31,  32.  The  Lord  said  Simon,  Simon, 
behold  Satan  had  desired  to  have  you,  that  he 
may  sift  you  as  wheat.  But  I  have  prayed  for 
thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not,  and  when  thou 
art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren.  Thirdly, 
from  the  21st  chapter  of  St.  John,  verse  15, 
etc.  Jesus  said  to  Simon  Peter,  Simon,  son  of 
Jonas,  lovest  thou  me  more  than  these  ?  he 
said  unto  him,  yea.  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  I 
love  thee.  He  said  unto  him,  feed  my  lambs ; 
he  said  to  him  again  the  second  time,  Simon, 
son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me  ?  He  said  unto 
him,  yea.  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee. 
He  said  unto  him,  feed  my  lambs.  He  said 
unto  him  the  third  time,  Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
lovest  thou  me  ?  Peter  was  grieved,  because 
he  said  unto  him  the  third  time  lovest  thou  me  ? 
And  he  said  unto  him.  Lord,  thou  knowest  all 
things,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee;  Jesus 
said  unto  him,  feed  my  sheep.  In  the  first  of 
these  texts  our  Lord  promised,  that  in  the 
building  of  his  Church  Peter  should  be  as  a 
rock  or  foundation  stone ;  and  under  the 
metaphor  of  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  ensured  to  him  the  chief  authority  in 
his  Church :  as  when  a  king  gives  the  keys 
of  a  city  to  one  of  his  courtiers,  he  thereby 
signifies  that  he  gives  him  the  government  of 
that  city.  In  the  second  text,  our  Lord  not 
only  declared  his  particular  concern  for  Peter, 
in  praying  for  him,  that  his  faith  might  not 
fail :  but  also  gave  him  the  care  of  his  breth- 
ren,   the   other   Apostles,    in   charging   him  to 


confirm  or  strengthen  them.  In  the  third  text, 
our  Lord,  in  most  solemn  manner,  thrice 
committed  to  Peter  the  care  of  all  his  sheep 
without  exception,  that  is,  of  his  whole  Church. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  that  this  commission 
given  to  Peter,  descends  to  the  pope  or  bishop 
of  Rome  ? 

A.  Because  by  the  unanimous  consent  of 
the  Fathers,  and  the  tradition  of  the  Church 
in  all  ages,  the  bishops  of  Rome  are  the  suc- 
cessors of  St.  Peter,  who  translated  his  chair 
from  Antioch  to  Rome,  and  died  bishop  of 
Rome.*  Hence  the  see  of  Rome,  in  all  ages 
is  called  the  see  of  Peter,  the  chair  of  Peter, 
and  absolutely  the  see  Apostolic  :  and  in  that 
quality,  has  from  the  beginning,  exercised 
jurisdiction  over  all  other  Churches,  as  appears 
from  the  best  records  of  ancient  history .f  Be- 
sides, supposing  the  supremacy  of  St.  Peter, 
which  we  have  proved  above  from  plain  Scrip- 
ture, it  must  consequently  be  allowed  that  this 
supremacy  which  Christ  established  for  the 
better  government  of  his  Church,  and  maintain- 
ing of  unity,  was  not  to  die  with  Peter,  no 
more  than  the  Church,  which  he  promised 
should  stand  for  ever.  For  how  can  any 
Christian  imagine  that  Christ  should  appoint 
a  head  for  the  government  of  his  Church,  and 
maintaining  of  unity  during  the  Apostles' 
time ;  and  design  another  kind  of  government 
for  succeeding  ages,  when  there  was  like  to  be 
so  much  more  need  of  a  head.  Therefore,  we 
must  grant  that  St.  Peter's  supremacy  was  by 
succession  to  descend  to  somebody.  Now,  I 
would  willingly  know,  who  has  half  so  fair  a 
title  to  this  succession  as  the  bishop  of  Rome. 

*See  Cone.  Calced.  Sess.  i,  2,  3. 
t  See  Cone.  4.  Later.  Can.  v. 


170 


SCRIPTURE  AND  TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


THE  FOUR  LAST  THINGS  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Which  are  the  four  last  things  ? 

A.  Death,  judgment,  hell  and  heaven. 

Q.  What  is  death  ? 

A.  It  is  a  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body. 

Q.  Which  are  the  most  useful  considerations 
concerning  death  ? 

A.  First,  that  we  frequently  consider  that  we 
must  certainly  die,  and  that  but  once.  Heb. 
ix.  27.  Secondly,  that  the  time,  place  and  man- 
ner of  our  death  is  uncertain.  St.  Matt.  xxv. 
13.  St.  Mark  xiii.  35.  Thirdly,  that  God  com- 
mands us  to  be  prepared ;  and  always  on  our 
guard ;  and  assures  us  that  death  will  sur- 
prise those  foolish  people,  who  sleep  and  live 
in  sin.  St.  Matt.  xxiv.  44.  Eccl.  ix.  13. 
Fourthly,  that  generally  speaking,  we  shall  die 
as  we  have  lived ;  if  we  spend  our  life  in  the 
state  of  grace,  we  shall  in  all  appearance  die  in 
the  state  of  grace ;  or  if  we  pass  our  life  in 
the  state  of  sin,  we  shall  in  all  likelihood  die 
in  the  state  of  sin.  Prov.  i.  24 ;  Eccl.  xli.  i , 
Rom.  ii.  5,  6,  7,  8.  Fifthly,  that  our  eternal  lot 
depends  on  the  hour  of  death.  Eccl.  iii.  8,  et 
C.  ix.  10.  Lastly,  that  we  ought  to  submit 
to  its  stroke,  as  being  the  punishment  of  sin ; 
for  had  not  man  sinned,  he  had  never  died,  but 
been  translated  alive  to  heaven. 

Q.  What  is  judgment,  how  many  sorts,  and 
what  circumstances  ? 

A.  It  is  the  sentence  upon  men,  pronounced 
by  God.  It  is  particular  when  man  dies,  and 
general  at  the  end  of  the  world.  The  circum- 
stances are  the  sig^s  that  will  forerun  it,  viz. : 
In  the  heavens,  earth,  and  seas ;  antichrist  will 
appear,  and  against  him  Enoch  and  Elias.  The 
world  will  be  converted  and  consumed  by  fire. 
The  general  resurrection,  and  union  of  body  and 
soul.  The  qualities  of  the  judge,  severity  of  the 
examen,  in  thoughts,  words,  and  actions ;  and 
general  and  particular  duties.  The  strength  of 
the  proofs,  from  conscience  and  the  devil. 

Q.  How  ought  we  to  think  of  judgment? 

A.  We  ought,  first,  to  consider  that  all  our 


thoughts,  words,  actions,  and  omissions,  since  we 
came  to  the  use  of  reason,  shall  be  judged.  St. 
Matt.  xii.  36.  Secondly,  that  there  can  be  no 
appeal  from,  nor  revoking  of  the  judgment.  St. 
Matt.  xxv.  46.  Thirdly,  that  the  law  of  God, 
is  the  rule  of  our  judgment,  and  that  it  will  be 
put  in  execution  upon  the  spot,  without  showing 
us  either  pity  or  mercy.  Rom.  ii.  16 ;  Heb. 
X.  31.  Lastly,  that  the  punishment  and  reward 
appointed  for  us  by  our  judge,  shall  be  everlast- 
ing. St.  Matt,  xxv,  46. 

Q.  What  is  hell  ? 

A.  A  place  of  eternal  punishment,  with  the 
pain  of  separation  from  God,  and  the  pain  of 
sensible  torments  for  all  eternity,  proportionable, 
as  to  heathens,  Christians,  ignorance  and  malice. 

Q.  How  ought  we  to  think  of  hell  ? 

A.  First,  we  ought  to  consider  that  the  damned 
shall  never  see  the  face  of  God  ;  Psalm  xlviii.  12. 
That  they  shall  burn  and  be  tormented  both  in 
body  and  soul  during  eternity.  Apoc.  xx.  10. 
Secondly,  that  they  shall  sufi"er  all  the  evils  and 
all  the  misery  that  can  be  thought  of,  without 
anj'  comfort  or  rest,  and  that  the  worm  of  their 
conscience  shall  be  gnawing  and  tearing  them  as 
long  as  God  shall  be  God.  St.  Mark  xi.  43.  45. 

Q.  What  is  heaven  ? 

A.  It  is  an  eternal  place  of  pleasures  of 
body  and  mind,  free  from  all  evil,  and  enjoy- 
ing all  good,  proportioned  to  every  one's  merits. 

Q.  How  ought  we  to  think  of  heaven  ? 

A.  We  ought  often  to  consider,  that  the 
blessed  shall  suffer  no  kind  of  evil ;  Apoc.  vii.  16, 
etc.,  that  they  shall  abound  in  all  good  things  ; 
Ps.  XXXV.  9.  That  they  shall  see  God  and  his 
saints  face  to  face;  i  Cor.  xiii.  12.  That  their 
bodies  shall  be  glorious,  immortal,  active,  vigor- 
ous, and  bright,  i  Cor.  xv.  42.  That  they  shall 
possess  everlasting  joys  and  happiness,  with- 
out any  danger  or  apprehension  of  ever  losing 
them,  St.  John  xvi.  22.  In  a  word,  that  the  eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  the  ear  heard,  nor  hath  it 
entered    into    the    heart   of   man    to    conceive, 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


171 


■what  God    hatn  prepared   for   those    who    love 
him.     I  Cor  i.  9. 

Q.  Pray,  what  do  you  mean  by   purgatory  ? 

A.  A  middle  state,  wherein  such  souls  are 
detained  who  depart  this  life  in  God's  grace, 
yet  not  without  some  venial  sins,  or  without 
having  made  such  satisfaction  for  their  sins  as 
God's  justice  requires. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  those  who  die  guilty 
of  lesser  sins,  go  to  purgatory  ? 

A.  Because,  such  as  depart  this  life,  before 
they  have  repented  for  these  venial  frailties, 
and  imperfections  (as  many  Christians  do,  who 
■either  by  sudden  death,  or  otherwise,  are  taken 
out  of  this  world,  before  the}'-  have  repented 
for  these  ordinary  failings),  cannot  be  supposed 
to  be  condemned  to  the  eternal  torments  of  hell, 
since  the  sins  of  which  they  are  guilty,  are  but 
small,  and  which  even  God's  best  servants  are 
more  or  less  liable  to.  Nor  can  they  go  straight 
to  heaven  in  this  state,  because  the  Scripture 
assures  us,  that  nothing  that  is  defiled  shall 
enter  there.     Rev.  xxi.  27. 

Q.  Pray  tell  me,  upon  what  do  you  ground 
your  belief  of  purgatory  ? 

A.  Upon  Scripture,  tradition,  and  reason. 

Q.  What  grounds  have  you  for  purgatory 
from  Scripture  ? 

A.  First,  because  the  Scripture  in  many 
places  teaches  us,  that  it  is  the  fixed  rule  of 
God's  justice  to  render  to  every  man  according 
to  his  works.  See  Psalm  Ixii.  12.  St.  Matt, 
xvi.  27,  Rom.  ii.  6.  Rev.  xxii.  12.  So  that 
according  to  the  works  which  each  man  has 
done  in  the  time  of  his  mortal  life,  and 
according  to  the  state  in  which  he  is  found  at 
the  moment  of  his  departure  out  of  this  life, 
he  shall  certainly  receive  reward  or  punish- 
ment from  God.  Hence,  it  evidently  follows, 
that  as  by  this  rule  of  God's  justice,  they  that 
die  in  great  and  deadly  sins,  not  cancelled  by 
repentance,  will  be  eternally  punished  in  hell ; 
so,  by  the  same  rule,  they  who  die  in  lesser, 
or  venial  sins,  will  be  punished  some  where 
for  a  time,  until  God's  justice  be  satisfied,  and 
this   is    what    we    call    Purgatory.     Secondly, 


because  the  Scripture  assures  us,  that  we  are 
to  render  an  account  hereafter  to  the  great 
judge,  even  for  every  idle  word,  that  we  have 
spoken;  Matt.  xii.  36.  And,  consequently, 
every  idle  -word  not  cancelled  here  by  repent- 
ance, is  liable  to  be  punished  by  God's  justice 
hereafter.  Now,  no  one  can  think  that  God 
will  condemn  a  soul  to  hell  for  every  idle 
word  ;  therefore,  there  must  be  another  place  of 
punishment  for  those,  who  die  guilty  of  these 
little  transgressions.  Thirdly,  because  St.  Paul 
assures  us,  that  every  man's  work  shall  be 
made  manifest,  i  Cor.  iii.  13,  14,  15.  For  the 
day  shall  declare  it,  because  it  shall  be  revealed 
by  fire.  And  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's 
work  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man's  work 
abide,  which  he  hath  built  thereupon  (that  is, 
upon  the  foundation  which  is  Jesus  Christ),  he 
shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  shall 
be  burnt,  he  shall  suffer  loss  :  but  he  himself 
shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire.  Here,  you 
see,  St.  Paul"  informs  us,  that  every  man's  work 
shall  be  made  manifest  by  a  fiery  trial ;  and 
that  they  who  have  built  upon  the  foundation, 
which  is  Christ,  wood,  hay,  and  stubble  (that  is 
to  say,  whose  works  have  been  very  imperfect 
and  defective,  though  not  to  the  degree  of  losing 
Christ),  shall  suffer  loss,  but  yet  shall  be  saved 
so  as  by  fire ;  that  is,  by  a  purging  fire,  as 
the  fathers  understand  it ;  of  which  St.  Augus- 
tine writes,  they  who  have  done  things  deserv- 
ing temporal  punishment,  shall  pass  through  a 
certain  purging  fire,  of  which  the  apostle  St. 
Paul  speaks.  Hom.  xvi.  ex.  L.  50  Hom.  Again, 
on  the  37th  Psalm,  n.  3.  he  says,  this  fire  shall 
be  more  grievous  than  whatever  man  can 
suffer  in  this  life.  So  he  prays,  purge  me  O 
Lord,  in  this  life,  and  render  me  such,  as  may! 
not  need  the  mending  fire.  Being  for  them 
that  shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire.  Fourthly, 
because  our  Saviour  says,  that  whosoever 
speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not 
be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world  nor  in 
the  world  to  come.  Matt.  xii.  13.  Which  last 
words  would  be  superfluous  and  absurd,  if  sins 
not    forgiven    in    this    world    could    never    be 


172 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


forgiven  in  the  world  to  come.  Now,  if  there 
may  be  forgiveness  of  sins  in  the  world  to 
come,  there  must  be  a  purgatory  or  third  place, 
for  in  hell  there  is  no  forgiveness,  and  in  heaven 
no  sin.  Besides,  a  middle  place  is  also  implied 
by  the  prison  mentioned  in  St.  Matthew,  chap- 
ter v.  26.  out  of  which  a  man  shall  not  come 
till  he  has  paid  the  uttermost  farthing.  And 
by  the  prison  mentioned  in  St.  Peter ;  where 
Christ  is  said  by  his  spirit  to  have  gone  and 
preached  to  the  spirits  that  were  in  prison, 
which  sometimes  were  disobedient,  etc.  St. 
Pet.  iii.  18,  19,  20.  From  this  last  text,  it 
appears  that  at  the  time  of  our  Saviour's  death 
there  were  some  souls  in  a  state  of  suffering 
(in  prison)  in  the  other  world,  on  account  of 
lesser  sins  not  deserving  of  damnation,  for  cer- 
tainly our  Saviour  would  not  have  gone  and 
preached  to  them,  had  they  not  been  capable 
of  salvation.  These  souls,  therefore,  were  not 
in  heaven,  where  all  preaching  is  needless,  nor 
in  hell,  where  all  preaching  is  unprofitable ; 
but  in  the  middle  state  of  suffering  souls  they 
were,  which  is  the  purgatory  maintained,  by  the 
Catholic  Church. 

Q.  Pray,  what  do  you  say  to  that  text  of 
Scripture,  if  the  tree  fall  towards  the  south,  or 
towards  the  north,  in  the  place  where  the  tree 
falleth  there  shall  it  lie?  Eccles.  xi.  3. 

A.  I  say  that  it  is  no  way  evident  that  this 
text  has  relation  to  the  state  of  the  soul  after 
death :  but  if  it  be  so  understood,  as  to  have 
relation  to  the  soul,  it  makes  nothing  against 
purgatory,  because  it  only  proves  what  no  Cath- 
olic denies,  viz.  :  That  when  once  a  soulis  come 
to  the  south,  or  to  the  north,  that  is,  to  heaven 
or  to  hell,  its  state  is  unchangeable. 

Q.  But  does  not  the  Scripture  promise  rest, 
after  death,  to  such  as  die  in  the  Lord  ?  Rev. 
xiv.  13. 

A.  Yes,  it  does  ;  but  then  we  are  to  under- 
stand, that  those  are  said  to  die  in  the  Lord, 
who  die  for  the  Lord  by  martyrdom  ;  or  at  least, 
those  who  at  the  time  of  their  death,  are  so 
happy  as  to  have  no  debts  nor  stains  to  inter- 
pose between  them  and  the  Lord.  As  for  others 


who  die  but  imperfectly  in  the  Lord,  they 
shall  rest  indeed  from  the  labors  of  this 
world,  but  as  their  works  that  follow  them,  are 
imperfect,  they  must  expect  to  receive  from  the 
Lord  according  to  their  works. 

Q.  Let  me  now  hear  what  grounds  you  have 
for  the  belief  of  a  purgatory  upon  tradition,  or  the 
authority  of  the  Church  ? 

A.  Because,  both  the  Jewish  Church,  long 
before  our  Saviour's  coming ;  and  the  Christ- 
ian Church,  from  the  very  begining  in  all 
ages,  and  all  nations,  has  offered  up  prayers 
and  sacrifice  for  the  repose,*  and  relief  of  the 
faithful  departed,  which  evidently  imply  the 
belief  of  a  purgatory  or  third  place  :  and  it  is 
certain  that  the  Church  of  Christ  always  believed 
that  there  is  a  purgatory,  as  is  evident  from  the 
writings  of  the  ancient  fathers,  and  the  ex- 
press definitions  of  the  general  councils.  See 
Tertullian,  St.  Cyprian,  etc. 

Q.  What  grounds   have    you   for  the  belief 
of  purgatory,  from  reason  ? 

A.  Because  reason  teaches  these  two  things,, 
first,  that  every  sin,  be  it  never  so  small,  is  an 
offence  to  God,  and  consequently  deserves  pun- 
ishment from  the  justice  of  God;  and  therefore 
every  person  who  dies  under  the  guilt  of  any  such 
offence  unrepented  of,  must  expect  to  be  pun- 
ished by  the  justice  of  God.  Secondly,  that 
there  are  some  sins,  in  which  a  person  may  chance 
to  die,  that  are  so  small,  either  through  the 
levity  of  the  matter,  or  for  want  of  a  full  de- 
liberation in  the  act,  as  not  to  deserve  everlasting 
punishments.  From  whence  is  plainly  follows, 
that  besides  the  place  of  everlasting  punishment 
which  we  call  hell,  there  must  be  also  a  place  of 
temporal  punishment  for  such  as  die  in  those  les- 
ser offences,  and  this  we  call  purgatory. 

Q.  Do  yon  then  think  that  any  repentance 
can  be  available  after  death,  or  that  they  are 
capable  of  relief  in  that  state  ? 

*  See  2  Mach.  xii.  Tert.  L.  de  Mil.  Coro.  C.  3.  St.  Cypr.  Epis. 
Ixvi.  EusebL.  de  Vit.  Constan.  C.  71.  St.  Jo.  Chrj-s.  Horn.  iii. 
ect.  Tertul.  L.  4.  de  Ania.  C.  58.  St.  Cypr.  Ep.  Hi.  ad  Antonin. 
St.  Amb.  in  C.  3.  Ep.  ad  Cor.  St.Jer.  in  C.  5.  Mat.  St.  Aug.  L. 
20.  de  Civi.  Dei.  24  et  L.  21.  C.  13.  Cone.  Flor.  Sess.  Ult.  Cone. 
Trid.  Sess.  vi.  Can.  xxx.  et  Sess.  xxv.  dear,  de  Purga. 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


A.  No  repentance  can  be  available  after 
death;  but  God's  justice  must  take  place, 
which  will  render  to  every  man  according  to 
his  work :  however,  they  are  capable  of  relief ; 
but  not  from  any  thing  that  they  can  do  for  them- 
selves, but  from  the  prayers,  alms,  and  other 
suffrages  offered  to  God  for  them  by  the  faith- 
ful on  earth,  which  God  in  his  mercy  is 
pleased  to  accept  of,  by  reason  of  that  com- 
munion which  we  have  with  them,  by  being 
fellow-members  of  the  same  body  of  the  Church, 
under    the   same    head,  which  is  Christ  Jesus. 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  that  it  is  lawful  and 
profitable  to  pray  for  the  dead? 

A.  If  there  be  a  place  of  temporal  punish- 
ment where  some  souls  are  purged,  and  venial 
sins  remitted  after  this  life,  as  I  have  already 
proved  there  is  ;  then  that  charity  which  obliges 
lis  also  to  pray  that  the  living  may  be  saved, 
obliges  us  also  to  pray  that  the  dead  may  be  freed 
from  their  punishments.  Besides,  if  we  consult 
the  Scripture,  or  primitive  tradition  with  rela- 
tion to  the  promise  or  encouragement  given  in 
favor  of  our  prayers,  we  shall  nowhere  find 
the  dead  excepted  from  the  benefit  of  them ; 
and  the  perpetual  practice  of  the  church  of 
God  (which  is  the  best  interpreter  of  the 
Scripture)  has,  from  the  beginning,  ever  author- 
ized prayer  for  the  dead,  as  believing  such 
prayers  beneficial  to  them.*  Again,  we  find 
that  praying,  and  making  offerings  for  the 
dead,  was  practiced  by  Judas  Macchabasus,f 
and  by  the  Jews,  before  the  coming  of  Christ, 
who  were  then  the  true  people  of  God;  now, 
had  this  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Jews'been 
unlawful  and  unprofitable,  our  blessed  Saviour 
would  certainly  have  condemned  it;  as  he 
reproved   all    the  evil  doctrines   and    traditions 

*  See  Cone.  Nice.  C.  65. 
1 2  Maccha.  xii.  43,  44,  45. 


of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  but  we  do  not 
find  that  he  ever  spoke  one  word  against  this 
public  practice.  As  to  what  several  church- 
men of  the  reformed  Church  buzz  so  indus- 
triously from  the  pulpit  into  the  people's  ears, 
viz. :  That  praying  for  the  dead  was  only  an 
invention  to  get  money,  it  is  a  scandalous 
reflection  upon  Christendom,  and  even  the 
primitive  Christians,  since  it  has  always  been 
the  practice  from  the  beginning,  both  among 
the  Greeks  and  Latins, f  and  all  the  ancient 
Churches  to  pray  for  the  dead,  and  so  continues 
to  this  day.  A  little  reflection  might  let  people 
see  that  these  gentlemen  have  found  out  a  much 
easier  method  to  subsist  by,  than  praying  day 
and  night  either  for  the  living  or  the  dead. 

Q.  St.  John,  in  his  first  Epistle,  chapter  v. 
16.  says,  that  it  is  not  lawful  to  prSy  for  the 
dead :  there  is  a  sin,  says  he,  unto  death,  for 
that  I  do  not  say  that  any  one    should  ask. 

A.  What  the  Apostle  here  signifies  by  a  sin 
to  death,  is  final  impenitence,  or  a  mortal  sin 
persevered  in  until  death,  and  for  such  a  sin 
we  are  not  taught  to  pray,  but  what  is  this  to 
those  who  die  guilty  only  of  venial  sins  or 
small  failings  ?  for  such  as  these,  the  Apostle 
himself,  in  the  words  immediately  preceding, 
seems  to  command,  or  at  least  encourages  us 
to  pray,  where  he  says,  he  that  knoweth  that 
his  brother  committeth  a  sin,  which  is  not  unto 
death,  let  him  ask,  and  life  shall  be  given  him. 
I  John  V.  16.  Now  some  object  that  we  pray 
for  all  who  die  in  the  communion  of  the  Catholic 
Church ;  this  is  very  true,  we  do  so,  and  the 
reason  is,  because  we  do  not  certainly  know 
the  particular  state  in  which  each  one  dies  ; 
however,  we  are  sensible  that  our  prayers  are 
available  for  those  only  that  are  in  a  middle 
state. 

t  See  the  Translations  of  Monsieur  Du  Pin.  Cent.  7.  p.  3. 


174. 


SCRIPTURE   AND  TRADITION    EXPOUNDED. 


THE  LORD'S  PRAYER  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  is  the  Lord's  prayer? 

A.  It  is  a  prayer  made  by  Christ  our  Lord, 
to  be  said  by  all  Christians ;  and  delivered  as 
a  model,  according  to  which  all  our  petitions 
are  to  be  drawn  up  ;  Matt.  vi.  9,  etc. ;  Luke  xi.  2. 

Q.  What  are  the  general  contents  of  this 
prayer  ? 

A.  It  mentions  the  good  we  petition  for,  and 
the  evil  we  desire  to  be  freed  from. 

Q.  Which  are  the  goods  we  desire,  and  the 
evils  we  petition  to  be  freed   from  ? 

A.  The  goods  we  desire  are  three,  viz. :  The 
glory  of  God  ;  the  salvation  of  our  souls,  and  the 
obeying  divine  will.  The  evils- are  these  four ; 
want  of  necessaries,  that  we  may  be  capable  of 
honoring  God,  and  laboring  for  our  salvation ; 
secondly,  to  be  freed  from  sin  ;  thirdly;  to  avoid 
temptations ;  and,  fourthly,  to  be  protected  in 
"pain,  and  temporal  calamities. 

Q.  Which  is  the  preface  to  these  seven  peti- 
tions ? 

A.  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven. 

Q.  Why  is  this  prayer  addressed  to  God  as  a 
Father,  and  in  what  sense  is  he  a  Father? 

A.  Father  is  the  most  endearing  title,  and 
rather  used  than  King,  Lord,  or  an}'  other  that 
is  of  a  forbidding  import ;  for  as  fathers  have 
naturally  a  love  and  tenderness  for  their  chil- 
dren, so  it  gives  the  petitioner  great  hopes  of 
succeeding,  when  he  is  ordered  to  approach  the 
Almighty,  in  quality  of  a  father.  Now,  God  is 
our  father  on  several  accounts,  viz. :  By  crea- 
tion, in  giving  us  our  being ;  by  preservation, 
in  preserving  our  being  ;  by  a  providential  care, 
in  furnishing  us  with  all  things  necessary  and 
convenient  for  life,  and  often  distinguishing 
favors  of  fortune,  parts,  etc.  Again,  by  furnish- 
ing us  with  means  to  be  happ}^  hereafter,  viz. : 
Faith,  grace,  and  being  his  adopted  children, 
of  an  eternal  inheritance ;  as  also  by  the  incar- 
nation, by  redeeming  us  from  the  slavery  of  sin, 
and  the  devil. 


Q.  Why  do  you  say  our  father,  rather  than 
my  father? 

A.  To  signify  that  we  are  all  brethren  of 
the  same  father,  and  therefore  ought  to  love 
one  another ;  and  respectively  not  only  to  pray 
for  ourselves,  but  all  mankind,  viz.  :  Friends, 
and  enemies,  and  for  the  conversion  of  sinners, 
infidels,  heretics,  etc.     So  it  is  a  common  prayer. 

Q.  Why  is  the  prayer  addressed  to  God  in 
heaven  ? 

A.  Not  that  God  is  only  in  heaven,  for  he  is 
every  where ;  but  because  heaven  is  the  place 
where  he  resides,  with  the  greatest  show  of 
majesty,  and  by  his  omnipotency,  is  capable  of 
affording  assistance  to  all   petitioners. 

Q.  Which  is  the  first  petition  ? 

A.  Hallowed  be  thy  name. 

Q.  Is  not  God's  name  always  holy,  and  how 
do  we  petition  that  it  may  be  made  holy  ? 

A.  We  do  not  petition,  that  it  may  be  holy 
in  itself,  it  being  always  intrinsically  so,  neither 
can  we  add  nor  detract,  from  the  intrinsical 
holiness  of  his  name.  What  we  therefore  are 
to  petition  for  is,  that  his  name  may  be  honored, 
and  treated  with  due  respect,  and  not  abused ; 
with  respect,  by  faith,  hope,  and  charity  ;  believ- 
ing what  he  has  revealed,  and  practising  the 
holy  things  he  has  ordained,  and  not  abuse  his 
holy  name,  by  oaths,  perjury,  blasphemy,  ob- 
scene and  profane  language ;  Rom.  ii.  23,  24. 

Q.  Which  is  the  second  petition  ? 

A.  Thy  kingdom  come. 

Q.  Which  are  God's  kingdoms  ? 

A.  All  the  temporal  kingdoms  of  this  world ; 
the  kingdom  of  his  Church.  The  kingdom  of 
grace,  whereby  he  reigns  spiritually  in  man's 
soul,  and  the  kingdom  of  glory  in  a  future 
state. 

Q.  In  what  sense  do  we  petition  that  each 
of  these  kingdoms  may  come  ? 

A.  We  do  not  petition  that  temporal  king- 
doms may  come,  because   they  are    come,  and 


SCRIPTURE  AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


175 


God  actually  governs  all  kingdoms  ;  neither  do 
we  petition  that  the  kingdom  of  the  Church 
may  come,  it  being  already  established ;  yet  we 
may  petition  for  its  greater  extension,  by  add- 
ing to  it  all  those  parts  of  the  earth  which  are 
separated  from  it  by  infidelity  or  heresy.  What 
we  chiefly  pray  for,  is,  that  the  kingdom  of  grace 
may  be  established  in  our  souls,  by  believing 
and  practising  what  he  has  ordered,  and  that 
by  so  doing,  we  may  at  last  reign  with  him  in 
his  kingdom  of  glory,  in  a  future  state. 

Q.  Which  is  the  third  petition? 

A.  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven. 

Q.  What  is  it  to  do  the  will  of  God  ? 

A.  It  is  to  comply  with  all  his  commands, 
both  as  to  what  we  are  to  believe,  and  what  to 
practice,  and  that  not  only  what  himself  im- 
mediately commands,  but  what  is  commanded 
by  his  representatives,  viz. :  Civil  and  ecclesias- 
tical powers,  and  in  a  word,  all  subordinate 
powers,  as  parents,  masters,  etc, 

Q.  Can  we  perform  the  will  of  God  as  the 
saints  and  angels  do  in  heaven  ? 

A.  No,  not  as  to  the  equality,  because  they 
never  deviate  from  God's  will :  but  we  are  to 
endeavor  at  it,  by  a  general  desire  if  corrupted 
nature  would  suffer  us,  and  strive  for  it,  with 
fervor  and  zeal. 

Q.  What  else  do  we  petition  for? 

A.  That  God  would  be  pleased  to  discover 
to  us  his  will  in  difficult  matters,  which  occur 
in  human  life,  viz. :  In  regard  of  a  state  of  life, 
and  in  suffering  all  sorts  of  calamities. 

Q.  Which  is  the  fourth  petition? 

A.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread. 

Q.  What  is  meant  by  bread  ? 

A.  Not  only  strictly  what  is  so  called,  but 
all  things  that  are  necessary  for  life  in  general, 
or  our  particular  state  of  life,  as  far  as  it  is 
God's  pleasure,  but  not  superfluities  as  to 
worldly  conveniences,  much  less  are  we  to  pray 
for  riches,  honors,  and  any  other  thing,  that  is 
apt  to  turn  us  from  God's  service ;  St.  Matt, 
iv.  4 ;  St.  John  vi.  35.  Again,  by  bread  is 
also   understood,    the    spiritual    bread  whereby 


the  soul  is  nourished ;  among  which  we  may 
reckon  God's  grace,  pious  books,  but  most 
especially  the  blessed  eucharist.  Hence,  in  the 
place  of  daily,  St.  Matthew,  vi.  11.  has  super- 
substantial,  that  is,  uncommon  and  supernatural 
bread. 

Q.  Which  is  the  fifth  petition? 

A.  And  forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  for- 
give them  that  trespass  against  us. 

Q.  What  do  we  beg  by  this  petition  ? 

A.  To  have  our  sins  forgiven,  which,  being 
an  injury  and  debt  owing  to  God,  and  we  being 
unable  to  pay  it  ourselves,  we  may  and  do 
petition  that  he  will  pardon  us. 

Q.  Does  God  immediately  pardon  us,  upon 
this  petition  ? 

A.  No,  unless  we  comply  with  the  conditions, 
viz. :  A  sincere  sorrow  for  having  offended  him, 
and  a  firm  resolution  to  offend  no  more :  as 
also  forgiveness  of  others  who  have  offended  us, 
because  we  are  obliged  to  love  our  neighbor, 
which  requires  of  us  to  lay  aside  all  thoughts 
of  revenge;  St.  Matt,  xviii.  21;  St.  Mark  vi. 
25  et  26. 

Q.  It  this  petition  to  be  made  by  all  man- 
kind? 

A.  Yes  ;  all  are  daily  offenders,  either  mortally 
or  venially :  none  ever  have  been  excepted,  but 
our  blessed  Saviour  and  his  virgin  mother. 

Q.  Which  is  the  sixth  petition  ? 

A.  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation. 

Q.  Does  God  tempt  us  to  sin,  and  what  is 
it  you  call  temptation  ? 

A.  Temptation  is  provoking  men  to  sin :  in 
which  sense,  God  tempts  no  man ;  such  temp- 
tations are  ascribed  to  the  world,  the  flesh,  and 
the  devil ;  St.  James  x.  13  ;  St.  Matt.  iv.  3  ; 
Rom.  vii.  23;  St  James  i.  14.  Yet  God 
permits  us  to  fall  into  several  temptations  or 
trials  from  those  quarters,  in  order  to  try  our 
fidelity,  and  gain  a  greater  reward  by  resisting 
them.  What  we  pray  for  therefore,  is  the 
divine  assistance  and  grace,  that  we  may  come 
off"  victorious,  upon  such  occasions,  and  that  he 
will  not  desert  us :  but  most  especially,  we 
pray  for  the  gift  of  perseverance. 


176 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Which  is  the  seventh  petition? 

A.  But  deliver  us  from  evil. 

Q.  Which  are  the  evils  we  petition  to  be 
freed  from  ? 

A.  In  the  fifth  petition,  we  begged  to  be 
freed  from  the  evils  of  sin,  by  having  them 
forgiven,  in  this  we  beg  to  be  freed  from  the 
devil  and  all  his  stratagems ;  from  evil  company  ; 
from  all  temporal  evils  that  ma}'  happen  to  our 
body,  soul,  or  fortunes  ;  inasmuch  as  they  may 
be  an  impediment  to  laboring  in  God's  service ; 
but  this  is  to  be  understood  conditionally,  and 
with  resignation  to  the  divine  will.  What  we 
absolutely  pray  for,  on  this  occasion  is,  that 
we  may  bear  with  patience  all  temporal  calami- 


ties, and  that  they  may  not  oppress  us  so  as 
to  make  us  deviate  from  our  duty  to  God. 

Q.  Can  we  pray  to  be  freed  from  the  mis- 
eries of  human  life  ? 

A.  We  are  not  to  pray  for  our  death,  where- 
in we  are  to  submit  entirely  to  God's  holy 
will,  but,  in  St.  Paul's  sense,  we  may  desire 
to  be  dissolved ;  Phil.  i.  23. 

Q.  What  means  the  word.  Amen  ? 

A.  It  is  a  Hebrew  word  of  confirmation  or 
assent,  signifying  so  be  it,  or  let  it  be  done; 
consequently,  it  confirms,  with  a  repetition  and 
general  wish,  all  the  seven  petitions,  and  is  the 
usual  close  of  all  prayers  whatever,  being  as 
it  were  an  abridgment. 


THE  HAIL  MARY  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  is  this  prayer,  and  by  whom  was 
it  drawn  up,  and  for  what  end  ? 

A.  It  is  called  the  angelical  salutation,  and 
expresses  the  excellencies  of  the  blessed  Virgin 
Mary.  It  was  composed  of  three  parts.  The 
first  are  the  words  of  the  angel  Gabriel  salut- 
ing her.  The  second,  the  words  of  St.  Eliza- 
beth when  visited  by  her.  The  third,  the 
words  of  the  Church,  desiring  her  intercession  ; 
which  is  the  chief  motive  for  which  it  was  ap- 
pointed. 

Q.  Which  part  was  composed  by  the  angel 
Gabriel  ? 

A.  Hail  Mary,  full  of  grace,  our  Lord  is 
with  thee,  blessed  art  thou  among  women;  St. 
Luke  i.   28. 

Q.  What  means  the  word  hail  ? 

A.  It  is  a  word,  in  the  original  tongue,  sig- 
nifying joy  and  peace,  upon  account  of  good 
tidings :  and,  upon  the  present  occasion,  it  im- 
ported not  only  a  congratulation  of  comfort  and 
joy  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  that  she  was  so  much 
in  favor  with  the  Almighty,  as  to  be  made 
choice  of,  to  bring  forth  the  Saviour  of  the 
world ;  but  a  general  joy  to  all  mankind,  for 
the  news  of  their  approaching  redemption. 


Q.  What  signifies  the  word  Mary  ? 

A.  It  was  the  proper  name  of  the  blessed 
Virgin,  and  signifies  the  excellency  of  her  per- 
son and  employment,  if  we  attend  to  the  origi- 
nal sense  of  the  word,  which  signifies  a  lady 
and  a  sea  star.  By  the  first,  it  is  imported, 
that  she  was  to  be  the  lady,  and  queen  of  all 
mankind,  by  bringing  forth  the  king  and  ruler 
of  the  world.  Secondly,  that  she  was  the  star, 
to  guide  us  through  the  dangerous  seas  of  this 
life,  by  the  example  of  her  virtues,  and  inter- 
cession. 

Q.  Why  is  she  said  to  be  full  of  grace  ? 

A.  By  grace  are  understood  all  supernatural 
gifts,  which  made  her  acceptable  to  God,  and 
preferable  to  all  other  creatures;  and  this  is 
expressed  by  fulness  ;*  and  this  was  requisite, 
that  her  womb  might  be  a  suitable  receptacle 
for  the  author  of  grace ;  but  most  especially, 
the  fulness  of  grace  consists  in  the  particular- 
ity of  graces,  viz.:  She  was  not  only  sancti- 
fied in  her  mother's  womb,  as  some  few  others 
had  been,  but  was  exempt  from  the  guilt  of 
original  sin,  and,  as  a  consequence  of  that,  from 
concupiscence  of  the  flesh,  and  never  was  guilty 

*See  St.  Epiph.  torn.  ii.  p.  292. 


SCRIPTURE   AND  TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


177 


of  the  least  sin  ;  *  for  it  was  not  proper  that 
the  flesh,  from  which  the  pure  body  of  Christ 
was  to  be  formed,  should  ever  be  corrupted  or 
defiled  by  any  sin,  either  original  or  actual, 
mortal  or  venial.  Besides,  she  possessed  all  di- 
vine gifts  in  the  most  eminent  degree,  viz.:  Faith, 
hope,  charity,  humility,  obedience,  and  chas- 
tity, with  all  the  moral  virtues,  etc. 

Q.  What  signifies,  our  Lord  is  with  thee? 

A.  It  imports,  that  God  was  not  only  with 
her  in  a  general  manner,  by  all  the  aforesaid 
gifts,  but  that  the  second  person,  at  that  very 
moment  the  angel  spoke,  was  to  be  united  to 
her,  by  forming  a  perfect  human  body  of  her 
flesh ;  and  at  the  same  time,  a  human  soul  was 
infused  into  it,  and  both  united  to  the  second 
person  of  the  most  blessed  trinity. 

Q.  What  means,  blessed  art  thou  among 
women,  and  what  is  it  to  be  blessed  ? 

A.  To  be  blessed,  in  general,  is  to  be  in  the 
favor  of  Almighty  God,  and  the  more  a  person 
is  in  God's  favor  the  more  blessed  he  is,  and 
the  more  favors  God  shows  a  person,  the 
greater  is  his  blessing.  Hence  the  Virgin 
Mary  is,  upon  account  of  the  favor  shown  her, 
blessed  above  all  other  women,  f  An  abridg- 
ment of  these  favors,  are  her  purity  from  all 
sin ;  she  being  a  mother  and  a  virgin,  and 
what  is  more,  she  being  the  mother  of  the 
world's  redeemer,  and  mother  of  God. 

Q.  In  what  other  sense  is  she  to  be  called 
blessed  ? 

A.  Because  all  nations  shall  honor  her,  and 
call  her  blessed,  as  St.  Luke  declares,  C.  i.  48. 
All  generations  shall  honor  her,  by  invoking  her 
as  a  common  mother,  and  having  great  power 
with  Almighty  God. 

*  St.  Aug.  L.  de  Nat.  et  Grat  C.  xxxvi.  n.  4*. 'Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  v. 
Deer,  de  Pec.  Orig. 

t  See  St.  Jer.  Cont.  Jovin,  ect.    h,  13.  C.  44.  in  Ezech, 


Q.  Which  part  was  composed  by  St.  Eliza- 
beth? 

A.  Blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  these  words  ? 

A.  The  fruit  of  her  womb  was  Jesus,  the 
redeemer  of  the  world,  who  was  not  only  blessed 
in  himself,  but  a  blessed  fruit,  that  spread  itself 
every  where,  and  to  every  person  who  received  a 
benefit  from  him.    Jesus  is  added  by  the  Church. 

Q.  Which  part  of  this  prayer  was  composed 
by  the  Church  ? 

A.  Holy  Mary,  mother  of  God,  pray  for  us, 
sinners,  now,  and  at  the  hour  of  our  death.* 

Q.  Explain  the  meaning  of  every  word  ? 

A.  The  Church  calls  her  holy,  because  the 
angel  declared  she  was  full  of  grace  :  the  Church 
calls  her  Mary,  that  name  being  confirmed  to 
her  by  the  same  angel :  she  calls  her  mother  of 
God,  from  these  words  of  the  angel.  Thou  shalt 
conceive  and  bring  forth  a  son,  and  thou  shalt 
call  his  name  Jesus;  Luke  i.  31.  As  also  because 
she  is  the  true  mother  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is 
both  God  and  man,  as  the  council  of  Ephesus 
has  defined  against  Nestorius.  Lastly,  pray  for 
us  sinners,  desiring  her  intercession  ;  now,  that 
is,  every  moment,  because  every  moment  we  are 
in  danger ;  and  at  the  hour  of  our  death,  because 
then  we  are  most  incapable  of  helping  ourselves, 
and  then  the  devil  is  most  industrious  to  tempt 
us,  either  by  despair,  or  deferring  our  conversion. 

Q.  Why  are  we  particularly  exhorted  to  beg 
the  Virgin  Mary's  intercession  ? 

A.  For  several  reasons.  First,  her  great  power 
with  Almighty  God.  Secondly,  her  flaming  love, 
charity,  and  willingness  to  assist  all  who  call 
upon  her  with  their  prayers.  And  lastly,  because 
she  is  the  common  spiritual  mother  of  all  man- 
kind. 

*  Con.  Ephes.  Anno  431. 


178 


SCRIPTURE  AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


CEREMONIES   IN   GENERAL  EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  What  are  ceremonies,  and  how  many  kinds 
are  there  ? 

A.  Ceremonies  are  outward  actions,  made  use 
of  for  decency,  honor,  and  instruction  :  and  there 
are  chiefly  two  sorts,  civil  and  religious. 

Q.  Why  are  they  necessary  ? 

A.  Because  man  being  composed  of  body  and 
soul,  which  mutually  concur  in  all  performances, 
both  civil  and  religious.  It  is  both  requisite  and 
necessary  that  these  be  attended  with  certain 
visible  ceremonies,  to  distinguish  what  we  are 
doing,  and  render  the  performance  of  the  duty 
more  significant. 

Q.  I  easily  conceive  the  necessity  of  ceremonies 
in  civil  matters,  which  cannot  be  managed,  unless 
civil  power  be  conferred,  executed,  and  obeyed, 
with  proper  ceremonies.  But  what  occasion  is 
there  for  ceremonies  in  religious  matters  ? 

A.  For  the  same  reasons  that  they  are  neces- 
sary in  civil  matters;  and  particularly  that  God 
may  be  served  with  decency,  with  more  honor, 
and  the  people  instructed  in  their  duty. 

Q.  How  with  decency  ? 

A.  By  churches,  or  places  set  apart  for  divine 
service,  decently  adorned,  a  thing  not  refused  to 
men  of  distinction  :  for  princes,  nobility,  gentry, 
etc.,  take  care  of  commodious  and  decent  places 
of  abode. 

Q.  How  for  God's  greater  honor  ? 

A.  The  ceremonies  are  to  be  answerable  to  the 
dignity  of  the  person,  both  as  to  show,  riches, 
grandeur,  etc. 

Q.  How  for  the  people's  instruction  ? 

A.  The  ceremonies  are  to  represent  the  mys- 
teries of  faith,  to  explain  them  to  the  eye,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  illiterate  and  ignorant,  and 
capable  of  exciting  them  to  piety. 

Q.  Do  not  ceremonies  destroy  the  substance 
of  inward  devotion  ?  Are  they  not  sometimes 
superfluous,  sometimes  ridiculous,  sometimes 
superstitious  ? 

A.  They  are  so  far  from  destroying  the  sub- 
stance, that  they  preserve  it,  as  leaves  do  the 


fruit,  from  the  inclemency  of  the  season,  and 
for  that  reason  are  not  superfluous ;  and  as  to 
the  superfluity  of  their  number,  they  are  all 
tending  towards  piety,  and  on  that  score  very 
profitable.  If  any  religious  ceremonies  appear 
ridiculous,  it  is  owing  to  ignorance  or  scoffing ; 
and  as  to  superstition,  there  can  be  none,  where 
no  other  effect  is  ascribed  to  them  than  what 
God  or  nature  has  ordained. 

Q.  Who  was  the  first  author  and  contriver 
of  religious  ceremonies  ? 

A.  God  himself,  in  the  law  of  nature,  the 
law  of  Moses,  and  the  law  of  grace. 

Q.  What  religious  ceremonies  were  there  in 
the  law  of  nature  ? 

A.  We  read  of  few,  besides  sacrificing  of 
beasts,  to  acknowledge  God's  supreme  power, 
which  was  attended  with  ceremonies  of  altars, 
etc.  Gen.  xv.  And  we  may  justly  suppose, 
that  prayer  was  attended  with  the  ceremonies 
of  time,  place,  and  kneeling,  lifting  up  hands, 
etc.  Again,  circumcision  was  a  ceremony  of  the 
law  of  nature. 

Q.  What  ceremonies  were  appointed  by  the 
law  of  Moses  ? 

A.  An  infinite  number,  in  general  regarding 
the  consecrating  of  their  kings,  priests,  and 
sacrifices,  their  temple,  etc.  Ex.  xxix.  et  xl. 
which  were  ordained  to  declare  God's  majesty, 
and  prefigure  the  law  of  grace,  as  the  sanctum 
sanctorum,  the  manna,  the  paschal  lamb,  the 
shew-bread,  the  curing  of  the  leprosy,  the 
priest's  vestments,  images  of  cherubims,  their 
cleansing  from  legal  impurities,  their  feasts,  etc. 

Q.  Did  Christ,  in  the  new  law,  make  use  of 
or  appoint  religious  ceremonies  ? 

A.  Yes,  several,  he  was  circumcised,  pre- 
sented in  the  temple,  baptized  by  St.  John,  per- 
formed the  ceremonies  of  the  pasch,  ordered 
fasting,  and  water  baptism,  used  clay  and  spit- 
tle in  curing  the  blind,  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and 
prostrated  himself,  washing  feet,  etc. ;  St.  Mark 
vii.  St.  Luke  viii. 


SCRIPTURE  AND   TRADITION    EXPOUNDED. 


179 


Q.  Did  the  Apostles  use  and  ordain  religious 
ceremonies  ? 

A.  Yes,  several,  viz. :  Imposition  of  hands, 
the  anointing  with  oil,  abstaining  from  certain 
meats,  the  matter  and  form  of  the  sacraments, 
which  were  delivered  by  Christ,  during  the 
forty  days,  between  his  resurrection  and  ascen- 
sion, etc. 

Q.  Has  the  Church  authority  to  ordain  cere- 


monies, and  does  she  not  ordain  those  that  are 
superfluous  ? 

A.  Yes,  she  has  power  to  add  or  diminish, 
as  being  the  proper  judge,  which  are  signifi- 
cant and  instructive.  And  though  we  are  to 
adore  God  in  spirit,  this  does  not  exclude  cere- 
monies, but  only  directs  us  to  attend  to  their 
spiritual  meaning. 


PARTICULAR   CEREMONIES    EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  When  and  wherein  are  particular  cere- 
monies made  use  of? 

A.  In  adorning  Churches,  in  celebrating 
mass,  in  administering  the  sacraments,  in 
priest's  vestments,  in  celebrating  Sundays,  in 
celebrating  feasts  of  our  Lord,  in  celebrating 
feasts  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  in  celebrating 
feasts  of  the  saints,  in  the  devotion  practised 
in  holy  week,  in  observing  fasts,  in  consecrat- 
ing and  blessing  several  of  God's  creatures,  in 
postures  of  the  body,  etc. 

Q.  Which  are  the  chief  ornaments  in 
churches  ? 

A.  Pictures,  images,  crucifixes,  altars,  taber- 
nacles, and  candles. 

Q.  For  what  use  are  pictures,  images,  and 
crucifixes  ? 

A.  They  are  the  books  of  the  ignorant,  and 
illiterate,  tci  put  them  in  mind  of  several  mys- 
teries and  passages  belonging  to  religion. 

Q.  Are  Ihey  to  be  honored,  worshiped,  and 
prayed  to? 

A.  We  neither  pray  to  pictures  nor  images, 
nor  do  w«  believe  any  perfection  inherent  in 
them ;  wr;  only  pay  them  a  relative  honor,  on 
account  of  the  things  and  persons  they  repre- 
sent ;  a?,  we  honor  the  king,  and  a  friend,  by 
keeping  their  pictures,  and  placing  them 
decently :  yet  with  this  difference,  that  pictures 
in  churches  are  regarded  with  a  religious 
honor,  because  it  is  paid  on  account  of  some 
religious  qualification  ;  but    the    honor  we  pay 


to  the  pictures  of  others,  is  called  civil  honor, 
because  it  is  paid  on  account  of  some  natural 
or  acquired  perfection. 

Q.  Was  it  always  customary,  to  place  pictures 
and  images  in  churches  ? 

A.  In  the  law  of  Moses  such  things  were 
ordered,  as  the  brazen  serpent  in  the  desert, 
and  the  figures  of  seraphims,  cherubims,  and 
other  images  to  adorn  the  tabernacle.  As  to 
the  law  of  grace,  for  the  first  three  ages,  the 
Christians  not  being  permitted  to  have  public 
churches,  there  was  no  occasion  for  that  cere- 
mony, nor  was  it  much  practised  upon  the 
conversion  of  the  world,  in  Constantine's  days, 
that  the  heathens  might  not  be  scandalized, 
who  placed  idols  in  their  temples ;  but  by 
degrees,  as  idolatry  was  abolished,  it  was  cus- 
tomary to  set  up  the  images  of  Christ  crucified, 
and  the  pictures  of  saints  and  martyrs. 

Q.  What  are  altars,  and  why  are  they  placed 
in  churches  ? 

A.  They  are  tables  on  which  the  Christian 
sacrifice  is  laid  and  offered,  viz. :  The  body 
and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  they  represent 
Mount  Calvary,  where  the  bloody  sacrifice  was 
offered. 

Q.  What  is  the  tabernacle  ? 

A.  As  the  Jews  formerly  were  ordered  tO' 
make  a  rich  chest,  to  preserve  their  manna ;  so 
Christians  have  one,  to  keep,  or  preserve  the 
blessed  sacrament  in,  for  the  benefit  of  the  sick,. 
and  whereof  the  Jewish  tabernacle  was  a  figure. 


i8o 


SCRIPTURE  AND   TRADITION    EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Why  are  candles    exposed    and    lighted  ? 

A.  To  signify  the  light  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  light  that  will  shine  eternally  in  heaven, 
not  to  give  light  to  the  eye. 

Q.  What  is  the  mass  ?  why  performed  in 
Latin?  was  it  always  performed  with  so  much 
ceremony,  and  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  chief 
of  those  ceremonies  ? 

A.  It  is  the  Christian  sacrifice,  which  our 
Saviour  offered  at  the  last  supper,  viz. :  His 
body  and  blood,  accompanied  with  certain 
prayers,  which  are  usually  said  in  Latin,  that 
being  a  public  language,  the  best  known  of 
anji-  other,  in  order  to  preserve  unity  among 
different  nations.  It  is  true,  our  blessed  Saviour 
did  not  use  all  these  ceremonies,  at  the  first 
institution,  which  by  degrees  were  appointed 
by  the  Apostles,  and  their  successors,  for  greater 
solemnity.  The  chief  whereof  are,  the  lessons 
taken  from  the  gospels,  and  other  parts  of  the 
holy  Scriptures,  with  prayers  suitable  to  the 
purpose.  As  to  the  meaning  of  every  particular 
ceremony,  they  are  instructive,  and  represent 
some  passages  of  our  blessed  Saviour's  life, 
and  passion,  viz. :  The  priest  standing  at  the 
steps  of  the  altar,  and  bowing,  represents  Christ 
humbling  himself  in  the  garden,  to  prepare  for 
bis  passion.  His  turning  to  the  people,  and 
saying,  dominus  vobiscum ;  that  is,  the  Lord 
be  with  you,  puts  them  in  mind  to  be  attentive 
and  to  join  with  him  in  that  oblation.  Standing 
up  at  the  gospel,  imports  their  willingness  to 
profess  and  defend  it.  The  priest  washes  his 
fingers,  to  represent  the  cleanliness  from  sin. 
He  kisses  the  altar,  to  signify  Christian  peace, 
and  willingness  to  embrace  the  cross. 

Q.  Why  is  there  always  a  crucifix  upon  the 
altar  at  the  time  of  mass? 

A.  That  as  the  mass  is  said  in  remembrance 
of  Christ's  passion  and  death,  the  priest  and 
people  may  have  always  before  their  eyes  the 
image  that   represents    his    passion  and  death. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  frequent  use 
of  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  the  mass,  and  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments  ? 

A.  First,  to  signify  that  all  good  must  come 


through  Christ  crucified.  Secondly,  it  is  to 
show  that  we  are  no  more  ashamed  of  the  cross 
of  Christ,  than  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  was,  who 
gloried  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
Gal.  vi.-  14.  Thirdly,  it  is  to  make  an  open 
profession  of  our  believing  in  the  crucified  God, 
although  it  was  a  scandal  to  the  Jews,  and  folly 
to  the  Gentiles,  so  to  do,  i  Cor.  i.  23,  and  to 
help  us  to  bear  always  in  mind  his  death  and 
passion.  Fourthly,  it  is  to  chase  away  the 
devil,  and  dissipate  his  illusions,  St.  Matt, 
xxiv.  30,  for  the  cross  is  the  standard  of 
Christ,*  and  the  evil  spirit  trembles  at  the 
very  sight  of  the  instrument  of  our  redemption. 
See  St.  Matt.  etc. 

Q.  At  what  times  is  it  fit  to  make  the  sign 
of  the  cross  ? 

A.  At  our  rising,  and  going  to  bed;  when 
we  begin  prayer,  and  every  other  work ;  and 
particularly  in  time  of  temptation,  or  any  dan- 
ger whatsoever.f 

Q.  Was  the  sign  of  the  cross  made  use  of 
in  the  primitive  Church  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  as  it  plainly  appears  from  St.  Augus- 
tine :  if  the  sign  of  the  cross,  says  this  great 
Father  of  the  Church,J  be  not  applied  to  the 
foreheads  of  the  faithful ;  to  the  water  with 
which  they  are  baptized  ;  to  the  chrism  with 
which  they  are  anointed;  to  the  sacrifice  with 
which  they  are  fed,  none  of  all  these  things 
are  duly  performed.  The  reason  is,  because 
all  the  sacraments  have  their  whole  force  and 
efficacy  from  the  cross ;  that  is,  from  the  death 
and  passion  of  Jesus  Christ,  on  the  cross. 

Q.  Did  the  primitive  Christians  only  make 
use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  sacrament  ? 

A.  Not  only  then,  but  upon  all  other  occa- 
sions ;  at  every  step,  says  the  ancient  and  learned 
Tertullian,  at  every  coming  in  and  going  out, 
when  we  put  on  our  clothes,  when  we  wash, 
when  we  sit  down  to  table,  when  we  light 
candles,  or  whatsoever  conversation  employs  us, 

»St.  Cyril.  Catec.  St.  Aug.  Serm.  19. 

t  St.  Jer.  de  Cust.  Virg.  ad  Eust.  St.  Amb.  Senn.  43. 

t  St.  Aug.  Tract  119.  in  Jon. 


SCRIPTURE  AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


i8i 


we  imprint  on  our  foreheads  the  sign  of  the 
cross.''' 

Q.  Can  you  prove,  that  by  means  of  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  we  receive  any  favor  from 
God? 

A.  There  are  innumerable  instances  of  it,  in 
ancient  Church  history,  and  in  the  writings 
of  the  holy  fathers,  which  would  be  too  tedious 
to  relate.  I  shall  only  recount  that  the  cross 
was  given  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  Con- 
stantine,  the  first  Christian  emperor,  as  a  token 
and  assurance  of  victory,  when  he  and  his 
whole  army,  in  their  march  against  the  tyrant 
Maxentius,  saw  a  cross  formed  of  pure  light 
above  the  sun,  with  this  inscription :  By  this 
thou  shalt  conquer:  and  by  it  he  forthwith 
conquered  his  enemies.  Which  account  the 
ancient  Eusebius,  in  his  book  of  the  life  of 
Constantine,  declares  he  had  from  that  em- 
peror's own  mouth. 

Q.  What  ceremonies  are  made  use  of  in  the 
sacraments,  and  what  is  their  signification  ? 
And  first,  as  to  baptism  ? 

A.  There  are  a  godfather  and  a  godmother, 
who  are  to  instruct  the  child,  if  the  parents 
neglect  it.  The  priest  breathes  upon  the  infant, 
to  signify  spiritual  life.  This  ceremony  St. 
Augustine f  makes  mention  of,  and  says  it  was 
universally  practised  in  his  time ;  and  it  is 
used  in  contempt  of  the  devil,  and  to  drive  him 
away,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  called  the 
spirit  or  breath  of  God.  The  infant  is  signed 
with  the  cross,  to  signify  that  he  is  listed,  a 
soldier  of  Christ.  Salt  is  put  into  the  child's 
mouth,  which  is  an  emblem  of  prudence,  and 
imports  grace,  to  preserve  the  soul  incorrupt. 
Spittle  is  applied  to  the  child's  ears  and  nos- 
trils, in  imitation  of  Christ,  who  used  that 
ceremony  in  curing  the  deaf  and  dumb.  The 
anointing  signifies  the  healing  quality  of  grace ; 
the  head  denotes  the  dignity  of  Christianity ; 
the  anointing  the  shoulders,  that  he  may  be 
strengthened  to  carry  his  cross ;  the  breast  that 
his  heart  may  concur  in  all  duties ;   the  white 

*  Tertul.  Iv.  de  Coron.  Milit.  Cap.  3. 
t  L.  de  Nupt  C.  18  et  19. 


linen  cloth,  or  chrysom,  put  on  the  child,  sig- 
nifies innocence  of  behavior ;  and  the  wax  taper, 
or  candle,  signifies  the  light  of  faith  he  is 
endowed  with,  and  the  flame  of  charity. 

Q.  Which  are  the  ceremonies,  and  the  signifi- 
cation of  them,  in  the  sacrament  of  confirma- 
tion? 

A.  Anointing  with  oil  denotes  that  it  gives 
strength  to  profess  the  faith,  and  makes  a  per- 
son a  perfect  Christian.  A  stroke  on  the 
cheek  signifies  the  persecution  he  is  to  undergo 
and  endure.  The  imposition  of  hands  signifies 
the  overflowing  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Q.  What  are  the  ceremonies  in  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  and  what  their 
signification  ? 

A.  Bread  and  wine,  and  water  mixed  with 
the  wine.  The  first  signifies  the  nourishment 
of  the  soul :  the  second  signifies  the  water 
flowing  from  Christ's  side. 

Q.  What  is  meant  by  the  ceremony  of  ex- 
posing the  blessed  sacrament  to  the  view  of 
the  people,  in  a  remonstrance  set  up  upon  the 
tabernacle  or  altar? 

A.  It  is  to  invite  the  people  to  come  there 
to  adore  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  excite  in  them 
a  greater  devotion,  by  the  sight  of  their  Lord, 
veiled  in  these  sacred  mysteries. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  benediction 
given  on  certain  days  ? 

A.  It  is  a  devotion  practised  by  the  Church, 
in  order  to  give  adoration,  praise,  and  blessing 
to  God,  for  his  infinite  goodness  and  love, 
testified  to  us  in  the  institution  of  this  blessed 
sacrament ;  and  to  receive,  at  the  same  time, 
the  benediction  or  blessing  of  our  Lord  here 
present. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  blessed 
sacrament  being  sometimes  carried  in  solemn 
procession  through  the  streets  ? 

A.  It  is  to  honor  our  Lord,  there  present, 
with  a  kind  of  triumph,  and  thereby  to  make 
him  some  sort  of  amends  for  the  injuries  and 
affronts  which  are  so  frequently  ofiered  to  this 
divine  sacrament,  and  to  obtain  his  blessing 
for  all  those  places   through    which  he  passes. 


I82 


SCRIPTURE  AND   TRADITION    EXPOUNDED. 


Q.  Which  are  the  ceremonies  of  the  sacra- 
ment of  penance,  and  the  signification  of  them  ? 

A.  The  penitent  kneels,  to  show  his  humil- 
ity ;  the  priest  stretches  his  hands  upon  the 
penitent,  to  signify  the  grace  he  receives  :  the 
penitent  confesses  his  sins,  as  a  token  of  con- 
trition. 

Q.  Which  are  the  ceremonies  of  extreme 
unction,  and  what  are  their  meaning? 

A.  The  anointing  with  oil  signifies  the 
strength  of  grace  and  recovery  of  health,  if 
God  sees  it  convenient.  The  seat  of  the  five 
senses  are  anointed,  as  being  the  instruments 
whereby  God  is  offended. 

Q.  Which  are  the  ceremonies  of  holy  orders, 
and  their  meaning  ? 

A.  Anointing  is  made  use  of,  to  signify  the 
grace  that  is  given,  as  also  power;  hands  are 
imposed  to  represent  the  giving  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  and  certain  instruments  are  delivered, 
to  distinguish  the  nature  of  the  function. 

Q.  Which  are  the  ceremonies  of  marriage, 
and  their  signification  ? 

A.  The  ring  signifies  perpetual  love,  and  it 
is  put  on  the  fourth  finger,  because  it  is  said 
a  vein  goes  from  thence  to  the  heart :  money 
is  given  to  signif}'  the  communication  of 
worldly  goods,  and  that  there  be  no  strife  about 
them :  the  married  couple  join  hands,  to  sig- 
nify the  indissolvability  of  marriage :  they  are 
blessed  by  the  priest,  in  order  to  receive  the 
grace  belonging  to  the  state,  viz. :  For  the 
education  of  their  children,  and  to  bear  with 
diflBculties,  etc. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  churching 
of  women  after  child-bearing?  Is  it  that  you 
look  upon  them  to  be  under  any  uncleanness, 
as  formerly  in  the  old  law,  or  to  be  any  ways 
out  of  the  Church  by  child-bearing  ? 

A.  No ;  by  no  means :  but  what  we  call 
the  churching  of  women  is  nothing  else,  but 
their  coming  to  the  Church  to  give  thanks  to 
God  for  their  safe  delivery,  and  to  receive  the 
blessing  of  the  priest  upon  that  occasion. 

Q.  Which  are  the  principal  Sundays  distin- 
guished from  the  rest  ? 


A.  The  four  Sundays  before  Christ's  nativity, 
called  Advent  Sundays,  from  the  word  Adven- 
tus,  that  is,  coming;  to  put  us  in  mind,  that 
the  birth  of  Christ  approaches,  and  that  we 
are  to  prepare  for  a  worthy  celebration  of  it ; 
as  also  to  prepare  for  the  second  coming  of 
our  Saviour,  at  the  day  of  judgment.  Other 
remarkable  Sundays,  are  Septuagesima,  Sexa- 
gesima,  Quinquagesima,  and  Quadragesima ; 
which  are  designed  to  prepare  ourselves  for 
penance,  and  a  worthy  celebration  of  the  pas- 
sion and  resurrection  of  our  Lord.  As  also 
Passion  Sunday,  Palm  Sunday,  and  Low  Sun- 
day. Passion  Sunday  is  so  called  from  the 
passion  of  Christ,  then  drawing  nigh,  and  was 
ordained  to  prepare  us  for  a  worthy  celebrating, 
of  it;  Palm  Sunday  is  a  day  in  memory  and 
honor  of  the  triumphant  entry  of  our  Saviour 
Christ  into  Jerusalem ;  and  is  so  called  from 
the  palm  branches  which  the  Hebrew  children 
strewed  under  his  feet,  crying  Hosanna  to  the 
son  of  David,  Matt.  xxi.  And  hence  it  is, 
that  yearly  on  this  day,  the  Church  blesses 
Palms,  and  makes  a  solemn  procession,  in 
honor  of  the  same  triumph,  all  the  people 
bearing  palm  branches  in  their  hands.  The 
palms  are  likewise  an  emblem  of  the  victory 
which  Christ  gained  over  sin  and  death,  by 
dying  on  the  cross.  Low  Sunday,  is  the  oc- 
tave of  Easter  day,  and  is  called  by  the 
Church,  Dominica  in  Albis,  from  the  Catechu- 
mens, or  Neophytes,  who  were  on  that  day 
solemnly  divested  in  the  Church  of  their 
white  garments. 

Q.  What  are  the  principal  feasts  of  our  Lord  ? 

A.  Christmas  Day,  so  called  from  the  mass 
that  is  said  in  honor  of  our  blessed  Saviour's 
nativit}'',  or  birth  at  Bethlehem  :  And  on  this 
day  we  ought  to  give  God  thanks,  for  sending  his 
Son  into  the  world  for  our  redemption,  we  ought 
also  to  endeavor  to  study,  and  learn  those  great 
lessons  of  poverty  of  spirit,  of  humility,  and  of 
self-denial,  which  our  blessed  Redeemer  teaches 
us  from  the  crib  of  Bethlehem. 

Q.  What  is  the  reason  that  on  Christmas 
day  mass  is  said  at  midnight? 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


183 


A.  Because  Christ  was  born  at  midnight. 

Q.  Why  are  three  masses  said  by  every  priest 
upon  Christmas  day  ? 

A.  This  ancient  observance  may  be  under- 
stood to  denote  three  different  births  of  Christ ; 
his  eternal  birth  from  his  father,  his  temporal 
birth  from  his  mother,  and  his  spiritual  birth 
in  the  hearts  of  good  Christians. 

Q.  Are  there  any  other  feasts  of  our  Lord? 

A.  Yes  ;  the  circumcision,  or  New  Year's  day. 
It  is  a  feast  in  memory  of  Christ  being  circum- 
cised the  eighth  day  after  his  birth,  as  the  law 
of  Moses  ordained ;  Gen.  xvii.  12,  and  that  he 
then  first  shed  his  blood  for  the  redemption  of 
the  world ;  and  on  this  day,  we  ought  to  study 
how  we  may  imitate  him  by  a  spiritual  circum- 
cision in  our  hearts.  It  is  called  New  Year's 
day,  because  on  the  first  of  January  the  Romans 
reckoned  the  beginning  of  the  new  year,  and 
Christ  offered  his  blood  as  a  gift.  Hence,  the 
custom  among  Christians  of  New  Year's  gifts. 

The  Epiphany,  or  twelfth-day :  Epiphanj'  is 
a  Greek  word,  signifying  manifestation,  because 
our  Lord  then  began  to  manifest  himself  to 
the  Gentiles,  viz :  To  the  three  kings  in  the 
east,  who  came  and  adored  our  blessed  Saviour 
in  the  manger.  It  is  called  twelfth-day,  because, 
it  is  celebrated  the  twelfth  day  after  the 
nativity  exclusively.  Gold,  myrrh,  and  frank- 
incense were  offered,  to  signify,  he  was  a  king, 
man,  and  God.  The  devotion  of  this  day,  is  to 
give  God  thanks  for  our  vocation  to  the  true 
faith,  and  like  the  wise  men,  to  make  our  offer- 
ings of  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh ;  that  is 
of  charity,  prayer,  and  mortification,  to  our  new- 
bom  Saviour.  On  this  day  the  Church  also 
celebrates  the  memory  of  the  baptism  of  Christ, 
and  of  his  first  miracle  of  changing  water  into 
wine,  in  Cana  of  Galilee. 

The  Resurrection,  or  Easter  day,  is  a  solem- 
nity in  memory  and  honor  of  our  Saviour 
Christ's  rising  from  death  on  the  third  day. 
It  is  called  Easter,  from  the  east,  so  Christ  is 
called  Oriens,  or  rising.  For,  as  the  prophet 
Zechariah  says,  his  name  shall  be  called  Oriens, 
chapter  iv.   12.      Because  as  the    material    sun 


daily  arises  from  the  east,  so,  he,  the  Son  of 
justice,  at  this  day  rose  from  the  dead.  The 
devotion  of  this  time,  is  to  rejoice  in  Christ's 
victory  over  death  and  hell ;  and  to  labor  to 
imitate  his  resurrection,  by  rising  from  the  death 
of  sin  to  the  life  of  grace. 

Ascension  day :  A  feast  kept  the  fortieth  day 
after  Christ's  resurrection,  in  memory  of  his 
visible  ascending  into  heaven,  in  sight  of  his 
Apostles  and  disciples ;  and  therefore,  it  is  a 
festival  of  joy,  as  well  as  by  reason  of  the  tri- 
umphs of  our  Saviour  on  this  day,  and  the 
exhaltation  of  our  human  nature,  by  him  now 
exalted  above  the  angels ;  as  likewise,  because 
our  Saviour  has  taken  possession  of  that  king- 
dom in  our  name,  and  is  preparing  a  place  for 
us.  It  is  also  a  part  of  the  devotion  of  this 
day,  to  labor  to  disengage  our  hearts  from  this 
earth,  and  earthly  things,  to  remember  that  we 
are  but  strangers  and  pilgrims  here,  and  to 
aspire  after  our  heavenly  country,  where  Christ, 
our  treasure,  is  gone  before  us,  in  order  to 
draw  our  hearts  thither  after  him. 

Whitsuntide,  or  Pentecost:  A  feast  in  com- 
memoration and  honor  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
descending  visibly  Upon  the  heads  of  the 
Apostles,  in  the  shape  of  tongues,  as  it  were 
of  fire.  It  is  called  Whit  Sunday,  because  at 
this  time  the  Catechumens,  who  were  then 
baptized,  were  all  in  white.  It  was  anciently 
called  Wied  Sunday,  that  is,  holy  Sunday ;  for 
Wied,  or  Wihed,  signifies  holy  in  the  old  Saxon 
language.  It  is  called  Pentecost,  from  the- 
Greek  word,  signifying  fiftieth,  it  being  the( 
fiftieth  day  after  the  resurrection,  and  the  tenth' 
after  the  ascension.  The  proper  devotion  of  this' 
time,  is  to  invite  the  Holy  Ghost  into  our  souls « 
by  fervent  prayer,  and  to  give  ourselves  up  to»J 
his  divine  influences. 

Trinity  Sunday :  a  feast  celebrated  on  the 
Sunday  after  Whit  Sunday,  being  the  octave 
of  Whit  Sunday,  to  signify  that  the  work  of 
man's  redemption  was  completed  by  the  whole 
Trinity,  and  the  truth  of  the  mystery  of  the 
Trinity,  being  acknowledged  solemnly  on  this 
day,  against  the  several  heresies  that  denied  it. 


1 84 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


Corpus  Christ!  day  :  a  feast  instituted  by  the 
Church  in  honor  and  memory  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  really  present  in  the  most 
holy  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist ;  during  the 
octave  of  which  feast,  the  blessed  sacrament  is 
exposed,  to  be  adored  by  the  faithful,  in  all  the 
principal  Churches  in  Catholic  countries,  and 
'great  processions  are  made  in  honor  of  it,  and 
itherefore,  it  is  called  Corpus  Christi  day,  or  the 
day  of  the  body  of  Christ;  a  standing  proof 
of  the  real  presence. 

The  transfiguration  of  our  Lord,  a  feast  in 
remembrance  of  Christ  appearing  in  glory,  upon 
Mount  Tabor,  to  St.  Peter,  James,  and  John; 
and  it  is  so  called  from  the  Latin  word,  trans- 
figuro,  which  signifies  to  transfigure  or  change 
shape. 

Q.  Which  are  the  feasts  in  honor  of  the 
blessed  Virgin  Mary? 

A.  These  ;  the  conception,  nativity,  presenta- 
tion, annunciation,  visitation,  assumption,  and 
purification. 

Q.  What  is  the  conception  ? 

A.  A  feast  in  honor  of  the  blessed  Virgfin 
Mary  being  conceived  in  her  mother's  womb. 

Q.  What  is  to  be  observed  in  her  concep- 
tion? 

A.  First,  she  was  conceived  in  her  mother's 
old  age,  St.  Anne  being  her  mother,  and  St. 
Joachim  her  father;  secondly,  she  was  sanctified 
in  her  mother's  womb ;  thirdly,  she  was 
exempted  from  the  guilt  of  original  sin,  as  is 
piously  believed,  though  not  an  article  of  faith. 

Q.  What  is  the  nativity  of  the  blessed 
Virgin  ? 

A.  A  feast  in  honor  of  her  happy  birth,  of 

I  whom  the  Author  of  all  life  and  salvation,  was 

I  to  be  bom  to  the  world;  he  was  both  God  and 

man,  and  by  consequence,  she  was  the  mother 

of  God,  and  in  this  she  is  to  be  honored  above 

all  other  women. 

Q.  What  is  the  presentation  of  the  blessed 
Virgin? 

A.  A  feast  in  memory  of  her  being  offered 
by  her  parents,  at  three  years  of  age,  in  the 
temple. 


Q.  What  is  the  annunciation,  or  Lady-day? 

A.  It  is  a  feast  in  memory  of  the  most  happy 
message,  or  embassy,  brought  to  her  by  the 
angel  Gabriel,  signifying  that  she  was  to  be 
the  mother  of  God,  and  of  a  Redeemer.  It  is 
also  the  day  of  our  Lord's  incarnation,  when 
he  was  first  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
the  womb  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary;  and  it 
is  called  the  annunciation,  from  the  message 
brought  from  heaven  this  day  to  the  blessed 
Virgin ;   St.  Luke  i. 

Q.  What  is  the  visitation? 

A.  It  is  in  memory  of  her  visit  made  to  St. 
Elizabeth,  mother  of  St.  John  Baptist,  after  she 
had  conceived  the  Son  of  God,  at  whose  pres- 
ence, St.  John  Baptist  leaped  into  his  mother's 
womb. 

Q.  What  is  the  assumption  ? 

A.  A  feast  in  memory  of  her  being  assumed, 
or  taken  up  into  heaven,  both  body  and  soul, 
immediately  after  her  decease. 

Q.  Is  it  an  article  of  faith,  that  she  was 
bodily  carried  into  heaven  ? 

A.  No;  it  is  only  piously  and  generally 
believed  to  have  happened,  by  a  particular 
privilege,  as  by  a  particular  privilege  her  soul 
was  free  from  original  sin,  so  it  was  congruous 
that  her  body  should  not  be  subject  to  corrup- 
tion, for  the  Church  piously  believes,  agree- 
ably to  the  doctrine  of  the  ancient  fathers  and 
the  council  of  Trent,  that  she  was  never  guilty 
of  any  actual  sin.* 

Q.  What  means  the  feast  of  the  purification, 
or  Candlemas  day  ? 

A.  It  is  the  feast  in  memory  both  of  the  pre- 
sentation of  our  blessed  Saviour,  and  of  the 
purification  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  made  in  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem,  the  fortieth  day  after  her 
happy  child-birth :  for  it  was  a  ceremony  prac- 
ticed in  the  old  law,  and  renewed  in  the  new ; 
whereby  a  mother  was  obliged  to  appear  in  the 
temple,  and  return  thanks,  forty  days  after  the 
birth  of  her  child.  It  is  called  purification,  from 
the  Latin  word  purifico,  to  purify ;  not  that  the 

♦St.  Aug.   Epist.  s8;    St.   Amb.   in   Psal.   cxviii;  St.   Beined. 
Epist  174  ;   Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  vi;   Can.  xxiii. 


SCRIPTURE  AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


X85 


blessed  Virgin  was  tainted  with  any  sin,  or  any- 
thing by  her  child-birth,  which  needed  purifying, 
as  being  the  mother  of  purity  itself,  but  in  com- 
pliance with  the  ceremony,  which  was  according 
to  the  law  of  Moses,  as  we  read  in  Leviticus  xii. 
6,  and  as  our  Saviour  Christ  submitted  to  circum- 
cision. Upon  this  day,  the  Church  makes  a 
solemn  procession,  with  lighted  candles,  which 
are  blessed  by  the  priest  before  mass,  and  carried 
in  the  hands  of  the  faithful,  as  an  emblem  of 
Christ,  who  is  the  light  of  the  world  ;  and  from 
this  ceremony  it  is  called  Candlemas  day. 

Q.  Has  the  Church  power  to  appoint  feasts  of 
saints  ?  And  what  end  has  she  in  appointing 
them  ? 

A.  As  the  Church  has  power  of  making  laws 
that  are  binding,  so  particularly  this  power  re- 
gards religious  duties,  as  in  honoring  saints. 

Q.  How  are  the  saints  honored  at  their  feasts  ? 

A.  Not  by  dedicating  churches  and  altars  to 
them,  but  to  God  only,  in  acknowledgment  of 
the  benefit  he  has  done  to  us  by  his  saints,  and 
on  that  account,  we  give  them  such  a  name  as 
St.  Peter's  church,  St.  Paul's,  etc.,  and,  by  re- 
counting their  birth,  sufferings,  and  virtuous 
practices,  we  are  induced  to  imitate  their  several 
kinds  of  martyrdoms  and  suflPerings  for  the  faith 
of  Christ,  as  also  for  their  several  ways  of  virtue 
and  perfection,  by  following  their  example  in 
our  behavior,  and  begging  their  prayers,  so  that 
we  honor  God  in  his  saints. 

Q.  Which  are  the  principal  feasts  of  saints 
v/hose  memory  we  celebrate  ? 

A.  The  twelve  Apostles,  which  are  common 
to  all  titular  saints,  or  the  patrons  of  nations, 
by  whom  we  were  converted :  the  founders  of 
religious  orders,  who  have  benefited  Christianity, 
by  establishing  and  practicing  the  evangelical 
councils.  And  again,  the  saints  of  particular 
provinces,  dioceses,  and  parishes,  where  holy 
persons  have  lived,  and  their  memory  been  re- 
corded by  their  miracles  and  good  example,  and 
have  churches  erected  to  their  memory. 

Q.  Are  there  no  other  feasts  ?  and  what  is 
the  meaning  of  their  ceremonies  ? 

A.  Yes ;  Michaelmas,  All  Saints,  All  Souls, 


the  Invention  of  the  Cross,  the  Exaltation  of 
the  Cross,  Shrovetide,  Ash- Wednesday,  etc. 

Q.  What  means  the  feast  of  Michaelmas  ? 

A.  It  is  a  solemnity,  or  solemn  mass,  in 
honor  of  St.  Michael,  prince  of  the  heavenly 
host,  and  likewise  of  all  the  nine  orders  of  holy 
angels ;  as  well  as  to  commemorate  the  famous 
battle  fought  by  him  and  them,  in  heaven, 
against  the  dragon  and  his  apostate  angels, 
which  we  read  of  in  the  Apocalypse  or  Reve- 
lation, xii.  7 ;  as  also  to  recommend  the  whole 
Church  of  God  to  their  patronage  and  prayers. 
And  it  is  called  the  dedication  of  St.  Michael, 
by  reason  of  a  Church  in  Rome,  dedicated,  on 
that  day,  to  St.  Michael  by  Pope  Boniface. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  All  Saints  ? 

A.  It  is  a  feast  instituted  by  the  Church  in 
honor  of  all  the  saints,  and  that  we  might 
obtain  the  prayers  of  them  all,  since  the  whole 
year  is  too  short  to  aflPord  us  a  particular  feast 
for  every  saint. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  All  Souls  day? 

A.  It  is  a  day  instituted  by  the  Church  in 
memory  of  all  the  faithful  departed,  that,  by 
the  prayers  and  suffrages  of  the  living,  they 
may  be  freed  out  of  their  purging  pains,  and 
come  to  everlasting  rest. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  Invention 
and  Exaltation  of  the  Holy  Cross,  commonly 
called  Holy-rood  days  ? 

A.  The  Invention  of  the  Cross  is  a  feast 
kept  in  memory  of  the  miraculous  finding  of 
the  holy  cross,  by  St.  Helen,  mother  of  Con- 
stantine  the  Great,  after  it  had  been  hid  and 
buried  by  the  Infidels  180  years.  The  Exalta- 
tion is  kept  in  memory  of  setting  up  the  said 
holy  cross,  by  Heraclius  the  emperor,  who 
having  regained  it  a  second  time,  from  the  Per- 
sians, after  it  had  been  lost  fourteen  years, 
carried  it  on  his  own  shoulders  to  Mount  Cal- 
vary, and  exalted  it  with  great  solemnity.  It 
is  called  Holy-rood  day,  or  Holy-cross,  from 
the  great  sanctity  which  it  received,  by  touch- 
ing and  bearing  the  oblation  of  the  most  pre- 
cious body  of  Christ ;  the  word  Rood,  in  the 
old  Saxon  tongue  signifying  cross.     The  chief 


i86 


SCRIPTURE  AND  TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


devotion  of  this  day,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
Exaltation  of  the  Cross,  is  to  celebrate  the 
victorious  death  and  passion  of  our  blessed 
Redeemer. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  Shrovetide? 

A.  It  signifies  a  time  of  confessing ;  for  our 
ancestors  were  used  to  say,  we  will  go  to  shrift, 
instead  of,  we  will  go  to  confession ;  and  in  the 
more  primitive  times,  all  good  Christians  did 
then  (as  many  do  now)  confess  their  sins  to  a 
priest,  the  better  to  prepare  themselves  for  a 
holy  observation  of  Lent,  and  worthy  receiving 
the  blessed  sacrament  at  Easter. 

Q.  What  signifies  Ash-Wednesday  ? 

A.  It  is  a  day  of  public  penance  and  hu- 
miliation in  the  whole  Church  of  God,  and  it 
is  so  called  from  the  ceremony  of  blessing  ashes 
on  that  day,  wherewith  the  priest  signeth  the 
people  with  a  cross  on  their  foreheads,  to  put 
them  in  mind  of  what  they  are  made,  repeating, 
at  the  same  time,  those  words  of  Genesis  iii. 
lo :  Remember,  man,  that  thou  art  dust,  and 
to  dust  thou  shalt  return :  so  to  prepare  them 
to  do  penance  for  their  sins,  as  the  Ninivites 
did,  in  fasting,  sackcloth  and  ashes. 

Q.  Which  are  the  ceremonies  of  Holy  Week  ? 

A.  Tenebrae,  Maundy  Thursday,  Good  Fri- 
day, Holy  Saturday,  washing  feet,  fifteen  can- 
dles, the  triangular  candle,  the  paschal  candle, 
etc. 

Q.  What  is  meant  by  the  three  days  of 
Tenebras,  viz.:  Wednesday,  Thursday,  and  Fri- 
day, before  Easter  ? 

A.  It  is  a  mournful  office,  in  which  the 
Church  laments  the  death  of  Christ.  It  is 
called  the  Tenebrae  office,  from  the  Latin  word 
which  signifies  darkness,  because  at  the  latter 
end  of  the  office,  all  the  lights  are  extin- 
guished, in  memory  of  the  darkness  which 
overspread  the  face  of  the  earth  whilst  Christ 
was  hanging  on  the  cross :  and,  at  the  end  of 
the  office,  a  noise  is  made  to  represent  the 
earthquake,  and  splitting  of  the  rocks,  which 
happened  at  the  time  of  our  Lord's  death. 

Q.  What  means  Maundy  Thursday? 

A.  It  is    a    feast    in    memory   of  our  Lord's 


last  supper,  when  he  instituted  the  blessed 
Eucharist  or  Sacrament  of  his  precious  body 
and  blood  ;  and  began  his  passion  by  his  bitter 
agony  and  bloody  sweat.  From  the  Gloria  in 
Excelsis  of  the  mass  of  this  day,  until  the 
mass  of  Easter  eve,  all  the  bells  are  silent 
throughout  the  Catholic  Church  because  we  are 
now  mourning  for  the  passion  of  Christ.  Our 
altars  are  also  uncovered,  and  stripped  of  all  their 
ornaments,  because  Christ,  our  true  altar,  hung 
naked  upon  the  cross.  It  is  called  Maundy 
Thursday  from  the  first  word  of  the  antiphon- 
Mandatum  novum  do  vobis,  etc.  ;  St.  John  xiii. 
34.  I  give  you  a  new  command  (or  mandate) 
that  you  love  one  another  as  I  have  loved 
you ;  which  is  sung  on  that  day  in  the 
Churches,  when  the  prelates  beg^n  the  cere- 
mony of  washing  their  people's  feet. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  prelates  and 
superiors  washing  the  feet  of  their  subjects 
upon  this  day  ? 

A.  It  is  a  ceremony  in  imitation  of  Christ's 
washing  the  feet  of  his  Apostles ;  St.  Jo.  xiii. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  visiting  the  sep- 
ulchres upon  Maundy  Thursday  ? 

A.  The  place  where  the  blessed  sacrament 
is  reserved  in  the  Church,  in  order  for  the 
office  of  Good  Friday  (on  which  day  there  is 
no  consecration),  is  by  the  people  called  the 
sepulchre,  as  representing  by  anticipation  the 
burial  of  Christ :  and  where  there  are  many 
Churches,  the  faithful  make  their  stations  to 
visit  our  Lord  in  these  sepulchres,  and  medi- 
tate on  the  different  stages  of  his  passion. 

Q.  What  means  Good  Friday  ? 

A.  It  is  a  day  we  keep  in  memory  of  the 
great  work  of  our  redemption,  which  was  con- 
summated by  Christ  in  dying  on  the  cross.  The 
devotion  proper  for  this  day,  and  for  the  whole 
time  in  which  we  celebrate  Christ's  passion,  is 
to  meditate  upon  the  sufferings  of  our  Re- 
deemer, and  to  study  the  excellent  lessons  of 
virtue  which  he  teaches  us  by  his  example  in 
the  whole  course  of  his  passion ;  especially  his 
humility,  meekness,  patience,  obedience,  resig- 
nation, etc.     And  above  all,  to  learn  his  hatred 


SCRIPTURE   AND  TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


187 


of  sin,  and  his  love  for  us ;  that  we  may  also 
learn  to  hate  sin,  which  nailed  him  upon  a 
cross ;  and  love  him  who  has  loved  us  even 
unto  death. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  creeping  to,  and 
kissing  the  cross  on  Good  Friday  ? 

A.  It  is  to  express,  by  this  reverence  out- 
wardly exhibited  to  the  cross,  our  veneration 
and  love  for  him  who  upon  this  day  died  for 
us  on  the  cross. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  Holy  Satur- 
day? 

A.  It  is  Easter  eve,  and  therefore  in  the 
mass  of  this  day,  the  Church  resumes  her 
Alleluias  of  joy,  which  she  had  intermitted 
during  the  penitential  time  of  Septuagesima 
and  Lent.  This  day  and  Whitsun  eve  were 
anciently  the  days  deputed  by  the  Church  for 
solemn  baptism,  and  therefore  on  this  day  the 
fonts  are  solemnly  blessed 

Q.  What  signifies  the  Paschal  candle,  which 
is  blessed  on  this  day? 

A.  It  signifies  the  new  light  of  spiritual  joy 
and  comfort,  which  Christ  brought  us  at  his 
resurrection ;  and  it  is  lighted  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  gospel,  until  after  the  communion, 
betwixt  Easter  and  Ascension  Day,  to  signify 
the  apparitions  which  Christ  made  to  his  dis- 
ciples during  that  space. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  triangular 
candle  ? 

A.  It  signifies  that  the  light  of  the  gospel, 
which  Christ  brought  to  us,  is  the  work  of 
the  blessed  trinity,  to  whom  we  are  to  render 
thanks. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  exorcisms  ? 

A.  The  rites  and  prayers  instituted  by  the 
Church  for  the  casting  out  devils,  or  restraining 
them  from  hurting  persons,  or  disturbing 
places,  or  abusing  any  of  God's  creatures  to 
their  harm  or  prejudice. 

Q.  Has  Christ  g^ven  to  his  Church  any  such 
power  over  the  devils  ? 

A.  Yes,  he  has,  as  we  read  in  St.  Matthew, 
St.  Mark  and  St.  Euke ;  Matt.  x.  i  ;  Mark  iii. 
15 ;  Luke  ix    i  ;  where  this  power  was  given  to 


the  Apostles,  and  to  the  seventy-two  disciples, 
and  the  other  believers.  See  St.  Mark  xvi. 
17 ;  St.  Luke  x.  19.  And  that  this  power  was 
not  to  die  with  the  Apostles,  nor  to  cease 
after  the  apostolic  age,  we  learn  from  the 
perpetual  practice  of  the  Church,  and  the  ex- 
perience of  all  ages. 

Q.  Which  are  the  things  we  bless,  and  why  ? 

A.  We  bless  Churches,  and  other  places  set 
aside  for  divine  service ;  altars,  chalices,  vest- 
ments, incense,  bells,  etc. :  by  way  of  devoting 
them  to  God's  service.  We  bless  candles, 
Agnus  Deis,  salt,  water,  etc. :  by  way  of  beg- 
ging of  God  that  such  as  religiously  use  them 
may  obtain  his  blessing.  We  bless  our  meat 
and  other  things  which  God  has  given  us  for 
our  use,  that  we  may  use  them  with  modera- 
tion, in  a  manner  agreeable  to  God's  institution, 
that  they  may  be  serviceable  to  us,  and  that 
the  devil  may  have  no  power  to  abuse  them 
to  our  prejudice. 

Q.  But  is  it  not  superstition  to  attribute  any 
virtue  to  such  inanimate  things  as  blessed 
candles,  Agnus  Deis,  holy  water,  etc. 

A.  It  is  no  superstition  to  look  for  a  good 
effect  from  the  prayers  of  the  Church  of  God ;  * 
and  it  is  in  virtue  of  these  prayers  that  we  hope 
for  benefit  from  these  things,  when  used  with 
faith  ;  and  daily  experience  shows  that  our  hopes 
are  not  vain. 

Q.  What  warrant  have  you  in  Scripture  for 
blessing  inanimate  things  ? 

A.  From  the  first  epistle  of  St.  Paul  to 
Timothy,  C.  iv.  4,  5  ;  where  he  says,  that  every 
creature  of  God  is  good,  and  nothing  to  be  re- 
jected which  is  taken  with  thanksgiving  :  for  it 
is  sanctified  by  the  word  of  God  and  prayer.        ,  ■ 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  Agnus  Deis  ? 

A.  Wax  stamped  with  the  image  of  the  Lamb 
of  God,  blessed  by  the  Pope  with  solemn  prayers, 
and  anointed  with  holy  chrism. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  holy  water  ? 

A.  Salt  and  water  sanctified  by  the  word  of 
God  and  prayer. 

Q.  Can  you  show  me  from  holy  Writ,    that 
*See  St.  Epiph.  Hser.  30.  Theod.  L.  5.  Hist.  Eccles.  C.  21. 


1 88 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION   EXPOUNDED. 


water,  salt  and  the  like,  may  be  lawfully  used  to 
obtain  any  favor  from  God  ? 

A.  I  can ;  for  God  himself  ordered  holy  and 
purified  waters  to  be  made  in  the  old  law ; 
Num.  V.  17.  et  C  xix.  9.  Again,  we  read  in  the 
second  and  fifth  chapters  of  the  fourth  book  of 
Kings,  that  the  prophet  Elisha  miraculously 
healed  the  noisome  waters  of  Jericho,  by  casting 
salt  in  the  spring. 

Q.  Why  is  salt  blessed  and  mingled  with  the 
water? 

A.  To  signify  unto  us,  that,  as  salt  preserves 
meat  from  corruption,  and  gives  it  a  relish,  so 
does  the  grace  which  we  receive  in  virtue  of 
the  prayers  of  the  Church,  when  we  use  this 
water  with  faith,  defend  us  from  unclean  spirits, 
and  give  us  a  taste  for  heavenly  things. 

Q.  What  is  the  use  of  holy  water  ? 

A.  The  Church  blesses  it  with  solemn  prayer, 
to  beg  God's  protection  and  blessing  upon  those 
who  use  it ;  and  particularly,  that  they  may  be 
defended  from  the  power  of  darkness.  More- 
over, it  may  well  serve  to  put  us  in  mind  of 
the  covenant  we  made  against  the  devil,  when, 
by  the  water  of  baptism,  we  were  mercifully 
cleansed  from  sin ;  and  of  renewing  our  prom- 
ise, or  of  making  an  act  of  contrition. 

Q.  Are  the  prayers  of  the  Church  so  pre- 
vailing with  God,  as  to  obtain  us  his  assistance 
against  the  wiles  and  power  of  the  enemy  of 
our  salvation,  when  we  use  holy  water  with 
faith  ? 

A.  Nothing  prevails  more  upon  God  than 
prayer  in  general ;  and  the  Apostle  St.  James, 
V.  16,  exhorting  us  to  pray  for  one  another, 
assures  us,  the  assiduous  prayer  of  a  just  man 
avails  much.  Now,  if  the  prayers  of  particu- 
lars be  so  powerful,  it  is  manifest  that  the  con- 
stant prayers  of  the   whole    Church,   from  the 


rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going  down  thereof, 
are  always  graciously  heard ;  and  that  God 
grants  to  all  those  who  co-operate  with  his 
grace,  the  fruit  of  the  perseverant  prayer  of 
the  Church,  to  which  Christ  said,  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  you,  if  you  ask  the  Father  any 
thing  in  my  name,  he  will  give  it  you.  St.  Jo. 
xvi.  23. 

Q.  Is  the  use  of  holy  water  ancient  in  the 
Church  of  God  ? 

A.  Yes,  it  is ;  being  mentioned  in  the  apos- 
tolical constitution,  and  in  the  writings  of  the 
holy  fathers  and  ancient  church  historians. 
See  Constit.  Apost.  1.  8.  c.  xxxv ;  St.  Cypr.  1. 
I.  Epist.  12  ;  St.  Hier.  ib ;  St.  Basil,  L.  de  Spir. 
Sancto,  c.  xxvii ;  St.  Greg,  the  Great,  1.  9.  Epist. 
71 ;  St.  Epiph.  Haer.  xxx;    Thod.  1.  5,  etc. 

Q.  How  ought  we  to  use  holy  water,  or  what 
advantage  ought  we  to  draw  from  it  ? 

A.  First,  we  ought  to  look  upon  it,  and  upon 
other  sacred  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  with  due  reverence  and 
esteem ;  to  be  persuaded  that  they  are  all 
instituted  to  help  on  the  great  affair  of  our 
salvation,  either  by  putting  us  in  miud  of  the 
unspeakable  favors  which  we  have  already 
received  from  God,  or  by  raising  our  affections 
to  heaven,  humbly  begging  the  divine  assist- 
ance, whereof  we  stand  in  need  every  moment 
of  our  lives;  and  ought  never  to  imitate  those 
mistaken  people  who  rail  against  all  things 
which  they  understand  not ;  St.  Jude  x. 
Secondly,  we  ought  to  use  holy  water  with 
attention  and  devotion,  always  endeavoring  to 
make  an  act  of  contrition,  or  some  other  act  of 
religion ;  saying,  Thou  shalt  sprinkle  me,  O 
Lord,  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  cleansed ; 
thou  shalt  wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  made  whiter 
than  snow  ;   Ps.  1.  8. 


'San  ^  Si  C^  tXd  ^■'  CQf  l32f  CEf  CD 

tu  w  ftj  w  ^j^  ^p  rj^  tt?  tx!  w  w 


The  Shortest  Way  to  End  Disputes. 


Bg 


PEV.  HENPy  EDWARD  MANNING,  D.  D. 


CD  m  m  CI^  1X4  <^'  tTj  CD  CD  CD  <n 

nv  OS  rts  r^  ri^  ^j^  ?u  ^  tu  tu 


(189) 


Sl7ortest  Wag  to  End  Disputes. 


Bg    REV.    flEfll^Y    EDWAfJD    MANNING.    P- D- 

A  A  flW  1^  d^  CD  £&  C& 
W  50  W  Q^  rj^  tIJ  W  8B 


CHAPTER   I. 
SECTION   1.— INFALLIBILITY   PROMISED   BY   CHRIST   TO   HIS   CHURCH. 


S  the  Divine  Wisdom 
has  permitted 
many  sacred 
truths  in  holy- 
writ,  to  be 
wrapped  up  in 
dark  figures, 
or  enigmatical 
expressions, 
both  to  excite 
our  industry  in 
searching,  and 
exercise  our 
faith  in  believ- 
ing, when  they 
are  explained  to  us  by  sufficient  authority ;  so 
there  are  others  so  very  clear  and  intelligible, 
that  their  meaning  is  obvious,  and  lies  open  to 
every  sincere  and  unbiased  reader.  Of  this 
sort,  are  many  historical  and  moral  tracts,  both 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testament ;  and  I  dare 
confidently  say,  that  all  the  principal  texts  re- 
lating to  the  Infallibility  of  the  Church,  are  of 
this  nature. 

The  word  of  God  teaches  it  in  the  plainest 
and  strongest  terms.  The  promises  of  Christ 
are  not  wrapped  up  in  parables,  or  a  prophetic 
language,  that  requires  deep  searching  to  dive 
into  it,  but  they  are  delivered  in  words  so  easy 
and  intelligible,  that  any   man,   who  makes  it 


not  his  study  to  deceive  himself,  may  under- 
stand them.  The  solemnity  also  of  the  circum- 
stances, wherein  Christ  made  those  sacred  en- 
gagements to  his  Church,  is  so  remarkable, 
that  they  cannot  but  imprint  an  idea  of  some 
extraordinary  favor  bestowed  upon  her. 

His  first  promise  of  protecting  his  church 
against  all  the  powers  of  darkness,  was  ad- 
dressed to  St.  Peter,  in  reward  of  that  noble 
profession  of  his  Divinity,  "  which  neither  flesh, 
nor  blood,  but  the  Father,  which  is  in  Heaven, 
had  revealed  unto  him."  Matt.  xvi.  17.  The 
other  promises  v/ere  made  at  his  last  Supper, 
in  that  Sermon,  which  is,  as  it  were,  his  last 
Will  and  Testament,  every  word  whereof,  seems 
to  be  the  overflowing  of  a  heart,  filled  with 
concern  for  his  future  Church.  It  was  then 
that  Christ  unbosomed  himself  to  his  Apostles, 
as  a  friend,  or  father ;  comforted  them  in  their 
affliction  for  his  approaching  departure,  and  as 
a  pledge  of  his  unalterable  love  to  his  Church, 
bequeathed  to  them,  "the  Spirit  of  Truth,"  to 
be  her  guide  and  teacher  to  the  world's  end. 
All  which  he  ratified  again  a  few  moments 
before  his  ascension  into  Heaven,  when  he  gave 
his  Apostles  their  commission,  "  to  teach  and 
baptize  all  nations,"  and  encouraged  them  to 
undertake  it  with  a  promise  of  his  perpetual 
assistance.  Matt,  xxviii.  v.  20. 

I  appeal,  then,  to  the  Word  of  God,  for  the 


(191) 


192 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


truth  and  justice  of  the  cause,  which  I  have 
undertaken.  The  word  of  God,  shall  be  the 
Judge  between  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  the 
reformed  churches.  It  is  by  this  rule,  I  desire 
that  this  important  cause  may  be  decided.  It 
is  true,  indeed,  if  I  were  to  write  against  Infi- 
dels, there  would  be  need  of  other  proofs, 
because  the  authority  of  Scripture  would  be 
'  questioned  by  them.  But,  since  the  cause  de- 
pending, is  not  between  Christians  and  Infidels, 
but  between  Christians  and  Christians,  who  all 
believe  the  Scriptures  to  have  been  written  by 
Divine  Inspiration,  and  to  contain  nothing  but 
undoubted  truth,  there  can  be  no  exception 
made  against  the  arms,  I  intend  to  make  use 
of,  in  defence  of  my  cause.  Neither  can  I  be 
accused  of  "  running  round  in  a  circle,"  as  is 
the  usual  objection ;  because  the  divine  author- 
ity of  Scripture,  is  as  2.  posiulatum^  which  I  take 
for  granted,  and  use  it  as  an  argument  ad 
hominem.  And  therefore,  if  I  make  it  appear, 
that  the  doctrine  of  Infallibility  is  the  doctrine 
of  the  Gospel,  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  truth  itself:  then  I  shall  have  reason 
to  hope,  that  all  those,  whom  neither  interest, 
nor  passion  can  hinder  from  sincerely  desiring 
to  save  their  souls,  will  make  it  their  endeavor 
to  seek  the  truth  in  that  Church,  where  it  is 
infallibly  taught. 

First,  then,  let  us  consider  our  Saviour's 
words  to  St.  Peter,  recorded  in  the  i6th  chapter 
of  St.  Matthew,  I  give  them  the  first  place,  as 
being  the  clearest  and  strongest  proof  of  an 
Infallible  Church.  For  they  contain  an  abso- 
lute and  unconditional  promise ;  there  being  no 
condition,  either  expressed,  or  hinted  at  in  the 
whole  text.  It  is  a  promise  delivered  in  such 
clear  and  strong  terms,  that  without  straining 
the  text  in  a  very  notorious  manner,  it  can 
bear  no  other  sense  than  that,  in  which  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  has  always  under- 
stood it. 

The  occasion  of  this  promise  is  also  very 
remarkable,  as  I  have  already  hinted.  St.  Peter's 
name  till  then  was  Simon  Barjona.  But  God 
having  pre-ordained  him  to  be  the  chief  pillar 


of  his  Church,  enlightened  him  in  a  particular 
manner,  with  a  distinct  faith  of  the  Divinity 
of  Christ,  whereof  he  made  this  solemn  pro- 
fession ;  "  Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God."  Matt.  xvi.  v.  16.  Hereupon  our  Saviour 
dignified  him  with  a  title,  suitable  both  to  the 
firmness  of  his  faith,  and  the  eminent  station 
he  was  to  hold,  and  gave  him  the  name  of 
Cephas,  or  Peter;  both  which  signify  a  rock. 
And  then,  as  a  further  mark  of  distinction,  he 
thus  addresses  to  him  the  promise  I  speak  of. 
"Thou  art  Peter  [that  is,  a  Rock]  and  upon 
this  Rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the 
gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 
Matt.  xvi.  V.  18. 

It  is  not  my  business  here,  to  examine  what 
prerogative  this  gave  to  St.  Peter,  in  being  alone 
called  the  Rock,  upon  which  the  Church  was 
to  be  built.  I  shall  only  make  my  reflections 
upon  the  promise  itself,  by  which  Christ  had 
engaged  his  word,  "  That  the  gates  of  Hell  shall 
not  prevail  against  the  Church,"  that  is  built 
upon  it :  which,  if  it  be  not  a  proof  of  an  In- 
fallible Church,  I  own  I  am  at  a  loss  to  find 
words  clear  and  strong  enough  to  express  it. 
What  other  meaning  can  we  give  to  the  words 
of  Christ,  that  will  bear  any  connection  with 
their  obvious  and  natural  signification  ?  That 
they  contain  a  promise,  is  plain.  That  the 
promise,  which  they  contain,  is  made  to  the 
Church,  is  no  less  plain;  and  since  all  God's 
promises  have  a  relation  to  some  favor,  it  remains 
only  to  consider  what  this  favor  is. 

First,  then,  Christ  promises  "  to  build  his 
Church  upon  a  Rock."  What  does  this  mean  ? 
Is  it  probable  that  Christ,  who  foresaw  every 
thing  that  was  to  happen,  would  have  told  St. 
Peter,  That  his  Church  should  be  built  upon 
a  rock,  if  he  had  foreseen  its  future  fall  ?  Had 
he  no  design,  that  the  Rock  upon  which  his 
Church  was  to  be  built,  should  be  a  firm  and 
lasting  foundation  to  it?  Or  did  he  act  by 
chance,  and  without  end,  or  design  ?  But  Christ 
himself  has  answered  all  these  questions  in  the 
following  words:  "  I  will  liken  him  unto  a  wise 
man,  who  built  his  house  upon  a  Rock ;   and 


THE  BLESSED  EUCHARIST. 

Christ  Himself  instituted  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  the  night  before  His  passion.  The  three  first  evangelists  and  St.  Paul  give  the 
history  of  the  institution  of  the  first  Eucharist.  Our  Lord,  they.tell  us,  took  bread  into  His  hands,  and  having  given  thanks,  He  took  it 
and  gave  it  to  His  disciples,  saying,  "This  is  my  body,  which  is  given  for  you  ;  this  do  as  a commemoration.of  me." 


THE  iiUEEN  OF  THE  ROSARY. 

How  acceptable  to  God  is  this  holy  rosary— this  beautiful  garland  of  fragrant,  heavenly  flowers  of  prayer  and  meditation— and  what 
powerful  effect  it  produces  before  the  throne  of  His  omnipotence  and  mercy  ! 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


193 


the  rain  descended,  and  the  winds  blew,  and 
beat  upon  that  house,  and  it  fell  not,  for  it  was 
founded  upon  a  Rock.  Matt.  vii.  24,  25.  Whence 
it  is  plain,  that  Christ,  by  promising,  that  his 
Church  should.be  built  upon  a  Rock,  intended 
to  assure  us,  that  its  foundation  should  be  so 
strong,  so  deeply  laid,  that  it  should  stand  in 
spite  of  all  storms,  oppositions,  or  any  efforts 
whatever  to  make  it  fall.  And  therefore,  to 
prevent  the  very  possibility  of  all  but  wilful 
mistakes,  in  the  second  part  of  the  promise  he 
explains  himself,  and  declares  positively,  "  That 
the  gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 
Which  words  contain  two  things.  First,  they 
imply  a  general  prediction  of  what  should  happen 
to  the  Church,  from  the  efforts  and  malice  of 
her  enemies,  who  should  oppose,  or  endeavor  to 
corrupt  her  holy  doctrine.  And  secondly,  a  posi- 
tive assurance,  that  all  their  strength  and  malice, 
which  our  Saviour  calls  "  the  gates  of  Hell," 
shall  never  prevail  against  her. 

The  prediction  has  been  fully  verified.  The 
Jews,  the  professed  enemies  of  Christ,  were 
the  first  champions  of  Satan,  who  declared 
themselves  openly,  and  made  many  furious 
assaults  upon  his  Church.  These  were  soon 
followed  by  several  apostate  Christians,  as  the 
Ebionites,  the  Nicolaites,  the  Corinthians,  and 
many  others,  who  conspired  together  to  cor- 
rupt the  purity  of  her  doctrine.  But  the  ten 
bloody  persecutions  raised  by  the  Heathen 
Emperors  in  the  three  first  centuries,  aimed 
at  nothing  less  than  to  extirpate  the  Chris- 
tian Religion,  and  destroy  the  Church,  root 
and  branch. 

When  these  storms  ceased,  and  the    Church 

was  delivered  from  foreign    enemies,  her    own 

bowels  again  rose  up  against  her,  in  so  violent 

a    manner,    as    seemed   to    threaten    her    utter 

ruin.     Arius,  and  his    followers    supported    by 

the  secular  power  of  Christian    Emperors,  and 

a  great  number  of   apostate    Bishops,  made    a 

furious  war  upon  her  for  many  years  together. 

All  the  means,    that  artifice,    or    malice    could 

suggest,  were  employed  to  undermine  the  very 

foundations    of    Religion.     The  most     zealous 
13 


Catholic  Bishops,  were  either  murdered,  or 
imprisoned,  or  sent  into  banishment ;  so  that 
the  wolves  being  let  in  amongst  the  flock, 
every  thing  seemed  to  tend  to  the  utter  extir- 
pation of  the  Catholic  Faith.  This  was  the 
state  of  the  Church  in  those  turbulent  times : 
and  her  condition  has  in  some  measure  been 
the  same  from  time  to  time,  whenever  the 
Devil  and  his  Ministers  made  any  new  attempt 
upon  the  purity  of  her  Faith ;  as  has  happened 
almost  in  every  age  from  the  very  infancy  of 
the  Church,  to  this  time  downwards. 

So  here  we  see  the  "  Powers  of  Hell "  have 
always  been  armed  against  the  Church,  and 
the  prediction  implied  in  the  fore-mentioned 
text  has  been  fully  verified.  But  we  have 
not  as  good  security  of  the  effects  of  Christ's 
promises,  as  for  the  event  of  his  predictions  ? 
Is  he  not  equally  infallible,  when  he  promises 
blessings,  as  when  he  foretells  calamities  and 
disasters  ?  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  it.  And, 
therefore,  though  the  Powers  of  Darkness  will 
never  cease  to  make  war  upon  the  Church, 
their  efforts  will  always  be  as  vain,  as  the 
winds  and  rain  against  a  house,  that  is  built 
upon  a  Rock.  And  as  her  Faith  has  stood 
the  shock,  both  against  the  united  force  of 
Jews  and  Pagans,  and  the  deceitful  reasoning 
of  Arians,  Nestorians,  Eutychians,  Donatists, 
Pelagians,  and  others ;  so  will  it  remain  im- 
movable and  incorruptible  to  the  world's  end. 
And  this  is  so  manifest  a  truth,  that  to  deny 
it,  we  must  either  interpret  the  Scriptures 
backwards,  or  give  our  Saviour  flatly  the  lie. 
For,  if  words  retain  their  usual  signification, 
we  cannot  charge  the  Church  of  Christ  with 
error,  even  against  any  one  single  article  of 
Faith,  but  we  must  draw  this  impious  conse-; 
quence  from  it,  that  he  was  either  ignorant  of 
the  event  of  his  promise,  or  unfaithful  to  it ; 
and  that  after  having  in  so  solemn  a  manner, 
engaged  his  sacred  word  to  St.  Peter,  that  "the 
gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  his 
Church,"  he  has  nevertheless  delivered  her  up 
to  the  power  of  Satan,  to  be  destroyed  by 
him. 


194 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


This  consequence  will  appear  undeniable,  if 
we  consider  the  two  following  truths,  viz.:  i, 
That  Faith  is  essential  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  Church;  and  2,  That  Heresy  destroys  Faith. 
For  it  plainly  follows  hence,  that  if  the  whole 
Church  falls  into  Heresy,  she  is  without  Faith, 
and  is  no  more  the  Church  she  was  before, 
than  a  man  can  continue  to  be  a  man  without 
a  Soul.  The  Church  of  Christ,  (as  I  shall 
show  hereafter)  can  only  be  that,  which  believes 
wholly  and  entirely,  the  doctrine  that  was 
taught  by  Christ,  and  delivered  to  her  by  the 
Apostles.  If,  therefore,  she  ever  renounced  any 
part  of  that  doctrine,  does  it  not  follow  that 
she  then  turned  Apostate  ?  That  she  ceased 
from  that  moment  to  be  the  chaste  Spouse  of 
Christ  ?  That  "  the  gates  of  Hell  prevailed 
against  her  ?  "  And,  that,  by  consequence,  our 
Saviour,  in  permitting  that  to  happen,  which 
he  promised  should  not  happen,  was  unfaithful 
to  his  word  ? 

Again  ;  Christ  either  foresaw,  that  "  the  gates 
of  Hell  should  not  prevail  against  his  Church," 
or  he  foresaw  it  not.  If  not,  then  he  promised 
he  knew  not  what,  which  is  blasphemy.  But 
if  he  did  foresee  it,  then  (since  his  foresight 
was  infallible  in  every  thing)  the  event 
must  answer  it  infallibly ;  and  so  it  must  be 
infallibly  true,  that  the  gates  of  Hell  never 
have  prevailed,  nor  ever  will  prevail  against 
his  Church. 


In  a  word,  I  take  this  to  be  a  demonstration. 
The  gates  of  Hell  (according  to  Christ's  own 
words)  will  never  prevail  against  his  Church ; 
but,  if  she  falls  into  any  error  against  Faith, 
the  gates  of  Hell  prevail  against  her;  there- 
fore, she  cannot  fall  into  any  error  against  Faith. 
Therefore,  she  is  Infallible  in  all  matters  of 
Faith. 

If  it  be  asked,  how  any  Congregation,  or 
Society  of  men  can  be  Infallible,  since  all  men 
(as  the  Psalmist  says)  are  Liars,  that  is,  sub- 
ject to  errors  ?  My  answer  is,  that  all  men  of 
themselves  are  certainly  subject  to  errors,  even 
in  the  most  ordinary  things ;  but  much  more 
in  matters  of  Faith,  which  are  above  human 
reason.  And,  therefore,  if  the  infallibility  of 
the  Church  was  to  depend  upon  the  judgment, 
wit,  or  learning  of  men,  it  would  have  but  a 
very  weak  foundation,  and  would  be  like  "  the 
House  of  the  foolish  Man  built  upon  the  Sand, 
which  was  overthrown  by  the  Winds  and  Flood 
that  beat  upon  it."  Matt.  vii.  26.  But  our 
Saviour  was  not  this  foolish  Man :  for  he  did 
not  tell  St.  Peter,  that  his  Church  should  be 
built  upon  the  Sand,  but  that  it  should  be  built 
upon  a  Rock,  and  that  therefore,  "  the  gates  of 
Hell  should  not  prevail  against  it ; "  and  we 
cannot  doubt,  but  he  has  made  good  his  words, 
and  has  found  means  to  do  it,  notwithstanding 
the  natural  weakness  and  fallibilit}'  of  the 
members,  whereof  she  was  to  be  composed. 


SECTION  1!.— THE  MEANS  PROMISED  BY  CHRIST,  TO  RENDER  HIS  CHURCH  INFALLIBLE. 


The  means  then,  by  which  this  great  work 
was  to  be  brought  about,  have  no  less  their 
warrant  and  security  from  the  word  of  God, 
and  promises  of  Christ,  than  the  thing  itself 
If  this  be  clearl}'  made  out,  the  evidence  will 
be  so  full,  as  to  leave  no  room  for  any  further 
dispute,  unless  it  be  for  dispute's  sake.  We 
grant  then,  that  no  human  industry,  wit,  or 
learning,  are  sufficient  to  secure  the  church 
from  falling   into  error,  and   that   nothing  can 


render  her  Infallible,  but  the  assistance  and 
direction  of  an  Infallible  Guide.  But  Christ 
has  taken  care  to  provide  such  a  guide  for  his 
church :  a  guide  of  infinite  wisdom,  and  has 
promised,  that  this  Guide  shall  "lead  her  into 
all  truth,"  and  remain  with  her  "  to  the  end 
of  the  world."  All  which  stands  recorded  in 
'  the  Gospels  in  such  plain  and  express  terms, 
that  men  must  wilfully  shut  their  eyes  not  to 
see  it. 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


195 


Our  Saviour's  words  spoken  to  his  Apostles, 
and  recorded  by  St.  John,  in  his  14th  chapter, 
are  these,  "  I  will  ask  my  Father,  and  he  will 
send  you  another  Comforter  to  abide  with  you 
for  ever."  John  xiv.  v.  16.  And  soon  after, 
he  informs  them,  who  this  Comforter  is  to  be, 
and  to  what  end  his  Father  will  send  him. 
"  The  Comforter  (says  Christ)  which  is  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my 
name,  he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring 
all  things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  I 
have  said  unto  you."  John  xiv.  v.  26.  This 
promise  is  again  repeated  in  the  i6th  chapter, 
which  contains  a  continuation  of  the  same 
discourse.  "  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say 
unto  you.  But  you  cannot  bear  them  now. 
However,  when  the  Spirit  of  Truth  is  come,  he 
will  lead  you  into  all  Truth."  John  xvi. 
V.  12. 

Here  we  have  the  means,  by  which  the  Church 
of  Christ  is  to  be  for  ever  protected  against 
the  gates  of  Hell,  clearly  and  distinctly  set 
down,  viz. :  "  The  perpetual  assistance  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  teaching  the  Church,  and  lead- 
ing her  into  all  truth;"  nay,  and  these  means 
secured  to  her  by  him,  "  to  whom  all  power 
is  given  in  Heaven  and  Earth."  And  who 
can  suspect,  that  Christ  should  even  abandon 
his  Church,  and  suffer  her  to  become  a  prey 
to  her  enemies,  after  the  sacred  engagement 
of  so  many  promises  to  the  contrary  ? 

But,  if  it  be  objected,  that  all  the  foremen- 
tioned  texts  contain  no  more,  than  a  promise 
of  the  visible  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon 
the  Apostles,  which  was  accomplished  ten  days 
after  Christ's  ascension  into  Heaven :  I  answer, 
that  this  cannot  be.  For  though  that  be  a 
part  of  the  promise,  it  is  not  the  whole.  And, 
therefore,  as  that  part  was  fully  performed,  we 
cannot  doubt,  but  the  other  part  will  be  so 
too. 

That  it  is  not  the  whole  promise,  is  mani- 
fest :  because  one  part  of  it  says  expressly, 
that  the  Comforter,  or  Holy  Ghost,  shall  abide 
with  them  "  for  ever;  "  which,  though  addressed 
•to  the  Apostles,  as   the  whole   sermon   at   our 


Saviour's  last  supper  was,  yet,  like  many  other 
truths  contained  in  it,  could  not  regard  their 
persons  alone ;  for  they  were  not  to  live  "  for 
ever ; "  but  comprehended  likewise  all  those, 
who  were  to  succeed  them  in  after  ages.  And 
that  this  was  the  intent  of  our  Saviour's 
promise  appears  clearly  from  his  last  words 
before  his  ascension,  recorded  by  St.  Matthew : 
"All  power  (says  Christ)  is  given  unto  me  in 
Heaven  and  Earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and 
teach  all '  nations,  baptizing  them,  etc.  And 
lo !  I  am  with  you  all  days  even  to  the  con- 
summation of  the  world."  Matt,  xxviii.  v.  19, 
20.  For  in  what  manner  was  Christ  to  be 
always  with  them,  since  he  was  then  upon 
the  point  of  withdrawing  from  them  his  visi- 
ble presence  ?  It  was,  doubtless,  by  the  invisi- 
ble grace,  assistance,  and  protection  of  the 
Divine  Spirit.  And  since  this  is  promised  to 
continue  ''  even  to  the  consummation  of  the 
world,"  it  explains  the  former  words  "  for  ever," 
and  renders  it  manifest,  that  the  forementioned 
texts  are  not  to  be  limited  to  the  Apostles, 
but  that  the  Church  throughout  all  ages  has 
a  title  to  the  promise  which  they  contain. 

Which  truth  is  yet  further  confirmed  from 
the  end,  or  motive,  for  which  the  promise  was 
made.  Now  this  was  no  other,  than  that  the 
Church  should  be  guided  into  all  truth.  And 
has  not  the  Church  stood  in  need  of  being 
guided  into  all  truth  in  every  age,  as  much 
as  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles  ?  Surely  rather 
more.  Because,  the  further  we  are  removed 
from  the  source  of  any  truth,  which  depends 
upon  authority  more  than  natural  reason,  the 
harder  it  is  to  trace  our  way  back  to  it. 
And,  therefore,  if  the  Divine  Assistance  was 
necessary  to  guide  the  Church  into  all  truth, 
even  in  those  happy  times,  when  the  Apostles 
themselves,  who  had  been  taught  in  the 
school  of  Christ,  instructed  her  either  by  word 
of  mouth,  or  by  their  writings,  it  cannot  be 
denied,  but  this  assistance  has  been  at  least 
fully  as  needful  to  her  in  after  ages,  when  the 
words  and  writings  of  the  Apostles  by  the  dis- 
tance of  time  could  not  avoid  sharing  the  fate 


% 


196 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


of  other  authors,  of  being  liable  to  misinter- 
pretations, false  glosses,  changes,  and  corrup- 
tions ;  unless  the  same  infallible  guide,  which 
preserved  the  Church  from  error  in  her  infancy, 
had  continued  ever  since  to  conduct  her  in 
the  paths  of  truth. 

What  rea.son,  then,  is  there  to  think,  that 
Christ  .should  withdraw  his  divine  spirit  from 
Ihe  Church  at  a  time,  when  his  assistance  was 
most  needful  to  her  ?  Or  that  the  engagement 
of  an  unlimited,  and  unconditional  promise 
should  ever  become  void,  whilst  the  sole  end 
and  motive  of  it  was  not  only  fully  subsisting, 
but  rather  more  pressingly  calling  upon  it, 
than  at  first?  Or  must  we  accuse  Christ  of 
inconstancy,  and  say  he  was  less  tender  of  his 
Church  in  process  of  time,  than  when  he 
espoused  her  first,  and  sealed  the  contract  with 
his  precious  blood  ?  If  so,  then  St.  Paul  made 
choice  of  a  very  improper  pattern  to  set  before 
the  Ephesian  husbands,  in  exhorting  them  "  to 
love  their  wives  as  Christ  loved  his  Church." 
Eph.  V.  v.  25.  But  St.  Paul  remembered  these 
words  of  Hosea :  "I  will  espouse  thee  to  me  for- 
ever— I  will  espouse  thee  to  me  in  faith."  Hos.  ii. 
v.  19,  20,  and  therefore,  hazarded  nothing  in 
recommending  the  love  of  Christ  to  his  Church, 
as  a  perfect  pattern  of  a  constant  and  unchange- 
able love;  of  which  it  would  come  very  short, 
if  he  should  ever  leave  her  to  be  corrupted 
and  adulterated  with  false  doctrine,  as  Protes- 
tents  say  he  has. 

But  St.  Paul  foresaw  no  such  change.  He 
doubted  not,  but  Christ  would  be  for  ever  faith- 
ful to  his  spouse ;  and  as  the  most  effectual 
pledge  of  his  love,  "  present  her  to  himself 
without  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing." 
Eph.  v.  V.  27.  He  therefore,  calls  the  Church, 
"the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth."  i  Tim.  iii. 
V.  15,  which  would  be  flatly  false,  if  she  were 
capable  of  teaching  any  thing  contrary  to  God's 
revealed  word.  For  the  same  reason,  Christ 
himself  has  declared,  that  "he,  who  will  not 
hear  the  Church,  shall  be  reputed  as  a  heathen 
and  a  publican."  Matt,  xviii.  v.  17.  And  can 
any  man  deserve  these  infamous  characters,  for 


not  hearing  a  Church,  that  shall  teach  false 
doctrine?  Finally,  for  the  same  reason,  Christ 
has  pronounced,  that,  "he  who  believes  shall 
be  saved,  and  he  who  believes  not  shall  be 
damned."  Mark  xvi.  v.  16.  But  what  is  it 
we  are  bound  to  believe  under  pain  of  eternal 
damnation  ?  It  is,  doubtless,  the  doctrine  of 
that  Church,  which  Christ  established  on  earth: 
for  there  can  be  no  other  true  one.  And  is  it 
possible,  that  Christ  should  oblige  mankind 
under  pain  of  eternal  damnation,  to  believe  a 
Church,  which  he  foresaw,  would  seduce  them 
in  process  of  time  ?  Shall  a  man  be  damned 
for  not  believing  a  seducer  ? 

This  implies  a  contradiction  to  another  part 
of  Christ's  own  doctrine,  who  expressly  com- 
mands us  "  to  beware  of  false  prophets."  Matt. 
vii.  V.  15.  For  if  we  are  bound  to  beware  of 
them,  and  yet  the  Church  herself  may  turn 
false  prophet,  and  mislead  us ;  then  we  are  both 
commanded  to  beware  of  her,  and  at  the  same 
time,  threatened  with  eternal  damnation,  if  we 
refuse  to  believe  her.  What  strange  stuff  is 
this !  What  incoherence  do  men  run  them- 
selves into,  when  they  once  abandon  the 
truth  ?  But  Christ  in  commanding  us  to 
beware  of  false  prophets,  has  set  a  mark  of 
infamy  upon  all  broachers  of  new  doctrine  to 
distinguish  them  from  his  Church,  which  there- 
fore, he  commands  us  to  believe  under  pain  of 
eternal  damnation ;  and  by  laying  this  com- 
mand upon  us,  he  showed  plainly,  that  it  was 
his  intention  to  establish  an  infallible  Church 
upon  earth :  a  Church,  that  should  be  a  safe 
and  unerring  guide,  to  those  who  followed  her 
doctrine :  finally,  a  Church,  that  should  be 
taught  and  guided  by  the  spirit  of  truth,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world. 

Thus  we  see  the  many  sacred  testimonies, 
upon  which  the  belief  of  an  infallible  Church  is 
founded.  I  know  very  well,  that  no  text  of 
holy  scripture  is  so  clear,  but  persons  of  much 
wit  and  little  sincerity,  may  find  interpretations 
to  perplex  it,  or  set  it  in  a  false  light.  The 
true  sense  of  it,  may  be  eluded  by  precarious 
distinctions,  or  perverted   by   false  glosses :    as 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


197 


scarce  any  man  can  express  himself  so  clearly, 
but  wit  and  malice  may  put  a  misconstruction 
upon  his  words.  But  the  question  is  not, 
whether  the  texts  I  have  produced,  may  with 
some  pain  and  study,  be  interpreted  otherwise, 
than  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  always 
understood  them,  but  whether  in  their  natural, 
obvious,  and  literal  sense,  they  do  not  lead  an 
unbiased  reader  to  the  idea  and  belief  of  an 
infallible  Church  ?  This  certainly  is  a  point, 
which  deserves  to  be  taken  seriously  into  con- 
sideration, by  all  sincere  lovers  of  truth. 

Now,  then,  let  us  suppose  that  the  contra- 
dictories of  the  texts,  I  have  quoted,  were 
found  in  holy  writ.  As  for  instance,  suppose 
our  Saviour  had  said  to  St.  Peter,  "  I  will  not 
build  my  Church  upon  a  rock,  and  the  gates 
of  hell  shall  prevail  against  it."  Suppo.se  he 
had  said  to  his  Apostles,  "  I  will  not  be  with 
you  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  I  will  not 
send  the  Holy  Ghost  to  abide  with  you  for 
ever.  He  shall  not  teach  you  all  things,  nor 
lead  you  into  all  truth."  Finally,  suppose  St. 
Paul  had  positively  declared,  "  that  the  Church 
is  not  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth ;  would 
not  all  men  of  sound  sense  have  concluded 
from  such   texts,  that  there  is  no  such  thing, 


as  an  infallible  Church  on  earth  ?  They  cer- 
tainly would ;  because  the  obvious  and  natural 
meaning  of  them  is  plain,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible not  to  draw  that  consequence  from  them. 
Now,  if  one  part  of  two  contradictories  cannot 
but  force  a  man  of  an  unbiased  judgment  to 
conclude  against  the  doctrine  of  infallibility, 
the  other  part  is  surely  of  equal  force,  to 
oblige  him  to  conclude  in  favor  of  it.  So  that 
it.  is  nothing  to  the  purpose,  whether  Protest- 
ants can,  or  cannot  strain  the  texts  I  have  pro- 
duced, from  their  obvious  and  natural  mean- 
ing ;  but  it  is  very  much  to  the  purpose  to 
consider,  whether  they  can  bring  any  evidence 
from  scripture,  to  disprove  the  infallibility  of 
the  Church,  of  equal  strength  and  clearness 
to  the  texts,  I  have  brought  to  prove  it.  For 
if  they  cannot,  as  I  am  very  sure  they  cannot ; 
then  it  is  manifest,  that  the  word  of  God,  and 
by  consequence,  the  truth  is  on  the  Roman 
Catholic  side,  and  against  them. 

I  shall  conclude  this  chapter  with  some  quota- 
tions from  the  ancient  fathers,  to  convince  the 
reader,  that  the  belief  of  an  infallible  Church 
was  the  primitive  faith  ;  and  that  those  great 
lights  of  the  Christian  Church  understood  the 
texts,  I  have  quoted,  as  Roman  Catholics  now  do. 


SECTION  III.— THE   FAITH  OF  THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  RELATING  TO  THE  MATTER  UNDER  DEBATE. 


In  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
that  is,  just  before  the  pretended  reformation, 
the  article  of  infallibility  was  believed  and 
professed  by  the  whole  Catholic  Church.  And 
the  Church  of  England,  in  her  homily,  con- 
cerning the  peril  of  idolatry,  third  part,  (of 
which  we  shall  have  more  hereafter)  tells  us, 
that  Popery  had  then  been  the  religion  of 
whole  Christendom  for  eight  hundred  years  and 
more.  This  brings  the  doctrine  of  infallibility, 
which  is  an  essential  part  of  Popery,  as  high 
as  the  seventh  century.  Here,  then,  Protest- 
ants are  obliged  to  show,  in  which  of  the  pre- 
ceding   ages,  this    doctrine   was  first  broached. 


and  regarded  by  the  Church  as  a  novelty. 
For  if  they  cannot,  they  must  confess  it  to  be 
derived  from  the  Apostles  themselves. 

But  I  shall  save  them  this  fruitless  labor,  by 
showing,  that  it  was  taught  in  the  primitive 
ages.  The  Church  of  England  has  received  the 
four  first  general  councils,  act.  i.  Eliz.  c.  i.  The 
first  of  which  was  held,  an.  325,  and  the  last  of 
them,  an.  451.  Now  let  us  see  whether  these 
councils,  which  were  the  representatives  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  were  not  held  to  be  infallible 
in  their  decisions  of  faith,  St.  Greg.  Epist.  24, 
speaks  thus  of  all  four  together:  "I  do  profess 
to  reverence  the  first  four  councils,  as  I  reverence 


198 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


the  four  first  books  of  the  gospel."  And 
I  presume  St.  Gregory  believed  the  gospels  to 
be  infallible  in  their  doctrine.  St.  Leo,  Epist. 
73,  says,  "  the  council  of  Calcedon,  was  assem- 
bled by  the  Holy  Ghost."  St.  Cyril,  Epis.  and 
Anast.  writes  thus  of  the  council  of  Ephesus: 
"  How  can  it  be  doubted  that  Christ  did  preside 
in  that  holy  and  great  council  ?"  And  St. 
Athanasius,  ad  Episc.  Afric.  says,  "the  word  of 
God  by  the  Nicene  council  does  remain  for- 
ever." This,  certainly,  is  the  language  of  per- 
sons believing  the  Church  to  be  infallible  in 
the  decisions  of  her  representatives,  the  general 
councils.  Let  us  now  see  what  the  Fathers 
have  written  of  the  Church  in  general. 

St.  Ireneus,  who  lived  in  the  age  immediately 
after  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  has  the  following 
words.  Lib.  iii.  c.  4  :  "  Truth  is  not  to  be  sought 
from  others,  which  you  have  easily  from  the 
Church;  with  whom  the  Apostles  have  fully 
deposited  all  truth;  that  whosoever  desires  it, 
may  have  from  it  the  living  waters." 

This  cannot  be  said  of  a  Church,  that  is  cap- 
able of  leading  her  children  into  errors.  For  a 
Church,  that  can  err,  has  not  all  truth  deposited 
with  her. 

St.  Cyprian,  who  lived  in  the  third  century, 
writes  thus:  "  Christ  in  the  gospel,  when  his 
disciples  went  away  from  him,  as  he  was  speak- 
ing, turning  to  the  twelve,  said :  What !  will  you 
also  leave  me?  Peter  answered  him :  '  Lord,  to 
whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of 
eternal  life;  and  we  believe,  and  have  known, 
that  thou  art  the  Son  of  the  living  God.'  Peter 
speaks  there,  upon  whom  the  Church  was  built, 
declaring  in  the  name  of  the  Church,  that 
though  great  numbers  of  such  stubborn  and  self- 
willed  people,  as  will  not  submit,  become  desert- 
ers, yet  the  Church  will  never  fall  from  Christ : 
Which  Church  is  the  people  united  to  the  priest ; 
and  the  flock  following  their  Pastor."  Cypr. 
epist.  69,  ad  Florentium  Papinimum. 

Again.  Lib.  de  Unit.  Eccl.  "The  Church 
having  received  the  light  of  Christ,  spreads  its 
rays  through  the  whole  world.  Yet  it  is  one 
light,  which  is  thus  diffused.    Neither  is  the  unity 


of  the  body  at  all  injured  by  it.  By  her  fertility, 
her  branches  reach  over  the  earth,  and  every 
place  is  watered  by  her  copious  streams  ;  yet 
there  is  but  one  head,  and  one  fountain,  one 
mother  rich  in  her  numerous  issue.  By  her 
fruitfulness  we  are  bom  ;  we  are  nourished  with 
her  milk,  and  we  are  enlivened  by  her  spirit. 
The  spouse  of  Christ  cannot  be  an  adulteress; 
she  is  uncorrupt  and  pure.  She  knows  but  one 
house,  and  with  a  chaste  modesty  secures  the 
sanctity  of  one  chamber.  She  it  is,  that  pre- 
serves us  for  heaven;  and  gives  to  her  children, 
whom  she  has  brought  forth,  the  inheritance  of 


a  crown. 


If  St.  Cyprian's  testimony  be  of  any  weight, 
we  have  here  the  doctrine  of  infallibility  clearly 
taught  by  him.  He  tells  us,  in  the  first  passage, 
"  that  the  Church  will  never  fall  from  Christ." 
Therefore,  she  will  always  maintain  the  doc- 
trine, which  Christ  has  taught.  And,  in  the 
second,  "  that  the  spouse  of  Christ  cannot 
become  an  adulteress,  but  that  she  is  uncorrupt 
and  pure.  Therefore,  she  cannot  be  corrupted 
with  false  doctrine;  which  is  just  what  Roman 
Catholics  now  believe  and  teach. 

St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria.  Dial  de  Trin. 
Lib.  4,  writes  thus :  "  He  gave  the  name  of 
rock  to  nothing  else,  but  the  unshaken  and 
constant  faith  of  the  disciple:  on  which,  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  so  settled  and  established, 
as  never  to  fall,  but  to  bear  up  against  the 
gates  of  hell,  and  so  to  remain  for  ever." 

The  first  part  of  this  passage,  is  very  much 
magnified  by  Protestant  writers,  against  St. 
Peter's  supremacy.  But  this  being  foreign  to 
my  subject,  I  shall  only  throw  a  rub  in  their 
way,  and  so  proceed.  As  St.  Cyril  says,  "that 
Christ  gave  the  name  of  the  rock  to  nothing 
else  but  the  unshaken  and  constant  faith  of 
St.  Peter;"  so  St.  Jerom,  Epist.  61,  ad  Pam- 
machium,  says  as  expressly,  "  that  it  was  not 
St.  Peter's  body,  but  his  faith,  that  walked 
upon  the  waters,  T.  2.  p.  254.  Now  both 
these  fathers  waived  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
scriptural  text,  and  delivered  only  the  alle- 
gorical,   or    causal    sense  of  it ;  as  being  fittest 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


199 


for  their  purpose,  when  they  wrote.  And  in  that 
sense  their  expressions  were  not  improper  ;  be- 
cause St.  Peter's  faith  was  the  only  meritori- 
ous cause  both  of  his  walking  upon  the  waters, 
and  of  Christ's  promise,  that  his  Church  should 
be  built  upon  him.  And,  therefore,  as  it  would 
be  impertinent  to  conclude  from  St.  Jerom's  words, 
that  St.  Peter's  body,  or  person,  did  not  walk 
upon  the  waters  ;  so  it  does  not  very  much  rec- 
ommend the  good  sense  of  Protestant  writers  to 
conclude  from  St.  Cyril's  words,  that  he  intended 
to  exclude  St.  Peter's  person  from  being  the 
rock,  upon  which  Christ  promised  to  build  his 
Church. 

But  I  am  less  surprised  at  their  not  distin- 
guishing between  the  allegorical  and  literal 
interpretations  of  scriptures,  than  I  am  at  their 
overlooking  the  plain  meaning  of  the  second 
part  of  St.  Cyril's  words;  viz.:  "  On  which  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  so  settled,  and  established, 
as  never  to  fall,  but  to  bear  up  against  the  gates 
of  hell,  and  to  remain  for  ever."  In  which  the 
doctrine  of  infallibility,  is  as  strongly  and  clearly 
asserted,  as  words  can  express  it.  I  shall  only 
add  some  passages  from  St.  Austin,  and  so  end 
this  chapter. 

Aug.  Enarr,  in  Psalm  57,  Num.  6.  Tom.  4.  p. 
545,  [they  have  gone  astra}'  from  the  womb,  and 
spoken  lies.  Psalm  57].  "  Were  they,  there- 
fore, gone  astray  from  the  womb  ;  because  they 
have  spoken  lies  ?  Or  rather  have  they  not 
spoken  lies,  because  they  were  gone  astray  from 
the  womb?  For  it  is  in  the  Church's  womb 
that  truth  remains.  Whosoever  is  separated 
from  this  womb  of  the  Church,  must  of  necessity 
speak  lies.  I  say,  he  must  necessarily  speak 
lies,  who  refuses  to  be  conceived,  or  being  con- 
ceived has  been  thrown  out  by  the  mother." 

Serm.  de  Symb.  ad  Catech.  Tom.  6.  p.  554. 
"After  a  confession  of  the  Trinity,  follows  the 
Holy  Church.  Here  is  shown  God  and  his 
temple — which  is  the  Holy  Church,  the  one 
Church,  the  true  Church,  the  Catholic  Church, 
which  fights  against  all  heresies.  Fight  she 
may,  but  she  cannot  be  foiled.  All  heresies 
have  gone  out  from  her  like  useless  branches 


lopped  off  from  the  vine,  but  she  remains  in  her 
root,  in  her  vine,  in  her  charity.  '  The  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her.'  " 

Enarr.  2,  in  Psalm  loi,  upon  these  words,  "  In 
the  assembling  the  people  together  in  one,  and 
kings  to  serve  our  Lord,  he  answered  him  in  the 
way  of  his  strength."  St.  Austin  writes  thus : 
"  But  that  Church  which  was  spread  through  all 
nations,  now  has  no  longer  a  being.  It  is  quite 
lost.  This  is  the  cry  of  those  who  are  not  in 
the  Church.  O  impudent  clamor  !  She  is  not, 
because  you  do  not  belong  to  her  1  See,  that  you 
have  not  for  that  reason  lost  your  being.  For 
she  will  have  a  being,  though  you  have  none. 
This  abominable  and  accursed  calumny,  full  of 
presumption  and  deceit,  void  of  all  truth,  wisdom 
and  reason,  idle,  temerarious,  rash  and  perni- 
ciuous,  the  spirit  of  God  foresaw,  when  even,  as  it 
were,  against  them  he  proclaimed  her  unity,  '  in 
assembling  the  people  in  one,  and  kings  to 
serve  our  Lord ' — because  there  were  to  arise 
some,  that  would  say  against  her,  it  is  true, 
she  was,  but  now,  she  is  perished.  Show  me, 
says  she,  the  fewness  of  my  days.  I  do  not 
inquire  for  my  days  in  the  next  world.  Those 
are  without  end.  It  is  not  those  days  of 
eternity  I  ask  for.  I  desire  to  know  my  con- 
tinuance in  this  world.  These  days  I  desire 
you  to  show  me.  And  he  has  showed  me, 
neither  was  the  answer  insignificant.  And 
who  was  it  but  he  that  is  the  very  way  ?  And 
what  was  the  information  he  gave  me  ?  '  Be- 
hold I  am  with  you  all  days  even  to  the  con- 
summation of  the  world  '." 

And  now  I  leave  it  to  the  judgment  of  any 
impartial  reader,  whether  the  fathers  I  have 
quoted,  were  Protestants,  or  Catholics  in  their 
principle,  relating  to  the  matter  under  debate. 
They  wrote  against  the  heretics  of  their  times, 
who  all  pretended  the  Church  had  failed.  But 
they,  on  the  contrary,  not  only  maintained  that 
she  had  not  failed,  (nay,  St.  Austin  calls  it  an 
impudent  clamor,  an  abominable  and  accursed 
calumny,  to  say  she  had  failed)  but  also,  that 
she  cannot  fail :  that  it  is  in  the  Church's 
womb,  that    truth     remains :    that    being    the 


200 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


spouse  of  Christ,  she  cannot  become  an  adulteress, 
but  will  always  be  pure  aud  uncorrupt  in  her 
doctrine ;  that  she  will  always  remain  in  her 
root,  and  continue  to  do  so  to  the  end  of  the 
world:  all  which  St.  Austin  proves  from  these 
two  texts :  "  The  gates  of  hell  shall  never 
prevail  against  it."  Matt.  xvi.  v.  i8.  "  And  lo! 
I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consum- 
mation of  the  world."  Matt,  xxviii.  v.  20. 
Whence  it  follows,  that  all  the  passages  I  have 
quoted,  contain  as  full  a  condemnation  of  the 
present  reformed  churches,  as  those  of  the  here- 
tics, against  whom  they  were  written ;  and  that 
not  only  the  word  of  God,  but  the  whole  cur- 
rent of  antiquity  is  flatly  against  them :  unless 
they  will  call  unto  their  assistance  old  excom- 
municated heretics,  and  shelter  themselves 
under  the  protection  of  the  professed  enemies 
of  the  Church  of  Christ.  For  let  them  look 
back  as  far  as  they  please  into  primitive  ages, 
it  is  amongst  heretics  alone,  the}'  will  find  any 
friends.  These  were  the  men  that  pleaded  for 
a  fallible  Church ;  and  their  argfuments,  which 
the  fathers  answered,  are  now  revived  by  Prot- 
estant writers,  and  turned  against  the  Church 
of  Rome,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter. 

It  was  for  this  reason,  that  Luther  no  sooner 
began  his  pretended  reformation,  but  he  declared 
open  war  against  the  fathers,  whom  he  treated 
with  as  much  arrogance  and  contempt,  as  if 
they  had  been  a  parcel  of  blockheads,  or  mere 


school  boys.  Good  manners,  indeed,  ought  to 
have  made  him  forbear  the  latter,  but  the  bad- 
ness of  his  cause  obliged  him  to  the  former. 
For  he  could  not  but  be  against  antiquity,  when 
antiquity  was  against  him :  and  let  the  reformed 
Churches  put  the  fairest  glosses  they  please 
upon  their  separation  from  the  Church  of  Rome, 
the  antiquity  of  her  doctrine  maintained  in  the 
primitive  ages,  by  persons,  who  certainly  deliv- 
ered the  public  faith  of  the  Church  in  their 
times,  is  an  argument  of  such  weight  against 
them  as  will  ever  carry  the  cause  in  the  judg- 
ment of  any  thinking  man,  in  whom  the  love 
of  the  world  has  not  stifled  all  sense  of  a 
future  state. 

The  reason,  therefore,  why  I  have  produced 
the  testimony  of  these  ancient  fathers  main- 
taining the  Church's  infallibility  against  the 
heretics  of  their  times,  is  to  convince  the  reader, 
that  the  primitive  Church  understood  the  prom- 
ises of  Christ,  which  are  the  sole  foundation 
of  her  infallibility,  in  the  same  sense  as  Roman 
Catholics  now  do.  And  that  by  consequence, 
the  sense  we  give  them,  is  not  a  precarious 
interpretation  of  private  judgment;  but  has  the 
whole  authority  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  sup- 
port it :  since  those  eminent  saints  and  doctors 
cannot  be  regarded  otherwise,  than  as  authentic 
witnesses  of  what  her  public  faith  was  in  those 
primitive  ages. 


CHAPTER   II. 

SECTION  I.— THE   DISTINCTION    BETWEEN   FUNDAMENTALS  AND   NON-FUNDAMENTALS,  EXAMINED. 


[HEY,  who  in  spite  of  the  most  solemn 
promises  of  Christ,  are  resolved  that 
there  shall  be  no  such  thing  as  an 
infallible  Church,  have  found  out  two 
ways  to  elude  the  force  of  them:  i.  By  tacking 
a  condition  to  all  God's  promises,  which  shall 
be  fully  answered  hereafter.  And,  2.  By  dis- 
tinguishing   between    fundamentals    and    non- 


fundamentals;  whereby  they  pretend  to  bafile 
all  the  evidence  Catholics  produce  to  prove  their 
point. 

They  say,  then,  that  the  promises  of  Christ, 
as  also  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  regard  only  such 
articles  of  faith,  as  are  fundamental,  that  is, 
absolutely  necessary  to  salvation,  according  to 
their  system.     And  so  they  allow  the  Church  to- 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


20I 


be  infallible  in  them,  but  not  in  other  points, 
which  are  not  fundamental. 

With  this  distinction,  they  think  themselves 
safely  intrenched  ;  though  it  be  in  reality  iising 
the  word  of  God  as  familiarly  as  a  logical  ques- 
tion, in  which  any  precarious  distinction  is  laid 
hold  of,  that  but  serves  to  stave  off  an  argument, 
and  keep  the  defendant  from  being  non-plus'd. 
But  surely  some  more  respect  is  due  to  the 
sacred  word  of  God ;  and  before  a  person  under- 
takes to  limit  the  sense  of  it,  he  ought  to  con- 
sider very  seriously,  whether  such  a  limitation 
be  grounded  in  the  word  of  God  itself;  whether 
he  offers  no  violence  to  the  text,  by  wresting 
it  from  the  sense  intended  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  to  one  prompted  by  the  prejudice  of  a 
party -cause ;  whether  his  interpretation  be  in 
any  manner  agreeable  to  the  sense  of  the  ancient 
Church.  Finally,  whether  by  so  limiting  the 
word  of  God,  he  will  not  draw  on  himself  this 
curse  pronounced  by  St.  John,  in  his  Revelations, 
"  If  any  one  shall  add  unto  these  things, 
God  will  add  unto  him  the  plagues  that  are 
written  in  this  book.  And  if  any  man  shall 
take  away  from  the  words  of  this  book,  God 
will  take  away  his  part  out  of  the  book  of 
life."  Rev.  xxii.  v.  i8.  If  the  enemies  of  infalli- 
bility had  taken  these  precautions  to  heart,  we 
should  never  have  been  acquainted  with  their 
distinction  between  fundamentals  and  non-funda- 
mentals. For  it  is  not  only  without  any  ground 
in  the  sacred  text,  but  a  mere  forced  interpreta- 
tion upon  it. 

However,  I  presume  it  is  to  the  first  part  of 
this  distinction  we  are  principally  indebted  for 
that  charity  which  Protestants  so  much  boast 
of,  in  allowing  salvation  to  be  attainable,  and  by 
consequence,  all  means  necessary  to  it  to  be 
found  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  Antonius  de 
Dominis,  an  apostate  Archbishop  of  Spalatro, 
is  said  to  have  first  imported  this  contraband 
merchandise  into  England,  and  it  was  greedily 
taken  up,  and  is  used  by  many  Protestant 
writers.  Dr.  Potter  tells  us,  p.  63,  "  That  the 
most  necessary  and  fundamental  truths,  which 
constitute  a  church,  are  on  both  sides  unques- 


tioned." Dr.  Stillingfieet  assures  us  likewise  in 
his  "  rational  account  of  the  grounds  of  the  Prot- 
estant religion,"  p.  54,  that  "the  Church  of  Eng- 
land makes  no  articles  of  faith,  but  such  as  have 
the  testimony  and  approbation  of  the  whole 
Christian  world  of  all  ages,  and  are  acknowl- 
edged to  be  such  by  Rome  itself."  And  Mr. 
Thorndike,  in  his  Epilogue,  p.  146,  says:  "I 
must,  and  do  freely  profess,  that  I  find  no  posi- 
tion necessary  to  salvation  prohibited,  none  de- 
structive to  salvation  enjoined  to  be  believed  by 
the  Church  of  Rome." 

This  important  concession  (which  will  always 
rise  up  in  judgment  against  reformed  churches) 
extorted  from  our  adversaries  by  the  evidence 
of  truth,  was  but  a  few  years  ago  confirmed 
in  the  most  solemn  and  authentic  manner,  by 
the  Protestant  university  of  Helmstat,  (April 
28,  anno  1707)  upon  occasion  of  the  match 
proposed  between  the  princess  of  Wolfembuttel, 
and  the  emperor  Charles ;  who  insisted  upon 
this  condition,  that  the  princess,  who  was  a 
Protestant,  should  conform  to  the  Church  of 
Rome.  Whereupon,  the  duke  her  father,  sent 
the  divines  of  Helmstat,  to  have  their  decision 
of  the  following  case,  viz.:  "  Whether  a  Prot- 
estant princess,  who  is  to  be  married  to  a 
Catholic  prince,  may  with  a  safe  conscience 
embrace  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  ?  "  And 
their  decision,  which  is  contained  in  a  large 
printed  sheet,  begins  thus  : 

"We  answer,  that  the  question  propounded, 
cannot  be  solved  solidly,  without  deciding 
first,  whether,  or  no,  the  Catholics  are  in 
fundamental  errors,  or  such  as  are  inconsistent 
with  salvatioii  ?  Or,  which  amounts  to  the 
same,  whether  the  constitution  of  the  Romish 
Church  be  such,  as  one  may  practice  in  it  the 
true  worship  of  God,  and  attain  to  salvation  ? 
Our  answer  to  this  second  query,  on  which 
the  first  depends,  is  without  hesitation  in  the 
affirmative,  for  these  three  reasons." 

Then  they  proceed  to  expound  their  reasons, 
which  are  too  long  for  me  to  insert.  But  the 
following  words  are  remarkable:  "Neither 
can  it  be  deemed,  that  the  Romish   Church  is 


302 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


not  a  true  Church,  wherein  the  ministry  of 
God's  word,  and  the  use  of  sacraments  sub- 
sists. For,  if  she  were  no  more,  or  had  never 
been  a  true  Church,  all  her  members  would 
be  in  a  state  of  damnation,  and  irrevocably 
lost ;  which  none  amongst  us  would  dare  to 
advance.  Nay,  Melancthon  himself  has  main- 
tained, that  the  Roman  Church,  did  not  cease 
being  the  true  Church,"  etc.,  and  towards  the 
end,  I  find  this  paragraph  :  "  Having  demon- 
strated, that  the  foundation  of  religion  subsists 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  so  that  one 
may  be  orthodox,  and  live  and  die  well,  and 
obtain  salvation  in  it,  it  is  easy  to  decide  the 
question  propounded."  They,  therefore  gave 
their  judgment,  that  the  princess  of  Wolfem- 
buttel  might  safely  change  her  religion,  and 
become  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  to 
qualify  herself  for  her  marriage. 

Here  we  have  the  judgment  of  a  whole 
Protestant  university  given  on  a  very  solemn 
occasion,  i.  That  the  true  worship  of  God  is 
practised  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  2.  That 
she  never  ceased  to  be  a  true  Church,  for 
which  we  quote  Melancthon's  authority.  3. 
That  her  members  may  be  orthodox,  and  live 
and  die  well,  and  obtain  salvation.  Nay,  that 
none  amongst  them  dare  maintain,  that  the 
members  of  the  Church  of  Rome  are  in  a  state 
of  damnation.  And  all  this  they  infer  from 
this  avowed  principle,  viz.:  "  Because  that 
Church  was  never  guilty  of  any  fundamental 
error." 

The  first  part,  therefore,  of  the  distinction, 
namely,  "  that  the  Church  cannot  err  in  fun- 
damentals," is  most  certainly  true.  However, 
I  cannot  let  it  pass,  without  drawing  some 
consequences  from  it,  before  I  offer  my  reasons 
against  the  second  part,  which  denies  her  in- 
fallibility in  points,  that  are  not   fundamental. 

The  first  consequence  I  draw  from  it  is,  that 
the  Protestants  of  Bngland,  are  guilty  of  the 
blackest  calumny  and  injustice  in  charging  the 
Church  of  Rome  with  idolatry.  For  who  can 
be  so  blind  as  not  to  see,  that  the  charges  of 
idolatry  is  not  only  a  flat  contradiction  to  their 


owning,  that  she  never  erred  in  fundamentals, 
but  wholly  inconsistent  with  their  so  much  mag- 
nified charity  in  allowing  salvation  to  be  at- 
tainable in  that  Church  ?  What !  can  a  Church 
be  orthodox,  nay,  infallible  in  fundamentals, 
and  yet  fall  into  idolatry  ?  Can  the  divine  spirit 
be  said  to  lead  her  into  all  fundamental  truths, 
and  at  the  same  time  permit  her  to  teach,  "  that 
divine  worship  is  to  be  paid  to  creatures  ?"  Or 
is  salvation  consistent  with  the  practice  of  it  ? 
These  incoherences  are  so  manifest,  that  if  ca- 
lumny be  a  deadly  sin,  and  restitution  of  fame 
an  indispensable  duty,  truly,  I  cannot  see  how 
the  authors,  or  abettors  of  so  black  a  calumny, 
as  is  that  of  charging  a  whole  Christian  Church 
with  idolatry,  can  have  any  pretence  to  salva- 
tion, without  making  that  Church  as  effectual 
a  reparation  of  honor,  as  the  divines  of  Helm- 
stat  have  already  done.  Nay,  the  reparation 
ought  to  be  as  general  and  public,  as  the  slan- 
der has  been.  Dr.  Stillingfleet's  large  treatise 
to  prove  Papists  idolaters,  and  many  other 
books  and  sermons  upon  the  same  subject 
ought  to  be  solemnly  condemned ;  and  the  peo- 
ple made  sensible,  that  a  Church  free  from 
fundamental  errors,  cannot  be  an  idolatrous 
Church :  that  the  true  worship  of  God,  which 
is  owned  to  be  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  is  as 
opposite  to  idolatry,  as  Christ  is  to  Belial,  or 
light  to  darkness.  In  a  word,  that  since  Pro- 
testants cannot  deny,  but  that  the  members  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  may  be  orthodox, 
and  live  and  die  well,  and  obtain  salvation,  it  is 
inconsistent  with  all  sense  and  reason,  to  charge 
them  with  a  crime,  which,  being  a  violation  of 
the  very  first  commandment  of  the  decalogue, 
must  unavoidably  make  them  forfeit  their  titles 
to  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  is  the  repara- 
tion they  are  bound  in  conscience  to  make 
to  the  Church  of  Rome.  Nor  can  they  refuse 
to  do  it,  without  resolving  to  continue  not  only 
in  a  deadly  sin,  but  the  grossest  contradiction 
to  themselves. 

But  what  shotild  make  Protestants,  who 
neither  want  wit,  nor  learning,  become  guilty  of  so 
palpable  a  contradiction,  as  suffices  to  startle  any 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


203 


thinking  man,  in  whom  all  sense  of  natural  jus- 
tice, truth  and  honor  is  not  utterly  extinguished  ? 
Trul}',  I  can  give  no  other  reason  for  it,  than 
their  being  blindly  persuaded  of  the  lawfulness 
to  blacken  Papists  by  any  methods  whatsoever, 
whether  foul,  or  fair,  just,  or  unjust,  right,  or 
wrong.  Now  both  the  parts  of  the  contradiction, 
I  have  proved  upon  them,  are  most  proper  to 
answer  this  honest  end.  Idolatry  is  an  abomin- 
able crime,  therefore.  Papists  must  be  made  guilty 


of  it ;  for  it  will  render  them  very  odious.  Yet 
salvation  must  not  be  denied  them  ;  because  this 
charitable  opinion  (the  nonsense  whereof  will  not 
be  perceived  by  every  body)  will  serve  as  a  foil  to 
set  oflF  the  uncharitableness  of  Papists,  who  deny 
salvation  to  all,  that  are  not  of  their  Church.  I 
thank  God,  we  have  at  least  charity  enoi:gh  to 
return  good  for  evil,  and  pray  heartily  for  the  sal- 
vation of  those,  who  hate  and  slander  us  in  such 
an  unchristian  manner. 


SECTION  II.— THE   FIRST   PART   OF   THE   DISTINCTION    RENDERS   THE  FIRST   REFORMERS,   AND 

THEIR   RESPECTIVE  CHURCHES   INEXCUSABLE. 


It  follows,  secondly,  from  the  first  part  of 
the  distinction,  that  both  the  first  reformers 
were  inexcusable  for  beginning,  and  that  the 
Churches  established  by  them  can  give  no 
satisfactory  reasons  for  continuing  their  sepa- 
ration from  the  Church  of  Rome.  For  how 
can  they  justify  their  separation  from  her,  if 
she  be  orthodox  in  all  fundamentals,  that  is, 
in  all  points  necessary  to  salvation  ?  The 
ground  of  this  query  is,  because  in  matters  of 
religion  (the  end  whereof  is  the  salvation  of 
souls)  nothing  is  of  any  solid  weight,  or  mo- 
ment, but  what  has  a  reference  to  this  end. 
Which  made  our  Saviour  say,  that  "there  is 
but  one  thing  necessary ; "  and  without  all 
dispute,  salvation  is  this  one  thing.  And  there- 
fore since,  according  to  the  Protestant  distinc- 
tion, all  things  necessary  to  salvation,  are  to 
be  found  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  there 
can  be  nothing  to  give  a  just  pretence  to  a 
breach  of  communion,  and  separation  from  her. 
For  is  it  any  ways  justifiable  to  raise,  or  main- 
tain a  schism  from  a  Church,  which  has  all 
means  necessary  to  salvation  infallibly  secured 
to  her?  This  cannot  hold  with  any  manner 
of  reason,  if  we  consider  the  nature  of  schism, 
how  fatal  its  consequences  are,  and  that  even 
the  sin  of  rebellion  in  a  government  is  seldom 
attended  with  so  great  a  train  of  evils,  as  a 
schism  in  the  Church.     Now,  the  very  greatest 


advocates  for  rebellion,  will  scarce  allow  it 
to  be  justifiable  in  any  other  case,  than  when 
the  very  constitution,  and  fundamental  laws 
of  the  kingdom  are  invaded.  For  then  the 
sovereigns  may  be  said  to  err  in  fundamentals. 
But  all  faults  in  governments  of  an  inferior 
nature  are  suflBcient  even  to  give  a  colorable 
pretence  to  the  sin  of  rebellion  against  a  law- 
ful sovereign. 

Let  us  apply  this  to  schism,  which  is  a 
rebellion  against  the  Church,  and  as  heinous 
in  its  nature,  as  that  against  the  State :  and, 
therefore,  ought  to  have  at  least  as  just  a  pre- 
tence to  color  it :  so  that,  if  it  were  possible 
for  the  Church  to  err  in  fundamentals,  it  is 
the  only  case,  in  which  a  schism  would  be 
justifiable :  because  in  any  other  case,  the 
remedy  is  worse  than  the  disease.  And  if 
this  be  so  in  all  schisms  whatsoever,  that, 
which  was  caused  by  the  leaders  of  the  refor- 
mation^ and  threw  all  Europe  into  disorder 
and  confusion,  is  much  less  capable  of  being 
justified  upon  any  other  grounds. 

Whoever  is  the  least  versed  in  history,  can- 
not be  ignorant  of  the  deplorable  calamities 
both  in  Church  and  State,  to  which  it  gave 
birth :  as  subjects  revolting  from  their  sover- 
eigns :  the  empire  torn  to  pieces,  by  the  dif- 
ferent factions  of  princes,  either  opposing,  or 
espousing   the    cause   of  Martin  Luther.     The 


204 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


kingdom  of  France  engaged  by  the  Hugue- 
nots in  a  bloody  civil  war  for  many  years : 
sacred  places  profaned,  religious  houses  pil- 
laged and  burnt,  the  revenues  of  the  Church 
seized  b}'  the  secular  power,  thousands  of  fam- 
ilies utterly  ruined ;  and,  in  a  word,  all  the 
scenes  of  horror  and  desolation,  which  an  obsti- 
nate and  bloody  war,  carried  on  by  parties 
mutually  incensed  can  produce,  were  the  fruits 
of  this  fatal  schism.  Nay,  has  it  not  been 
even  of  late  years,  the  occasion  of  bloodshed 
in  several  parts  of  Europe  ?  And  is  it  possi- 
ble, the  dreadful  prophanations  I  have  men- 
tioned, and  the  spilling  of  so  much  Christian 
blood,  should  have  no  other  pretence  to  justify 
it,  than  the  interest  of  a  few  speculative  ques- 
tions, or  points  of  religion,  not  at  all  funda- 
mental, or  in  any  manner  necessary  to  sal- 
vation. 

Truly,  were  I  to  have  judged  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  cause,  from  its  dismal  effects,  I 
should  have  concluded  without  hesitation,  that 
the  very  essentials  of  religion  were  at  stake 
in  those  unhappy  times :  that  the  Church  was 
threatened  with  nothing  less  than  a  total 
subversion :  in  a  word,  that  Christianity  was 
upon  the  point  of  being  abolished,  and  the 
alcoran  just  going  to  take  place  of  the  bible. 
For  then  I  should  not  have  been  surprised  to 
see  all  Europe  in  a  flame,  and  prodigal  of  its 
best  blood,  for  the  defence  of  so  great  and 
good  a  cause.  But,  God  be  praised,  the  Prot- 
estant distinction  has  prevented  all  such  mis- 
takes. Christianity  never  was  in  danger,  the 
bible  is  yet  safe  in  Catholic  hands,  and  all  the 
fundamentals  of  religion  stand  firm.  The 
very  enemies  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
declare,  she  has  never  erred  in  fundamentals, 
that  is,  in  any  point  necessary  to  salvation. 
And  what  can  they  desire  more?  What  rea- 
sonable grounds  can  there  be  for  a  schism  ? 
Why  are  the  members  of  that  Church  perse- 
cuted !  Why  are  they  deprived  of  their  birth- 
right, and  the  privileges  of  all  other  subjects  ? 
Why  are  Jews,  Quakers  and  Anabaptists  pre- 
ferred before  them  ?     Since  they  teach  nothing 


that  is  contrary  to  salvation  ?  For  is  not 
eternal  salvation,  and  all  means  necessary  to 
it,  sufiBcient  to  answer  all  the  ends  and  pur- 
poses of  religion  ? 

But  can  any  of  the  reformed  churches 
promise  themselves  as  much  ?  There  are  some 
weighty  reasons  for  the  negative.  First,  they 
are  all  fallible  ;  and  may,  therefore,  be  mistaken 
in  their  belief,  that  they  want  nothing  neces- 
sary to  salvation.  Secondly,  They  have  the 
whole  body  of  Roman  Catholics,  all  the  world 
over,  against  them ;  and  their  judgment  is  not 
TAnthout  weight.  Thirdly,  Their  very  owning 
that  salvation  is  attainable  in  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church,  is  a  strong  proof  of  their  being 
excluded  from  it.  For,  since  St.  Paul  has  posi- 
tively declared  these  two  things,  namely,  that 
there  is  but  "  one  faith,"  because  God  cannot 
reveal  contradictories :  and  that  "  without  faith 
it  is  impossible  to  please  God,"  I  cannot  see 
how  they,  who  own  salvation  possible  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  which,  therefore,  has  the 
faith  required  by  St.  Paul,  can  flatter  them- 
selves with  the  hopes  of  it  in  any  other  com- 
munion ;  since  all  other  Churches,  by  continu- 
ing in  their  schism,  break  that  unity  of  faith, 
which  St.  Paul  requires,  as  necessary  to  please 
God  ;  and  by  consequence,  to  salvation. 

I  am  sensible,  I  shall  here  be  taxed  with 
uncharitableness,  in  denying  salvation  to  all 
Churches,  but  my  own.  To  which  I  answer, 
First,  that  if  I  believe  myself  to  be  in  the  true 
Church  of  Christ,  I  cannot  do  otherwise  without 
contradicting  the  faith  of  that  Church,  which 
teaches,  that  there  is  no  salvation  for  those  who 
keep  wilfully  and  obstinately  out  of  it.  I 
answer,  secondly,  that  I  can  never  think  it  an 
uncharitable  office  to  admonish  persons  of  the 
danger,  in  which  I  conceive  they  are ;  though 
I  should  really  be  mistaken  in  my  judgment 
of  the  matter.  But  I  own  sincerely,  that  I  can- 
not make  it  a  point  of  honor  to  pretend  to  be 
more  charitable  than  the  holy  fathers  were  in 
the  primitive  ages  ;  who  agreed  unanimously 
in  declaring  all  those  to  be  in  the  state  of 
damnation,  who  separated  themselves  from  their 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


205 


Church ;  and  I  dare  say,  with  the  greatest 
assurance,  they  were  all  in  communion  with  the 
see  of  Rome.  I  shall  choose  a  few  passages  out 
of  many. 

N.  B.  That  most  of  the  fathers,  I  shall  quote, 
wrote  against  heretics,  who  denied  none  of  those 
articles  which  Protestants  call  fundamental. 

St.  Irenseus,  I,-  4.  adv.  Hser.  c.  62,  writes  thus: 
"  God  will  judge  those,  who  make  schisms ; 
who  are  abominable,  void  of  the  love  of  God ; 
and  having  more  concern  for  their  own  conve- 
nience, than  for  the  unity  of  the  Church  :  who 
for  inconsiderable  reasons,  divide  and  break 
asunder  the  great  and  glorious  body  of  Christ, 
and  endeavor  as  much  as  in  them  lies,  to  ruin 
it  utterly  ;  having  peace  in  their  mouths,  but 
working  nothing  but  destruction  ;  truly  strain- 
ing at  a  gnat,  and  swallowing  a  camel.  For, 
whatever  evils  they  design  to  redress,  it  will  be 
much  less  than  the  evil  of  schism." 

St.  Cyprian,  de  Unit.  Eccl.  "  Whosoever," 
says  he,  "  leaving  the  Church,  cleaves  to  an 
adulteress,  is  cut  off  from  the  promises  of  the 
Church.  He  that  falls  from  the  Church  of 
Christ,  shall  never  come  to  the  rewards  of 
Christ.  He  is  an  alien,  he  is  a  profane  per- 
son, he  is  an  enemy.  He  cannot  have  God  for 
his  father,  who  has  not  the  Church  for  his 
mother.  If  it  were  possible  for  any  to  escape, 
that  was  not  in  the  ark  of  Noah,  it  shall  like- 
wise be  possible  for  him  to  escape,  who  is  not 
in  the  Church." 

Idem  infra.  "  What  peace  can  the  enemies 
of  their  brethren  promise  themselves  ?  What 
kind  of  sacrifices  do  they  imagine  they  offer 
up,  who  are  in  contention  with  the  Priests? 
Can  they  think  that  Christ  is  with  them  in 
their  meetings,  being  assembled  out  of  the 
unity  of  the  Church  ?  Such  as  these,  though 
they  suffer  death  in  the  confession  of  his  name; 
yet  is  not  their  blood  capable  of  washing  out 
their  stain.  The  unpardonable  and  horrid  crime 
of  schism,  is  not  to  be  expiated  by  suffering. 
He  can  be  no  martyr,  who  is  not"  in  the  Church. 
They  are  enemies  to  God,  who  will  not  keep  peace 
tp  the  Church.    Though  they  deliver  their  bodies 


to  be  burnt,  or  are  torn  to  pieces  by  wild  beasts,  yet 
this  will  never  be  a  crown  of  their  faith,  but 
a  punishment  of  their  treachery' :  nor  a  glorious 
issue  of  a  Christian  courage,  but  a  desperate 
end.  Such  a  one  may  be  put  to  death,  but  he 
can  never  be  crowned." 

St.  John  Chrysostom,  Hom.  11.  in  cap.  4. 
Epist.  ad  Ephesios:  "This  is  spoken,"  says  he, 
"not  only  to  those  who  rule,  but  also  to  sub- 
jects, who  are  under  their  government.  A 
certain  holy  man  spoke  a  thing,  which  was 
very  bold,  and  yet  he  spoke  it.  And  what  was 
it  ?  He  afl&rmed,  that  this  sin  [of  schism]  '  can- 
not be  washed  away,  even  with  the  blood  of 
martyrdom.'  For  tell  me,  for  what  reason  do 
you  suffer  martyrdom  ?  Is  it  not  for  the  glory 
of  Christ  ?  And  how  can  you,  who  desire  to 
lay  down  your  lives  for  Christ,  in  the  mean 
time  overthrow  the  Church,  for  which  Christ 
shed  his  blood  ?" 

St.  Aug.  L.  de  Unit.  Eccl.  c.  19 :  "None  can 
arrive  to  salvation,  or  life  everlasting,  but  he 
that  has  Christ  for  his  head.  And  it  is  impos- 
sible, that  any  should  have  Christ  for  his  head, 
unless  he  be  a  member  of  his  body,  the 
Church." 

Idem  Epist.  204.  ad  Donat :  "  Being  out  of 
the  pale  of  the  Church,  separated  from  its 
unity,  and  bond  of  charity,  thou  wouldst  not 
escape  damnation,  though  thou  shouldst  be 
burnt  alive  for  confessing  the  name  of  Christ." 

N.  B.  That  St.  Augustine  was  no  uncharit- 
able man. 

Idem  L.  2.  contra.  Epist.  Parm.  c.  11  :  "  We 
produce  these  instructions  from  holy  writ,  that 
it  may  evidently  appear,  that  there  is  no  wick- 
edness can  compare  with  the  sacrilege  of  schism, 
because  there  is  no  just  necessity  for  separa- 
tion." 

St.  Fulgentius  ad  Petrum  Diaconum,  c.  39: 
"  Believe  stedfastly,"  says  he,  "  and  doubt  not 
at  all,  but  that  every  man,  who  is  a  heretic, 
or  schismatic,  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
if  he  be  not  in  the  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
though  he  gives  ever  so  much  alms,   and  lose 


206 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO  END   DISPUTES. 


his  life  for  the  name  of  Christ,  yet  he  cannot 
be  saved.  For  neither  baptism,  nor  liberal 
alms,  nor  death  itself  for  the  profession  of 
Christ,  can  avail  a  man  any  thing  in  order  to 
salvation,  if  he  does  not  hold  the  unity  of  the 
Catholic  Church." 

This  was  the  language  of  the  ancient  fathers, 
which  fully  justifies  the  doctrine  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  in  excluding  from  salvation,  all  such 
as  are  guilty  of  heresy,  or  schism.  For  it  is  a 
plain  case,  that  it  was  their  judgment,  that 
though  a  man  be  a  Christian  by  baptism,  and 
the  belief  of  Christ,  nay,  though  he  suffers  death 
for  professing  Christ,  yet  he  cannot  escape  eternal 
damnation,  if  he  be  separated  from  the  unity  of 
the  Catholic  Church. 

What  an  authentic  condemnation  is  this  of 
Luther  and  Calvin,  and  other  leaders  of  the 
pretended  Reformation  ?  And,  indeed,  of  all  the 
reformed  churches :  which,  though  they  are 
Christian  churches,  by  their  due  administration 
of  baptism,  and  their  belief  of  the  incarnation, 
death,  resurrection  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
yet  (if  the  judgment  of  the  ancient  Church  be 
of  any  weight)  are  incapable  of  salvation,  in 
being  separated  from  their  mother-Church,  from 
which  they  all  went  forth,  just  as  those  here- 
tics and  schismatics  did,  against  whom  the 
fathers,  quoted  by  me,  have  pronounced  sentence 
of  eternal  damnation.  To  which  those  eminent 
saints  were  not  prompted  by  heat,  or  passion, 
or  uncharitableness,  (whereof  the  Church  of 
Rome  is  now  accused  for  adhering  to  their  doc- 
trine) but  merely  by  the  force  of  truth,  and  an 
ardent  zeal  for  retrieving  those  prodigals,  who 
had  quitted  their  father's  house,  and  saving 
from  perdition  the  sheep  that  were  gone  astra)'. 

If  any  one  objects,  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
is  alone  accountable  for  the  separation,  as  being 
the  cause  of  it,  by  excommunicating  the  reformed 
churches ;  if  any  one,  I  say,  objects  this  by 
way  of  jest,  (for  I  presume  no  man  of  sense 
can  do  it  seriousl}')  I  answer  him,  however, 
first,  that  the  Arians,  and  all  other  heretics, 
that  ever  were  in  the  world,  have  the  same 
plea.  The  Arminians  have  it  against  the  Church 
of   Holland;    and    the    Socinians    against    the 


Church  of  England.  For  the  fourth  canon  of 
the  national  Synod,  under  king  Chailes  I.  anno 
1640,  orders,  that  any  one,  who  is  accused  of 
Socinianism,  unless  he  will  absolutely  and  in 
terms  abjure  it,  be  excommunicated. 

I  answer,  secondly,  that  the  sentence  of 
excommunication  pronounced  by  the  Church 
of  Rome  presupposed  the  schism,  and  was  the 
punishment,  but  uot  the  cause  of  it :  As  a  bill 
of  attainder  against  rebellious  subjects,  (which 
is  a  kind  of  lay  excommunication)  is  not  the 
cause  of  rebellion,  but  a  just  punishment  of  it. 

Lastly,  I  answer  him  in  the  words  of  an 
ingenious  Protestant,  who,  in  his  apology  for 
the  non-juring  clergy,  in  answer  to  Dr.  Sharpe, 
late  Archbishop  of  York,  by  whom  they  were 
accused  of  schism,  writes  thus :  "  You,"  says 
he,  "  have  separated  from  them,  and  not  they 
from  you.  For  they  are  just  where  they  were 
when  you  left  them,  and  have  not  budged  a 
foot  from  their  Church.  You  cannot  say  they 
have  broken  from  you,  unless  you  will  aflSrm, 
that  when  a  ship  breaks  from  the  shore,  where 
she  lay  at  anchor,  the  shore  removes  from  her, 
and  not  she  from  the  shore." 

This  represents  exactly  the  case  between  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  the  reformed  churches ; 
and  particularly  between  the  Roman  Catholics 
(though  now  contemptible  in  their  number) 
and  the  Protestants  in  Great  Britain.  The 
Roman  Catholics  are  just  where  the  Protestants 
left  them,  and  have  not  budged  a  foot  from  their 
Church.  Their  faith  and  religion  is  the  very 
same  as  it  was,  not  only  when  the  Reformation 
began,  but  for  nine  hundred  years  before  it  was 
ever  thought  of;  that  is,  ever  since  England's 
conversion.  And  Protestants  can  no  more  say, 
that  Roman  Catholics  have  broken  from  them, 
than  they  will  afiirm,  "that  when  a  ship  breaks 
from  the  shore,  where  she  laid  at  anchor,  the 
shore  removes  from  her,  and  not  she  from  the 
shore."  And  who,  then,  are  authors  of  the 
schism  ?  Who  are  accountable  to  God  for 
the  damnation  of  so  many  souls  ?  But  this  is 
too  much  in  answer  to  so  weak  an  objection. 
I  shall  now  proceed  to  examine  the  second 
part  of  the  distinction. 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


2C7 


SECTION  III.— THE  SECOND  PART   OF  THE   DISTINCTION   CONTRADICTS   THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 


The  second  part  of  the  distinction  denies  the 
Church  to  be  infallible  in  points  that  are  not 
fundamental.  This  I  shall  prove  to  be  a  con- 
tradiction to  the  word  of  God.  First,  it  is 
inconsistent  with  our  Saviour's  promise,  "  that 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 
Because  the  gates  of  hell  would  prevail  effec- 
tually against  the  Church,  if  she  should  ever 
fall  into  any  heresy,  let  that  heresy  be  what  it 
will. 

It  is  true,  some  heresies  strike  more  directly 
at  the  root  of  Christianity  than  others,  and  those 
may  be  called  fundamental  heresies.  But  every 
heresy,  whether  it  be  fundamental,  or  not,  de- 
stroys all  divine  faith ;  so  that  if  the  Church 
should  teach  any  one  point  of  doctrine,  contrary 
to  the  revealed  word  of  God  (which  I  call  heresy) 
she  would  lose  all  faith ;  she  would  be  no  longer 
the  Church  of  Christ,  but  the  school  of  Satan, 
and  the  gates  of  hell  would  prevail  against  her. 
For  the  devil  is  certainly  the  "  father  of  lies,"  and 
much  more  of  heresy,  which  is  the  worst  of  lies, 
because  it  gives  the  lie  to  the  revealed  word  of 
God.  And  would  not  then  the  devil  prevail 
against  the  Church,  if  he  made  her  become  the 
mother  of  lies,  and  even  of  such  lies,  as  are  a 
contradiction  to  God's  own  word  ?  I  think  the 
matter  will  bear  no  manner  of  dispute. 

Nor  is  it  any  thing  to  the  purpose,  whether 
the  lie  be  in  a  matter,  or  relating  to  an  object, 
that  is  fundamental,  or  not.  Because  whatever 
its  immediate  object  be,  the  whole  theological 
virtue  of  faith,  is  as  much  destroyed  by  it,  as  the 
whole  theological  virtue  of  charity  is  destroyed 
by  any  one  mortal  sin. 

To  pursue  this  comparison,  which  will  help  to 
set  the  matter  in  a  clear  and  easy  light,  we  may 
say,  that  faith  is  to  the  Church,  what  charity  is 
to  the  soul:  and  heresy  is  just  as  opposite  to 
faith,  as  mortal  sin  is  to  charity.  Now,  though 
blasphemy,  for  example,  be  a  more  grievous  sin 
than  calumny,  yet  charity  is  lost,  and  the  soul 
receives  a  mortal  wound  by  the  one,  as  well  as 


the  other.  In  like  manner,  therefore,  though  a 
fundamental  heresy,  as  the  denying  the  divinity 
of  Christ,  be  more  impious  with  reference  to  its 
immediate  object,  than  one  that  is  not  funda- 
mental ;  yet  the  one,  as  well  as  the  other,  gives 
a  mortal  wound  to  faith  :  and,  by  consequence,  if 
the  Church  should  teach  any  such  heresy,  she 
would  be  without  faith,  and  the  gates  of  hell 
would  prevail  against  her ;  though  the  immediate 
object  of  that  heresy,  were  not  relating  to  any 
matter  of  importance,  or  in  itself  necessary  to 
salvation. 

The  principle,  whereon  this  doctrine  is  founded, 
is  because  divine  faith  is  grounded  uponrevelation, 
and  not  upon  the  importance  of  its  immediate 
object,  or  as  the  belief  of  that  truth,  is  of  itself  a 
means  necessary  to  salvation.  As,  for  instance, 
it  is  not  a  fundamental  point,  whether  Balaam's 
ass  spoke,  or  not ;  or  whether  Samson  killed  a 
thousand  Philistines  with  the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass, 
or  with  the  jaw-bone  of  a  horse.  Mankind  with- 
out all  dispute,  might  have  been  saved,  though 
these  two  scriptural  events  had  never  happened. 
Yet,  if  I  should  presume  to  deny,  or  dispute 
either  of  them,  I  should  be  a  rank  heretic  for  my 
pains.  Because,  by  so  doing,  I  should  call  in 
question,  the  whole  authority  of  the  Bible  ;  which, 
if  it  can  lie  in  any  one  point,  may  do  so  in  all 
the  rest.  And  so  the  whole  law  and  prophets 
would  be  rendered  precarious.  Nay,  I  should 
lose  all  divine  faith,  though  I  believed  every 
thing  else :  because  faith  is  not  barely  a  belief 
of  things  revealed,  but  the  principal  motive  of 
our  belief  of  them  must  be  precisely,  because  they 
are  revealed.  And,  therefore,  if  I  deny,  or  ques- 
tion any  one  revealed  point,  though  ever  so  in- 
considerable in  itself,  I  believe  nothing  upon  the 
motive  of  divine  revelation  ;  and  by  consequence, 
my  whole  faith  is  destroyed. 

Whence  it  plainly  follows,  that  if  the  Church 
should  err  in  any  one  single  point  of  faith, 
whether  it  be  fundamental  as  to  its  object,  or  not, 
she  would  lose  all  divine  faith,   and  a  Church 


2o8 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


without  divine  faith  is  no  longer  the  Church  of 
Christ.  She  is  no  longer  that  virgin-Church  with- 
out spot,  or  blemish,  which  Christ  espoused  to 
himself  for  ever,  but  becomes  an  adulteress,  and 
is  delivered  up  to  the  power  of  Satan  ;  which  is  a 
contradiction  to  what  our  Saviour  has  positively 
promised. 

Secondly,  It  is  no  less  a  contradiction  to 
his  promise,  that  "  the  Holy  Ghost  shall 
teach  his  Church  all  things."  Because  this 
promise  is  not  only  without  limitation,  but  is 
a  full  answer  to  any  distinction,  that  puts  a 
limitation  upon  it.  For  the  word,  "  all,"  is 
comprehensive  and  universal,  including  every 
revealed  truth,  that  comes  within  the  determi- 
nation of  the  Church ;  and  to  restrain  it,  is  to 
oflfer  violence  to  the  sense,  it  naturally  imports. 

Thirdly,  It  is  a  contradiction  to  St.  Paul, 
saying,  that  the  Church  "is  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  truth."  Because  a  Church  guilty  of 
errors  opposite  to  any  revealed  truths  whatever, 
whether  fundamental,  or  non-fundamental,  can- 
not be  called  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth," 
without  violentl}'  wresting  words  from  their 
obvious  and  natural  signification. 

Fourthly,  Neither  can  it  easily  be  reconciled 
with  these  words  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Ephesians, 
iv.  II,  14.  "He  gave  some  apostles,  and 
some  prophets,  and  some  evangelists,  and  some 
pastors  and  teachers.  .  .  .  that  we  be  no 
more  like  children  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine."  For  who  sees 
not  that  this  end  designed  by  Christ,  is  in  a 
manner  frustrated  by  limiting  the  Church's 
infallibility,  to  fundamentals  only  ?  Because 
the  number  of  these  being  wholly  precarious 
(as  I  shall  show  hereafter)  if  there  be  no  infal- 
lible Church  to  fix  our  belief  in  reference  to  all 
revealed  truths  whatsoever,  we  shall  still  be 
children  in  faith,  and  "  every  wind  of  doctrine  " 
will  suffice  to  toss  us  from  one  belief  to  another. 

This  appears  plainly  in  the  numberless 
divisions,  and  diversity  of  opinions  in  the 
refor7ned  churches ;   not  any  two  of  them  agree- 


ing in  the  same  system  of  religion.  And  it  is 
morally  impossible  men  should  agree,  when 
every  one  is  encouraged  by  the  practice  of  the 
very  founders  of  his  Church  to  make  his  own 
private  judgment  the  rule  and  standard  of  his 
faith  ;  and  no  unerring  judge  is  allowed  of  to 
appeal  to  in  doubtful  cases. 

It  is  true,  any  Church  may,  by  the  severity 
of  laws  and  censures  oblige  men  to  a  respectful 
silence ;  but  this  will  never  deliver  them  from 
doubts  and  uncertainties,  nor  fix  their  faith 
upon  a  solid  basis.  Their  tongues  and  pens 
may  acquiesce,  but  their  judgment  will  still 
revolt.  Their  private  reasons  will  stand  good, 
and  keep  their  full  force.  Nay,  what  seems 
reason  to-day,  will,  perhaps,  seem  otherwise  to- 
morrow ;  aud  thus  will  they  always  be  wavering, 
"  like  children  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine  ;  "  whereas,  if 
an  infallible  judge  be  acknowledged,  whenever 
that  judge  pronounces  sentence,  all  doubts 
immediately  vanish.  The  judgment  is  immov- 
ably fixed,  and  every  private  understanding 
"  captivated  unto  the  obedience  of  faith." 

And  this  is  the  true  reason  of  that  perfect 
harmony  in  all  matters  of  faith  among  the 
members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  For 
though  they  be  allowed  to  dispute  pro  and  con 
about  questions  not  determined  by  the  Church 
(which  some  will  needs  miscall  divisions 
amongst  them)  yet  when  the  Church  declares 
herself  positively  upon  any  point,  there  is  no 
appeal  from  her  to  any  private  judgment;  but 
every  one  is  bound  by  the  principles  of  his 
religion  to  submit  to  her  decisions.  So  that 
all  the  members  of  this  Church  even  in  the 
most  distant  parts  of  the  world,  nay,  though 
differing  in  every  thing  else,  as  interest, 
humors,  customs,  discipline,  and  language,  yet 
agree  perfectly  in  all  points  of  faith.  Because 
they  have  but  one  unerring  guide  to  follow, 
which  is  the  Church  directed  according  to 
Christ's  promise,  by  the  spirit  of  truth. 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


209 


SECTION  IV.— IT  GIVES  THE   LIE  TO   THE   NICENE   CREED. 


The  antiquity  and  authority  of  the  Nicene 
Creed,  is  owned  by  all :  and  it  being  next 
after  the  Apostle's  Creed  the  shortest  summary 
of  Christian  religion,  I  question  not  but  Prot- 
estants will  easily  grant,  that  all  its  articles 
are  fundamental.  I  should,  therefore,  be  glad 
to  know  what  they  think,  or  mean,  when  they 
pronounce  this  article,  "  I  believe  One,  Holy, 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church."  I  presume 
the  true  meaning  of  it  is,  that  Christ  has  a 
Church  on  earth,  which  is  One,  Holy,  Catholic 
and  Apostolic. 

This,  then,  is  an  article  of  the  Christian 
faith ;  and  since  articles  of  faith  are  unchange- 
able, it  has  always  been,  and  will  always  con- 
tinue to  be  one.  For  if  it  should  ever  cease  to 
be  true,  that  Christ  has  such  a  Church  on  earth, 
whoever  should  then  pronounce  that  article  of 
the  Nicene  Creed,  instead  of  professing  an  article 
of  faith,  would  make  profession  of  a  downright 
falsehood  :  which  being  absurd  in  itself,  it  is 
manifest  that  the  Church  described  in  the  Nicene 
Creed,  can  never  cease  to  have  a  being  upon 
earth. 

Whence  I  argue  thus.  The  Church  described 
in  the  Nicene  Creed,  will  have  a  being  as  long 
as  the  world  lasts.  But  if  she  should  at  any 
time  become  guilty  of  any  errors  whatsoever 
against  the  revealed  word  of  God,  she  would 
then  cease  to  have  a  being ;  therefore,  the 
Church  described  in  the  Nicene  Creed,  (which 
is  undoubtedly  the  Church  of  Christ)  can  never 
become  guilty  of  any  such  errors. 

That  she  would  then  cease  to  have  a  being, 
I  prove  thus.  Because  she  would  then  neither 
be  One,  nor  Holy,  nor  Catholic,  nor  Apostolic. 

First,  She  would  not  be  One.  Because  there 
can  be  no  unity  of  faith,  where  there  is  no 
faith  at  all.  Now  the  Church  loses  her  whole 
faith  by  any  one  error  against  the  revealed 
word  of  God ;  as  I  have  alreadj'^  showed. 
Therefore,  if   she  should    ever   become    guilty 


of  any  such  error,  her  unity  of  faith  must  of 
consequence,  be  destroyed  by  it. 

I  prove  again,  that  heresy  and  unity  of  faith, 
are  inconsistent.  Because  heresy  is  the  natural 
product  of  private  judgment;  and  private  judg- 
ment is  a  constant  source  and  principle  of 
division.  The  reason  whereof  is  manifest ; 
because  men  differ  not  only  from  one  another 
in  their  private  judgment,  nay,  it  is  morally 
impossible  it  should  be  otherwise,  but  are  fre- 
quently inconsistent  even  with  themselves :  so 
that  as  often  as  they  see  things  in  a  different  light, 
they  are  apt  to  change  their  belief  accordingly. 
Hence  it  is,  that  no  heresy  ever  came  into 
the  world,  but  various  sects  spawned  from  it 
soon  after ;  and  a  dunghill  is  not  more  fruitful 
in  breeding  vermin,  than  private  judgment, 
and  Scripture  corrupted  by  it  are  in  producing 
sects.  It  is,  therefore,  morally  impossible,  that 
a  Church  corrupted  with  any  heresy,  should 
be  one. 

Secondly.  She  would  also  cease  to  be  Holy. 
Because  this  title  cannot  belong  to  a  Church 
adulterated  in  her  doctrine,  and  void  of  faith. 

Thirdly.  She  would  not  be  Catholic  ;  because 
she  would  want  universality  of  time.  For  since 
truth  is  more  ancient  than  error,  the  former 
would  have  had  a  priority  of  time  before  the 
latter.  In  a  word,  she  is  called  Catholic  because 
her  faith  is  Catholic ;  and  no  errors  can  be  the 
objects  of  Catholic  faith,  nor  have  I  ever  heard 
of  Catholic  heresies  in  my  whole  life. 

Lastly.  She  would  not  be  Apostolic,  any 
more  than  the  schismatical  Churches  of  the 
Donatists,  Novatians,  and  other  heretics,  who 
never  erred  in  fundamentals.  But  why  may 
not  their  Churches  be  called  Apostolic  ?  Because 
the  Apostles  never  taught  errors  of  any  kind 
whatever,  whether  fundamental,  or  non-funda- 
mental. And,  therefore,  if  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  were  at  any  time  of  this 
linsey-woolsey  texture,  made  up  of  fundamental 


2IO 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


truths  and  non-fundamental  lies,  it  would  cease 
to  be  a  doctrine  derived  from  the  Apostles ; 
and  a  Church  cannot  be  called  Apostolic,  unless 
she  has  the  whole  body  of  her  doctrine  from 
them. 

Hence,  it  plainly  follows,  that  the  second  part 
of  the  distinction  utterly  overthrows  the  fore- 
mentioned  article  of  the  Nicene  Creed.  And 
if  one  article  can  ever  prove  false,  we  may  give 
up  the  rest  for  company's  sake,  and  the  Apos- 
tle's Creed  into  the  bargain. 

Again,  I  argue  thus.  The  Church  of  Christ 
on  earth  has  either  always  been  One,  Holy, 
Catholic  and  Apostolic,  or  not.  If  not,  then 
those,  who  said  the  Nicene  Creed,  whilst  there 
was  no  such  Church,  professed  that  they 
believed  a  thing  which  was  false.  But  if 
Christ  always  had  such  a  Church,  then  I  must 
be  so  free  as  to  tell  the  reformed  gentlemen, 
that  a  Church,  which  we  believe  and  profess  to 
be  One,  Holy,  Catholic  and  Apostolic  in  her 
doctrine,  is  proof  against  any  Protestant  dis- 
tinction :    and   to   reform  the  faith    of  such   a 


Chuch,  is  the  same  bold  attempt,  and  as  unwar- 
rantable, as  to  reform  the  creed  itself. 

I  shall  conclude  this  section  with  observing, 
how  unlucky  our  adversaries  are  in  their 
favorite  distinction,  since  in  the  first  part  of  it 
they  contradict  themselves,  and  in  the  second, 
they  give  the  lie  to  the  word  of  God,  and  the 
Nicene  Creed.  But  something  was  to  be  said 
to  throw  dust  before  the  eyes  of  ignorant 
people.  The  promises  )f  Christ  were  positive, 
and  clear  against  them.  If  they  denied  all, 
the  matter  would  have  an  ill  appearance.  If 
they  granted  all  the  reformalion  was  utterly 
overthrown.  The  best  way,  therefore,  in  so 
difficult  case,  was  to  split  and  divide.  A  dis- 
tinction in  disputes  makes  a  handsome  figure, 
and  a  show  at  least  of  saying  something, 
though  nothing  to  the  purpose.  But  their 
well-aflFected  brethren  would  not  perceive  this. 
And,  therefore,  it  was  better  to  do  so,  than  be 
silent,  and  give  up  all,  when  all  was  at  stake. 
But  I  have  still  something  more  to  say  to  the 
second  part  of  the  distinction. 


SECTION  v.— IT  DESTROYS  ALL  CERTAINTY  IN   MATTERS  OF    FAITH. 


If  the  Church  can  err  in  points  that  are  not 
fundamental,  we  can  have  no  certainty  of  the 
truth  of  any  articles,  but  such,  as  have  their 
evidence  from  human  reason ;  and  so  we  shall 
all  be  in  a  fair  way  of  turning  deists ;  because 
every  man  will  be  furnished  with  a  plausible 
pretence  to  question  the  decisions  of  the  Church 
in  an}'  point,  that  has  ever  been  disputed.  For 
he  needs  but  maintain  stiffly,  that  the  matter  in 
question  is  not  fundamental,  and  this  will  be  a  suf- 
ficient warrant  to  believe,  or  disbelieve  it,  accord- 
ing as  his  own  private  reason  shall  direct  him. 

Thus  an  Arian  will  say,  that  the  consubstan- 
tiality  of  the  Son,  is  no  fundamental  point,  and 
that  the  Church  has  erred  in  it.  A  Socinian 
will  say  the  same  of  his  divinity,  and  a  Nesto- 
rian  of  the  unity  of  his  person ;  and  an  anti- 
trinitarian   is    so   far    from    yielding,  that   the 


belief  of  the  adorable  trinity  is  necessary  to 
salvation,  that  he  regards  it  as  a  mere  chimera. 
Nay,  deists  maintain,  that  the  belief  of  a  God, 
is  the  only  fundamental  point  of  religion. 

How,  then,  shall  we  know  what  points  are 
fundamental,  and  what  not  ?  Can  Protestants 
fix  any  sure  mark,  or  rule,  to  know  a  funda- 
mental by,  and  distinguish  it  from  such  as  are 
not  fundamental  ?  Have  the  reformed  churches 
ever  agreed  about  their  number  of  fundamentals  ? 
But  how  is  it  possible  they  should  ?  Since 
when  they  argue  against  Papists,  they  all  dis- 
own an  infalliable  judge  to  determine  the  mat- 
ter, and  a  fallible  one  may  be  mistaken,  in 
his  calculation,  and  either  obtrude  that  for  a 
fundamental,  which  is  not  so,  or  reject  one, 
that  really  is  so:  and  so  he  may  either  over- 
shoot his  mark,   or  fall    short   of   it.     Besides, 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


211 


there  never  will  be  wanting  some  of  those,  who 
will  copy  after  the  pattern  set  before  them  by 
the  two  great  patriarchs  of  the  reformation^  and 
appeal  from  any  judge  to  their  own  darling 
private  reason. 

If  they  say,  that  all  fundamentals  are  con- 
tained in  the  three  creeds:  I  answer,  first,  that 
then  this  article,  "  I  believe  One,  Holy,  Catholic, 
and  Apostolic  Church,"  is,  by  consequence,  a 
fundamental ;  which  is  like  to  do  Protestants 
but  little  service,  as  I  have  already  showed. 
I  answer,  secondly,  that  there  is  no  mention 
in  the  creeds  either  of  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  or  of  episcopacy  being  of  divine 
institution,  or  of  the  revelation  of  Scriptures. 
All  which  may,  therefore,  be  mere  impositions 
for  ought  we  know.  But  whether  they  be  in 
the  number  of  fundamentals,  or  not,  I  am  sure 
they  are  articles  of  great  importance. 

If  they  answer,  that  these  and  all  funda- 
mentals are  clearly  expressed  in  Scripture ; 
I  answer,  first,  that  the  Scriptures  are  no  less 
clear  in  numberless  points,  which  are  not  funda- 
mental :  and  by  what  rule,  then,  shall  we  dis- 
cern the  one  from  the  other  ?  For  the  Scrip- 
tures do  not  tell  us  whether  they  are  funda- 
mental truths,  or  not.  I  answer,  secondly,  that 
the  Arians,  reading  Scripture  with  Arian  spec- 
tacles, found  their  own  doctrine  clearly  expressed 
in  Christ's  own  words.  Because  the  Scriptures, 
when  interpreted  by  private  judgment,  are 
usually  made  a  mere  nose  of  wax,  which  may 
be  turned  and  set  what  way  any  man  pleases. 
The  rankest  heretic  that  ever  was  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth,  never  wanted  clear  Scripture, 
as  he  pretended,  to  support  his  cause.  Nay, 
the  devil  himself,  when  he  tempted  Christ,  had 
Scripture  ready  to  color  his  wicked  suggestion. 
But  it  was  Scripture  interpreted  by  the  spirit 
of,  lies:  as  it  always  is,  when  private  judgment 
sets  up  for  an  interpreter  of  it  against  the  sense 
and  authority  of  the  Church. 

I  presume  no  man  will  say,  that  the  thirty- 
nine  articles,  though  they  may  properly  be 
called  the  Church  of  England's  creed,  contain 
nothing    but   fundamentals.     For,    besides  that 


many  of  them  are  mere  negatives,  or  contra- 
dictories to  the  pretended  Popish  errors,  which 
according  to  the  distinction  are  no  fundamental 
points ;  there  are  some  others,  which  only 
regard  discipline :  and  the  discipline  of  all 
churches  being  changeable,  according  to  the 
34th  article,  can  never  come  up  to  the  nature 
of  a  fundamental.  And  by  consequence,  the 
thirty-nine  articles  determine  not  their  number, 
but  leaves  us  in  an  entire  uncertainty  of  it. 
Now  if  we  have  no  certain  rule  to  know  funda- 
mentals by,  it  follows,  that  there  is  scarce  any 
point  of  faith  the  truth  whereof  may  not  be 
questioned;  because  we  may  doubt,  whether  it 
be  fundamental.  And  if  it  be  not,  the  Church 
may  err  in  it,  according  to  the  second  part  of 
the  distinction,  which  renders  all  faith  and 
religion  precarious. 

Hence  it  is,  that  rejecting  first,  and  then 
limiting  the  Church's  authority  in  deciding 
controversies  of  religion,  has  opened  the  way 
to  the  most  impious  and  blasphemous  her- 
esies. And  there  is  scarce  any  thing  so  sacred 
in  religion,  but  has  been,  and  is  to  this  day 
questioned  by  some  of  those,  who  have  been 
brought  up  in  the  principles  of  the  reformation. 
For  when  the  Church  is  made  cheap,  and  her  au- 
thority precarious,  what  wonder  is  it,  that  (the 
very  best  and  strongest  fence  of  religion  being 
broken  down)  men  should  run  loose  into  the 
most  extravagant  opinions  ?  For  what  principle 
can  a  man  have  after  that,  to  fix  his  belief  of 
any  mystery,  but  his  own  private  reason  ?  And 
since  the  very  sublimest  mysteries  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  appear  the  most  repugnant  to 
human  reason,  when  a  person  has  once  imbibed 
this  principle,  and  settles  it  as  a  rule  and 
maxim  to  govern  his  faith  by,  viz.:  That  there 
is  no  Church  on  earth,  not  even  the  Church 
established  by  Christ,  but  may  deceive  him, 
he  will  never  stand  to  examine,  whether  the 
points  in  question  be  fundamental,  or  not,  but 
whether  they  be  consonant  to  reason  and  good 
sense ;  and  if  they  appear  otherwise,  he  will 
conclude,  that  the  Church  may  err  in  them, 
as  well  as  any  other.     Nay,  more  probably  in 


212 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTED. 


them,  because  he  cannot  persuade  himself,  that 
God  should  ever  reveal  that  for  a  divine  truth, 
which,  perhaps,  in  his  notion  is  rank  nonsense. 
As,  that  the  eternal  and  immortal  God  should 
become  a  mortal  man  ;  which  is  a  scandal  to  Jews, 
and  a  folly  to  Gentiles.  Or,  that  three  divine 
persons  really  distinct,  should  be  but  one  God : 
which  seems  as  impossible  to  him,  as  that  Peter, 
Paul,  and  John,  should  be  but  one  man.  Or 
that  two  and  one  should  not  make  three. 

Hence  it  is,  that  the  nation  swarms  with 
Socinians,  Anti-trinitarians,  and  those,  who 
style  themselves  Free-thinkers ;  which  is  now 
become  a  modish  sect.  And  what  wonder  is  it  ? 
For  the  sect  of  Free-thinkers,  though  of  a  later 
date  as  to  its  name,  than  the  other  sects,  that 
have  spawned  from  the  refor7nation^  is  but  the 
natural  fruit  of  it.  Nay,  no  man  can  pretend 
to  set  up  for  a  reformer  of  religion,  unless  he 
be  first  an  adept  in  the  liberal  science  of  free- 
thinking.  That  is,  unless  he  sets  up  his  own 
private  judgment  against  the  Church,  which 
he  intends  to  reform. 

It  was  thus  the  first  great  reformation  of 
Arius  began.  In  the  same  manner,  Nestorius, 
Eutyches,  Pelagius,  Donatus,  Luther,  Calvin, 
Zuinglius,  and  the  whole  college  of  reforming 
apostles,  commenced  free-thinkers,  by  refusing 
to  submit  their  private  judgment  to  their  mother- 
Church,  in  order  to  become  reformers  of  it.  In 
a  word,  the  only  difference  between  the  modem 
free-thinkers,  as  they  make  a  separate  sect,  and 
the  other  forementioned  reformers,  is,  that  free- 
thinkers are  for  a  thorough  reformation  all  at 
once,  without  giving  quarter  even  to  funda- 
mentals ;  and  so  reform  by  wholesale,  what 
others  have  only  reformed  by  retail.  So  that 
I  really  see  not,  how  a  member  of  any  of  the 
reformed  Churches  can  fairly  undertake  to  con- 
fute a  free-thinker,  upon  reformation  principles, 
or  without  exposing  his  own  weak  side. 

Suppose  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land should  tell  a  free-thinker,  that  he  is  bound 
to  submit  his  private  judgment  to  that  Church. 
He  would  certainlj-  answer  him,  that  by  the 
same  rule,  Luther   and   Calvin   ought  to  have 


submitted  to  the  Church  of  Rome  :  and  then 
the  great  work  of  the  reformation  would  never 
have  been  heartily  carried  on. 

If  he  should  tell  him  again,  that  there  is  a 
gfreat  difference  between  the  virgin-Q,\\\\.rQ\x  of 
England,  and  the  corrupt  Church  of  Rome : 
the  free-thinker  would  be  apt  to  put  this  puz- 
zling question  to  him,  viz.:  Whether  in  the 
beginning  of  the  reformation  there  was  any 
thing  to  make  good  this  charge  against  the 
Church  of  Rome,  but  the  private  judgment  of 
the  free-thinking  Martin  Luther?  For  Luther 
for  a  long  time  stood  alone,  as  Bishop  Tillotson 
assures,  and  we  shall  see  more  at  large  here- 
after. 

Lastly,  If  the  Protestant  should  tell  him, 
that  a  man  by  himself  is  more  likely  to  err, 
and  go  astray,  then  a  whole  Church ;  because 
thousands  can  see  more  than  one :  and  that 
therefore  he  ought  in  reason  to  submit  to  the 
Church  established  by  law.  The  free-thinker 
would  readily  answer  him,  that  this  is  estab- 
lishing a  very  dangerous  Popish  principle,  and 
building  the  authority  of  a  particular  reformed 
Church  upon  the  ruins  of  the  whole  reformation. 
For  according  to  this  principle,  Luther,  Calvin, 
and  the  other  reformers,  were  wholly  in  the 
wrong  in  trusting  to  their  own  private  judg- 
ment, preferably  to  that  of  the  whole  Church 
then  in  being. 

If  the  Protestant  replies  that  their  private 
judgment  was  grounded  on  the  word  of  God ; 
the  free-thinker  will  readily  answer,  that  he 
desires  no  more;  provided  he  be  but  allowed 
to  be  himself  (as  Luther  and  Calvin  were)  the 
interpreter  of  God's  word.  For,  in  reality, 
whoever  appeals  from  the  Church  to  the  written 
word  of  God,  appea,ls  effectually  to  his  own 
private  judgment ;  because  he  makes  that  the 
sole  interpreter  of  it. 

He  will  also  answer  him,  that  numbers  in 
religion,  unless  there  be  something  else  to 
support  it,  is  no  conclusive  argument  for  the 
truth.  For  if  it  were,  he  ought  to  turn  Papist, 
rather  than  Protestant.  Since  if  the  matter 
were    to    be    decided    by    polling,    the    Papists 


SHORTEST   WAY  TO   END  DISPUTES. 


213 


would  carry  it  against  all  the  Protestants  in 
Europe  much  more  against  the  Church  of 
England  taken  singly. 

Thus  will  the  free-thinker  stand  his  ground 
against  any  reformed  Church ;  and  upon  re- 
formation principles,  maintain  the  doctrine  of 
free-thinking.  But  surely  none  of  the  reformed 
Churches  can  have  the  confidence  to  write 
seriously  against  free-thinking,  or  be  hearty 
enemies  to  it ;  since  they  all  owe  to  it  their 
very  birth  and  being. 

Was  not  free-thinking  the  very  mother  and 
nurse  of  the  reformation  ?  For  if  Luther,  and 
Calvin,  and  others,  who  reformed  their  reforma- 
tion^ had  not  been  staunch  free-thinkers,  they 
would  certainly  have  submitted  to  the  Church, 
whereof  they  were  all  members  for  many  years. 
And  then,  reforyning  would  never  have  come 
into  fashion.  But  they  thought  their  mother- 
Church  was  grown  old  and  blind  ;  and,  there- 
fore, would  not  trust  her  any  further  than  they 
could  see  with  their  own  eyes.  So  they  all 
set  themselves  to  think  freely.  One  thought 
one  way,  another  thought  another  way.  For 
they  all  differed  in  their  way  of  thinking  :  and 
each  one  thought  himself  as  able  a  free-thinker, 
and  as  capable  of  modeling  a  Church,  as  any 
of   the    rest:     which    at    length    produced    the 


different  reformed  Churches  of  Lutherans,  Cal- 
vinists.  Independents,  Brownists,  Arminians, 
Anabaptists,  Quakers,  and  the  like.  And  is  it 
then  a  wonder  that  Churches,  which  have 
received  their  beginning  from,  and  owe  their 
whole  creation  and  existence  to  free-thinking, 
should  at  all  times  produce  some  members, 
who  being  men  of  wit  and  learning,  should 
claim  the  first  privilege  to  themselves,  and 
think  as  freely  as  their  forefathers  ?  The 
thing  cannot  naturally  be  otherwise.  For  since 
the  founders  of  their  churches  have  set  them 
the  example,  why  should  not  they  follow  it  ? 
Why  should  not  Toland,  Clark,  and  Whiston, 
and  the  author  of  the  discourse  of  free-thinking 
turn  reformers,  as  well  as  Luther,  Calvin, 
Zuinglius,  etc.  Papists  alone  can  claim  no 
right  to  free-thinking  in  matters  of  religion. 
Because  believing  their  Church  to  be  infallible 
in  her  decisions  according  to  the  promises  of 
Christ,  they  are  bound  to  submit  to  her  with- 
out limitation,  or  reserve,  in  every  thing  she 
teaches.  Which,  indeed,  is  the  only  thing  upon 
earth  that  can  maintain  unity  of  faith,  take 
away  all  uncertainty  in  matters  of  religion, 
and  keep  men  from  "  being  like  children  tossed 
to  and  fro,  and  carried  about  by  every  wind  of 
doctrine." 


SECTION   VI.— IT    RENDERS    ALL    CHURCH    AUTHORITY    PRECARIOUS. 


This  is  a  natural  consequence  from  what  has 
been  said  already;  but  I  shall  further  prove  it 
from  the  20th  Protestant  article  of  religion, 
where  we  find  the  following  clause:  "The 
Church  has  authority  in  controversies  of  faith, 
and  yet  it  is  not  lawful  for  the  Church  to 
ordain  anything,  that  is  contrary  to  God's  word 
written.  Neither  may  it  so  expound  one  place 
of  Scripture,  that  it  be  repugnant  to  the  other." 

It  seems,  then,  "that  the  Church  has  authority 
in  controversies  of  faith."  But  what  sort  of 
authority  do  the  compilers  of  the  articles  allow 
her  ?     Are  her  children  bound  to  submit  to  it, 


or  not  ?  If  not,  then  her  authority  stands  for 
a  mere  cipher,  But  if  they  are,  then  the 
compilers,  and  all  their  Protestant  predecessors 
and  brethren  were  inexcusable  in  not  submit- 
ting to  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Again,  has  she  authority  in  all  controversies, 
or  only  in  some  ?  If  in  all,  then  the  distinc- 
tion between  fundamentals  and  non-funda- 
mentals must  be  dropped :  unless  the  compilers 
cah  make  it  appear,  that  the  Church  of  England 
has  a  special  charter  from  Christ  to  require 
submission  even  to  articles,  that  are  not  funda- 
mental, which,  however,  they  pretend  the  Church 


214 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


of  Rome  never  had.  But  if  she  has  authority 
only  in  some  controversies,  such,  I  presume, 
as  regard  fundamentals ;  then  her  authority  is 
as  precarious,  as  the  number  of  her  funda- 
mentals, and  every  article  may  be  disputed 
with  her. 

But  the* latter  part  of  the  article  explains, 
or  rather  kicks  down  the  whole  extent  of  her 
authority.  "The  Church  has  authority  .... 
And  yet  it  is  not  lawful  for  the  Church  to 
ordain  anything,  that  is  contrary  to  God's 
word  written.  Neither  may  it  so  expound  one 
place  of  Scripture,  that  it  be  repugnant  to  the 
other." 

Here,  then,  it  is  supposed,  that  the  Church 
is  capable :  First,  Of  ordaining  things  contrary 
to  the  word  of  God.  Secondly,  Of  expounding  one 
place  of  Scripture,  so  as  to  make  it  be  repug- 
nant, or  a  contradiction  to  another."  For, 
whoever  puts  in  a  caveat  against  any  thing, 
supposes  the  thing  to  be  possible.  Otherwise, 
it  would  be  like  making  a  law  to  forbid  men 
to  fly,  or  walk  upon  their  heads.  But  who  is 
here  to  be  the  judge  to  determine,  when  the 
Church  commits  any  such  blunder  ?  I  presume 
she  will  not  give  verdict  against  herself.  Every 
private  man,  then,  may  erect  himself  into  a 
judge  of  the  doctrine  of  his  mother-Church; 
for  he  is  here  furnished  with  fair  pretences  for 
it.  And  it  is  in  effect  what  Luther  and  Calvin 
did,  when  they  pretended  to  reform  the  Church 
of  Rome. 

What  a  large  and  noble  field  is  here  again 
laid  open  for  the  free-thinker  to  exert  himself 
in,  and  triumph  over  the  Church !  What !  Is 
she,  then,  capable  even  of  such  gross  absurdities, 
as  by  a  contradictory  interpretation  of  Scripture 
to  make  "one  part  of  it  be  repugnant  to 
another!"  If  this  be  true,  what  must  become 
of  faith  and  religion?  Must  not  free-thinking 
break  in  upon  us  like  an  irresistible  torrent, 
when  the  Church,  whose  wisdom  and  authority 
in  interpreting  Scriptures  should  be  the  main 
bulwark  against  it,  is  supposed  even  by  her 
own  teachers  not  to  be  wholly  incapable  of 
imposing  contradictions  on  her  children  instead 


of  revealed  truths  ?  If  a  private  man  be  con- 
victed of  contradicting  himself,  he  becomes 
contemptible  by  it.  And  what  idea  must  we 
then  have  of  a  Church,  whose  judgment  is 
represented  to  us  as  capable  of  a  weakness, 
that  would  sink  the  reputation  even  of  a 
private  person?  Surely,  Christ  never  meant 
to  establish  such  a  Church  as  this,  when  he 
made  her  the  solemn  promise,  that  "  he  would 
be  with  her  all  days  even  to  the  consummation 
of  the  world,"  and  designed  her  to  be  our 
guide  to  heaven,  and  lead  men  to  salvation. 

But  the  compilers  of  the  article  considered 
wisely,  that  they  were  then  settling  the  authority 
of  a  Church,  which  was  yet  in  her  leading  strings. 
For  she  had  broke  loose  from  her  mother-Church 
but  a  few  years  before  ;  and  to  justify  that  separa- 
tion, it  was  necessary  to  give  a  broad  hint,  that 
her  mother  had  prevaricated  by  "  ordaining  things 
contrary  to  the  word  of  God,"  and  "  expounding 
it  so,  as  to  make  it  repugnant  to  itself"  For 
when  a  daughter  runs  away  from  her  own  mother, 
they,  who  espouse  the  daughter's  cause,  cannot 
do  less  than  give  some  plausible  reasons  for 
such  an  extraordinary  conduct,  which  is  irregular 
in  itself;  and  at  the  same  time  precaution  her 
against  the  failings,  which  they  lay  to  the  mother's 
charge.  This  obliged  the  compilers  to  cramp 
the  authority  of  their  infant-Church  at  the  very 
time,  when  they  could  not  avoid  making  a  decent 
mention  of  it. 

In  effect,  it  is  impossible  for  the  advocates  of 
any  reformed  Church  to  plead  for  Church  author- 
ity, without  speaking  incoherently,  and  boxing 
themselves.  For  if  they  allow  a  coactive  power, 
over  men's  consciences  ;  that  is,  a  power  to  oblige 
them  both  to  an  outward  conformity,  and  an  in- 
ward submission  to  all  her  decrees ;  it  flies  imme- 
diately in  their  face,  that  they  are  then  guilty 
both  of  heresy  and  schism,  in  not  having  paid 
that  conformity  and  submission  to  the  Church 
of  Rome.  But  if  they  allow  her  no  such  power 
(as  the  second  part  of  the  distinction  is  effectually 
inconsistent  with  it)  her  authority  becomes  pre- 
carious of  course,  and  she  holds  it  only  by  the 
courtesy  of  her  own  children  ;  who  may  dispute 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


ai5 


it  with  her,  when  the  fancy  takes  them ;  just  as 
Luther  and  Calvin,  and  the  other  reformers  dis- 
puted it  with  their  mother-Church. 

The  tnith  of  the  whole  matter  is  this.  The 
compilers  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  had  a  hard 
task  to  perform.  Something  v/as  to  be  said  of 
course,  concerning  the  Church's  authority.  But 
it  was  dangerous  to  say  too  much,  for  fear  of 
running  insensibly  into  the  Popish  error  of  in- 
fallibility :  which  would  have  mined  the  whole 
pretence  of  the  reformation.  They  were,  there- 
fore, under  an  unhappy  necessity  of  building 
with  one  hand,  and  pulling  down  with  the  other. 
And  so  they  first  granted,  "  that  the  Church  has 
authority  in  controversies  of  faith."  For  to  set 
up  a  Church,  without  giving  her  any  authority 
at  all,  would  not  have  looked  decent.  This, 
therefore,  had  a  handsome  appearance.  But  lest 
this  concession  should  render  the  first  reformers 
wholly  inexcusable,  in  not  having  submitted  to 
that  authority  in  their  mother-Church,  they  took 
care,  that  the  very  next  lines  tacked  to  it  should 
give  it  a  mortal  stab ;  by  insinuating,  that  the 
Church  is  not  incapable  of  the  grossest  errors 
both  in  doctrine  and  practice.  In  practice,  by 
ordaining  things  contrary  to  the  word  of  God : 
and  in  doctrine,  by  expounding  one  place  in 
Scripture  so,  that  it  be  repugnant  to  the  other. 
Which,  though  it  was  chiefly  designed  for  an 
innuendo,  that  the  Church  of  Rome  had  been 
guilty  of  both  ;  yet  every  one  may  without  much 
logic,  conclude  from  it,  that  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, which  is  directly  spoken  of  in  the  article, 
is  no  less  fallible,  than  her  mother-Church  was 
supposed  to  be ;  and  by  consequence,  if  her  own 
children  should  judge  her  guilty  of  errors,  they 
have  the  same  title  to  reform  her,  as  she  had  to 
reform  the  Church  of  Rome.  For  what  was 
warrantable  in  her,  cannot  be  unwarrantable  in 
them ;  according  to  the  old  proverb,  "  what  is 
sauce  for  a  goose  is  sauce  for  a  gander."  Nay, 
the  thing  has  already  happened  ;  for  the  Presby- 
terians, Quakers,  and  Independents,  who  pretend 
to  have  several  articles  of  impeachment  against 
her,  have  eflFectually  separated  themselves  from 


her  communion  on  that  score  :  and  let  any  man 
then  judge,  whether  this  does  not  render  all 
Church  authority  precarious. 

But  God  forbid  the  Church  of  Christ  should 
be  suspected  capable  of  such  an  absurdity,  as 
to  make  the  word  of  God  contradict  itself. 
Nay,  whatever  Church  is  capable  of  it,  is  mani- 
festly convicted  not  to  be  of  divine  extraction, 
but  of  a  spurious  breed.  She  has  too  much 
of  an  earthly  complexion  to  be  the  beautiful 
spouse  of  Christ :  neither  has  the  spirit  of 
truth,  but  the  father  of  lies  for  her  guide.  The 
Church  of  Christ  is  the  "  pillar  and  ground  of 
truth,"  according  to  St.  Paul.  She  is  without 
spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,  according 
to  the  same  Apostle.  Christ  "  has  espoused 
her  to  himself  for  ever ;"  Osea  ii.  And  the 
spouse  of  Christ  cannot  be  an  adulteress,  but 
is  incorrupt  and  pure,  according  to  St.  Cyprian. 

This  made  St.  Augustin  depend  so  entirely 
upon  her  authority,  that  he  declared,  "  he 
would  not  believe  the  gospels  themselves,  unless 
the  authority  of  the  Church  induced  him  to 
it ;"  Contra  Epist.  Fund.  c.  4.  And  since  he 
received  the  Scriptures  themselves  barely  upon 
her  authority,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  but  he 
believed,  she  might  likewise  be  safely  trusted 
with  the  interpretation  of  their  true  sense  and 
meaning.  So  that  this  learned  and  ancient 
father  was  not  for  precaution ing  his  readers 
with  suppositions,  that  she  could  "  ordain  any 
thing  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  or  make 
Scriptures  contradict  themselves."  Nay,  in  the 
heat  of  his  zeal  for  the  Church  of  God,  he 
would  have  called  it  "an  abominable  and 
accursed  calumny,  full  of  presumption  and 
deceit ;  void  of  all  truth,  wisdom  and  reason ; 
idle,  rash,  and  pernicious;"  Enar.  2.  in  Psalm 
loi.  And  therefore  to  confound  all  such 
injurious  suppositions,  and  show  the  entire 
confidence  he  had  in  his  guide,  he  made  the 
forementioned  declaration ;  which  though  it 
raises  the  Church's  authority  to  its  highest 
pitch,  it  only  places  it  upon  its  true  and  proper 
basis. 


2l6 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  COMMUNION  WITH  THE  SEE  OF  ROME,  HAS  ALONE,  A  JUST  TITLE  TO  INFALLIBILITY. 


fathers : 


HAVE  now  proved  the  infallibility 
of  the  Church,  which  Christ  has  es- 
tablished on  earth,  from  the  concur- 
ring testimonies  of  Scriptures  and 
which  is  all  that  can  be  required  for 
proof  of  anj'  article  of  religion.  For  how  can 
we  learn  revealed  truths,  but  from  the  revealed 
word  of  God,  interpreted  bj'  that  authority, 
which  Christ  himself  has  established,  and 
appointed  for  that  end  ?  And,  therefore,  those 
who  in  their  defence  of  the  Church's  infalli- 
bility, lay  a  stress  upon  certain  rational  con- 
gruities,  as,  that  it  is  inconsistent  with  the 
infinite  goodness  of  God,  to  leave  men  without 
an  infallible  guide,  appear  to  me  to  take  the 
question  by  the  wrong  handle.  For  the  dispute 
between  Catholics  and  Protestants  is  not,  whether 
Go<J  in  his  infinite  goodness  be  bound  to  give  us 
such  a  guide,  but  whether  in  effect,  he  has  been 
so  merciful  as  to  do  it  ?  Now  the  revealed 
word  of  God  tells  us  positively  he  has.  The 
promises  of  Christ  are  as  clear  as  words  can 
make  them ;  and  the  faith  of  the  ancient 
Church,  grounded  on  those  promises,  is  con- 
v^ed  to  us  in  the  writings  of  the  holy  fathers. 
Upon  this  foundation,  the  Church's  infallibility 
is  built.  A  foundation  so  strong  and  firm,  that 
if  God's  word  may  be  relied  on,  it  wants  no 
arguments  from  congruities  of  human  reason 
to  support  it. 

Now,  then,  let  us  see,  where  the  infallible 
Church  is  to  be  found.  The  point  I  have 
undertaken  to  prove  is,  That  the  Church  in 
communion  with  the  see  of  Rome,  has  alone  an 
unquestionable  title  to  it.  And  I  shall  either 
give  her  this  name,  or  call  her  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  or  the  Church  of  Rome :  she 
being  so  called,  because  the  bishop  of  Rome  is 
her  visible  head,  or  supreme  pastor.  But, 
whatever  name  I  give  her,  I  desire  the  reader 
to  take  notice,   that  I  mean  not  the  particular 


diocese  of  Rome.  For  this  is  no  more  the 
Catholic  Church,  than  the  head  is  the  whole 
body ;  or  the  diocese  of  Canterbury,  the  whole 
Church  of  England.  This  caution  would 
appear  frivolous,  were  it  not  necessary  to  avoid 
a  childish  equivocation  much  affected  by  Pro- 
testant writers,  as  will  appear  hereafter ;  for  it 
serves  to  cast  a  mist  before  people's  eyes,  and 
keep  the  true  state  of  the  question  out  of  sight; 
which  does  more  service  to  a  weak  cause,  than 
a  thousand  arguments. 

My  first  proof,  that  the  Church  in  com- 
munion with  the  see  of  Rome,  is  alone  that 
infallible  Church,  which  Christ  has  established, 
is  this :  because  all  the  reformed  churches 
frankly  disown  the  title  of  infallible.  And 
they  are  ver}'  just  to  themselves  in  so  doing. 
And  as  to  the  Greek  Church  (though  it  be  a 
part  of  her  faith,  "that  the  visible  Church  of 
Christ  is  infallible"),  she  cannot  pretend  to  it 
with  any  color  of  reason.  It  follows  then 
that  the  Church  in  communion  with  the  see 
of  Rome  is  the  only  one,  that  has  a  just  claim 
to  it. 

That  the  Greek  Church  can  have  no  pre- 
tence to  it,  is  a  very  plain  case.  Because  a 
Church  that  has  changed  her  faith  backward 
and  forward  cannot  call  herself  infallible. 
Now,  the  most  authentic  histories  prove  the 
Greek  Church  guilty  of  this  charge  in  her 
faith  relating  to  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  bishop  of 
Rome ;  for  in  all  other  points  she  agrees  with 
us,  and  has  condemned  the  reformation  in 
several  councils.  When  Photius  first  began  his 
schism,  being  provoked  to  it,  because  the  pope 
(to  whom  he  appealed,  and  thereby  acknowl- 
edged him  his  superior)  refused  to  confirm  his 
ordination,  as  being  irregular  and  uncanoni- 
cal  ;  the  Greek  Church  was  in  perfect  com- 
munion   with    the    see    of   Rome ;    and    there 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END    DISPUTES. 


217 


appeared  no  disagreement  in  any  article  of 
faith  between  the  two  Churches.  Photius 
made  the  breach,  chiefly  by  maintaining,  "  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father 
alone ;  "  and  the  article  of  supremacy  followed 
of  course :  because  a  subject  cannot  rebel 
against  his  sovereign  without  impeaching  his 
authority.  Photius,  being  the  first  patriarch 
of  the  east,  drew,  by  degrees,  the  greatest  part 
of  the  Greek  Church  into  his  error.  After  a 
long  contest,  and  great  endeavors  used  to  bring 
her  back  to  the  ancient  faith,  she  at  length 
renounced  her  errors,  and  subscribed  the  con- 
demnation of  them  in  the  general  council  of 
Florence.  The  pope's  supremacy,  together  with 
other  articles,  was  subscribed  to  by  all  the 
bishops  of  both  Churches  (Mark  of  Ephesus 
alone  excepted),  and  so  she  was  again  united  to 
the  Church  of  Rome.  But  returning  not  long 
after  to  her  vomit,  she  has  ever  since  continued 
guilty  both  of  heresy  and  schism ;  and  Mus- 
covy, which  has  received  its  Christianity  from 
the  Greeks,  is  in  the  same  condition. 

This  is  a  short  and  faithful  account  of  that 
whole  business.  And  if  Protestants  can  pro- 
duce any  authentic  history  to  prove  the  like 
change  relating  to  any  article  of  faith  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  then  I  shall  freely  own  her  to 
be  as  fallible  as  the  Greek  Church,  and 
acknowledge  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an 
infallible  Church  on  earth. 

I  prove  it,  secondly.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  centur}',  the  Church  of  Rome  was  the 
only  Christian  Church  upon  earth,  that  could 
show  a  perpetual  visibility  from  the  time  of  the 
Apostles  down  to  that  age.  For  the  reformed 
churches  began  not  to  creep  out  of  the  shell 
till  the  year  1517;  and  the  Greek  Church, 
(considered  precisely  as  a  schismatical  Church), 
began  about    the  middle  of  the  ninth  century. 

Now  then,  the  true  Church  of  Christ  was 
either  always  visible,  or  she  was  invisible  for 
several  hundred  years  before  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. If  she  was  always  visible,  and  if  the 
Church  of  Rome  was  not  this  true  Church  of 
Christ,  to  which  all  his  promises  of  infallibility 


were  made,  then  Protestants  are  bound  to  mark 
out  distinctly,  in  what  other  external  communion, 
or  visible  society  of  men  the  true  Church  of 
Christ  subsisted  for  the  space  of  1500  years 
before  the  reformation.  Which  if  they  pretend 
to  do,  then  I  infer  these  two  consequences 
from  it :  i.  That  the  Church  of  England  ought 
to  have  received  her  ordination  and  mission 
from  this  true  visible  Church  of  Christ,  and 
not  from  the  anti-Christian  and  idolatrous 
Church  of  Rome  (as  Protestants  commonly 
st3'le  her),  from  which  notwithstanding  the 
Church  of  England  labors  all  she  can  to  prove 
that  her  ordination  and  mission  is  derived.  2. 
That  all  the  reformed  Churches  were  bound  to 
have  joined  themselves  to  the  external  com- 
munion of  this  true  visible  Church  of  Christ, 
and  not  to  have  set  up  separate  communions 
of  their  own.  Whereas  both  Luther  and  Calvin 
declared  publicly  (as  I  shall  show  hereafter)  that 
they  had  separated  themselves  from  the  whole 
Christian  world. 

But  if  they  say,  that  the  true  Church  of 
Christ  was  invisible,  for  several  hundred  years; 
then  it  is  manifest,  that  none  of  the  reformed 
Churches  at  their  separation  from  the  Church  of 
Rome,  joined  themselves  to  the  true  Church  of 
Christ.  For  I  cannot  well  conceive  how  men  can 
either  receive  instructions  from,  or  join  themselves 
to  an  invisible  Church,  But  I  am  still  less  capa- 
ble of  apprehending  how  the  Church  of  England 
could  receive  her  ordination  and  mission  from 
the  hands  of  invisible  bishops  and  pastors.  So 
that  this  ridiculous  system  of  an  invisible 
Church  overthrows  the  very  pretence  of  any  real 
ordination,  mission,  or  hierarchy  in  that  Church. 

Hence  it  follows,  that  the  Church  of  England 
at  least  is  obliged  to  own,  that  the  true  Church 
of  Christ  has  always  been  visible.  And  since 
the  promises  of  Christ  were  only  made  to  his 
own  true  Church,  I  conclude  again  that  they 
were  not  made  to  any  Church,  that  ever  was 
invisible  since  the  time  of  the  Apostles. 

Now  all  the  reformed  Churches  were  invisible 
for  many  hundred  years,  as  is  fairly  owned 
by    Protestant    authors,    whom    I    shall    quote 


2l8 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


hereafter ;  the  fact  being  wholly  undeniable : 
and  the  Greek  Church  is  actually  guilty  of 
heresy,  even  in  a  fundamental  point ;  as  Prot- 
estants must  likewise  own ;  the  consequence, 
therefore,  is,  that  if  the  Church  of  Christ  be 
infallible,  as  I  have  proved  she  is,  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  alone  can  maintain  her  title 
to  it ;  as  having  been  always  visible  in  a  suc- 
cession of  bishops  and  pastors  teaching  one 
and  the  same  faith  from  the  beginning  of 
Christianity  down  to  this  very  time. 

I  prove  it  thirdly :  The  Church  in  commun- 
ion with  the  see  of  Rome,  was  the  true  Church 
of  Christ  when  St.  Paul  wrote  his  epistle  to 
the  Romans  ;  whom  he  styles  "  the  beloved  of 
God,  called  to  be  saints  ;"  and  gives  God  thanks, 
"  for  that  their  faith  was  spoken  of  throughout 
the  whole  world ; "  Rom.  i.  7,  8 ;  which  he 
would  not  have  done,  had  it  been  tainted  with 
any  error.  Now,  as  the  see  of  Rome  was  then 
free  from  error,  so  it  is  manifest,  that  the 
whole  Christian  Church  in  communion  with 
her,  was  likewise  untainted :  because  St.  Paul 
says,  that  "  their  faith  was  spoken  of,"  that  is 
preached  "  throughout  the  whole  world."  The 
consequence  whereof,  is,  that  the  true  Church 
of  Christ  was  then  only  visible  in  that  society 
of  Christians,  which  was  united  in  faith  and 
communion  with  her  supreme  pastor,  the  bishop 
of  Rome,  who  at  that  time  was  *  St.  Peter. 
For  St.  Paul  had  never  been  at  Rome  when 
he  wrote  that  epistle ;  as  appears  from  his  own 
words  ;  Rom.  i.   13,  and  xv.  22. 

Hence,  I  argue  thus.  The  Church  in  com- 
munion with  the  see  of  Rome,  was  once  the 
true  Church,  and  is  owned  by  most  Protestants: 
I  may  say  all,  and  to  have  continued  so  for  some 
ages.  Therefore,  unless  it  can  be  made  out 
with  demonstrative  evidence,  that  she  has  since 
forfeited  her  title,  she  must  still  be  acknowl- 
edged the  same  true  Church,  to  which  all  the 
promises  of  infallibility  were  made.  I  say,  unless 
it  be  made  out  with  demonstrative  evidence, 
because  nothing   but  demonstrative  and  incon- 

*  St  Peter  came  to  Rome   in   the  second  year  of  the  Emperor 
Claudius,  anno  Christi  42.     St.  Paul  wrote  to  the  Romans,  anno  57. 


testible  evidence  can  be  of  any  weight  against 
a  Church,  that  ever  was  in  possession  of  the 
truth. 

This  was  St.  Austin's  argument  both  against 
the  Manichees  and  Donatists,  who  would  needs 
reform  their  mother-Church.  But  this  great 
champion  of  the  Catholic  faith  required  nothing 
less  of  them  than  incontestible  evidence  for  a 
sufficient  conviction  of  the  Church's  being  in 
an  error.  The  Manichees  labored  all  they  could 
to  make  him  once  more  their  proselyte.  But 
to  satisfy  them  that  he  had  embraced  the 
Catholic  faith,  and  continued  in  it  upon  solid 
grounds,  he  wrote  thus  to  them:  "Not  to  speak 
of  the  wisdom,  which  you  do  not  believe  is  in 
the  Catholic  Church,  there  are  many  other 
things  which  most  justly  keep  me  in  her  com- 
munion. I.  The  agreement  of  people  and 
nations  hold  me.  2.  Authority  began  with 
miracles,  nourished  with  hope,  increased  with 
charity,  confirmed  by  antiquity  holds  me.  3. 
A  succession  of  bishops  descending  from  the 
see  of  St.  Peter,  to  whom  Christ  after  his  res- 
urrection committed  his  flock  to  the  present 
episcopacy,  holds  me.  4.  Lastly,  the  very 
name  of  Catholic  holds  me ;  of  which  this 
Church  alone  has,  not  without  reason,  so  kept 
the  possession,  that  though  all  heretics  desire 
to  be  called  Catholics,  yet,  if  a  stranger  asks 
them,  where  Catholics  meet,  none  of  the  heretics 
dares  point  out  his  own  house,  or  his  own 
Church.  These,  then,  so  many  and  such  sacred 
ties  of  the  Christian  name,  justly  keep  a  man 
steadfast  in  believing  the  Catholic  Church.  But 
there  is  nothing  of  all  this  amongst  you  to 
invite,  or  hold  me.  You  promise  truth  indeed, 
and  make  a  great  noise  about  it :  and  if  you  can 
make  it  appear  with  such  an  incontestible  evi- 
dence, that  no  man  can  doubt  of  it,  all  the 
motives  that  hold  me  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
must  yield  to  it.     Contra  Bpist.  Fund.  c.  4. 

Here  we  see  what  St.  Austin  demanded  of 
the  Manichees  to  prove  any  thing  against  the 
Catholic  Church ;  which  in  his  time  was  un- 
doubtedly the  Church  in  communion  with  the 
see  of  Rome ;  because  one  of  the  motives  that 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


219 


kept  him  in  it,  was  the  succession  of  bishops 
descending  from  the  see  of  St.  Peter  to  him, 
who  was  then  bishop  of  Rome,  when  he  wrote 
his  book  against  the  Manichees.  Besides,  St. 
Austin  was  himself  a  massing  bishop,  believed 
there  was  a  purgatory,  prayed  for  his  mother's 
soul,  implored  the  prayers  of  the  saints  in 
heaven,  had  a  great  veneration  for  their  relics, 
and  believed  that  God  wrought  miracles  by 
them ;  whereof,  he  has  left  several  authentic 
proofs  in  his  writings.  Nay,  he  certainly 
believed  the  supremacy  of  St.  Peter,  and  his 
successors  ;  for  why  should  he  else  mention  the 
succession  of  bishops  from  St.  Peter's  see,  rather 
than  any  other,  as  a  motive  that  held  him  in 
the  Catholic  Church  ?  All  which  show  plainly, 
both  that  St.  Austin  was  a  staunch  Papist,  and 
that  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  his 
time,  which  is  now  about  thirteen  hundred  years 
ago,  was  downright  Popery.  And,  indeed,  it  is 
no  small  comfort  for  Roman  Catholics,  that  when 
they  are  now  questioned  about  their  religion, 
they  can  answer  for  themselves  word  for  word, 
what  St.  Austin  says  to  the  Manichees,  which 
no  member  of  any  reformed  Church  can  do 
without  talking  nonsense. 

But  as  he  demanded  unquestionable  evidence 
of  the  Manichees,  so  he  required  the  same  of 
the  Donatists  concerning  the  re-baptism  of  per- 
sons baptized  by  heretics.  Because  the  Church 
being  in  possession  of  a  constant  practice  of 
not  re-baptizing  them,  he  thought  nothing  less 
sufficient  to  impeach  this  practice  than  a  posi- 
tive declaration  in  Scripture,  that  persons  bap- 
tized by  heretics,  were  to  be  re-baptized  in  the 
Catholic  Church.  His  words  are  these :  Lib. 
de  Unit.  Eccl.  c.  24.  "  Show,"  says  he,  "  that 
the  canonical  Scriptures  have  openly  declared, 
that  he,  who  has  been  baptized  among  heretics 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  to  be  baptized  in 
the  Catholic  Church.  .  .  .  We  demand  of  you 
some  clear  evidence,  which  needs  no  interpreter." 
Aliqidd  manifesium^  quod  interprete  non  egeai, 
a  vobis  fiagitamus. 

Since,  therefore,   the   Church   in  communion 


with  the  see  of  Rome,  is  acknowledged  to 
have  been  formerly  the  true  Church,  to  which 
all  the  consequence,  that  Church,  to  which  all 
the  promises  were  made ;  since  she  was  in 
possession  of  her  title  for  some  ages,  nothing 
less  than  unquestionable  evidence,  that  she 
has  since  changed  her  faith,  can  deprive  her 
of  it.  Nay,  this  evidence,  whether  from  Scrip- 
ture, or  undeniable  tradition,  must  be  so  clear, 
according  to  St.  Austin,  that  no  man  can 
doubt  of  it.  Veritas  tarn  manifesta^  ut  in 
dubium  venire  non  possit.  Or  (as  Dr.  Stilling- 
fleet  explains  in  his  rational  account,  p.  539) 
"  Such  as  being  proposed  to  any  man,  and 
understood,  the  mind  cannot  choose  but  in- 
wardly assent  to  it."  Which  the  doctor  required 
of  all  those,  that  pretended  to  contradict  the 
decisions  of  his  Church,  not  reflecting  that 
the  first  reformers  never  could  produce  any 
such  evidence  against  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  For  it  would  have  been  very  strange 
indeed,  that  if  there  had  been  any  such  evi- 
dence against  her,  she  should  not  have  seen 
it  for  the  space  of  above  eight  hundred  years, 
in  which  the  book  of  Protestant  homilies  allows 
her  to  have  had  possession  of  whole  Christen- 
dom before  the  reformation  :  and  it  would  be 
no  less  strange,  that  the  Roman  Catholics  in 
Great  Britain  should  not  be  clear-sighted 
enough  to  perceive  it ;  or  if  they  saw  it,  that 
they  should  not  yield  to  it ;  when  it  is  so 
much  their  interest  to  do  it ;  and  conscience, 
which  would  then  be  on  the  same  side  with 
their  interest,  would  oblige  them  to  it. 

I  prove  it,  fourthly :  Christ  committed  his 
whole  flock  to  St.  Peter,  and  made  him  a 
promise,  that  his  Church  should  be  built  upon; 
him.  Christ,  then,  has  no  other  Church  on 
earth,  than  that,  which  is  built  upon  St.  Peter ; 
and  to  this  alone,  the  promises  of  a  perpetual 
assistance  were  made.  But  no  other  Church 
can  be  said  to  be  built  upon  St.  Peter,  than 
that,  which  has  St.  Peter,  and  his  successors 
for  its  head ;  and  this  no  other,  than  the" 
Church  in  communion  with  the  see  of  Rome, 
which    was    St.    Peter's    seat,  as    appears   from 


220 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


the  forementioned  passage  of  St.  Austin,  and 
lias  always  been  tlie  episcopal  seat  of  his  suc- 
cessors ;  therefore,  that  alone  is  Christ's  infal- 
lible Church  on  earth,  as  being  alone  the 
Church,  to  which  all  the  promises  of  a  per- 
petual assistance  were  made ;  and  to  which  no 
separate  communion  can  have  any  title. 

I  prove  it,  fifthly :  The  infallibility  prom- 
ised b}'  Christ  must  be  lodged  either  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  or  in  some  other  Church, 
from  which  the  Church  of  Rome  has  separated 
herself:  and  then  that  Church,  in  which  it  is 
lodged,  and  from  whose  communion  the  Church 
of  Rome  has  separated  herself,  must  in  all 
ages  have  had  a  succession  of  bishops  and 
pastors,  teaching  a  doctrine  directly  opposite 
to  what  is  now  called  Poper3\  But  no  history 
has  ever  informed  us  of  a  Church,  wherein 
there  has  been  a  perpetual  succession  of  bish- 
ops and  pastors  teaching  a  doctrine  opposite 
to  that  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  aud  from 
whose  communion  that  Church  separated  her- 
self; nay,  the  very  enemies  of  our  Church 
confess  that  "  Popery  reigned  universally  and 
without  contradiction  for  many  hundred  years," 
as  we  shall  see  in  the  following  chapter : 
therefore,  the  infallible  Church  established  by 
Christ,  can  be  no  other  than  the  Church  of 
Rome :  which  Church  alone  can  truly  show  a 
perpetual  succession  of  bishops  teaching  the 
same  doctrine  from  age  to  age,  aud  from  which 
all  other  Churches  went  forth,  and  separated 
themselves.  Unless  any  one  will  say,  that 
when  children  run  awa}'  from  their  father's 
house,  the  house  runs  away  from  them.  For 
in  all  the  changes  of  religion,  that  have  ever 
happened,  the  Church  of  Rome  has  acted  no 
other  part,  than  to  keep  where  she  was  before. 
And  so  the  change  was  in  those,  who  fell 
from  the  faith  they  once  possessed,  but  not  in 
the  Church,  that  maintained  it. 

I  prove  it,  sixthly,  and  lastly,  thus.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  when  St.  Gregory 
sent  missioners  to  convert  England ;  there  was 
only  the  Church  in  communion  with  the  see  of 
Rome  (which  was  the  great  body  of  Christians 


spread  over  most  nations  both  of  the  east  and 
west)  and  some  separate  communions  consisting 
of  the  remains  of  Arians,  Nestorians,  Euty- 
chians,  Donatists,  Pelagians,  and  such  others, 
who  are  looked  upon  as  heretics  by  Protestants 
themselves.  These,  therefore,  were  no  part  of 
the  true  Church  of  Christ,  as  being  cut  off 
from  it.  I  ask,  then,  whether  Christ  had  at 
that  time  a  Church  on  earth,  or  not  ?  If  not, 
then  whosoever  pronounced  this  article  of  the 
Nicene  Creed,  "  I  believe  One,  Holy,  Catholic 
and  Apostolic  Church,"  made  profession  of  a 
falsehood ;  which  is  absurd.  If  he  had,  it  was 
the  Church  then  in  communion  with  the  see 
of  Rome :  and,  therefore,  if  the  Church  now 
in  communion  with  that  see  be  in  her  faith, 
the  same  she  was  in  pope  Gregory's  time,  it 
follows  manifestly,  that  as  she  was  then,  so 
she  is  now  the  only  true,  and  by  consequence, 
infallible  Church  of  Christ  on  earth. 

It  remains,  then,  only  to  show,  that  her 
faith  is  the  same  now,  as  it  was  then.  For 
proof,  whereof  we  have  the  concurring  testi- 
monies of  historians,  both  Protestant  and 
Catholic;  who  agree  unanimously,  that  St. 
Austin  brought  that  religion  into  England, 
which  is  now  called  Popery.  Some  Protestants, 
indeed,  are  pleased  to  say,  that  it  was  con- 
verting England  from  one  idolatry  to  another. 
But  it  is  no  matter  in  what  language  they 
express  it,  so  they  own  the  fact.  Besides,  it 
is  notoriously  known  to  all,  who  have  but  read 
the  chronicles,  that  England  never  changed  its 
faith  for  nine  hundred  years.  That  is,  from 
its  conversion  to  Christianity  under  pope  Gre- 
gory, till  the  twenty-third  year  of  Henry  VIII. 
whom  bishop  Tillotson  styles  the  postillion  of 
the  reformation.  It  is,  therefore,  demonstration, 
that  Roman  Catholics  in  Great  Britain,  hold 
now  the  same  faith,  and  profess  the  same 
religion,  as  was  planted  by  St.  Austin  in  Eng- 
land, when  it  was  first  converted  by  him. 
And,  by  consequence,  as  St.  Austin  was  then 
a  niember  of  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  so 
Roman  Catholics  cannot  but  be  so  at  present. 

These    surely  are    arguments    enough,    both 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END    DISPUTES. 


221 


for  their  number  and  strength,  to  prove  a 
thing  which  will  bear  no  manner  of  dispute,  if 
there  be  an  infallible  Church  on  earth ;  as  I 
hope  I  have  proved  effectually  there  is.  So 
that,  whoever  is  convinced  of  it,  must  be  fond 
of  losing  his  labor,  if  he  goes  about  to  seek 
it  elsewhere,  than  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  It  is  for  this  reason,  all  Protestant 
writers  muster  up  their  whole  strength  against 
this  article  of  our  faith :  and  when  fair  arguing 
fails  them,  employ  their  best  talents  to  ridicule, 
what  they  cannot  confute.  Because,  in  this 
dispute  their  all  is  at  stake :  and  if  this  one 
article  be  proved  against  them,  the  whole 
reformation  falls  to  the  ground  of  course,  as 
having  nothing  to  support  it. 

I  am  sensible,  however,  I  have  one  powerful 
enemy  to  deal  with,  and  but  one.  I  mean  the 
prejudices  of  education  ;  which,  as  they  are  the 
strongest  bias  upon  men's  judgment,  so  are 
they  usually  of  so  tenacious  a  nature,  that  to 
reason  a  person  out  of  a  prepossession  of  a 
long  standing,  and  deeply  imbibed,  is  almost 
as  hard  a  task,  as  it  would  be  to  undertake  to 
reason  him  out  of  his  natural  complexion.  A 
Protestant,  who  from  his  tender  years  has  been 
prepossessed  against  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
scarce  ever  heard  of  her  but  in  libels  and  invec- 
tives against  her,  will  say  thus  to  himself:  What ! 
Is  it  possible,  that  a  Church  corrupted  with  so 
many  errors,  as  the  Church  of  Rome  has  always 
been  represented  to  me,  should  be  infallible  in 
her  doctrine  !     Can  such  good  and  learned  men, 


as  our  preachers  are,  deceive  us  !  This  (though 
it  be  no  more,  than  every  Jew,  or  Mahometan 
may  say  for  himself)  especially,  if  joined  with 
the  consideration  of  interest,  which  has  a  very 
persuasive  power,  will  sufl&ce  to  frustrate  the 
strongest  and  clearest  proofs. 

However,  this  shall  not  discourage  me  from 
doing  justice  to  an  injured  Church,  or  endeavor- 
ing to  vindicate  her  from  the  aspersions  her  ene- 
mies have  thrown  upon  her  to  color  their  own 
apostasy,  and  separation  from  her.  In  order  to 
do  it,  I  shall  endeavor  to  convince  the  reader, 
that  the  pretended  errors  laid  to  her  charge,  are 
really  and  truly  the  ancient  faith  of  the  Church  : 
that  is,  the  doctrine  taught  by  Christ  and  his 
apostles.  For  proof  whereof,  I  shall  demonstate 
that  no  Church,  teaching  a  doctrine  opposite 
to  the  pretended  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
ever  appeared  in  the  world  before  her.  For  if 
this  can  be  made  evident,  it  will  follow,  first. 
That  the  pretended  errors  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  have  antiquity  on  their  side ;  which  is 
one  necessary  mark  of  truth :  Because  all 
truths  belonging  to  the  Christian  faith,  being 
derived  from  Christ  himself,  and  his  Apostles, 
must  of  necessity  be  more  ancient  than  their 
opposite  errors.  It  will  follow,  secondly,  That 
the  doctrine  of  the  reformation  came  too  late  into 
the  world,  to  be  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles. 
By  the  doctrine  of  the  reformation  I  mean  every 
branch  of  it,  that  is  opposite  to  what  is  now 
called  Popery. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Church  of  Rome  Vindicated. 

SECTION  I.— THE  STATE  OF  RELIGION  IN  CHRISTENDOM  BEFORE  THE  PRETENDED  REFORMATION. 


ARTIN    LUTHER,    an    Austin    friar, 
began    his  pretended    reformation    in 
the   year   of   our   Lord,    1517.      The 
Greek   and  Latin    Churches,    though 
they  had   been  united   in   the    general  council 


of  Florence,  were  then  again  divided.  Muscovy 
followed  the  fate  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  the 
Spanish  West-Indies  were,  as  they  are  now, 
in  the  communion  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
The  Greeks    differed  from   the   Latins  only  in 


222 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


the  article  relating  to  the  procession  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  as  I  have  already  observed.  "Which, 
however,  drew  unavoidably  after  it  that  of  the 
supremacy.  In  all  other  doctrinal  points  -what- 
ever, they  agreed  with  the  Church  of  Rome, 
as  they  do  at  present.  For  proof,  whereof,  I 
refer  the  reader  to  the  learned  book,  entituled, 
The  Church  of  Christ  showed  by  the  etc.,  part 
I.  chap.  I.  p.  lo,  II,  12,  13,  14.  Where  he 
may  likewise  be  satisfied,  that  the  Nestorians, 
Armenians,  Cophtes,  Syrians,  and  Ethiopians, 
also  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  reformation  in 
all  points,  wherein  it  differs  from  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 

As  the  Latin  Church,  that  is,  the  Church  in 
communion  with  the  see  of  Rome,  at  the  time 
when  Luther  set  up  for  a  reformer^  she  was 
spread  over  all  the  principal  kingdoms  of 
Europe :  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  the  whole 
empire,  with  the  seventeen  provinces  of  the 
Netherlands,  the  large  kingdoms  of  France  and 
Spain,  all  Ital}',  with  the  kingdoms  of  Naples 
and  Sicily,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Poland,  etc., 
were  all  united  in  the  same  faith,  acknowledg- 
ing the  pope  for  their  common  father,  the  true 
vicar  of  Christ,  and  supreme  head  of  their 
Church.  So  that  Luther  had  not  any  in  the 
whole  world  to  communicate  with.  And  was  it 
not  a  presumption  even  to  a  degree  of  mad- 
ness for  a  private  monk  to  set  up  his  own  pri- 
vate judgment  in  opposition  to  all  Christendom, 
and  stand  single  against  the  whole  world  ? 
Truly,  it  would  look  like  a  dream,  rather  than 
a  serious  truth,  were  it  not  attested  by  all 
writers,  and  Luther  himself. 

For  in  the  preface  to  his  works  he  boasts, 
that  he  was  alone  at  first.  Primo  solus  eram. 
And  in  his  preface  to  the  book  de  abrogafida 
Missa  privata,  he  writes  thus :  "  With  how 
many  medicines,  and  powerful  evidences  of 
Scripture  have  I  scarce  yet  settled  my  con- 
science to  be  able  alone  to  contradict  the  pope, 
and  to  believe  him  antichrist ;  the  bishop  his 
apostles,  and  the  universities  his  stews?  How 
oft  did  my  heart  tremble,  and  reprehend  me  by 
objecting  their   strongest    and  only  argument ; 


art  thou  alone  wise  ?  And  do  all  err."  It 
seems  the  good  man  had  some  terrible 
gripes  of  conscience,  before  he  could  work  him- 
self into  a  belief,  that  the  successor  of  St.  Peter 
was  antichrist ;  that  all  the  bishops  in  the  world 
were  the  devil's  apostles ;  and  the  great  nurse- 
ries of  piety  and  learning  his  stews.  How 
troublesome  is  it  to  have  too  tender  a  con- 
science !  But  Kate  Boren  cured  him  soon  after 
of  all  gripes  and  qualms. 

Calvin  owns  the  same  truth,  Epist.  141.  "  We 
have  been  forced,"  says  he  ,  "  to  break  off  from 
the  communion  of  the  whole  world."  A  toto 
mundo  discesswnem  facere  coacti  sutnus.  Nay, 
many  Protestant  writers  glory  in  Luther's  sepa- 
ration from  the  whole  world.  "  If  there  had 
been  right  believers,"  says  one,  "  who  went 
before  Luther  in  his  office,  there  had  been  no 
need  of  a  Lutheran  reformation!'''  Georgius 
Billius,  in  Aug.  Conf.  Art.  7,  p.  137.  "  It  is 
ridiculous,"  says  another,  '*  to  think,  that  in  the 
time  before  Luther,  any  had  the  purity  of  doc- 
trine, and  that  Luther  should  receive  it  from 
them."  Bened.  Morgestern  de  ecclesia,  p.  145. 

This  gentleman,  like  a  drag-net,  sweeps  all 
before  him ;  fathers,  councils,  doctors ;  nay,  I 
fear  the  Apostles  themselves  will  scarce  escape. 

It  is,  then,  an  incontestable  truth,  that  Luther 
did  not  only  separate  himself  from  his  own 
mother-Church,  but  that  there  was  not  any  pre- 
existent  visible  Church  of  Christians  in  the 
whole  world,  into  which  he  could  incorporate 
himself.  But  how  long  had  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church,  from  whose  communion  he  separated 
himself,  already  had  a  being  before  the  reforma- 
tion f  This  is  a  point  of  great  importance,  and 
challenges  a  serious  examination. 

It  is  certain,  she  was  venerable  for  her  an- 
tiquity, even  at  the  time  when  Luther  took  upon 
him  to  reform  her.  For,  first,  all  separate 
Christian  communions  then  extant  in  the  world 
had  either  gone  out  immediately  from  her,  or 
spawned  from  those  that  had  ;  and  some  of  these 
were  very  ancient,  as  Nestorians,  Eutychians, 
and  such  others. 

Secondly  :  The  four  first  general  councils  were 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


223 


all  in  communion  with  the  bishop  of  Rome. 
The  first  of  Nice  against  the  Arians,  anno  325, 
was  in  communion  with  pope  Sylvester,  whose 
legates,  together  with  Osius  presided  at  it. 

The  second  of  Constantinople,  against  the 
Macedonians,  anno  381,  was  in  communion 
with  pope  Demasus,  whom  the  fathers  of  that 
council  in  their  sy nodical  letter  to  him,  thank 
for  calling  them  to  a  council  as  his  members ; 
and  Demasus  in  his  answer,  styles  them  his 
most  honorable  children. 

The  third  of  Ephesus  against  Nestorius, 
anno  431,  was  in  the  communion  of  pope 
Celestin;  whose  legate  told  the  council  that 
his  master  was  their  head,  and  the  successor 
of  St.  Peter ;  whose  place  and  authority  the 
bishop  of  Rome  held,  Act  2.  T.  3,  Cone.  p.  619; 
Act  3,  p.  626,  against  which,  not  one  in  the 
council  made  the  least  exception.  So  that  it 
even  proves  a  great  deal  more,  than  is  neces- 
sary for  my  present  purpose. 

The  fourth  of  Calcedon,  against  Eutyches 
and  Dioscorus,  anno  451,  was  in  communion 
with  St.  Leo ;  to  whom  the  council  wrote  in 
this  manner :  Rogamus  igitur^  et  tuts  decretis 
honora  nostrum  judicium  ;  et  sicut  nos  capite  in 
bonis  adjecimus  consonantiam,  sic  et  summitas 
tua  filiis  quod  decet  adhibeat.  That  is,  "  We 
desire  you  to  honor  our  judgment  with  your 
decrees :  and  as  we  have  agreed  with  our  head 
in  all  good  things,  so  may  your  highness 
grant  to  us,  your  children,  that  which  is 
fitting."  Cone.  Caked,  in  Epist.  ad  St.  Leonem, 
Tom.  4,  p.  837,  D,  E. 

I  only  mention  these  four  general  councils, 
because  they  are  allowed  of  by  the  Church  of 
England.  Act  i.  Eliz.  c.  And  the  time  in 
which  they  were  held,  witnesses  their  antiquity; 
for  the  first  was  held  near  twelve  hundred  years, 
and  the  last  of  the  above  a  thousand  and  fifty 
years   before  the  reformation. 

Whence  it  follows,  first,  that  the  Church  in 
communion  with  the  see  of  Rome,  not  only 
had  a  being,  (whereof  no  man  doubts)  but  was 


wholly  incorrupt  and  free  from  errors,  both 
from  the  time  of  the  Apostles  to  the  first 
general  council,  and  in  .the  whole  interval  of 
time  between  that  and  the  fourth,  or  last 
council  allowed  of  by  the  Church  of  England. 
The  reason  is  clear,  because  not  one  of  the 
four  first  councils  accused  her  of  any  errors ; 
and  had  she  been  guilty  of  any,  it  cannot  be 
doubted,  but  those  councils  would  have  called 
her  to  an  account,  and  condemned  her,  as  they 
did  the  Arians,  Macedonians,  Nestorians,  and 
Eutychians.  Nay,  it  is  manifest,  that  the  faith 
of  those  councils,  and  the  see  of  Rome  was 
one  and  the  same ;  for  otherwise,  they  would 
not  have  been  in  the  same  communion ;  and 
since  the  Church  of  England  allows  of  those 
councils,  it  is  no  less  manifest,  that  she  believes 
their  faith  was  orthodox. 

Whence  it  follows,  secondly :  that  the  Church 
of  England,  which  owns  the  authority  of  the 
four  first  councils,  must  likewise  acknowledge, 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  or  the  Church 
in  communion  with  the  see  of  Rome,  was  at 
least  free  from  corruptions  till  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century,  in  which  the  fourth  general 
council  was  held. 

Now,  then,  if  we  can  but  make  the  Popery, 
which  Luther  reformed.,  shake  hands  with  the 
religion  of  those  times ;  that  is,  if  it  can  but 
be  clearly  proved,  that  the  very  same  doctrine 
which  was  professed  by  the  Church  of  Rome, 
when  Luther  began  to  reform  was  likewise 
professed  by  the  Catholic  Church  in  those 
ancient  tines,  in  which  she  is  acknowledged 
to  have  been  free  from  corruptions ;  will  it  not 
be  a  demonstrative  proof,  that  the  doctrine 
called  Popery,  and  the  Church  which  professes 
it,  are  as  ancient  as  Christianity  itself?  The 
evidence  will  certainly  be  beyond  all  manner 
of  dispute.  Let  us  then  make  some  inquiry 
into  this  important  matter,  and  see  how  far 
the  doctrine  called  Popery,  may  be  traced, 
even  from  the  concessions  of  such  Protestant 
writers,  as  are  beyond  exception. 


224 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


SECTION  II.— THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  CALLED  POPERY  PROVED  FROM 

PROTESTANT   WRITERS. 


First :  Bishop  Tillotson,  Serm.  49,  p.  588, 
writes  thus :  "  In  the  beginning  of  the  refor- 
mation, when  antichrist  sat  securely  in  the 
quiet  possession  of  his  kingdom,  Luther  arose," 
etc.  These  words,  "  securely,''  and  in  the  "  quiet 
possession,"  must  be  owned  to  be  very  em- 
phatical ;  though  I  cannot  draw  any  positive 
consequence  from  them,  as  to  the  number  of 
years,  which  that  secure  and  quiet  possession 
had  already  lasted :  but  since  so  learned  a  man 
as  the  bishop  was,  could  not  be  ignorant  of  it, 
it  is  probable  he  foresaw  the  advantage  we 
should  make  of  it,  had  he  been  too  particular: 
and,  therefore,  judged  it  not  safe  to  speak  out; 
but  chose  rather  to  leave  the  reader  in  the  dark, 
than  let  him  know  more,  than  was  fitting  for 
him. 

Perkins  in  his  exposition  upon  the  creed,  p. 
400,  ventures  to  be  a  little  plainer.  His  words 
are  these :  "  We  say  that  before  the  days  of 
Luther,  for  the  space  of  many  hundred  years, 
an  universal  apostasy  overspread  the  whole 
face  of  the  earth,  and  that  our  Church  was  not 
then  visible  in  the  world."  Here  Popery,  which 
the  author  is  pleased  to  call  "  an  universal 
apostasy,"  is  owned  to  have  "  overspread  the 
whole  face  of  the  earth  for  many  hundred  years" 
before  the  days  of  Luther.  However,  he  did 
not  think  it  proper  to  specify,  as  he  might 
have  done,  how  many  hundred  years  this  uni- 
versal apostacy  had  already  lasted.  But  every 
intelligent  reader  will  be  apt  to  guess,  that  when 
a  man  says  "  many  hundred  years,"  he  does  not 
mean  a  very  small  number. 

But  the  Protestant  Homily  book,  in  order  to 
set  forth  in  the  most  pathetical  manner  the 
danger  of  Popery,  which  the  composer  has  the 
charity  to  call  "  abominable  idolatry ;"  this 
book,  I  say,  (the  authority  whereof,  cannot  be 
questioned)  has  ventured  to  explain  some  part 
of  Perkins'  "  many  hundred  years."  The  words 
are  as  follows:  "Laity  and  clergy,  learned  and 
unlearned;  all  ages,  sects,  and  degrees  of  men. 


women  and  children  of  whole  Christendom,  had 
been  at  once  drawn  in  abominable  idolatry ;  and 
that  for  the  space  of  eight  hundred  years  and 
more."  Hom.  against  peril  of  idolatry.  Part 
HI.  p.  251,  printed  London,  anno  1687. 

Here,  then,  we  have  "  eight  hundred  years," 
with  a  "  more  "  at  the  end  of  them,  allowed  to 
Popery  before  the  reforviation.  The  word 
"  more  "  may  be  made  to  signify  as  much,  or  as 
little  as  every  one  pleases.  But  it  may  modestly 
be  extended  so  far,  as  to  make  the  total  number 
amount  to  about  nine  hundred  years  in  all ; 
which  brings  universal  Popery  to  St.  Gregory's 
time,  who  transplanted  it  into  England  ;  where 
it  flourished  just  nine  hundred  years  before  the 
reforination.  So  that  now  we  have  brought  it  safe 
to  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century  :  that  is, 
within  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  the  fourth 
general  council :  and  now  I  have  only  this  small 
interval  of  time  to  provide  for  it ;  which  if  I  can 
do  with  the  help  of  a  good  Protestant  guide,  it 
will  easily  find  its  way  to  the  very  time  of  the 
Apostles. 

But  I  have  luckily  met  with  one,  who  even 
out-goes  my  wishes,  and  has  conducted  Popery 
not  only  to  the  fourth,  but  even  beyond  the 
first  great  general  council  of  Nice.  The  person 
I  speak  of,  is  Mr.  Napier :  who,  in  his  book 
upon  the  Revelations,  Prob.  37,  p.  68,  is  so  sin- 
cere as  to  own  that  Popery,  which  he  cannot 
forbear  giving  an  ugly  name,  to,  reigned  uni- 
versally in  the  very  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century,  and  under  the  first  Christian  emperor, 
that  ever  was  in  the  world.  But  lest  any  one 
should  through  mistake,  think  Mr.  Napier  to  be 
an  obscure,  or  inconsiderable  writer,  Mr.  Col- 
lier in  his  Historical  Dictionary,  has  taken  care 
to  publish  his  merits,  for  he  styles  him  a  "  pro- 
found scholar,  and  of  great  worth." 

This  learned  and  worthy  person,  then  writes 
thus  :  "  From  the  year  of  Christ,  three  hundred 
and  sixteen,  the  anti-Christian  and  papistical 
reign    has    begun :     reigning    universally,    and 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


225 


without  any  debatable  contradiction,  one  thou- 
sand, two  hundred  and  sixty  years.'  And 
again,  chap.  11,  p.  145  :  '  The  Pope  and  clergy, 
have  possessed  the  outward  visible  Church,  even 
one  thousand,  two  hundred  and  sixty  years.'  "  I 
presume  he  counts  to  the  time,  that  the  reforma- 
tion was  established  in  Great  Britain. 

This,  however,  is  precise  and  clear;  though 
the  other  three  gentlemen  were  more,  or  less 
upon  the  reserve.  Tillotson  has  only  favored 
us  with  a  broad  hint.  Perkins,  indeed,  allows 
Popery  many  hundred  years  ;  but  is  careful  not 
to  let  us  know  how  many.  The  Homilist  gives 
it  eight  hundred  years  and  more ;  but  his 
"  more,"  is  like  a  string,  that  may  be  let  out, 
or  drawn  in  as  much  as  every  one  shall  fancy. 
But  the  learned  and  worthy  Napier  speaks 
boldly,  and  may  serve  as  a  comment  upon  the 
other  three.  For  we  are  certified  by  him  that 
the  papistical  reign  began  from  the  year  of 
Christ,  three  hundred  and  sixteen  :  that  is,  pre- 
cisely a  year  more  than  twelve  hundered  before 
Luther  commenced  reformer.  What  pity  is  it, 
that  he  has  not  specified  the  very  day  of  the 
month,  on  which  Popery  begas  its  universal 
reign?  For  when  his  hand  was  in,  he  might 
have  done  the  one  with  as  much  ease  as  the 
other:  and  then  Papists  might  have  had  the 
pleasure  to  keep  the  anniversary  feast  of  its 
accession  to  the  empire  of  the  universal  Chris- 
tian world. 

But  though  Mr.  Napier  has  done  Popery  a 
considerable  service,  by  allowing  it  an  universal 
reign,  even  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century,  yet  the  four  Protestant  annalists,  com- 
monly called  the  Magdeburgians,  carry  it  still 
higher,  and  stick  not  to  date  their  pretended 
"  decay  of  the  Christian  doctrine,"  and  the 
''  straw  and  stubble  of  papistical  errors,"  as  they 
call  them,  even  from  the  age  immediately  after 
Christ  and  his  Apostles.  Thus  God  has  con- 
founded the  enemies  of  his  Church,  by  making 
them  become  witnesses  of  the  truth  against 
their  wills ;  and  proclaim  the  antiquity  of  her 
faith  in  those  very  writings,  which  they 
intended  for  the  sharpest  invectives  against  it. 
15 


Upon  the  whole,  I  cannot  but  make  this 
observation,  viz.:  If  Popery  had  its  beginning 
in  any  age  since  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  it  is 
morally  impossible,  but  so  considerable  an  event 
must  have  been  transmitted  to  posterity,  I  will 
not  say  by  one,  or  two  historians  of  note,  but 
by  hundreds,  who  would  have  marked  out  the 
time,  when  it  happened,  with  such  an  unques- 
tionable certainty,  that  it  would  have  been 
impossible  either  to  doubt  of  it,  or  differ  in 
opinions  about  it.  Thus  we  know  exactly  the 
very  year  when  Arianism  and  Lutheranism  began. 
The  facts  were  never  questioned  by  any  man 
in  the  world;  and  the  certainty  of  them  leaves 
no  room  for  any  diversity  of  opinions  about 
them. 

If  then,  there  were  any  ancient  records,  or 
authentic  history,  that  fixed  precisely  the  time 
when  Popery  began,  would  not  all  Protestants 
have  quoted  them  for  the  chronology  of  a  fact, 
which  must  have  sunk  the  credit  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  and  estab- 
lished the  reformed  churches  upon  the  most 
solid  foundation  ?  It  is  very  sure,  they  never 
would  have  overlooked  an  advantage  of  that 
importance  ;  nay,  every  man  of  learning  would 
have  had  it  without  book ;  and  the  date  of 
every  branch  of  Popery,  would  have  been  as 
well  known,  as  that  of  the  reformation ;  con- 
cerning which,  there  never  were  two  opinions 
among  thousands,  that  have  written  of  it. 

Since,  therefore,  instead  of  this  unanimous 
agreement,  in  fixing  the  time  that  Popery  began, 
we  find  nothing  but  cutting  and  shuffling,  pre- 
carious guesses,  and  diversity  of  opinion  among 
the  very  best  Protestant  writers  ;  it  is  a  demon- 
strative proof,  that  they  have  no  ancient,  or, 
authentic  records  concerning  any  beginning  of  it' 
since  the  time  of  the  Apostles.  And  we  may 
justly  conclude,  that,  as  it  reigned  universally 
for  many  hundred  years  before  the  reformation, 
according  to  Perkins ;  for  eight  hundred  years 
and  more  according  to  the  book  of  Homilies ;  for 
above  twelve  hundred  years,  according  to  Mr. 
Napier ;  and  is  owned  by  the  Magdeburgians  to 
have  had  a  being  even  in  the  second  century ; 


226 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


we  may  conclude,  I  say,  that  it  never  had  any 
other  beginning,  than  that  of  Christianity  ;  viz. : 
from  Christ  himself,  and  his  Apostles.  But  this 
argument  shall  be  treated  at  large  hereafter. 

I  observe,  secondly,  that  the  old  childish  whim 
of  introducing  Popery  in  the  monkish  ages  (as 
Protestants  style  them)  of  pretended  ignorance 
and  darkness,  is  quite  thrown  out  of  doors  both 
by  the  Homilist  and  Mr.  Napier.  For  in  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  there  were  no 
monks  at  all,  as  Protestants  understand  the  word, 
and  though  there  were  several  monasteries  of 
them  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  ;  yet  what 
Protestants  call  monkish  ages,  are  of  a  much 
later  date ;  and  so  the  pretended  ignorance  and 
darkness  of  those  ages  could  not  favor  the  intro- 
duction of  Popery,  which,  according  to  the  book 
of  Homilies,  was  fully  established  long  before. 
This,  shall  likewise  be  fully  handled,  in  chap.  5. 

But,  to  return  once  more  to  the  learned  Mr. 
Napier,  whose  chronology  relating  to  the  grand 
epoch  of  Popery  is  very  curious  ;  we  see,  he  fixes 
it  precisely  in  the  j-ear  of  Christ,  316.  That  is, 
nine  years  before  the  first  great  general  council 
of  Nice,  which  was  held  anno  325.  Nay,  he  tells 
us  expressly,  that  even  then  it  reigned  univer- 
sally :  so  that  it  may  be  truly  said  in  Bishop 
Tillotson's  language,  that  even  then  "  Anti-christ 
sat  securely  in  the  quiet  possession  of  his  king- 
dom." Very  strange!  Unless  we  had  some  in- 
formation how  he  got  into  it.  For  a  kingdom 
of  so  vast  an  extent,  as  the  whole  Christian  world, 
is  not  usually  got  in  hugger-mugger,  or  like  a 
purse  by  stealth. 

However  that  may  be,  it  follows  evidently  from 
Mr.  Napier's  chronology,  that  the  fathers  of  the 
Nicene  council,  though  allowed  of,  and  respected 
by  Protestants  themselves,  were  all  staunch 
Papists.  And  what  is  very  remarkable,  many  of 
the  bishops  of  that  council  were  eminent  saints ; 
and  carried  about  them  the  glorious  marks  of 
their  past  sufferings  for  the  faith  of  Christ. 

I  ask,  then,  whether  the  bishops  of  the  Nicene 
council  had  been  Papists  from  their  infancy,  or 
not  ?  If  so,  then  without  all  dispute  they  had 
been  brought  up  by  Papists,  and  so  Popery  is 


still  more  ancient  than  Mr.  Napier  makes  it. 
But  if  they  had  not  been  Papists  from  their  in- 
fancy, then  they  were  all  infamous  apostates  ;  St. 
Athanasius  among  the  rest.  And  is  it  not  very 
strange,  that  not  one  of  them  should  be  touched 
with  remorse,  nor  represent  to  the  council  his 
fall  from  the  ancient  religion,  nor  exhort  them 
to  a  reformation  ;  especially,  when  the  supposed 
change  from  one  religion  to  another  was  of  so 
fresh  a  date,  that  there  was  not  a  bishop  in  the 
council,  but  must  have  been  concerned  in  it? 

But  it  is  still  more  wonderful,  that  the 
Arians,  their  mortal  enemies,  who  were  ad- 
mitted to,  and  heard  in  the  council,  should  not 
reproach  them  with  their  apostasy,  and  so  put 
them  to  open  shame.  And  yet  the  acts  and 
histories  of  that  council  mention  no  such  thing. 
Nay,  Eusebius  himself,  who  was  present  at  it, 
and  has  written  the  history  of  the  Church 
down  to  this  time,  knew  nothing  of  any  uni- 
versal apostasy  from  the  primitive  faith  of  the 
Church  to  Popery.  For  had  he  known  it,  it 
is  incredible  he  would  have  passed  it  over  in 
silence.  And  therefore,  since  neither  he,  nor 
those,  that  wrote  immediately  after  him  have 
left  us  any  history,  record,  or  monument  of 
any  change  in  the  faith  of  the  universal  visi- 
ble Church  introduced  before  their  time,  it  is 
manifest,  there  never  was  any  such  change ; 
and,  by  consequence,  the  Popery,  which  Mr. 
Napier  owns  to  have  reigned  universally,  even 
nine  years  before  the  council  of  Nice,  was  the 
very  religion  that  had  been  handed  down  to 
them  from  the  Apostles  themselves. 

But  I  shall  now  set  aside  these  testimonies 
of  Protestant  writers,  which  witness  the  an- 
tiquity of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  and  en- 
deavor to  take  a  more  eftectual  way  to  prove 
it  without  being  at  the  courtesy  of  any  Prot- 
estant evidence,  to  vouch  for  it.  But  (to  avoid 
an  unnecessary  multiplicity  of  words)  as  all 
the  pretended  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
are  briefly  expressed  by  the  word.  Popery ;  so 
the  doctrine  of  the  reformation^  as  it  is  directly 
opposite  to  it,  shall  for  brevity-sake  be  called 
Protestancy.     Because  I  shall  have  occasion  to 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


227 


repeat  them  both  frequently,  and  it  is  no  mat- 
ter what  names  we  give  them,  so  we  but 
understand  one  another. 

Now  the  whole  question  is,  whether  the  doc- 
trine called  Protestancy,  or  that  which  is  called 
Popery,  has  a  fairer  title  to  antiquity.  If 
Protestancy  be  the  true  Christian  doctrine, 
which  was  taught  by  the  Apostles,  it  must 
have  had  a  being  in  the  world  pre-existent  to 
that  of  Popery :  and  there  must  have  hap- 
pened a  "  total  change  from  Protestancy  to 
Popery,"  in  some  age,  or  other  since  the  time 
of  the  Apostles.  For  without  this  change 
Popery  could  not  have  got  possession  of  the 
universal  visible  Church,  as  it  certainly  had 
at  the  beginning  of  the  reformation^  when  the 
courageous  Martin  Luther  stood  alone  against 
the  whole  Christian  world. 

It  shall,  therefore,  be  my  task  to  demonstrate 
that  there  never  happened  any  such  change, 
or  which  amounts  to  the  same,  "  that  no  Church 
teaching  a  doctrine  opposite  to  the  pretended 
errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  ever  appeared 
in  the  world  before  her :"  which  if  it  be  made 
evident,  the  consequence  will  be,  that  the  doc- 
trine called  Popery,  is  as  ancient  as  Christian- 
ity itself,  and  has  been  handed  down  to  us  from 
Christ  and  his  Apostles. 

But  it  is  very  necessary,  the  reader  should 
here  observe,  that  Poperj^  in  general  may  be 
divided  into  two  parts  ;  viz.:  The  discipline  and 
the  faith  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  proper 
object  of  faith  is  all  revealed  truths,  which 
are  the  same  in  all  ages,  nor  can  any  author- 
ity upon  earth  pretend  to  make  the  least 
change  in  them.  But  the  discipline  of  the 
Church,  being  not  of  divine  revelation,  but 
human  institution,  is  doubtless,  changeable : 
because  the  same  legislative  power,  which  can 
make  laws  and  regulations  for  the  public  good, 


may  likewise  for  just    reasons,  alter,  suspend, 
or  repeal  the  laws,  or  regulations  it  has  made. 

Thus  the  ancient  penitential  canons,  though 
they  were  in  force  for  some  ages,  have  not 
been  binding  for  many  hundred  years  past. 
Thus  likewise  the  council  of  Trent  regulated 
the  prohibited  degrees  of  consanguinity,  and 
affinity  otherwise,  than  they  were  before.  Nay, 
even  the  Apostolical  constitution  of  the  council 
of  Jerusalem  which  forbids  blood,  and  things 
of  blood  and  things  strangled  ;  Acts  xv.  29  ;  re- 
mained not  long  in  force,  but  as  the  motive 
ceased,  the  obligation  became  void  of  course. 
For  let  laws  be  ever  so  good  in  themselves, 
they  are  not  good  at  all  times,  nor  in  all 
places. 

Now,  then,  when  I  pretend  to  prove,  "  that 
the  doctrine  called  Popery,  is  as  ancient  as 
Christianity,"  I  mean  not  the  discipline,  but 
the  faith  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  For  it  is 
absurd  to  maintain,  that  regiilations  of  disci- 
pline, which  came  gradually  into  the  Church, 
and  have  been  subject  to  variations,  are  as 
ancient  as  the  Church  itself. 

It  is,  however,  a  common  practice,  though  a 
very  unfair  one,  among  Protestant  writers,  when 
they  design  to  charge  the  Church  of  Rome 
with  novelty,  to  confound  the  one  with  the 
other,  and  exemplify  promiscuously  in  points 
of  faith,  or  discipline,  as  if  they  were  upon 
the  same  footing ;  whereas,  to  say  anything 
to  the  purpose  against  that  Church,  they  must 
prove  precisely,  that  she  differs  in  some  article 
of  faith,  or  revealed  doctrine  from  the  ancient 
orthodox  Church.  All  matters  of  discipline, 
must  therefore  be  thrown  out  of  the  question  ; 
and  whatever  objection  is  made  from  that  head, 
is  but  trifling,  whether  the  facts  objected  be 
true,  or  false. 


228 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


CHAPTER    V. 
Popery  as  Ancient  as  Christianity. 

SECTION    I.— NO    CHRISTIAN   CHURCH    TEACHING   A    DOCTRINE  OPPOSITE    TO    POPERY, 

EVER  APPEARED  IN  THE  WORLD  BEFORE  IT. 


is  morally  impossible,  that  a  consid- 
erable revolution  should  happen 
either  in  Church,  or  state,  without 
being  ever  taken  notice  of  by  any 
historian  writi?jg  in  or  about  the  time,  when 
it  happened.  Nay,  the  thing  is  contrary  not 
only  to  experience,  but  the  very  immediate 
end  of  history,  which  is  to  instruct  posterity 
in  the  knowledge  of  what  has  happened  in 
former  ages ;  and  though  transactions  of  the 
greatest  moment  may  be  mangled,  and  dis- 
guised b};-  authors  according  as  they  are 
affected,  they  can  never  be  wholly  overlooked, 
or  omitted  by  them. 

This  is  particularly  true  in  reference  to  any 
considerable  changes  in  religion :  because  such 
changes  being  the  constant  source  of  extraor- 
dinary events,  by  causing  disturbances,  and 
many  times  entire  revolutions  in  the  state,  can 
never  escape  the  notice  of  an  historian.  And 
a  person  may  as  soon  make  me  believe  the 
greatest  contradiction  in  nature,  as  that  such 
changes  may  really  happen,  and  not  to  be 
mentioned  in  any  history  of  that  state,  or  king- 
dom, in  which  they  happened. 

What  historian  has  ever  written  the  life  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  but  made  the  changes  in 
religion,  and  the  establishment  of  the  reforma- 
tion in  England,  the  principal  subject  of  his 
history  ?  The  same  may  be  said  of  those,  who 
wrote  the  lives  of  the  first  Christian  emperors, 
whose  histories  are  all  filled  with  ample  rela- 
tions of  the  heresies,  that  started  up  in  their 
times,  and  the  disturbances  they  occasioned 
both  in  Church  and  state :  the  opposition  they 
met  with :  the  princes  that  favored  them,  the 
fathers  that  wrote  against  them,  the  councils 
wherein    they    were    condemned,    etc.     Nay,    I 


dare  challenge  any  Protestant  to  name  me  one 
considerable  heresy,  I  mean,  what  both  Papists 
and  Protestants  own  to  be  a  heresy,  whereof 
there  is  not  a  particular  account  in  some  history 
of  note.  As,  who  was  the  first  author  of  it  : 
where  and  when  it  was  first  broached :  what 
progress  it  made :  what  influence  it  had  upon 
the  affairs  of  Christendom :  what  bishops  op- 
posed it :  what  books  were  written  against  it ; 
what  councils  called  to  condemn  it :  and  other 
such  particulars,  as  are  a  full  evidence  for  the 
truth  of  the  main  fact. 

Hence  I  infer  first.  That  an  universal  silence 
of  historians  in  relation  to  auy  considerable 
change  in  matters  of  religion  is  a  proof  amount- 
ing to  a  moral  demonstration,  that  there  never 
happened  any  such  change. 

I  infer  secondly,  That  to  accuse  any  Church 
of  gross  errors,  whereof  no  particular  author, 
or  beginning  is  to  be  found  in  any  authentic 
record,  is  a  mere  groundless  charge,  and  cannot 
be  maintained  with  any  color  of  justice,  or 
reason. 

It  is  upon  these  two  principles  I  shall  ground 
my  argument  to  prove,  that  the  doctrine  called 
Popery,  is  as  ancient  as  Christianity :  and  I 
have  endeavored  to  set  the  whole  matter  in  as 
clear  a  light  as  is  possible  in  the  following 
manner. 

If  the  doctrine  called  Popery,  be  not  as 
ancient  as  Christianity,  then  Protestancy,  as  far 
as  it  is  directly  opposite  to  it,  must  be  the 
religion  which  Christ  and  his  Apostles  estab- 
lished in  the  world.  I  presume  all  Protestants 
will  readily  grant  this.  Nay,  if  I  am  not  under 
a  very  great  mistake,  it  is  what  they  principally 
contend  for.  Because  the  most  plausible  thing, 
they  can  say  for  themselves,  is,  that  the  whole 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


229 


business  of  the  reformation  was  to  recover 
religion  from  the  corruptions  introduced  into 
it;  and  bring  it  back  to  its  ancient  purity. 

But  it  follows  hence,  that  there  have  been 
two  great  changes  in  the  state  of  the  Christian 
religion,  since  its  first  establishment  by  Christ 
and  his  Apostles.  The  first,  from  Protestancy 
to  Popery,  (for  Popery  had  full  possession  of 
the  whole  visible  Church  for  many  hundred 
years  before  the  reformation.)  The  second, 
from  Popery  to  Protestantism,  which  was  affected 
by  that  reformation.  These  two  changes,  there- 
fore, must  be  clearly  made  out  from  the  incon- 
testible  evidence  of  authentic  histories  and 
records.  For  if  it  cannot  be  thus  evidently 
proved,  that  the  first  change,  viz. :  "  from 
Protestancy  to  Popery,"  happened  as  really 
and  truly,  as  the  second,  viz. :  "  Popery  to 
Protestantism,"  then  it  will  follow,  that  Prot- 
estancy never  had  a  being  before  Popery ;  the 
consequence  whereof  will  be,  that  Popery  had 
its  beginning  from  the  very  time  of  the  Apos- 
tles. 

Now  these  two  changes,  if  they  both  really 
happened,  may  be  called  at  least  equally  great. 
Nay,  the  first,  viz. :  "  from  Protestancy  to 
Popery,"  appears  evidently  far  more  difiScult, 
than  the  second  ,  by  reason  of  some  doctrines 
in  the  Church  of  Rome,  which,  if  they  were 
not  taught  by  the  Apostles  could  never  be 
introduced  but  with  the  greatest  diflSculty  im- 
aginable.    I  shall  instance  in  a  few. 

First,  It  being  a  principle  of  Protestancy, 
as  well  as  Popery,  that  Christ  alone  has  the 
power  of  instituting  sacraments ;  because  he 
alone  can  appoint  proper  instruments  to  convey 
his  grace  to  our  souls :  if  Protestancy,  which 
allows  but  of  two  sacraments,  was  the  religion 
taught  by  the  Apostles,  and  established  in  the 
infancy  of  the  Church,  I  leave  any  man  of 
common  sense  to  judge,  whether  five  new 
ones,  never  heard  of  in  the  time  of  the 
Apostles,  could  have  been  afterwards  imposed 
upon  the  Church,  and  rendered  an  article  of 
her  faith  without  the  greatest  difficulty,  and 
the  most  vigorous  opposition  at  least  for  some 


time.  Would  not  every  good  Protestant  bishop 
have  immediately  stood  in  the  gap,  and  cried 
out  against  such  a  monstrous  innovation? 
Would  they  not  have  written  against  it,  and 
alleged,  that  Christ  had  instituted  but  two 
sacraments,  that  the  Apostles  never  had  preached 
but  two,  that  the  number  precisely  of  two, 
and  no  more  had  been  handed  down  to  them 
by  the  immediate  successors  of  the  Apostles ; 
and  that,  therefore,  no  human  power  could 
make  any  addition  to  it  without  impiety  and 
sacrilege  ?  Finally,  would  they  not  have  stig- 
matized the  first  authors  of  such  an  innova- 
tion, and  cut  them  off  from  the  communion 
of  the  Church  ?  It  is  certainly  most  rational 
to  judge,  that  the  bishops  and  pastors  then  in 
being,  if  they  were  of  the  religion  which 
Protestants  now  confess,  would  have  exerted 
their  utmost  zeal  and  authority  in  a  case  of 
that  importance;  unless  we  suppose  they  were 
all  lain  asleep  with  opium ;  or  doated,  and 
knew  nothing  of  the  matter ;  for  no  man  hith- 
erto has  ever  heard  or  read  one  word  of  any 
opposition,  or  resistance  made  to  the  coining  of 
any  one  of  the  five  sacraments,  which  are  now 
denied  by  Protestants  ;  or  of  any  disturbance, 
that  has  ever  happened  in  the  Church  about 
it.  Very  strange  !  That  such  a  change  should 
ever  happen  without  noise,  or  trouble ;  or  if 
there  were  disturbances  about  it,  that  no 
historian  should  give  us  any  information 
of  it! 

Secondly :  I  should  be  glad  to  know,  by 
what  secret  charm  the  mass  got  admittance 
into  the  universal  Church ;  if  it  was  neither 
instituted  by  Christ,  nor  introduced  by  the 
practice  of  the  Apostles  themselves.  For,  if 
the  popish  doctrine  relating  to  it,  viz. :  "  That 
it  is  a  true  sacrifice,  or  an  external  oblation  of 
the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  under  the 
forms  of  bread  and  wine,  ordained  by  Christ 
himself  at  his  last  supper :  "If  this,  I  say,  be 
false  doctrine,  we  cannot  doubt,  but  that  the 
Apostles,  and  their  immediate  successors  were 
wholly  strangers  to  it ;  and  that  by  consequence, 
none  of   the  primitive   bishops,  or  priests  ever 


230 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO  END   DISPUTES. 


said    mass,    as    being    all    true    Protestants    in 
this,  as  well  as  other  articles  of   faith. 

Here,  then,  lies  the  stress  of  the  diflBculty, 
viz. :  How  all  the  bishops  and  priests  in  the 
world  having  been  brought  up,  as  we  must 
suppose,  in  the  principles  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  and,  by  consequence,  in  a  total  ignor- 
ance both  of  the  doctrine  and  use  of  the  mass^ 
should  afterwards  not  only  unanimously  agp-ee 
to  embrace  this  new  scheme  of  religious  wor- 
ship, but  even  to  regard  it  as  the  most  sacred 
and  solemn  part  of  the  public  devotion  of  the 
Church.  What!  could  all  this  be  done  with- 
out contradiction,  noise,  or  trouble !  Or,  if 
there  were  contentious,  schisms,  and  disputes 
about  it,  as  it  is  morally  impossible,  but  there 
must  have  been,  unless  the  whole  thing  be  a 
fiction,  could  events  of  that  importance  escape 
the  notice  of  all  historians ! 

But  thirdly :  Sacramental-confession,  has  its 
peculiar  diflSculty.  For  it  is  not  a  mere  specu- 
lative point,  but  of  all  practical  duties  'the 
most  repugnant  to  human  nature;  and  I  dare 
say  no  man  would  ever  have  submitted  to  it, 
who  was  not  first  convinced,  that  he  could  not 
be  saved  without  it.  But  what  increases  the 
difficulty  of  introducing  the  practice  of  it,  is, 
that  no  dignity,  whether  in  Church,  or  state, 
ever  exempted  any  member  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  from  the  obligation  of  it.  All  bishops, 
kings,  and  princes,  nay  emperors  and  popes 
themselves,  have  an  equal  share  in  the  burden, 
with  the  very  meanest  of  the  laity.  They 
must  all  fall  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  their 
confessors,  discover  their  most  hidden  sins, 
submit  them  to  their  censure,  and  perform  the 
penance  enjoined  them. 

Now,  if  this  was  not  the  doctrine  of  the 
Apostles ;  if  all  the  popes  and  bishops  of  the 
primitive  Church  were  brought  up  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  refortnation ;  finally,  if  the  obli- 
gation of  auricular  confession  be  a  popish  error, 
and  was,  b}^  consequence,  unknown  to  antiquity ; 
then  I  cannot  forbear  asking  this  question, 
which  of  the  two  is  the  most  surprising,  the 
extravagance    of  those,    who  first  took  a  fancy 


to  impose  this  heavy  yoke  both  on  themselves 
and  others,  or  the  weakness  of  those,  who  sub- 
mitted to  it?  For,  that  it  was  efiectually  sub- 
mitted to,  is  plain  matter  of  fact.  But  since 
the  very  attempt  of  introducing  a  novelty  (if 
it  really  was  one)  so  burdensome  and  odious, 
was  no  better  than  a  mad  and  extravagant 
undertaking,  can  any  one  imagine  it  met  not 
with  very  great  opposition  in  the  beginning, 
and  put  the  whole  Church  into  disorder  and 
confusion  ?  Is  it  not  natural  to  suppose,  that 
both  the  laity  and  clergy  rose  up  in  defence  of 
the  Christian  liberty,  their  fore-fathers  had 
enjoyed;  and  alleged  that  since  all  Christians 
before  them  had  been  saved  without  stooping  to 
the  yoke  of  confession,  they  saw  no  reason, 
but  they  might  be  saved  upon  the  same  easy 
terms  ?  And  would  not  all  these  particulars 
(had  they  really  happened)  have  been  recorded 
in  some  history  of  note  ?  Truly,  whoever 
believes  the  contrary,  is  capable  of  swallowing 
any  improbability  whatsoever. 

This,  therefore,  is  an  incontestible  truth,  viz.: 
that  a  change  from  Protestancy  to  Popery,  in 
the  particulars,  I  have  specified,  could  not  be 
eflfected  without  great  opposition,  nor,  by  conse- 
quence, without  occasioning  troubles  and 
schisms  in  the  Church.  For  further  proof 
whereof,  let  us  suppose,  that  a  set  of  men 
should  at  present  attempt  to  introduce  the 
number  of  seven  sacraments,  the  7nass,  auricular 
confession,  or  any  noted  branch  of  Popery,  into 
the  Church  of  England;  and  I  appeal  to  the 
judgment  of  all  men  in  their  senses,  whether 
those  religious  zealots  would  not  meet  with  a 
very  warm  opposition  from  all  the  bishops,  and 
the  whole  English  clergy. 

We  have  an  instance  of  a  fresh  date  of  their 
episcopal  zeal  for  the  Protestant  religion  in  the 
reign  of  King  James  II.,  who  only  endeav- 
ored to  compel  them  to  order  his  proclamation 
for  liberty  of  conscience,  to  be  read  in  all  the 
churches.  But  the  world  knows  what  success 
he  met  with,  and  the  history  of  the  seven 
golden  candlesticks,  will  never  be  forgotten. 
Their  zeal  threw  the  whole  nation  into  a  flame. 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


231 


and  Whitehall  became  soou  after  too  warm  for 
that  unfortunate  prince.  If,  therefore,  Protes- 
tancy  was  the  religion  established  by  Christ 
and  his  Apostles,  and  professed  in  the  infancy 
of  the  Church,  can  we  imagine  the  good  primi- 
tive bishops,  who  were  so  ready  to  lay  down 
their  lives  for  the  Church,  were  not  full  as 
zealous  against  Poper}'-,  as  those  of  the  Church 
of  England  ?  Or  that  the}'  were  not  read}'  to 
stand  in  the  gap,  and  oppose  the  torrent  with 
their  utmost  strength,  when  they  saw  it  flowing 
in  upon  the  Church  ? 

But  such  an  imagination  being  wholly  ground- 
less, it  follows,  that  what  I  have  undertaken  to 
prove,  is  an  undeniable  truth*;  viz. :  That  the 
first  supposed  change  from  Protestancy  to 
Popery,  could  not  be  effected  with  less  diffi- 
culty, than  the  second,  from  Popery  to  Pro- 
testancy. Nay,  to  speak  naturally,  the  diffi- 
culty to  effect  it,  and  by  consequence,  the  oppo- 
sition made  to  it,  must  have  been  much  greater 
for  the  reasons  I  have  given. 

Now,  no  man  of  any  reading  can  be  so  igno- 
rant, as  not  to  know  with  what  difficulty  and 
opposition  the  second  change  called  the  reforma- 
tion was  begun,  carried  on,  and  at  last  effected. 
Innumerable  histories  are  filled  with  ample 
relations  of  the  obstinate  and  bloody  wars  it 
occasioned  in  Germany,  France,  the  Low-Coun- 
tries, and  other  kingdoms  and  states.  They 
all  tell  us  with  what  vigor  it  was  opposed 
by  Leo  X.,  and  the  following  popes;  by 
the  Emperor  Charles  V.  Francis  I.  of 
France,  and  his  successors,  and  even  by  Henry 
VIII.  under  whom  great  numbers  suffered 
in  Smithfield  for  that  cause.  Finally,  the  his- 
tory of  the  council  of  Trent,  in  which  it  was 
condemned,  is  known  by  all  men  of  learning, 
so  that  no  man  can  doubt  of  the  truth  of  a 
fact  so  particularized  and  circumstantiated  in 
all  histories  written  upon  that  subject. 

Here,  then,  I  may  justly  demand  of  Protest- 
ants the  same  satisfactory  account  of  the  first 
supposed  charge  from  Protestancy  to  Popery. 
For  since  they  were  always  equally  opposite, 
and  the  same  causes  produce  naturally  the  same 


effects,  no  rational  man  will  ever  be  made  to  believe 
that  a  change  from  Popery  to  Protestancy  in  a 
few  kingdoms  only  should  occasion  such  a  num- 
ber of  remarkable  events,  cause  so  many  bloody 
wars,  such  disturbances  in  the  Church,  and 
revolutions  in  the  state ;  and  that  an  entire 
change  from  Protestancy  to  Popery  should  not 
be  attended  with  any  of  the  like  effects. 

I  desire,  therefore,  some  tolerable  account 
of  the  particular  circumstances  of  this  charge. 
As,  who  were  the  principal  actors  in  it  ?  In 
what  age  it  happened  ?  Whether  it  came  in 
by  degrees,  or  all  at  once  ?  If  all  at  once, 
then  we  must  either  suppose,  that  the  whole 
Christian  world  went  to  bed  Protestants,  and 
rose  Papists  the  next  morning  by  unanimous 
consent :  or  that  a  formidable  body  of  Papists, 
like  Cadmus's  armed  men,  rose  out  of  the 
ground,  and  in  a  trice  cut  the  throats  of  all 
true  Protestants  in  the  world :  or  finally,  that 
Popery  dropped  from  the  clouds,  and  got  full 
possession  of  the  universal  Church,  without 
being  perceived  by  any  body,  till  the  clear- 
sighted Martin  Luther  made  the  happy  discovery. 
For  truly  I  can  think  of  no  other  way  to  render 
it  possible,  that  it  should  get  admittance  all  at 
once,  or  without   opposition,  noise,  or   trouble. 

This,  however,  being  somewhat  out  of  the 
way,  and  proper  only  for  machinery  exploits  upon 
the  theatre ;  I  must  rather  suppose  Protestants 
will  say,  it  came  in  by  degrees.  But  then  it 
is  reasonable  they  should  give  me  a  satisfactory 
answer  to  a  few  questions,  and  prove  the  truth 
of  the  facts  from  unquestionable  records.  For 
if  Popery  came  in  by  degrees,  it  got  footing 
first  in  one  place,  then  in  another :  As  the 
reformation  did  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  and 
Geneva,  before  it  crossed  the  seas  to  visit  Eng- 
land. So  that  we  must  suppose  there  were 
Protestants  and  Popish  states  and  kingdoms 
for  some  time  in  former  ages,  as  there  have 
been  ever  since  the  reformatioti.  I  ask,  then, 
where  it  was  that  Popery  made  it  first  entrance  ? 
Was  it  in  the  east,  or  west,  south,  or  north  ? 
What  kingdom,  state,  or  nation  abjured  the 
Protestant   religion   first  ?     Who  was   the   first 


232 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


Popish  bishop  of  Rome,  emperor,  or  king? 
What  Protestant  and  Popish  kings  were  con- 
temporary ?  What  wars  happened  in  their 
several  reigns  about  religion  ?  What  books 
were  written  for  and  against  Popery  ?  What 
Protestant  councils  were  called  to  condemn  it  ? 
And  lastly,  by  what  name  were  those,  who 
adhered  to  the  ancient  Protestant  religion, 
distinguished  from  the  other  who  embraced 
Popery  ?  for  I  am  sensible  that  Protestants 
and  Papists  are  names  invented  since  the 
reformation.  And  since  it  is  highly  improbable, 
that  two  such  diflferent  communions,  or  religions, 
as  those  of  the  reformation^  and  the  Church 
of  Rome,  should  be  at  any  time  in  the  world, 
without  names  to  distinguish  them ;  because 
even  the  most  inconsiderable  sect  never  wanted 
a  name,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  what  their 
names  were  in  former  ages,  viz. :  From  the 
time  that  Popery  first  got  footing  in  some  par- 
ticular state,  or  kingdom,  till  its  full  establish- 
ment in  the  universal  visible  Church.  I  could 
ask  a  great  many  more  puzzling  questions, 
but  I  should  be  satisfied,  if  Protestants  can 
but  answer  the  few  I  have  put,  and  produce 
unquestionable  authority  for  proof  of  their 
answers:  As  Papists  can  do  to  prove  every 
material  circumstance  of  the  reformation ;  and 
as  both  Protestants  and  Papists  can  do  in  re- 
ference to  any  considerable  heresy,  that  ever 
was  broached  in  the  Church.  But  if  they  can 
give  no  tolerable  account  of  the  forementioned 
particulars,  as  I  am  sure  they  must  be  con- 
scious to  themselves  they  cannot ;  if  there  never 
was  an  historian  in  the  world,  that  wrote 
the  history  of  the  wonderful  change  from 
Protestancy  to  Popery,  under  whatever  names 
you  please ;  as   there    are    hundreds,  who  have 


written  the  history  of  the  reformation ;  then  it 
is  reasonable  to  conclude,  that  the  supposed 
change  is  a  mere  fiction,  and  that  any  grub- 
street  tale  has  full  as  good  a  foundation. 

I  doubt  not,  however,  but  that  by  the  art  of 
invention,  some  ingenious  hypothesis  may  be 
made-;  an  imaginary  scheme  may  be  formed  to 
show  the  metaphysical  possibility  of  a  thing, 
that  never  has  happened,  nor  ever  will  happen. 
But  this  way  will  not  do.  I  demand  not  the 
invention  of  a  fruitful  brain,  but  plain  facts, 
and  good  history  to  prove  them.  Nothing  less 
will  satisfy  me,  nor  indeed  any  man,  who  is 
not  fond  of  being  deceived.  I  desire  to  know 
the  true  history  of  Popery ;  I  mean  not  that 
Popery  which  was  established  every  where  upon 
the  ruins  of  paganism,  whereof  I  have  already 
given  a  very  good  account ;  but  of  that  Popery, 
which  we  suppose  to  be  the  younger  sister  of 
Protestantism.  I  desire  to  know  when  and  where 
this  unfortunate  babe,  so  hated  and  persecuted 
b}'  the  best  natural  people  in  Europe,  was  born, 
where  she  was  nursed,  who  were  her  parents 
and  masters.  What  memorable  adventures  she 
met  with,  when  she  made  her  first  appearance. 
By  what  trick,  or  slight  she  got  the  inheritance 
away  from  Protestancy,  her  supposed  elder 
sister,  nay  and  maintained  the  full  possession 
of  it  for  many  hundred  years.  In  a  word,  how 
she  came  to  be  mistress  of  the  whole  Christian 
world.  These  are  the  most  material  points,  for 
which  I  demand  authentic  history :  and  till  I 
have  some  good  account  of  them,  I  shall  con- 
tinue with  a  very  safe  and  easy  conscience  in 
my  belief,  that  the  religion,  which  now  is  called 
Popery,  is  as  ancient  as  Christianity,  and  that 
it  never  had  any  other  beginning,  than  what 
Christ  and  his  Apostles  gave  it. 


SECTION  11.— THE  SAME  ARGUMENTS   CONTINUED. 


Though  the  gentlemen  of  the  reformation  may 
find  it  too  hard  a  task  to  inform  us  how  Popery 
in  general  got  into  the  Church,  they  may,  per- 
haps, be    able  to   give    us  a  better   account  of 


some  particular  branches  of  it.  I  shall,  there- 
fore, to  avoid  being  tedious,  choose  only  one  of 
the  three,  I  have  already  spoken  of  I  mean 
the  mass :  which  being  the  most  solemn  worship 


SHORTEST   WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


233 


both  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Church,  could  not 
easily  steal  into  the  world  without  being  per- 
ceived, if  it  had  not  its  beginning  from  Christ 
and  his  Apostles.  I  must  likewise  observe,  that 
the  mass  is,  in  the  opinion  of  most  Protestants, 
the  very  rankest  part  of  Poper}',  and  the  most 
hated  b}^  them  ;  witness  the  sanguinary  laws, 
made  against  it  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time.  And 
therefore,  if  Protestancy  was  established  in  the 
world  before  Popery,  I  leave  any  man  of  sense 
to  judge  whether  the  mass  could  get  admittance 
without  the  greatest  diflBculty  and  resistance 
imaginable. 

However,  I  shall  give  one  remarkable  posi- 
tive proof  of  its  antiquity :  And  I  make  choice 
of  it,  because  every  Englishman,  who  has  but 
read  the  chronicles,  will  easily  apprehend  the 
force  of  it.  England  was  converted  from  Saxon 
paganism  to  Christianity  towards  the  end  of  the 
sixth  century ;  that  is,  about  five  hundred 
years  before  the  Norman  conquest,  and  about 
nine  hundred  years  before  the  reformation.  The 
persons  who  converted  it  were  sent  from  Rome  by 
pope  Gregory  the  Great ;  and  we  may  be  sure 
preached  and  established  the  religion  of  the  place 
from  whence  they  came ;  which  at  that  time 
flourished  in  all  parts  of  the  Christian  world.  The 
religion  they  brought  over  with  them,  continued 
in  England  without  any  alteration  from  its  first 
establishment  till  the  pretended  reformation : 
as  the  book  of  Homilies  plainly  owns  in  telling 
us  that  before  the  reformation^  "  whole  Christen- 
dom had  been  drowned  in  abominable  idolatry 
for  the  space  of  eight  hundred  years,  and  more  :  " 
for  I  presume  England  was  a  part  of  the  Chris- 
tendom it  speaks  of 

Hence,  it  follows,  first,  that  as  Popery  was 
the  religion  of  England  in  the  beginning  of 
the  reformation,  so  it  was  that  very  religion  to 
which  it  was  converted  nine  hundred  years 
before  by  St.  Austin,  and  his  fellow-missioners. 

It  follows,  secondly,  that  the  mass  and  Chris- 
tianity came  together  into  England.  Because, 
as  I  have  already  observed,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
but  that  they,  who  brought  their  religion  from 
Rome,    and  received  all    their    directions  from 


thence,  as  St.  Austin  and  his  fellow-laborers  did 
even  in  things  of  much  less  moment,  (witness 
holy  Bede's  history  of  England)  it  cannot  be 
doubted,  I  say,  but  they  established  the  same 
form  of  worship  in  England,  as  was  practised 
at  Rome. 

Now,  that  mass  was  at  that  time  said  at  Rome, 
is  manifest  from  St.  Greg.  8,  Hom.  upon  the 
Gospels,  where  we  find  these  remarkable  words : 
Quia  largienti  domino  missarum  solemnia  ter 
hodie  celebraturi  sumus,  loqui  diu  de  evangelica 
ledione  non  possumus.  That  is,  "  Since,  God 
willing,  I  shall  say  mass  thrice  to-day,  I  cannot 
be  very  long  in  my  discourse  upon  the  Gospel." 
This  was  spoken  by  St.  Gregory  on  Christmas 
Day  ;  which  is  the  only  day  in  the  whole  year, 
on  which  every  Roman  Catholic  priest  says 
m.ass  thrice.  And  it  is  an  unanswerable  proof, 
that  the  m.ass  so  well  established  in  the  Church 
of  Rome  at  the  time  when  England  was  con- 
verted, that  even  the  custom  of  saying  three 
masses  on  Christmas  day,  which  is  but  a  point 
of  discipline,  was  then  observed  in  that  Church. 

But  it  follows,  thirdly,  that  at  the  time, 
when  England  was  converted,  the  mass  was 
the  public  worship  of  the  whole  Christian 
Church.  Because  we  read  no  where,  that  there 
was  any  schism,  or  disagreement  about  that 
article  in  pope   Gregory's  time. 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  clear  and  intelligible 
account  that  the  mass  was  established  in  the 
whole  Christian  Church,  nine  hundred  years 
before  the  reformation  ;  and  so  well  established 
that  no  man  can  with  any  color,  or  probability 
of  reason  pretend  it  was  then  a  new  thing: 
and  if  any  one  should  pretend  it,  I  can  pro- 
duce unquestionable  authority  to  disprove  him. 

The  most  ancient  of  the  fathers  have  left 
us  an  account  of  the  manner  of  celebrating  mass 
in  their  times.  As  St.  Justinus,  Martyr,  Apol.  2. 
The  author  of  the  apostolic  constitutions,  L.  2.  c. 
57,  and  L.  8.  c.  5.  et  seq.  St.  Cyril  of  Jeru- 
salem Catech.  5,  Mystag.  Besides,  all  learned 
men  own  St.  Basil  and  St.  Chrysostom  to  be 
the  authors  of  the  liturgies,  that  bear  their 
name,  and  are  to  this  day    used  in  the  Greek 


234 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


Churcli.  The  Roman  liturgy  is  likewise  verj' 
ancient,  as  appears  from  the  sacramentary^  or 
ritual  of  pope  Gregory  the  Great,  who  abridged 
the  liturgy  of  pope  Gelasius,  a  father  of  the 
fifth  age ;  and  he  only  put  it  into  some  better 
order,  with  a  few  inconsiderable  alterations 
made  in  it.  So  that  any  impartial  reader  of 
antiquit}'-  will  find  the  whole  Church  at  mass 
the  fourth  and  fifth  century,  and  a  cloud  of 
venerable  witnesses  to  attest  it. 

But  I  shall  in  a  few  words  trace  it  even  to 
the  third  and  second  century ;  and  that,  with 
the  help  of  four  substantial  Protestant  wit- 
nesses ;  I  mean,  the  four  Magdeburgians,  or 
Centuriators,  who  very  honestly  own  the  fact, 
in  censuring  St.  Ignatius,  the  disciple  of  St. 
John,  the  holj'  martyr  Irenaeus,  St.  Cyprian, 
St.  Martial  and  Tertullian,  for  teaching  the 
doctrine  of  the  mass  ;  the  substance  or  essence 
whereof  consists  precisely  in  being  "  an  un- 
blood}'  sacrifice  offered  to  God  by  the  priests 
of  the  new  law  upon  an  altar : "  or,  what 
amounts  to  the  same  :  "  An  external  oblation  of 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  under  the  forms 
of  bread  and  wine."  For,  as  to  the  ceremonies, 
they  belong  only  to  the  decency,  or  solemnity, 
but  are  no  part  of  the  substance  of  the  mass. 
And,  therefore,  as  they  were  gradually  intro- 
duced in  the  primitive  ages ;  so,  if  the  Church 
thought  fitting,  she  might  even  now  make 
alterations  in  them. 

This  being  premised,  let  us  see  what  the 
Centuriators  have  blamed  in  the  forementioned 
fathers  of  the  second  and  third  age.  St.  Igna- 
tius is  censured  by  them  for  using  these  words, 
Offerre  et  immolare  sacrificium  :  Epist.  ad 
Smern :  "  to  immolate,  or  offer  sacrifice."  St. 
Irenaeus  for  saying,  "that  Christ  had  taught 
a  new  oblation  in  the  New  Testament,  which 
the  Church  receiving  from  the  Apostles  does 
offer  throughout  the  whole  world;"  Iren.  L.  4, 
c.  32.  St.  C3rprian  is  accused  of  superstition 
for  saying,  "  that  the  priest  is  Christ's  rep- 
resentative, and  offers  sacrifice  to  God  the 
Father  ;"  Cyp.  L.  2,  c.  3.  They  reprehend  Ter- 
tullian for  using  the  words  Sacrificium  offerre., 


"  to  offer  sacrifice."  L.  de  cocena  domini.  And 
St.  Martial  for  saying,  "  that  sacrifice  is  offered 
to  God,  the  Creator,  upon  the  altar." 

Here  is  a  plain  confession  of  four  Protestant 
writers,  that  mass  was  said  in  the  second  and 
third  century,  and  five  eminent  fathers  of  those 
ages  are  quoted  for  it.  St.  Ignatius  had  re- 
ceived his  doctrine  from  St.  John  himself,  and 
been  eye-witness  of  his  actions  ;  and  the  rest 
lived  so  near  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  that  I 
dare  presume  to  say,  they  were  somewhat  bet- 
ter acquainted  with  what  they  had  taught  and 
practiced,  than  the  pretended  reformers,  who 
appeared  in  the  world  some  twelve,  or  thirteen 
hundred  years  after.  Yet  then  it  was,  that 
this  august  and  venerable  sacrifice,  which  the 
prophet  Malachy  had  foretold,  "  should  be 
offered  up  to  God  from  east  to  west ;"  Mai.  i. 
II,  which  for  near  fifteen  hundred  years 
together,  had  been  the  relief  of  departed  souls, 
the  consolation  of  the  just,  and  sanctuary  of 
sinners,  was,  by  the  impiety  of  a  few  mis- 
creants, rendered  the  object  of  hatred  and  con- 
tempt, and  banished  out  of  the  Church,  as  far 
as  in  them  lay. 

However  this  be,  I  am  sensible  I  have 
proved  more  than  I  needed :  because  my  only 
business  is  to  put  Protestants  to  their  proof 
concerning  the  beginning  of  the  mass.  I  am 
but  the  defendant,  they  are  the  plaintiff's.  They 
are,  therefore,  bound  to  make  good  their  charge, 
and  show  that  the  mass  is  a  Popish  invention, 
and  has  no  foundation  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
and  his  Apostles ;  that  the  primitive  Christians 
knew  nothing  of  it,  and  that,  by  consequence, 
it  had  its  beginning  in  some  distant  age  from 
the  time  of  the  Apostles. 

I  have  already  given  my  reason  to  show  the 
moral  impossibility  of  introducing  it  without 
the  greatest  opposition,  noise,  and  trouble,  in 
case  the  primitive  Church  was  wholly  a 
stranger  to  it.  I  have  also  made  it  evident, 
that  changes,  contests,  and  troubles  can  never 
happen  in  Church,  or  state,  without  being 
recorded  in  some  history  of  the  times,  in  which 
they   happened.       If,    therefore,    the    mass    be 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


235 


■\\ithout  foundation  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and 
his  Apostles,  if  the  use  of  it  was  unknown  in 
the  primitive  Church,  I  desire  any  Protestant 
for  the  credit  and  reputation  of  his  cause,  and 
the  satisfaction  of  tender  consciences,  to  let  us 
know  the  names  of  the  writers  who  lived  about 
the  time,  when  the  mass  was  first  brought  into 
the  Church,  and  have  written  the  history  of  it. 
For  I  presume,  it  is  from  them  we  should  cer- 
tainlj'  learn,  who  were  the  first  inventors,  or 
l^romoters  of  it.  How,  where  and  when  such 
an  extraordinary  novelty  was  first  brought 
into  credit.  And  surely,  they  will  not  conceal 
from  us  one  very  remarkable  particular,  viz.  : 
Who  was  the  first  massiiig  pope,  bishop,  or 
priest.  I  expect  we  shall  also  be  informed, 
what  resistance  it  met  with;  who  were  the 
zealous  Protestant  bishops  that  opposed  it. 
What  disturbances  it  raised,  in  what  councils 
it  was  condemned,  and  what  reluctance  the  peo- 
ple were  at  first  brought  to  be  present  at  it. 

These  surely,  and  other  such  remarkable 
facts  will  be  the  subject  of  the  histories  written 
in,  or  about  the  time,  in  which  they  happened. 
But  if  no  account  of  them  appears  in  any 
ancient,  or  creditable  history,  I  must  repeat, 
what  I  have  already  laid  down,  as  a  principle, 
viz. :  That  such  a  silence,  in  a  matter  of  the 
greatest  importance,  is  a  proof  amounting  to  a 
moral  demonstration,  that  they  never  happened 
at  all ;  that  the  pretended  change  from  a  total 
denial,  or  ignorance  of  the  mass^  to  an  entire 
establishment  of  it,  is  altogether  fictitious ;  and 
that,  by  consequence,  the  mass  had  its  begin- 
ning from  the  institution  of  Christ,  and  the 
doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Apostles,  according 
to  St.  Austin's  judgment,  who,  writing  against 
the  Donatists,  gives  this  for  a  rule :  "  That 
when  any  doctrine  is  found  generally  received 
in  the  visible  Church,  in  any  age  whatsoever, 
whereof  there  is  no  certain  author,  or  begin- 
ning to  be  found ;  then  it  is  sure,  that  such  a 
doctrine  came  down  from  Christ  and  his 
Apostles."  L.  4.  de  bap.  c.  6,  v.  24,  as  also  L. 
de  Unit.  Eccl.  c.   iq. 

If  any  one  pretends,  that   the  mass  crept  in 


by  insensible  degrees,  and  so  made  no  noise, 
or  disturbances  to  be  taken  notice  of  by  any 
historian ;  the  answer  is  so  very  weak,  that  I 
am  almost  ashamed  to  confute  it  seriously. 
For  first:  The  thing  is  without  example;  and 
I  defy  Protestants  to  produce  one  single  instance 
of  the  like  nature  in  any  considerable  heresy 
owned  as  such  by  both  sides.  For  let  them 
name  what  heresy  they  please,  as  that  of  the 
Arians,  Nestorians,  Eutychians,  Monothelites, 
Pelagians,  Donatists,  Novatians,  etc.,  they  all 
caused  great  disturbances  in  the  Church ; 
histories  of  them  have  been  written,  and  we 
can  show  how,  where  and  when  they  began ; 
what  progress  they  made,  what  fate  they  met 
with,  and  other  particulars:  and  to  pretend 
that  Popery  alone,  supposing  it  to  be  a  com- 
pound of  gross  errors,  or  any  branch  of  it,  but 
particularly  the  mass^  should  steal  into  the 
Church  like  a  thief  in  the  night,  without 
being  perceived,  or  opposed  by  anybody,  is  as 
mere  a  whim,  as  ever  was  hatched  in  a  dis- 
tracted  brain. 

But,  secondly :  The  thing  will  appear  to  be 
altogether  impracticable,  if  we  consider  how 
watchful  the  Church  has  always  been  in  dis- 
covering any  heresy,  and  how  vigorous  in 
opposing  the  growth  of  it.  So  that  many  have 
been  suppressed  at  their  very  appearance,  as 
Quietism  was  toward  the  end  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. And  it  is  an  undeniable  truth,  that  the 
Church  has  exerted  herself  with  the  same 
watchfulness  and  vigor  in  all  ages,  without 
the  least  regard  to  the  dignity,  or  character 
of  the  persons,  who  by  mistake,  or  otherwise, 
endeavored  to  corrupt  the  purity  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith. 

Thus,  though  Tertullian  and  Origen  were 
two  great  pillars  of  the  Church  in  their  time, 
and  their  orthodox  writings  are  justly  valued 
by  all  men  of  learning,  yet  the  Church  was 
watchful  enough  to  discover  the  tares  that 
grew  up  amongst  the  wheat ;  and  the  reputa- 
tion neither  of  their  wit,  nor  learning  could 
save  their  errors  from  being  condemned.  The 
same    may    be   said    of  some    errors   held    by 


236 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO  END   DISPUTES. 


Lactantius,  Amobius,  Cassianus,  and  others, 
which  could  not  escape  the  watchful  eye  of  the 
Church,  and  were  accordingly  censured  by  her. 
Nay,  what  is  most  remarkable,  the  error  of  the 
holy  bishop  and  martyr,  St.  Cyprian,  who  was 
a  man  of  an  extraordinary  character,  was  very 
warmly  opposed,  and  underwent  the  same  fate. 
So  true  it  is,  that  the  Church  has  alwa3^s  been 
extremely  jealous  of  the  purity  of  her  faith ; 
watchful,  in  detecting  the  least  error  again.st  it ; 
and  inflexible,  in  doing  justice  upon  it.  And 
is  it  then  possible,  that  a  thing  so  odious  to 
Protestants,  as  the  mass,  should  either  creep 
into  the  Church  without  being  perceived:  or 
if  perceived,  should  not  be  immediately  opposed 
and  condemned !  Is  it  probable,  that  the  gross 
errors  of  Popery  should  be  the  only  criminals, 
that  escaped  the  hands  of  justice?  But  the 
thing  is  so  very  gross  in  itself,  so  contradictory 
to  experience,  and  inconsistent  with  reason  that 
it  confutes  itself.  I  shall  add  two  short  remarks 
of  no  small  importance. 

I  observe,  first,  That  if  the  reformed  religion 
had  antiquity  on  its  side,  Martin  Litther,  the 
first  and  principal  reformer,  who  neither  wanted 
wit,  nor  learning,  would  not  have  overlooked,  or 
slighted  an  advantage  of  that  importance ; 
because  the  ancient  religion  is  certainl}'  the  true 
one.  And,  therefore,  since  it  is  an  undeniable 
fact,  that  this  capital  reformer,  instead  of  appeal- 
ing to  the  ancient  fathers,  treated  them  as  pro- 
fessed enemies,  naj',  declared  in  express  terms, 
as  will  appear  in  the  following  chapter,  that 
fathers,  councils,  and  the  practice  of  ages  was 
against  him,  it  follows  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
reformation  can  lay  no  claim  to  antiquity,  but 
has  the  infamous  mark  of  novelty  stamped 
upon  it. 

I  observe,  secondly,  That  though  I  have 
named  several  of  the  ancient  fathers,  who  were 
censured  for  particular  error,  I  have  never 
heard  of  any  father,  or  doctor  of  the  Church  in 
all   antiquity,  who   ever   was   censured  for  any 


Popish  error.  I  mean,  for  any  of  those  pre- 
tended errors,  which  Protestants  call  Poperj', 
as  the  mass,  purgatory,  invocation  of  saints,  etc. 
Which,  however,  are  clearly  found  in  their  writ- 
ings. This  is  a  demonstration,  that  the  ancient 
Church  did  not  look  upon  them  as  errors,  but 
as  orthodox  doctrine.  For  had  they  been  looked 
upon  as  errors,  they  could  not  have  escaped  the 
censure  of  the  Church.  As,  for  instance,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Mass  would  have  been  no  less 
censured  in  St.  Cyprian  than  his  teaching  the 
rebaptism  of  persons  baptized  by  heretics  ;  and 
since  the  one  was  really  condemned,  and  not  the 
other,  it  is  an  unanswerable  proof,  that  the 
Mass  was  held  to  be  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and 
his  Apostles. 

I  shall  conclude  with  summing  up  the  princi- 
pal heads  of  the  argument,  I  have  handled  in 
this  chapter,  that  the  reader  may  have  a  clear 
view  of  them  at  once. 

If  Protestancy,  as  opposite  to  Popery,  be  the 
true  religion,  then  it  is  that  religion,  which  was 
taught  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles ;  and  by  con- 
sequence, Protestancy  had  a  being,  before  Popery. 
If  so,  then  it  follows  that  there  happened  in  some 
age,  or  other,  an  entire  change  from  Protestancy 
to  Popery,  which  was  in  the  possession  of  the 
whole  Church  for  many  hundred  years.  But  it 
is  morally  impossible,  that  such  a  change  should 
happen  without  opposition,  nay,  without  causing 
great  disturbances  both  in  Church  and  State ; 
and  it  is  without  example,  that  such  consider- 
able events  should  neither  be  recorded  in  anjr 
histories  written  about  the  time  when  they  hap- 
pened, nor  transmitted  to  posterity  b}'^  writers  of 
the  following  age  ;  therefore,  if  Protestants  can- 
not produce  any  such  history,  as  it  is  certain 
they  cannot,  the  pretended  change  from  Protes- 
tancy to  Popery  is  wholly  groundless  ;  and  by 
consequence,  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
is  as  ancient  as  Christianity  :  and  her  enemies 
are  guilty  of  as  many  calumnies,  as  they  lay 
errors  to  her  charge. 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


237 


SECTION    111.— OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 


Obj.  I.  The  whole  argument  of  this  chapter 
amounts  to  no  more,  than  a  mere  negative  proof; 
and  therefore  is  not  conclusive. 

Ans.  That  some  negative  arguments  are  as 
strong,  as  an}^  positive  demonstration ;  though 
there  be  others,  that  are  frivolous  and  childish. 
As,  for  instance :  it  is  as  strong  a  proof  as 
any  positive  demonstration,  that  Great  Britain 
never  was  conquered  by  the  Turks,  because  no 
history  has  ever  made  mention  of  it :  and  a 
man  that  should  refuse  to  yield  to  such  a 
proof,  because  it  is  but  a  negative  one,  would 
justly  deserve  to  be  cudgeled  into  better  reason. 
But  if  any  oue  should  seriously  maintain,  that 
neither  William  the  Conqueror,  nor  Henry  the 
VIII.  ever  eat  black  puddings,  because  the  fact 
is  not  recorded  in  any  histor};- ;  I  believe  he 
would  not  get  the  reputation  of  a  profound  wit 
by  it.  Now  these  two  specimens  may  in  some 
measure  direct  us  to  distinguish  a  good  negative 
argument  from  a  bad  one :  and  I  dare  confi- 
dently say,  that  the  universal  silence  of  histor- 
ians proves  my  points  as  effectually,  as  that 
Great  Britain  never  was  conquered  by  the 
Turks. 

Obj.  2.  Praying  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
jubilees,  and  celibacy  of  priests,  were  not 
practised  in  the  ancient  Church. 

Ans.  Though  all  this  were  true,  the  objection 
is  impertinent :  because  no  article  of  faith  is 
concerned  in  it. 

This,  and  the  four  following  objections  are 
taken  out  of  a  little  anonymous  book,  entitled, 
"  Friendly  and  seasonable  advice  to  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  England."  But  though  the  book 
be  little  in  bulk,  it  contains  the  largest  collec- 
tion of  bare-faced  lies  and  calumnies,  that  ever 
were  crowded  together  under  one  cover.  The 
author,  whoever  he  may  be,  has,  perhaps, 
already  accounted  for  it  before  the  great  tri- 
bunal ;  for  it  was  written  full  thirty  years  ago. 
But  if  he  be  still  alive,  I  cannot  do  less  than 
return  the  favor  of  his  friendly  and  seasonable 


advice,  by  advising  him  to  repent  while  it  is 
yet  time,  and  atone  for  the  wrong  he  has  done 
to  truth. 

Obj.  3.  "The  use  of  images,"  says  this 
author,  "  can  be  derived  no  higher  (as  to  its 
being  decreed)  than  the  second  council  of  Nice, 
anno  7S7." 

Ans.  The  consubstantiality  of  the  Son  can 
be  derived  no  higher  (as  to  its  being  decreed) 
than  the  first  council  of  Nice,  anno,  325.  And 
is  this  a  good  proof  that  it  was  not  the  faith 
of  the  Church  in  the  three  first  centuries  ? 

However,  with  the  adviser's  good  leave,  even 
the  actual  use  of  images  was  introduced  into 
the  Church  long  before  the  lawfulness  of  it 
was  defined  in  the  second  Nicene-council.  For 
how  could  it  otherwise  have  occasioned  the 
heresy  of  the  Incouoclasts,  or  image-breakers, 
which  was  condemned  in  that  council  ?  Though, 
in  reality,  it  is  nothing  to  the  purpose  to  know, 
when  the  actual  use  of  them  first  became  the 
public  practice :  For  it  is  certain  the  Church 
never  obliged  the  faithful  to  it  as  a  thing 
essential  to  Christianity.  On  the  contrary,  it 
is  a  point  of  discipline  only,  which  was  not 
universally  practised,  till  idolatry  was  utterly 
extinguished  in  Christendom.  But  since  that 
time,  the  Church  had  reason  to  declare,  "  That 
the  images  of  Christ  and  his  Saints  are  to  be 
retained :  And  that  a  due  honor,  and  venera- 
tion is  to  be  given  to  them."  Cone.  Trid. 
Sess.  25.  Nor  do  I  see  how  any  thing  of 
moment  can  be  objected  against  it.  But  to  a 
thinking  spectator,  it  cannot  but  appear  some- 
what odd,  that  the  Church  of  England  should 
admit  the  pictures  of  Moses  and  Aaron  into 
her  churches,  and  banish  those  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  his  Apostles. 

Obj.  4.  "  The  administering  the  sacrament  in 
one  kind  (says  the  friendly  adviser,  p.  15,)  is  no 
older  than  the  council  of  Constance." 

Ans.  If  he  means,  that  the  Church's  faith 
before  that  council,  was,  that  "  administering  the 


238 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


sacrament  is  one  kind  in  contrary  to  Christ's 
institution."  (as  he  must  mean,  if  he  pretends 
to  speak  to  the  purpose,)  his  assertion  is  flatly 
false.  But  if  his  meaning  be,  that  the  council 
of  Constance  ordered,  that  the  sacrament  should 
from  that  time  forward  be  administered  to  the 
laity  in  one  kind  only  ;  though  the  fact  be  true, 
the  objection  is  foreign  to  the  matter  under 
debate ;  if  it  be  made  evident,  that  "  receiving 
under  one,  or  both  kinds,  is  a  point  of  discipline 
only." 

Now,  that  it  has  always  been  regarded  by 
the  Church  as  such,  is  an  undeniable  truth ; 
because  it  is  without  dispute,  that  in  the 
primitive  ages  the  sacrament  was  received  some- 
times in  both  kinds,  sometimes  in  one.  I 
shall  not  need  to  prove  the  former;  and  there 
are  three  undeniable  instances  of  the  latter 
from  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Church. 

First.  In  the  communion  of  infants,  who  were 
allowed  to  drink  of  the  cup,  without  receiving 
the  consecrated  host.  Cyp.  L.  de  lapsis. 

Secondly.  In  domestic  communions  :  the  faith- 
ful being  permitted  by  reason  of  the  persecu- 
tion in  the  second  and  third  age,  to  carry 
consecrated  hosts  to  their  own  houses  for  private 
communions  in  one  kind  only.  Tert.  L.  2, 
and  Uxoram.  c.  5,  S.  Cyp.  L.  de  lapsis. 

And  thirdly.  In  the  manner  frequently  used 
of  administering  the  sacrament,  to  the  sick. 
Euseb.   Lib.  6,  Hist.  c.  44,  p.  246. 

All  which  are  unanswerable  proofs,  that  the 
manner  of  receiving  the  communion  either  in 
one,  or  both  kinds,  was  regarded  by  the  primitive 
Church,  as  a  point  of  discipline  only;  and, 
therefore,  changeable  according  as  the  nature, 
or  exigency  of  circumstances  should  require. 
And  it  cannot  be  questioned  but  the  primitive 
Church  understood  the  meaning  of  Christ's 
precept  and  institution  somewhat  better  than 
our  late  reformers;  and  would  never  have 
allowed  of  a  communion  under  one  kind  onl}', 
upon  any  exigency  whatsoever,  if  they  had 
looked  upon  it  as  a  mangling  of  the  sacrament, 
or  a  violation  of  Christ's  ordinance. 

And,    therefore,    what    the    friendly    adviser 


says,  p.  10,  that  the  taking  away  the  cup  from 
the  laity  is  contrary  to  our  Saviour's  institution, 
is  more  than  he  can  make  out.  But  what  he 
adds,  viz. :  "  That  the  very  council  of  Constance, 
which  first  enjoined  communion  in  one  kind, 
confesses,  that  it  is  contrary  to  our  Saviour's 
institution,"  is  a  calumny  not  to  be  matched 
but  by  many  others  of  his  own  forging  in  the 
same  book.  For  it  is  in  eflfect  to  call  the 
council  an  assembly  either  of  Atheists,  or  of 
fools  and  madmen.  For  who  but  Atheists  and 
madmen  are  capable  of  making  a  decree  like 
this  ?  viz. :  "  Notwithstanding  that  Christ  has 
commanded  all  men  to  receive  the  sacrament 
in  both  kinds,  it  shall  be  given  in  one  kind 
only  to  the  people."  Surely  a  man  must  re- 
nounce his  reason  to  judge,  that  an  assembly 
of  Christian  bishops  and  pastors,  in  their  senses, 
should  make  such  a  mad  and  impious  decree  in 
the  face  of  the  whole  world. 

As  to  the  council's  7ion  obstante^  etc.  Which 
is  made  the  pretence  for  this  calumny,  the 
obvious  and  genuine  meaning  of  it  is  this,  viz. : 
"  Not\nthstanding  that  our  Saviour  instituted 
the  sacrament  in  both  kinds,  all  are  not  com. 
manded  and  bound  to  receive  it  in  both  kinds." 
Which  is  no  less  true,  than  to  say,  "  that 
though  God  has  instituted  all  sorts  of  meats 
for  the  use  of  mankind,  yet  all  men  are  not 
commanded  nor  bound  toeat  of  all  sorts  of  meats." 
Nay,  the  Antichians  were  by  the  Apostles  ex- 
pressly forbid  blood  and  things  strangled.  Both 
kinds,  indeed,  v/ere  consecrated  by  Christ, 
that  both  might  be  offered  up  in  sacrifice,  and 
be  a  perfect  representation  of  his  death  by  the 
mystical  separation  of  his  body  and  blood.  But 
since  neither  laymen,  nor  women  are  priests, 
as  they  have  no  power  to  consecrate,  so  they 
are  not  within  the  command  of  receiving  both 
kinds. 

Obj.  5.  "  The  doctrine  of  Purgatory  (says 
the  friendly  adviser,  p.  12),  was  first  built  upon 
the  credit  of  those  fabulous  dialogues  attributed 
to  Gregory  the  first." 

Ans.    This  is  very  strange.     For,    according  , 
to    the    best    of   my    skill    in    chronology,   St. 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


239 


Austin  lived  about  two  hundred  years  before 
St.  Gregory :  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  is  more 
ancient  than  St.  Austin  ;  and  Tertullian  than 
both.  Yet  these,  and  many  more  of  the  same 
antiquity,  teach  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory  as 
fully  and  clearly,  as  the  council  of  Trent,  Let 
us  hear  Air.  Thorndike,  an  eminent  Protestant 
divine.  "  The  practice,"  saj's  he,  "  of  the 
Church  interceding  for  them  [the  dead]  at  the 
celebration  of  the  Eucharist,  is  so  general  and 
so  ancient,  that  it  cannot  be  thought  to  have 
come  in  upon  imposture,  but  that  the  same 
aspersion  will  seem  to  take  hold  of  the  com- 
mon Christianity."  Thomdike's  just  weights 
and  measures,  c.  16,  p.  106. 

This  is  somewhat  more  charitable  and  man- 
nerly, than  what  the  friendly  adviser  tells  us, 
p.  36.  "  That  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory  has 
been  decreed  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  only  to 
oblige  people  to  give  liberally  for  themselves, 
or  their  deceased  friends  to  those,  who  sell 
their  prayers  so  commonly,  that  they  occasioned 
that  proverb,  '  no  penny,  no  pater  noster.'  " 

What  wonderful  exploits  will  not  such  logic 
as  this  perform  against  Popery!  But,  if  it 
should  be  applied  to  baptisms  and  burials  in 
the  Church  of  England,  I  believe  the  parsons' 
would  not  be  very  much  pleased  with  it.  For 
let  me  tell  the  friendly  adviser,  "no  penny,  no 
pater  noster,"  is  much  truer  in  Protestant  bap- 
tisms and  burials,  than  in  Popish  masses  for 
the  dead.  For  I  fear  there  are'  but  few  parsons 
so  disinterested,  as  to  baptize,  or  bury  without 
their  fee ;  whereas,  there  are  thousands  of  masses 
said  for  the  dead,  without  the  least  view,  or 
prospect  of  gain. 

Obj.  6.  The  adviser  is  likewise  pleased  to 
acquaint  us,  p.  14,  that  auricular  confession  to 
a  priest  was  never  imposed  as  necessary,  till 
the  Lateran  council,  anno,  12 15,  Can.  21. 

Ans.  I  must  here  return  upon  him  with  my 
former  argument,  viz.:  That  no  man  of  common 
sense  will  believe  him,  unless  he  can  produce 
some  history  of  the  thirteenth  century,  giving 
an  account  of  the  opposition  which  this  new 
odious  article  met  with,  and  the  disturbances  it 


occasioned  in  the  Church.  For  it  is  as  iucrea- 
ible,  that  a  new  doctrine,  so  hateful  and  repug- 
nant to  human  nature,  as  that  of  auricular  con- 
fession, after  its  having  been  believed  unneces- 
sary to  salvation  for  near  twelve  hundred  years, 
should  be  imposed  upon  the  Church  as  neces- 
sary, and  submitted  to  without  opposition,  noise, 
or  trouble  ;  this  I  say,  is  as  incredible  as  the 
most  fabulous  romance,  that  ever  was  invented. 
Since,  therefore,  the  canon  of  the  Lateran  council 
relating  to  the  point  in  question,  was  effectu- 
ally received  by  the  universal  Church  without 
any  manner  of  opposition,  or  trouble,  it  is  a 
demonstration,  that  it  defined  nothing  but  the 
ancient  faith  of  the  Church,  nor  imposed  that 
as  a  necessary  duty,  which  had  been  believed 
unnecessary  before. 

The  naked  truth  of  the  whole  matter  is  this. 
The  obligation,  or  necessity  of  auricular  con- 
fession, had  always  been  the  faith  of  the 
Church.  But  there  was  a  great  neglect  in  the 
practice  of  it  among  Christians ;  some  delaying 
it  from  year  to  year,  and  others  putting  it  off 
to  their  very  last  sickness.  To  put  a  stop  to 
this  evil,  the  Lateran  council  fixed  the  time ; 
and  by  its  twenty-first  canon  obliges  all  the 
faithful,  "  to  confess  once  a  year,  and  receive 
the  sacrament  at  Easter."  And  let  any  one 
judge,  whether  this  be  imposing  a  new  article 
of  faith,  as  the  adviser  tells  us.  But  it  is  his 
method  to  charge  through  thick  and  thin,  and 
calumniate  boldly,  in  hopes,  that  at  least  some 
part  of  the  dirt  he  throws  at  us  may  stick. 

Obj.  7.  No  man  will  at  least  deu}',  that  the 
article  of  Tran substantiation,  was  first  coined 
in  the  Lateran  council. 

Ans.  I  shall  make  bold  both  to  deny  it,  and 
prove  it  to  be  false.  The  friendly  adviser,  p.  15, 
calls  Transubstantiation  the  discriminating 
doctrine  of  our  Church,  yet  at  the  same  time, 
has  the  confidence  to  tell  us,  that  our  own 
doctrine  acknowledges,  that  it  was  not  held  by 
the  fathers.  For  which  he  quotes  Valentia. 
Secondly,  That  our  schoolmen  confess,  that 
Transubstantiation  is  not  ancient.  For  which 
Suarez  is  quoted.     And  thirdly,  that  Scotus  and 


240 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


Duranus  plainlj'  deny  it.  It  is  very  strange, 
that  four  such  eminent  divines,  and  noted 
Papists  should  betray  their  own  Church  in  a 
discriminating  point  of  doctiiiie.  But  false 
quotations  make  as  fine  a  show  in  the  margin 
as  true  ones :  and  ignorant  people,  for  whom 
alone  the  friendly  adviser  has  calculated  his 
treatise,  will  look  upon  him  as  a  scholar  of  the 
'first  magnitude,  and  easily  mistake  bold  for- 
geries, for  deep  learning. 

But  to  give  a  direct  answer  to  the  objection, 
the  Lateran  council  decreed  nothing  but  the 
ancient  faith  of  the  Church.  For  there  is  a 
large  diflference  between  coining  words,  and 
coining  articles  of  faith.  All  men  of  learning 
know,  that  the  word  consubstantial  was  first 
made  use  of  in  the  great  council  of  Nice,  to 
express  the  divinity  of  Christ  against  the 
Arians.  Was  this,  then,  coining  a  new  article 
of  faith  ?  No,  it  was  only  coining  a  new  word 
to  express  the  ancient  faith,  and  distinguish 
Catholics  from  Arians.  In  like  manner,  there- 
fore, the  word  transubstantiation  was  first  used 
in  the  fourth  Lateran  council,  to  express  the 
ancient  faith  in  relation  to  the  mystery  of  the 
holy  Eucharist,  as  appears  from  the  writings 
of  the  ancient  fathers. 

The  word  transubstantiation  signifies  a  change 
of  one  substance  into  another ;  and  in  relation 
to  the  Eucharist,  it  signifies  a  change  of  the 
bread  into  the  body,  and  of  the  wine  into  the 
blood  of  our  Saviour,  Christ,  made  by  the  words 
of  consecration :  now  let  us  see  whether  the 
ancient  fathers  have  not  very  plainly  taught 
this  doctrine. 

St.  Cyril,  of  Jerusalem,  in  Catech.  4,  myst. 
"  Since  therefore,  Christ  himself  does  thus 
afi&rm,  and  say  of  the  bread,  '  this  is  my 
body,'  who  from  henceforward  dares  be  so  bold 
as  to  doubt  of  it  ?  And  since  the  same  does 
assure  us,  and  say,  '  This  is  my  blood,'  who 
I  sa}!-,  can  doubt  of  it,  and  say  it  is  not  his 
blood  ?  In  Cana  of  Gallilee,  he  once  with 
his  sole  will  turned  water  into  wine,  which 
much  resembles  blood.  And  does  he  not  deserve 
to  be  credited  that  he  changed  wine  into  blood  ?  " 


St.  Greg.  Nyssen.  in  Orat.  Catec.  c.  37.  "  I 
do,  therefore,  now  rightly  believe,  that  the  bread 
sanctified  by  the  word  of  God,  is  changed  into 
the  body  of  God  the  word.  And  here,  like- 
wise, the  bread,  as  the  Apostles  say,  is  sanctified 
by  the  word  of  God  and  prayer.  Not  so,  that 
by  being  eaten  it  becomes  the  body  of  the  word, 
but  because  it  is  suddenly  changed  into  his 
body,  by  this  word,  '  this  is  my  body.'  And 
this  is  effected  by  the  virtue  of  benediction ; 
by  which  the  nature  of  those  things,  which 
appear,  is  transubstantiated  into  it." 

St.  Chrysost.  Hom.  83,  in  Matt.,  "  the  things 
we  propose,  are  not  done  by  human  power ;  he, 
that  wrought  these  things,  at  his  last  supper, 
is  the  author  of  what  is  done  here.  We  hold 
but  the  place  of  ministers,  but  he  that  sanctifies 
and  changes  them,  is  Christ  himself." 

St.  Ambrose  de  his,  qui  Mysteriis  initiantur, 
c.  9.  "  If  Christ  by  his  words  was  able  to 
make  something  of  nothing,  shall  he  not  be 
thought  able  to  change  one  thing  into  another  ?" 

St.  Jerome,  Epist.  ad  Heliod.  "  God  forbid, 
that  I  should  speak  detractingly  of  those  men, 
[bishops]  who  succeeding  the  Apostles  in  their 
functions,  do  make  the  body  of  Christ  with 
their  sacred  mouth." 

These  are  a  small  part  of  the  testimonies  of 
the  ancient  fathers,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  who 
have  explained  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantia- 
tion in  as  clear  terms,  as  any  Roman  Catholic 
divine  can  now  do.  It  is,  therefore,  a  calumny 
to  say,  that  it  was  imposed  upon  the  Church  by 
the  Lateran  council,  which  was  held  above  seven 
hundred  years  after  the  fathers,  quoted  by  me, 
explained  it  in  their  writings.  The  word  was 
new  indeed,  but  the  doctrine  is  as  ancient  as  the 
Church  of  Christ.  Adamus  Francisci  (marg. 
Theol.  p.  256)  confesses,  that  "  transubstantiation 
entered  early  into  the  Church."  And  Antonius 
de  Ada,  mo.  another  Protestant  writer  ( Anat.  Miss. 
p.  36)  fairly  owns,  "  that  he  has  not  hitherto 
been  able  to  know,  when  this  opinion  of  the  real 
and  bodily  being  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament  did 
begin  ;"  which,  according  to  St.  Austin's  maxim 
against  the  Donatists,  is  owning  in  effect,  that 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


241 


it  had  its  beginning  from  Christ  and  his  Apostles. 
See  above,  p.  131. 

But  how  could  Transubstantiation  be  coined 
into  an  article  of  faith  in  the  Lateran  council, 
which  was  held,  anno  12 15,  when  all  the  world 
knows  that  Berengarius  was  the  author  of  a 
heresy  against  it  in  the  eleventh  century  ;  and 
in  that  very  century  was  condemned  by  no  less 
than  eleven  national,  or  provincial  councils. 
The  last  whereof,  held  at  Placentia,  anno  1094, 
defines,  "That  the  bread  and  wine,  when  they 
are  consecrated  upon  the  altar,  are  truly  and 
essentially  changed  into  the  body  and  blood  of 
our  Lord."  Tom.  10,  Cone.  Lat.  p.  502.  And 
in  the  Roman  council,  anno  1079,  Berengarius 
was  obliged  to  make  his  retractation  in  this  form. 


"  I,  Berengarius,  with  my  heart  believe,  and 
with  my  tongue  confess,  that  the  bread  and  wine, 
which  are  placed  upon  the  altar,  are  by  the 
mystery  of  holy  prayer,  and  the  words  of  our 
Redeemer,  substantially  changed  into  the  true 
and  proper,  and  life-giving  flesh  and  blood  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Both  which  are  con- 
vincing proofs,  that  Dr.  Cosen  imposes  i:pon  his 
reader  in  his  history  of  Transubstantiation ; 
when  he  tells  us,  p.  159,  "That  it  was  invented 
about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  con- 
firmed by  no  ecclesiastical,  or  papal  decree  before 
the  year  12 15,  unless  he  means  the  word  instead 
of  the  thing  signified  by  it,  which  is  trifling 
instead  of  proving. 


SECTION    IV.— THE   ADVISER'S    SYSTEM  CONCERNING  THE  FIRST  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  POPERY. 


To  return  once  more  to  our  friendly  adviser,  I 
shall  now  take  under  consideration  his  wonder- 
ful contrivance  to  bring  in  Popery  in  the  dark. 
So  that  if  we  believe  him,  it  groped  its  way  into 
the  universal  Church,  without  being  perceived, 
or  opposed  by  any  body.  Now  here  lies  the 
usefulness  and  ingenuity  of  the  contrivance. 
Popery  was  certainly  in  possession  of  the  univer- 
sal visible  Church  for  many  hundred  years  before 
the  reformation.  The  fact  is  so  unquestionable, 
that  impudence  itself  cannot  deny  it.  For  if  it 
could,  the  adviser  would  have  been  the  readiest 
man  to  do  it. 

But  the  knot  of  the  difficulty  is,  to  give  some 
rational  account,  how  it  first  got  into  posses- 
sion. For,  if  it  were  allowed,  that  Popery  had 
possession  of  the  Church  from  the  verj'  begin- 
ning of  Christianity,  the  reformed  Churches 
would  not  have  a  word  to  say  for  themselves. 
Or,  if  it  were  owned,  that  it  came  in  barefaced, 
whilst  all  men's  eyes  were  open  to  observe  it. 
Papists  would  ask  a  thousand  troublesome 
questions  about  it.  As,  by  whom,  how,  where, 
and  when  it  was  brought  in  ?  Whether  no 
Protestant  princes,  or  bishops,  had  zeal  enough 
16 


to  oppose  it  ?  Or  no  Protestant  councils  were 
called  to  condemn  it  ?  And  the  like.  And 
unless  these  questions  were  answered  categori- 
cally, and  the  answers  proved  from  authentic 
history,  the  matter  would  look  but  very  scur- 
vily  in  the  judgment  of  all  wise  men. 

Wherefore,  to  avoid  splitting  upon  either  of 
these  rocks,  observe  the  ingenuity  of  our 
friendly  adviser.  For  he  has  ordered  matters 
so  cunningly,  that  (unless  we  will  question 
his  veracity)  we  must  believe,  that  Protestancy 
was  thrust  out,  and  Popery  let  in,  and  the 
faith  of  the  Church  turned  topsy  turvy  with- 
out opposition,  noise,  or  trouble,  or  scarce  any 
body's  being  sensible  of  it.  And  to  render  the 
matter  evident  even  to  a  demonstration,  he  tells 
us,  that  the  whole  business  was  transacted  in 
the  dark,  and  whilst  the  world  was  in  a  pro- 
foiind  sleep ;  for  which  he  quotes  this  clear 
text  of  scripture :  "  the  tares  were  sowed  while 
men  slept ;"  Matt.  xiii.  25.  So  that  we  can 
suppose  no  less,  than  that  some  strong  sopor- 
iferous  draught  was  given  to  all  the  bishops, 
doctors,  and  pastors  of  the  Church,  which  laid 
them  all    so  fast  asleep,  threw  whole   christen- 


242 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


dom  into  so  deep  a  lethargy,  and  in  a  word, 
produced  sucli  a  universal  ignorance  and  stu- 
pidity, amongst  all  degrees  of  men,  that  they 
either  could  not  distinguish  black  from  white, 
or  if  they  could,  were  unable  to  exert  them- 
selves in  any  manner,  to  oppose  the  absurd  and 
monstrous  doctrines,  that  were  imposed  upon 
them.  Nay,  and  the  virtue  of  this  powerful 
enchantment  lasted  from  the  year  900,  till  a 
few  years  before  the  reformation :  all  which 
time,  an  Egyptian  darkness  was  spread  over 
the  whole  face  of  the  earth.  And  it  was  in  the 
time  of  this  universal  ignorance  and  darkness, 
that  the  Pope  and  his  agents  played  all  their 
pranks ;  established  Popery  with  the  greatest 
ease  imaginable,  and  cut  out  work  for  the  blessed 
refo7'7nation^  that  followed.  And  thus  the  argu- 
ment contained  in  the  preceding  sections  is 
answered  with  a  wet  finger. 

But  truly,  there  is  scarce  a  fable  in  Ovid, 
to  be  compared  with  this  wonderful  metamor- 
phosis of  the  Church.  That  of  Ulysses  and 
his  companions  changed  into  hogs  comes  the 
nearest  to  it.  And  I  think  the  friendly  adviser 
has  committed  an  oversight  in  not  making  use 
of  this  authentic  piece  to  illustrate  and  adorn 
his  ingenious  system.  For  truly,  Ovidius,  Lib. 
14,  Metamorphoses,  would  have  made  as  beau- 
tiful a  figure  in  the  margin,  as  the  greatest 
part  of  the  authors  he  has  quoted. 

However,  to  be  somewhat  more  serious,  than 
the  matter  really  deserves,  I  shall  gfive  a  sum- 
mary of  it  in  his  own  words.  "  It  cannot  be 
denied,"  says  he,  "  that  from  the  time  of  the  decay 
of  the  western  empire,  and  the  irruption  of  the 
Goths  and  Vandals  into  Europe,  there  began  to 
be  a  great  decay  of  learning,  and  barbarism  crept 
in  \)y  degrees.  And  at  length,  this  ignorance 
became  so  universal,  that  the  study  of  the 
liberal  arts  was  generally  laid  aside.  Yea, 
such  gross  folly  possessed  the  world,  that 
Christians  believed  more  absurd  things,  than 
Pagans  gave  credit  to.  And  that  age,  which 
bred  many  of  these  errors,  is  commonly  called 
the  obscure  age." 

(Here    he    quotes    Baronius,  anno    900 :    so 


that  this  is  the  epoch,  from  which  the  time  of 
universal  darkness  is  to  be  dated.)  He  con- 
tinues : 

"  This  age  was  wholly  without  persons  eminent 
for  wit,  or  learning.  The  very  inferior  priests 
not  being  able  to  translate  an  epistle  into 
Latin;  which  Egyptian  darkness  continued  in 
all  the  western  world,  till  a  few  years  before 
the  reformation." 

I  confess,  six  hundred  years  of  Egyptian 
darkness  was  a  fair  time  for  the  popes  to  play 
all  their  tricks  of  legerdemain,  and  juggle  all 
mankind  out  of  their  senses.  It  is  very  strange, 
however,  that  in  all  this  time  there  should  not 
be  one  single  man  of  the  learning  and  zeal  of 
Martin  Luther  to  prevent  so  great  a  mischief 

"This  g^oss  stupidity,"  says  the  adviser, 
"must  needs  make  the  world  apt  and  easy  to 
be  abused  with  the  most  absurd  and  monstrous 
doctrines  :  for  ignorance  is  the  mother  of  errors. 
This  made  way  for  the  politic  guides  of  Rome 
to  impose  such  opinions  on  the  Church,  as 
might  best  serve  for  their  own  ends.  These 
tares  were  sowed,  while  men  slept;  Matt.  viii. 
25.  And  there  were  many  circumstances 
concurring  in  those  unlucky  ages,  which  con- 
tribute to  the  furthering  of  the  Roman  de- 
signs. The  withdrawing  of  the  emperors  into 
the  east,  and  the  first  decay  of  the  west- 
ern ernpire:  then  the  destruction  of  the  eastern, 
and  the  desolation  of  the  famous  oriental 
Churches,  by  the  spreading  inundation  of  the 
Turks  and  Saracens.  So  that  the  Pope  had 
neither  emperor,  nor  patriarch  for  a  long  time 
to  oppose  him ;  the  miseries  of  all  Christendom 
giving  him  opportunity  to  make  himself  sole 
governor  of  these  parts  of  the  world."  Section 
3,  p.  46,  etc. 

This,  I  think,  is  nonsense  enough  for  one 
time.  But  from  the  words  of  our  friendly 
adviser,  one  would  be  apt  to  surmise,  that  from 
the  loss  of  Constantinople,  till  the  reformation^ 
the  popes  had  either  massacred,  or  deposed  all 
the  Christian  princes  and  bishops  in  the  west. 
For  what .  else  can  the  poor  man  mean,  by 
his  saying,  "  That  the  Pope  made  himself  sole 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END  DISPUTES. 


243 


governor  of  these  parts  of  the  world  ?"  Which, 
whether  to  be  meant  of  his  temporal,  or  spiritual 
power,  is  equally  absurd.  And  as  to  what  he 
says,  "That  the  Pope  for  a  long  time  had 
neither  emperor,  nor  patriarch  to  oppose  him ;" 
it  is  notoriously  known,  that  since  the  reign 
of  Charlemagne,  who  was  crowned  emperor  in  the 
eighth  century,  the  west  has  never  been  with- 
out Christian  emperors,  nor  the  east  without 
its  patriarchs,  even  since  the  Turks  became 
masters  of  Constantinople.  And,  therefore,  the 
adviser  either  wrote  contrary  to  his  own 
knowledge,  or  showed  himself  very  ignorant  of 
history. 

To  say  nothing  of  his  blunder  in  chronology 
concerning  the  first  decay  of  the  western  em- 
pire, which  happened  several  hundred  years 
before  the  age  of  pretended  darkness,  let  us 
briefly  examine  the  system  itself,  and  see 
whether  there  be  any  thing  either  like  truth, 
or  probability  in  it.  He  tells  us  then,  that 
the  dark  times  began  from  the  year  900,  and 
that  this  age,  viz. :  The  tenth,  "  bred  many  of  the 
Popish  errors."  But  how  does  this  agree  with 
the  book  of  Homilies,  which  sa3's  positively, 
that  before  the  reformation^  "whole  Christendom 
had  been  drowned  in  abominable  idolatry  for  the 
space  of  eight  hundred  years  and  more  ?  "  For 
by  good  computation,  this  brings  Popery  two 
whole  centuries  (and  as  much  more,  as  you 
please)  higher  than  the  time  unluckily  pitched 
upon  by  the  adviser.  Nay,  the  Homilist  assures 
us,  that  the  abominable  idolatry,  he  speaks  of, 
(which  in  Protestant  language  expresses  very 
pathetically  the  whole  body  of  papistical  doc- 
trine) was  spread  over  whole  Christendom,  even 
some  time  before  the  eighth  century.  So  that, 
to  the  great  disappointment  of  all  the  Popes  of 
the  tenth  and  following  centuries,  there  was 
nothing  for  them  to  do  in  all  that  tedious  time 
of  Egyptian  darkness,  in  which  our  friendly 
adviser,  out  of  his  abundance  of  charity,  has 
cut  out  so  much  good  employment  to  keep 
them  out  of  idleness.  For,  if  we'  give  credit 
to  the  Homilist,  whose  authority  will  probably 
carry  it,  their  market  was  forestalled,    and  the 


whole  business   completed   above   two    hundred 
years  before  they  could  come  into  pla3\ 

I  shall,  therefore,  leave  the  adviser  to  fight  it 
out  as  well  as  he  can  with  the  book  of  Homilies. 
But  he  has  a  more  formidable  enemy  to  deal 
with,  I  mean  a  whole  multitude  of  authentic 
writers,  bearing  testimony,  that  Popery  was 
established  in  England  full  three  hundred  years 
before  the  tenth  century.  Venerable  Bede,  whose 
learning  and  veracity  were  never  called  in  ques- 
tion, and  who  lived  in  the  very  next  age  after 
England  had  received  the  Christian  faith,  is  one 
of  the  writers  I  speak  of  So  that,  whoever  de- 
sires to  be  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  the  fact,  I 
insist  upon,  needs  but  read  his  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory of  England  in  the  third  tome  of  his  works  ; 
and  he  will  find  that  the  religion  called  Popery, 
was  planted  in  this  island  by  St.  Augustine  and 
his  companions  ;  with  a  full  account  of  its  growth, 
and  establishment  in  the  seventh  century. 

Besides,  it  is  a  known  truth,  that  the  reforma- 
tion made  the  first  change  of  religion  in  Eng- 
land, after  its  conversion.  The  consequence 
whereof  is,  that  as  England  knew  no  other  reli- 
gion than  Popery  immediately  before  the  reforma- 
tion ;  so  it  received  that  very  religion  from  St. 
Austin.  And  this  saint,  who  confirmed  the  doc- 
trine he  preached  by  unquestionable  miracles, 
(which  are  related  by  holy  Bede)  taught  no 
other  than  the  faith  of  the  universal  Christian 
church  at  that  time.  Which  is  a  full  demonstra- 
tion, that  Popery  was  not  beholden  to  the  ad- 
viser's Egyptian  darkness  for  its  establishment 
in  the  world ;  since  that  darkness  came  at  least 
three  hundred  years  too  late. 

But  thirdly :  the  adviser  has  no  less  a  man 
than  Martin  Luther  himself,  with  the  whole 
college  of  reforming  apostles  against  him.  For 
in  the  beginning  of  the  reformation^  their  usual 
language  was,  "  what  do  we  care  for  the  fathers  ?" 
And  Luther  was  above  all  remarkable  for  it.  "  I 
care  not  a  rush,"  says  he,  "  if  a  thousand  Austins, 
or  a  thousand  Cyprians  stood  against  me."  Tom. 
2,  fol.  344.  "  Neither  do  I  concern  myself  what 
Ambrose,  Austin,  or  councils  say, — I  know  their  , 
opinions  so  well,  that  I  have  declared   against 


244 


SHORTEST   WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


them,"  fol.  345.  He  speaks  with  the  same  con- 
tempt of  St.  Jerome.  Whence  it  is  evident,  that 
he  looked  upon  all  these  fathers  as  teachers  of 
papistical  doctrine,  and  enemies  to  the  reforma- 
tion. 

What  pity  is  it,  that  the  friendly  adviser  did 
not  come  time  enough  into  the  world  to  tell 
Martin  Luther  that  his  rejecting  the  fathers  of 
the  fourth  and  fifth  century  would  spoil  the  most 
ingenious  system,  that  ever  was  invented  to 
make  Popery  pass  for  a  novelty,  brought  into 
the  Church  in  dark  ages,  far  distant  from  the 
time  of  those  fathers  I  For  if  so  great  a  man  as 
Luther  stuck  not  to  confess,  that  Popery  Avas 
taught  by  the  most  eminent  saints  and  doctors 
in  the  very  brightest  and  most  learned  ages  of 
the  Church;  who  will  after  that  believe  the 
adviser's  tale  of  a  tub,  that  it  came  sneaking  in 
many  hundred  years  after,  only  by  the  means  of 
a  universal  ignorance,  and  Egyptian  darkness  ? 
And  therefore,  the  learned  Mr.  Napier,  of  whom 
I  have  already  spoken,  is  to  be  highly  commended 
for  his  sincerity  in  owning  that  Popery  reigned 
universally,  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century.  For  this  is  speaking  like  a  true  disci- 
ple of  the  principal  Apostle  of  the  reformation. 

But,  though  there  were  none  of  these  facts 
to  disprove  the  adviser's  system,  it  would  be 
fully  confuted  by  the  very  improbability,  na)'^, 
moral  impossibility  of  the  principal  supposition, 
whereon  it  is  grounded,  viz. :  "  That  an  uni" 
versal  ignorance  and  stupidity,  which  he  calls 
an  Eg3'ptian  darkness,  reigned  in  the  world 
for  the  space  of  near  six  hundred  years.  That 
in  all  this  time  there  were  no  persons  eminent 
either  for  wit,  or  learning ;  and  that  this  gave 
the  politic  guides  of  Rome  full  opportunity  to 
impose  such  opinions  on  the  Church  as  might 
best  serve  their  own  ends,  and  made  the  world 
apt  and  easy  to  be  abused  with  the  most  absurd 
and  monstrous  doctrines." 

This  is  the  adviser's  supposition  to  support 
his  system,  expressed  in  his  own  words.  Which, 
though  malicious  in  the  highest  degree,  yet  at 
the  same  time  is  so  very  extravagant,  that  it 
jroves    my   pity    rather    than    anger.     For  we 


have  here  whole  Christendom  fairly  divided  into 
two  classes  of  men,  commonly  known  by  the 
honorable  titles  of  knaves  and  fools.  The  popes 
with  their  ministers  and  agents,  according  to 
this  charitable  supposition,  were  all  knaves, 
void  of  religion,  honor,  and  conscience :  and 
the  rest  of  Christendom,  both  laity  and  clergy, 
were  all  fools  and  blockheads,  led  by  the  nose, 
and  abused  with  the  most  absurd  and  monstrous 
doctrines.  And  all  this  lasted  for  the  space  of 
many  hundred  years. 

A  most  stupendous  imagination,  and  only  fit 
for  the  learned  inhabitants  of  Moorfields !  It 
is  true,  indeed,  some  ages  may  produce  more 
persons  of  a  superior  genius  than  others :  and 
liberal  arts  and  sciences  may  flourish  more  at 
one  time  than  another ;  because  most  things 
have  their  ebbings  and  flowings  in  the  sub- 
lunary world.  But  that  ignorance  and  stupidity 
should  become  universal  for  many  hundred 
years  together,  and  the  greatest  part  of  man- 
kind turned  into  mules  and  asses,  ready  saddled 
and  bridled  to  be  ridden  by  the  popes  just  as 
they  pleased ;  may  pass,  indeed,  for  a  very  dull 
poetical  fiction,  but  never  for  a  good  theolog- 
ical argument  against  Popery. 

What !  Were  there  neither  schools,  nor 
universities,  nor  libraries  in  all  the  time  of 
this  pretended  universal  ignorance,  and  Egyp- 
tian darkness  I  Did  the  popes  interdict  all  wit 
and  learning  under  pain  of  excommunication! 
Or  did  parents,  in  compliance  with  his  holiness, 
renounce  their  natural  concern  for  their  child- 
ren, and  oblige  them  to  spend  their  youth  in 
idleness,  or  vice  I  For  all  this,  or  something 
very  like  it,  must  be  supposed,  to  g^ve  any 
color  or  probability  to  the  adviser's  system. 
All  schools  must  have  been  suppressed,  uni- 
versities abolished,  libraries  destroyed,  and  wit 
and  learning  made  state  crimes  against  the 
pope.  Naj"-,  and  there  must  have  been  an 
universal  reform  made  amongst  the  bishops 
and  pastors  of  the  Church,  by  a  positive  law, 
that  none  but  dunces  and  blockheads  should 
be  duly  qualified  for  holy  orders.  And  even 
this  would  not  have  fully  answered  the  politic 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


245 


ends  of  Rome,  unless  we  further  suppose,  that 
all  the  princes  of  Europe  had  their  eyes  put 
out,  and  arms  tied  to  render  them  incapable 
of  seeing,  or  opposing  the  absurd  and  monstrous 
doctrines,  wherewith  they  were  abused  by  the 
politic  guides  of  Rome. 

How  miserably  low  must  the  credit  of  a 
cause  be  sunk,  when  it  standi  in  need  of  such 
nonsense  to  support  it!  I  confess,  unless  I 
had  quoted  the  adviser's  own  words,  it  might 
have  been  reasonably  suspected  that  I  had 
trumped  up  a  ridiculous  hypothesis  of  my  own, 
barely  for  the  pleasure  to  confute  it.  Let  us 
but  place  it  in  a  true  light,  and  consider  the 
extravagance  and  weakness  of  it. 

Popery  was  certainly  in  possession  of  the 
universal  Church  for  many  hundred  years. 
Some  account  then  was  to  be  given  how  it 
came  to  be  established.  For,  since  it  is  a 
thing  without  example,  that  any  nation  ever 
parted  tamely  with  its  ancient  religion ;  if 
Popery  was  an  intruder  upon  the  ancient  Church, 
how  could  it  find  means  to  establish  itself 
without  opposition,  whilst  men  were  in  their 
right  senses?  And  if  it  met  with  opposition, 
this  would  have  caused  disturbances  and  schisms, 
and  these  disturbances  would  have  been  re- 
corded by  the  writers  of  the  times,  in  which  they 
happened.  Now  here  the  diflSculty  begins  to 
pinch,  because  no  history  can  be  produced  of 
any  disturbance,  or  schism  in  the  Church,  oc- 
casioned by  any  man's  teaching  the  discrimi- 
nating doctrines  of  Popery ;  whereas,  on  the 
contrary,  there  never  was  a  doctrine  opposite  to 
any  branch  of  Popery  started  in  the  Church, 
but  it  met  with  a  vigorous  resistance  in  its 
very  birth,  and  caused  disorders,  which  are 
related  by  historians :  as  that  of  Berengarius, 
Wyolif,  John  Huss,  the  Waldenses,  and  others. 
In  order,  therefore,  to  make  Popery  (though 
pretended  to  be  a  doctrine  opposite  to  the 
ancient  faith)  come  in  without  noise,  or  resist- 
ance, our  friendly  adviser  has  no  other  expe- 
dient to  bring  about  this  wonderful  event,  than 
to  assert  boldly,  that  Christendom  was  under  a 


general  infatuation  for  many  hundred  years  to- 
gether ;  and  so  make  Popery  steal  its  way  into 
the  Church  unperceived,  and  unopposed  in  the 
midst  of  a  thick  darkness  of  universal  ignorance 
and  stupidity. 

But  the  thickest  darkness  cannot  hide  the 
extravagance  of  this  ridiculous  fable.  There 
are  numberless  historical  facts,  that  give  it  the 
lie.  As  first,  the  many  learned  universities, 
that  flourished  in  those  very  ages  of  pretended 
darkness.  Amongst  which,  that  of  Paris,  foun- 
ded by  Charlemagne,  and  that  of  Oxford,  founded 
by  king  Alfred,  were  most  famous.  Secondly, 
The  great  number  of  ecclesiastical  writers, 
whereof  Bellermine  de  Scriptoribus  Ecclesiasticis 
reckons  up  between  two  and  three  hundred  in 
those  very  ages  :  and  many  of  these  were  as 
eminent  both  for  holiness  learning  as  any  of 
the  ancient  writers.  Thirdly,  besides  innu- 
merable provincial  and  national  synods  there 
were  about  ten  general  councils  held  between 
the  ninth  and  sixteenth  century ;  and  some  of 
them  were  more  numerous  than  any  that  had  been 
held  before.  Nor  did  they  meet  in  cellars 
under  ground,  like  clippers  and  coiners,  but  in 
the  face  of  the  universal  Church,  attentive  to 
every  thing,  that  was  transacted  in  those  august 
assemblies.  Nay,  and  the  histories  of  them  are 
faithfully  transmitted  to  us,  without  any  mention 
of  the  least  change  made  in  the  ancient  faith 
of  the  Church.  Fourthly.  The  long  and  warm 
disputes  between  the  emperors  and  popes,  con- 
cerning the  privilege  of  investitures,  which 
lasted  some  ages,  and  show  that  the  popes 
were  not  arbitrary  lords  and  masters,  nor  led 
all  Christendom  by  the  nose.  And  lastly,  (to 
omit  many  more  historical  facts  for  brevity's 
sake),  the  Greek  schism,  which  began  in  the 
ninth  century,  and  was  not  ended  till  the 
council  of  Florence,  anno  1437.  During  which 
time,  if  the  popes  had  made  any  false  steps 
in  point  of  doctrine,  the  sharp-sighted  Greeks, 
who  were  continually  upon  the  watch  to  la}- 
hold  of  any  advantage  against  the  Latins, 
would  undoubtedly  have  reproached  them  with 


246 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


it.  Since  they  even  accused  them  of  shaving 
their  beards,  eating  hog's  flesh,  and  man}^ 
other  trivial  matters. 

Now  these  are  demonstrative  proofs,  that 
Christendom  was  neither  so  stupidly  ignorant, 
as  to  be  unable  to  discern  absurd  and  mon- 
strous innovations  from  the  ancient  doctrine, 
nor  so  sheepishly  passive,  as  to  submit  tamely 
'to  any  j'oke,  the  popes  should  lay  upon  them. 
Whence  I  conclude,  that  since  the  adviser's 
system  is  a  flat  contradiction  both  to  history, 
and  common  sense,  it  can  do  no  prejudice  to 
the  argument,  I  have  handled  in  the  preceding 
sections :  which,  unless  some  better  answer  be 
g^ven  to  it,  is  a  moral  demonstration,  that  "  no 
Christian  Church,  teaching  a  doctrine  opposite 
to   Popery,  ever   appeared   in  the  world  before 


it,"  and  that,  by  consequence,  the  Church  of 
Rome  teaches  no  other  than  the  ancient  faith 
of  the  Church. 

But  some  will  say,  it  is  improbable,  that 
any  man  should  attempt  to  reform  the  faith 
of  a  Church,  unless  he  were  sure  that  some 
considerable  errors  had  crept  into  it.  I  answer, 
that  this,  if  it  were  true,  would  be  a  good 
apology  for  Arius,  Socinius,  and  other  such 
refo7-mers.  But  St.  Paul  was  of  another  opinion. 
For  he  tells  us  expressly,  "  that  there  must 
be  heresies,  that  they,  who  are  approved,  may 
be  made  manifest."  i  Cor.  xi.  19.  Let  us 
then  consider  the  character  of  the  first,  and 
principal  7-eformer  of  popery,  and  judge  from 
it,  whether  the  children  of  the  reformation 
have  any  just  reason  to  glory  in  such,  a  father. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Character  of  the  Capital  Reformer  Considered. 

SECTION    I.— HE   HAD   NO   ORDINARY  MISSION. 


HE  person  I  speak  of,  is  Martin  Luther, 

the  first  discoverer  of  the  pretended 

errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome.     For 

as  to  those  that  followed  him,  they 

had   nothing    to  do    but   enter    at   the  breach, 

which  he  had  made,  and  share  with  him  at  the 

plunder  of  their  mother  Church. 

I  pretend  not,  however,  to  concern  myself 
in  any  particular  manner  with  the  Church, 
that  takes  its  denomination  from  him,  or  con- 
sider Luther  any  otherwise  than  as  head  of 
the  reformation  in  general.  For  the  only  end 
I  promise  to  myself,  is  to  show,  that  a  person 
of  a  scandalous  character  has  not  the  true 
marks  of  a  reformer  of  Christ's  Church ;  un- 
less the  word  reformer  be  taken  for  synony- 
mous with  that  of  heretic  ;  and  I  hope  thereby 
to  convince  the  reader,  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  may  be  uncomipt,  and  free  from  errors, 
though  Martin  Luther  thought  fit  to  be  of 
another  opinion. 


Let  us  now  consider  the  character  which  a 
grave  archbishop  and  primate  of  England  has 
given  of  this  great  apostle  of  the  reformation. 
"  In  the  beginning  of  the  reformation,"  says 
Tillot.  Serm.  25,  p.  588,  "  when  antichrist  sat 
securely  in  the  possession  of  his  kingdom, 
Luther  arose ;  a  bold  and  rough  man,  but  a 
fit  wedge  to  cleave  asunder  so  hard  and  knotty 
a  block :  and  appeared  stoutly  against  the 
g^oss  errors  and  corruptions  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  and  for  a  long  time  stood  alone." 

I  shall  make  but  two  short  remarks  upon 
the  bishop's  words.  First,  he  dignifies  his  hero 
with  the  titles  of  "  a  bold  and  rough  man,  and 
a  fit  wedge  to  cleave  a  hard  and  knotty 
block."  Surely,  thesfe  titles  are  not  much 
becoming  an  apostolical  man ;  and  I  fear  the 
bishop  will  be  thought  to  have  had  before  his 
eyes  the  pattern  of  some  famous  gladiator, 
rather  than  a  meek  and  humble  preacher  of 
the    Gospel.      Secondly,    the    bishop    has    here 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO  END   DISPUTES. 


«47 


owned  a  fact,  which  may  serve  indeed,  to  set 
oflF  the  intrepidity  of  his  bold  and  rough  man, 
who,  as  he  tells  us,  "  for  a  long  time  stood 
alone;"  but  the  credit  of  the  reformation  must 
suffer  by  it.  For  it  is  but  an  odd  argument 
to  convince  any  man,  that  Luther  had  the 
truth  on  his  side,  because  the  whole  world  was 
against  him. 

I  imagine,  indeed,  the  bishop  did  not  fully 
reflect  upon  the  consequences  of  this  conces- 
sion. For  if  Martin  Luther  for  a  long  time 
stood  alone,  and  had  by  consequence,  the  whole 
Christian  world  against  him,  (which  agrees 
exactly  with  his  own,  prima  solus  erani)  it  fol- 
lows plainly,  that  he  had  no  ordinary  mis- 
sion from  any  man  upon  earth.  Because  it  is 
a  thing  contrary  to  all  practice,  and  even  com- 
mon sense,  that  a  man  shall  be  commissioned 
to  teach  and  preach  a  doctrine  opposite  to  that 
of  the  Church,  or  immediate  superior,  from 
whom  he  receives  his  commission.  Does  a  king 
ever  g^ve  commissions  to  his  ofl&cers  to  levy 
forces  against  himself?  Have  judges  their 
credentials  to  subvert  the  laws  of  the  govern- 
ment, under  which    they  serve  ?     Or    will   any 

man,  for  example,  say  that  Mr.  Wh on  had, 

by  virtue  of  his  ordination,  a  power  given  him 
to  teach  a  doctrine  contrary  to  that  of  his 
mother  Church.  Either  then  it  was  an  irregu- 
larity in  him  to  do  so,  or  not.  If  not,  why 
were  his  writings  condemned  ?  Why  was  he 
expelled  the  university  ?  If  so,  then  Martin 
Luther  was  guilty  of  a  much  greater  irregu- 
larity in  preaching  a  doctrine  in  which  he  had 
the  whole  Church  against  him  ;  and  from  which 
he  could  not  by  consequence,  have  a  commis- 
sion for  so  doing.  For  Luther  "  for  a  long 
time  stood  alone." 

In  effect,  when  Luther  first  set  out  in  quality 
of  reformer^  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was 
spread  over  all  the  principal  kingdoms  of 
Europe,  which  were  then  in  perfect  communion 
with  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and  had  been  so 
from  their  conversion  to  Christianity,  as  I  have 
already  observed.  They  all  acknowledged  the 
pope  for  head  of  the  Church,  and  professed  no 


other  religion,  than  what  goes  now  under  the 
odious  name  of  Popery.  Mass  was  said  in  all 
the  Churches  of  Christendom.  The  real  pres- 
ence of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the 
holy  Eucharist,  the  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tion,  the  number  of  seven  sacraments,  which 
are  since  reformed  away  into  two,  were  the  uni- 
versal belief.  Praying  for  the  souls  departed, 
imploring  the  intercession  of  saints,  and  pay- 
ing due  respect  to  their  images  and  relics, 
were  then  practised  in  all  places,  where  Chris-, 
tianity  was  known.  Nay,  I  defy  any  man  to 
mark  me  out  one  single  province,  town,  vil- 
lage, or  even  family  in  Christendom,  where  the 
Protestant  religion,  either  as  now  established  by 
law  in  Great  Britain,  or  as  it  is  modeled  by 
any  of  the  late  reformed  churches,  was  publicly 
professed  and  practised  when  Martin  Luther 
made  his  first  appearance.  For  Luther  "  for  a 
long  time  stood  alone." 

Now,  besides  the  irregularity  of  a  man's  set- 
ting up  a  new  religion  of  his  own  head,  and 
without  commission  to  impower  him  to  do  it, 
is  it  rational  to  judge  that  all  Christendom  was 
then,  and  had  continued  for  many  hundred 
years,  under  a  kind  of  lethargy,  or  infatuation, 
and  that  but  one  single  man,  a  private  Austin 
friar,  should  start  up  all  on  a  sudden  in  his 
right  senses  ?  Were  there  not  at  that  time 
hundreds  of  bishops,  doctors,  and  pastors  in  the 
world,  as  learned  and  zealous  for  the  purity  of 
the  Christian  faith  as  Martin  Luther?  It  is, 
therefore,  very  strange,  that  he  should  either  be 
the  only  man,  clear-sighted  enough  to  detect 
the  gross  errors  of  Popery,  or  if  others  were 
equally  convinced  of  them,  that  he  alone  should 
have  zeal  enough  to  oppose  them. 

This  argument  has  frequently  been  urged 
against  the  first  broachers  of  heresies,  who 
always  pretended,  that  the  Church  had  fallen 
into  errors ;  and  it  is  but  too  plain,  that  the 
reformation  labors  under  this  great  prejudice, 
viz. :  That  whereas  the  true  Church  has,  and 
can  have  no  other  than  Christ  himself,  and  his 
blessed  Apostles  commissioned  by  him,  for  its 
founders,  the  reformation^  on  the  contrary,  has 


248 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


this  resemblance  with  all  known  heresies  that 
were  ever  broached,  that  it  has  for  its  author  a 
single  private  person  preaching  and  writing, 
not  only  without  commission  from  any  lawful 
superior,  but  even  in  direct  opposition  to  all 
the  Church  authority,  that  was  then  visibly 
extant  upon  earth.  For  Luther  "  for  a  long  time 
stood  alone." 

The  case,  then,  fairly  and  impartially  stated, 
is  this,  viz. :  Whether  this  one  single  man, 
without  commission,  or  authority  from  any  law- 
ful superior,  was  more  to  be  depended  upon  in 
the  g^eat  cause  of  faith  and  religion,  than  the 
whole  visible  Church  that  was  against  him, 
when  he  first  took  upon  himself  the  title  of 
reformer?  I  cannot  but  think  that  every 
impartial  judge  will  decide  it   in  the  negative. 

To  set  this  matter  in  its  clearest  light,  I 
shall  put  a  case  almost  parallel  to  it.  Sup- 
pose some  private  man  in  Great  Britain  should 
take  upon  him  to  run  down  the  whole  consti- 
tution ;  and  tell  the  people,  that  the  king  and 
parliament  have  no  legislative  power ;  that  the 
judges  are  a  pack  of  fools  and  knaves ;  and 
understand  nothing  of  the  law ;  that  no  regard 
is  to  be  had  to  the  king's  lieutenants,  justices 
of  the  peace,  or  other  subaltern  "officers  ;  sup- 
pose, I  say,  extravagances  of  this  nature,  tend- 
ing manifestly  to  the  disturbance  and  subver- 
sion of  the  government,  should  be  talked,  or 
written  by  any  private  man ;  I  ask  whether  it 
would  be  rational  to  believe  him  in  opposition 
to  the  sense  of  the  whole  nation  ?  No,  surely. 
But,  on  the  contrary,  he  would  be  either  treated 
as  a  madman,  or  persecuted  as  a  disturber  of 
public  peace :  which  in  all  likelihood  would 
have  been  the  fate  of  Martin  Luther,  had  he 
not  found  the  secret  to  shelter  himself  under 
the  favor  and  protection  of  his  sovereign,  the 
duke  of  Saxony,  by  setting  before  him  the 
sweet  bait  of  filling  his  cofifers  with  the  reve- 
nues of  the  Church,  and  plunder  of  rich  mon- 
asteries ;  which  was  every  where  the  first  fruit 
of  the  reformation^  as  all  the  world  knows. 

But,  to  make  now  the  application  of  the  case 
supposed ;    when    the     reformation     was     first 


thought  of,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was 
the  only  established  Church  of  all  the  prin- 
cipal kingdoms  and  states  of  Europe.  This 
Church  was  governed  by  the  pope  as  head. 
Each  kingdom  by  its  primate,  and  each  par- 
ticular diocese  by  its  respective  bishop  and  pas- 
tors under  him ;  just  as  Great  Britain  is 
governed  by  king  and  council,  lord  lieutenants, 
justices  of  peace,  etc.  The  Scriptures,  canons, 
and  decrees  of  councils,  were  the  law,  according 
to  which  the  Church  was  governed  both  in  her 
faith  and  discipline.  She  had  then  prescrip- 
tion for  what  is  now  called  Popery,  of  many 
hundred  years ;  as  is  acknowledged  by  the 
most  eminent  Protestants.  All  the  bishops, 
divines,  and  learned  men  of  Europe,  and  many 
other  parts  of  the  world,  were  united  in  the 
same  faith,  and  believed  themselves  to  be  in  the 
bosom  of  the  true  Church.  Martin  Luther 
alone,  a  private  Austin  friar,  starts  up,  and  tells 
the  world,  that  this  whole  Church  was  tainted 
Avith  many  gross  errors :  that  himself  was  the 
only  true  interpreter  of  Scriptures ;  that  the 
canons  and  decrees  of  councils  signified  nothing. 
That  the  Pope  was  antichrist,  and  all  the 
bishops,  doctors,  and  divines,  were  no  better 
than  a  parcel  of  blockheads  and  impostors.  For 
this  was  the  main  scope  of  all  his  reforming 
writings.  I  speak  modestly :  for  according  to 
his  usual  good  manners,  he  calls  them  all 
calves  and  asses.  Nay,  the  very  fathers  of  the 
Church,  those  great  lights  and  ornaments  of  i 
the  Christian  faith,  were  treated  no  better  by; 
him ;  and  Dr.  Tillotson  had  all  the  reason  in] 
the  world,  to  call  him  "  a  bold  and  rough  man,| 
and  a  fit  wedge  to  cleave  a  knotty  block."  1 

But,  to  conclude  the  parallel,  I  have  but  this 
one  question  to  ask.;  whether  it  was  moro 
rational  to  believe  this  single  man  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  concurring  faith  and  authority  of 
the  universal  Church,  than  it  would  be  now  to 
believe  a  single  factious  fellow  against  the^ 
sense  and  judgment  of  the  whole  nation  ?  For 
if  this  cannot  be  judged  rational,  as  surely  it 
cannot,  then  the  doctrine  of  the  reformation 
appears    manifestly    unsound   in  its   very  head 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


249 


and  source :  and  time,  whicli  cannot  change 
tlie  nature  of  things,  nor  turn  falsehood  into 
truth,  has  not  in  the  least  bettered  its 
cause. 

I  shall  here  take  the  freedom  to  demand  a 
thing,  wherein  if  any  Protestant  can  but  give 
me  some  tolerable  satisfaction,  I  will  not  only- 
give  up  this  whole  chapter  relating  to  Luther, 
but  likewise  own,  that  a  reformer  of  the 
Church's  faith,  and  a  heretic  are  not  synony- 
mous terms.  I  question  not  but  every  Protes- 
tant will  grant,  that  there  have  been  heretics 
in  the  world :  and  I  shall  mention  one,  of 
whose  just  claim  to  that  title,  no  true  Protes- 
tant can  doubt.  I  mean,  Arius,  who  denied  the 
consubstantiality  of  the  Son :  and  though  he 
pretended  to  have  plain  Scripture  for  his  doc- 
trine, (as  these  words  of  Christ,  "  my  Father 
is  greater  than  I  ")  this  hindered  not  his  being 
condemned  for  a  heretic  by  the  great  council 
of  Nice.  And,  indeed,  he  had  all  the  marks  of 
one :  as,  broaching  a  doctrine  contrary  to  the 
faith,  of  the  whole  visible  Church  of  Christ  in 
being :  preaching  without  a  commission  from 
her :  appealing  from  her  authority  to  the  dead 
letter  of  Scriptures,  and  making  his  own  private 
judgment  the  sole  interpreter  of  it.  In  a  word 
an  invincible  obstinacy  even  after  sentence 
juridically  pronounced  against  him,  first  by 
his  immediate  superior,  and  afterwards  by  the 
supreme  tribunal  of  the  Church.  These  are 
the  usual  marks  of  what  we  call  an  arch- 
heretic,  and  were  undoubtedly  very  notorious 
in  Arius. 

Now  the  thing  I  demand  is  precisely  this, 
viz. :  Some  satisfactory  reason,  why  Arius  was 
a  heretic  any  more  than  Luther.  Or  (which 
amounts  to  the  same)  that  some  proper  and 
distinguished  mark  of  a  heretic  may  be  found 
to  belong  to  Arius,  which  cannot  be  appro- 
priated to  Martin  Luther.  Whoever  can  per- 
form this  will  do  the  reformation  a  signal  piece 
of  service.  But  if  it  cannot  be  done,  (and  I 
fear  the  task  will  prove  somewhat  hard)  then 
it  follows,  that  the  respective  churches  founded 
by  Luther,  Calvin,  Zuinglius,  etc.,  are  all  her- 


etical churches  like  the  Arians,  and  no  part  of 
the  Church  of  Christ. 

If  any  one  be  so  weak  as  to  say,  that  the 
great  diflference  between  Arius  and  Luther  is, 
that  Arius  opposed  the  doctrine  of  the  Church, 
when  she  was  pure,  but  Luther  rose  up  against 
her,  when  she  was  corrupt  in  her  doctrine :  I 
shall  only  answer  him,  that  this  is  begging  the 
question,  instead  of  proving;  and  the  followers 
of  Arius  will  say  just  the  same  in  defence  of 
their  masters,  and  plain  Scripture  will  be  pre- 
tended for  it.  So  that  if  nothing  can  be  pro- 
duced to  distinguish  Luther's  behavior  towards 
his  mother-Church  from  that  of  Arius ;  if 
they  be  found  to  sympathize  in  all  the  proper 
and  characteristic  marks  of  what  we  commonly 
mean,  by  a  true  and  staunch  heretic;  we  can- 
not judge  otherwise,  than  that  either  both  must 
be  absolved,  or  both  condemned. 

However,  if  Martin  Luther  may  be  allowed 
to  be  a  judge  in  his  own  cause,  he  has  not 
been  wanting  to  himself  in  pronouncing  sen- 
tence in  favor  of  his  new  doctrine ;  though 
not  altogether  with  the  modesty  of  an  evan- 
gelical preacher.  His  own  words  shall  be  the 
best  proof  of  what  I  say.  Tom.  2.  fol.  333, 
I,  against  Henry  VIII.  of  England:  "I 
am  certain,"  says  he,  "I  have  my  doctrine 
from  heaven ;  it  shall  stand,  and  the  pope 
shall  fall  in  spite  of  all  the  gates  of  hell, 
and  the  powers  of  the  air,  the  earth,  and 
sea." 

I  should  be  glad  to  know,  whether  that 
part  of  his  doctrine  was  from  heaven,  which 
he  learnt  in  the  colloquy  he  had  with  the 
devil,  related  at  large  by  himself 

Again.  Tom.  7,  fol.  274.  "  I  was  the  first, 
to  whom  God  vouchsafed  to  reveal  the  things 
which  have  been  preached  to  you ;  and  cer- 
tain I  am,  that  you  have  the  pure  word  of 
God." 

N.  B.  That  if  Martin  Luther  was  the  first, 
to  whom  God  vouchsafed  to  reveal  the  things, 
which  he  preached,  it  follows  that  the  Apostles 
never  knew,  nor  preached  his  doctrine ;  which 
makes   me  fear  his  works  will  never  pass  for 


250 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


canonical  Scripture,  or  the  revealed  word  of 
God;  though  we  have  his  own  word  for  it. 
But  what  follows  is  a  very  extraordinary  piece, 
and  will  certainly  very  much  edify  the  reader. 

"  I,  Martin  Luther,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
ecclesiastes  in  Wittenberg,  to  the  popish  bish- 
ops grace  and  peace.  This  title  I  now  assume 
with  the  utmost  contempt  of  you  and  Satan, 
that  you  may  not  plead  ignorance.  And 
should  I  style  myself  an  evangelist  by  the 
grace  of  God,  I  could  sooner  prove  my  claim 
to  this  title,  than  you  to  that  of  bishop.  For 
I  am  certain  that  Christ  himself  calls  me  so, 
and  looks  upon  me  as  an  ecclesiastes.  He  is 
that  master  of  my  doctrine.  Neither  doubt  I, 
but  in  the  great  day  of  accounts  he  will  be 
my  witness,  that  this  doctrine  is  not  mine, 
but   the  doctrine   of  God,  of  the  spirit  of  the 

Lord,  and  of  the  pure  and  sincere  gospel 

So  that  should  you  kill  me,  3'e  bloodsuckers, 
yet  you  will  never  extinguish  either  me,  or 
my  name,  or  my  doctrine,  unless  Christ  be 
not  living.  Since  now  I  am  certain  that  I 
teach  the  word  of  God,  it  is  not  fit  I  should 
want  a  title  for  the  recommending  of  this 
word,  and  work  of  the  ministry,  to  which  I 
am  called  by  God ;  which  I  have  not  received 
of  men,  nor  by  men,  but  by  the  gift  of  God, 
and  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ — And  now  I 
declare  beforehand,  that  for  the  time  to  come, 
I  will  not  honor  you  so  far,  as  to  condescend 
to  submit  myself,  or  my  doctrine  to  3'our 
judgment,  or  to  that  of  an  angel  from  heaven." 
Tom.  2,  fol.  305,  2. 

Here  we  have  a  piece  of  insolence  and  arro- 
gance never  to  be  paralleled,  nay  even  to  a 
degpree  of  frenzy  and  madness.  We  see  here 
a  miserable  wretch,  flying  in  the  face  of  supe- 
riors, trampling  upon  authority,  and  even  assum- 
ing to  himself  that  infallibility,  which  he 
would  not  allow  to  the  Church  of  Christ. 
But  God,  who  resists  the  proud,  confounded 
his  arrogance,  by  permitting  him  to  fall  not 
only  into  the  most  impious  absurdities  in  point 
of  doctrine,  as  will  appear  hereafter,  but  even 
scandalous     irregularities     in     practice.       For, 


though  it  cost  him  nothing  to  mimic  the  style 
of  a  Paul,  he  could  never  attain  the  strength 
of  a  Paul  to  resist  the  bufiets  of  Satan.  His 
marriage,  doubly  sacrilegious,  by  engaging  a 
person  consecrated  to  God  in  the  same  crime, 
betrayed  a  weakness  of  so  scandalous  a  nature, 
as  not  only  gave  great  offence  to  his  friend 
Melancthon,  (L.  4,  Epist.  24)  and  the  sober 
part  of  his  new  reformed  Church,  but  will  be 
an  everlasting  mark  of  dishonor  to  the  refor- 
mation^ and  a  convincing  proof  that  the  head 
of  God  had  no  part  in  it.  For,  if  the  tree 
may  be  known  by  its  fruit,  and  the  man  by 
his  works,  we  may  justly  conclude  that  the 
world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil,  were  far  more 
prevalent  in  this  pretended  reformer,  than  the 
spirit  of  God. 

Was  it  by  divine  inspiration  that  he  lived  at 
open  defiance  of  all  ecclesiastical  authority  ? 
Was  it  b}''  divine  inspiration  that  he  broke  vows, 
threw  off"  his  religious  habits,  and  with  it  all  the 
duties  of  a  religious  state,  to  which  he  had  con- 
secrated himself  for  life  ?  Finally,  was  it  by  the 
impulse  of  the  Holy  Ghost  that  he  indulged 
himself  in  wantonness,  when  he  should  have 
been  singing  the  divine  office,  as  the  rule  of  his 
order  required  of  him  ?  I  know  not  whether 
these  be  proper  marks  of  an  apostolical  spirit 
and  a  man  called  by  Christ  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry;  but  I  am  sure  they  are  marks  of  a 
very  fresh  date,  and  wholly  unknown  to  antiquity. 
For  we  read,  indeed,  of  the  Apostles,  who  were 
married  before  their  vocation  to  the  Apostleship, 
that  they  left  their  wives  to  follow  Christ ;  and 
many  othei  apostolical  men  have  done  the  same 
after  their  example.  But  it  is  to  Luther's  re- 
formatiofi  alone  we  owe  those  excellent  patterns 
of  persons  breaking  through  the  most  sacred 
engagements  of  holy  orders,  and  religious  vows, 
to  become  fathers  of  children  not  altogether  in  a 
spiritual  way;  and  very  different  from  that  of 
the  Apostles  of  the  Gentiles,  who  begot  the 
Corinthians,  and  many  other  spiritual  children 
in  Jesus  Christ,  through  the  Gospels,  Cor.  iv.  15. 

It  seems,  however,  that  Martin  Luther  found 
it,  if  not  more  edifying,  at  least  more  comfortable 


SHORTEST  WAY    TO   END   DISPUTES. 


251 


to  join  the  state  of  matrimony  with  his  apostoli- 
cal labors,  and  call  Kate  Boren  to  his  assistance 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  For  I  question  not 
but  her  good  example  brought  in  a  plentiful 
harvest  of  female  converts;  and  as  to  Luther's 
practice,  it  was  but  a  natural  consequence  to  his 
doctrine.  The  one  prepared  the  way  for  the 
other.  For  to  what  end  did  he  preach  down 
celibacy,  and  vows  of  chastity,  if  he  had  intended 
to  keep  them  ?  He  was  not  ignorant  that  mar- 
riage of  priests  was  forbidden  by  the  established 
laws  of  the  Church,  and  breaking  vows  b)^  the 
laws  of  God,  but  flesh  and  blood  prevailed,  and 
it  was  from  these  he  had  out  the  confidence  to 
boast  of  The  charms  of  liberty  and  a  female 
companion  gave  him  wonderful  light  into  matters 


of  religion,  and  made  him  discover  errors  unseen 
before.  Without  these  extraordinary  helps  to 
quicken  his  zeal,  and  spur  him  on  to  undertake 
the  glorious  work  of  the  reformation^  he  might 
have  continued  a  private  monk  till  death ;  and 
as  utter  a  stranger  to  all  popish  errors^  as  when 
he  first  made  his  solemn  vows.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  his  preaching,  as  he  did,  without  1 
a  mission  from  any  lawful  superior,  is  an  essen- ' 
tial  flaw  in  every  thing  he  taught  contrary  to 
the  doctrine  of  his  mother-Church,  entitles  him 
to  no  better  character  than  that  of  a  hardened 
apostate,  and  one  abandoned  by  God,  to  be  a 
scourge  to  his  Church,  and  the  instrument  of 
his  secret,  but  just  judgment  on  those,  whom  he 
seduced. 


SECTION   II.— LUTHER   HAD   NO   EXTRAORDINARY   MISSION. 


When  God  raises  men  in  an  extraordinary 
manner,  as  he  did  the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  he 
never  fails  to  qualify  them  accordingly  :  and  all 
those,  who  had  their  mission  immediately  from 
him,  were  manifestly  guided  by  his  spirit.  The 
virtues,  that  shone  in  their  actions,  and  the 
miracles  they  wrought,  were  their  credentials, 
and  it  was  impossible  to  see  their  works,  without 
being  convinced  of  the  truth  of  their  words. 

This  may  likewise  be  said  of  the  great  re- 
formers of  manners,  whom  God  has  raised 
from  time  to  time  to  repair  the  gradual  de- 
cays of  Christian  morality ;  as  St.  Benedict, 
St.  Bernard,  St.  Dominick,  St.  Francis,  St. 
Ignatius,  and  other  holy  founders  of  religious 
orders.  They  were  all  powerful  in  works  and 
words.  They  prepared  themselves  for  the 
great  work  of  the  conversion  of  sinners,  by 
retirement,  prayer,  fasting,  mortification  of  their 
senses,  and  an  entire  contempt  of  the  world. 
And  what  is  very  remarkable  in  the  lives  of 
these  great  men,  they  never  made  a  step  but 
with  obedience  and  submission  to  their  lawful 
superior.  Meekness  and  humanit}',  two  virtues 
peculiarly    recommended    by    Christ,    were  the 


most  distinguishing  parts  of  their  character; 
and  even  their  greatest  enemies  could  never 
reproach  them  with  any  one  irregular  practice. 
But,  alas  I  How  far  is  Martin  Luther,  the 
founder  of  the  reformation^  from  coming  up 
to  the  least  part  of  this  noble  character !  He 
pretends  to  have  had  his  mission  immediately 
from  God.  But  must  we  take  his  own  bare 
words  for  it  ?  Where  are  his  credentials  ? 
What  miracles  has  he  wrought?  What  extra- 
ordinary virtues  can  he  show  to  convince  us  of 
the  truth  of  what  he  says  ?  I  have  already 
discovered  some  considerable  flaws  both  in  his 
principles  and  practice,  which  are  no  marks  of 
an  extraordinary  call.  However,  allowing  these 
to  be  but  after-slips  of  human  frailty,  if  he 
was  really  called  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel 
immediately  by  God  himself,  the  least  we  can 
suppose  is,  that  God  infused  into  him  the 
proper  previous  dispositions  to  fit  him  for  so 
high  a  station,  and  above  all,  inspired  him  with 
a  most  ardent  love  of  him  ;  this  being  a  quality 
inseparable  from  a  true  zeal  for  the  service  of 
his  holy  Church.  But  to  prevent  our  falling 
into  this  mistaken  good  opinion  of  him,  Luther 


252 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


himself  has  taken  care  to  inform  us  of  the 
true  state  of  his  soul  the  year  before  he  set  up 
his  separate  communion.  "  Out  of  thy  own 
mouth  I  judge  thee  thou  wicked  servant."  Luke 
xix.  22. 

For  in  the  preface  to  his  first  tome,  p.  6,  he 
tells  us  how  his  soul  was  at  that  time  affected 
towards  God.  "I  was  mighty  desirous,"  says 
he,  "  to  understand  Paul  iu  his  epistle  to  the 
Romans :  but  was  hitherto  determined,  not  by 
any  faintheartedness,  but  by  one  single  ex- 
pression in  the  first  chapter,  viz.:  '  therein  is 
the  righteousness  of  God  revealed.'  For  I 
hated  that  word,  '  the  righteousness  of  God :' 
because  I  had  been  taught  to  understand  it  of 
that  formal  and  active  righteousness,  by  which 
God  is  righteous,  and  punishes  sinners,  and 
the  unrighteous.  Now  knowing  myself,  though 
I  lived  a  monk  of  an  irreproachable  life,  to  be 
in  the  sight  of  God  a  sinner,  and  a  most  un- 
quiet conscience,  nor  having  au}'^  hopes  to  ap- 
pease him  with  my  own  satisfaction,  I  did  not 
love,  nay,  I  hated  this  righteous  God,  who 
punishes  sinners ;  and  with  heavy  muttering, 
if  not  with  silent  blasphemy,  I  was  angry  with 
God,  and  said,  as  if  it  were  not  enough  for 
miserable  sinners,  who  are  lost  to  all  eternity 
by  original  sin,  to  suffer  all  manner  of  calam- 
ity by  the  law  of  the  decalogue,  unless  God 
by  the  Gospel  adds  sorrow  to  sorrow,  and  even 
by  the  gospel,  threatens  us  with  his  righteous- 
ness and  anger.  Thus  did  I  rage  with  a  fretted 
and  disordered  conscience." 

Blessed  God  I  What  a  disposition  is  here  to 
prepare  a  man  for  the  ministry  of  the  gospel, 
the  preaching  of  the  pure  word  of  God,  and 
the  reformation  of  Christ's  Church !  What 
strange  marks  are  these  of  an  extraordinary 
call  ?  A  man,  raging  with  a  fretted  and  dis- 
ordered conscience ;  angry  with  God,  murmur- 
ing against  him,  nay,  hating,  and  silently 
blaspheming  his  j  ustice  for  punishing  sinners  ? 


How  can  we  represent  the  very  damned  souls 
in  hell  in  blacker  colors  ?  For  the  very  worst 
we  can  say  of  them  is,  that  they  hate,  curse, 
and  blaspheme  God's  justice  for  punishing 
their  past  crimes.  Because  to  hate  any  of 
God's  attributes,  is  to  hate  God  himself;  and 
the  very  thought  of  hating  God  carries  horror 
with  it. 

How  happy  is  the  Church  of  Rome  in  having 
such  an  accuser  I  The  infamy  of  the  evidence 
is  her  full  justification,  and  a  convincing  proof, 
that  the  spirit  of  God  had  no  part  in  a  work, 
wherein  Martin  Luther  was  a  principal  actor. 
If  a  man,  who  by  his  own  confession  hated 
and  blasphemed  God,  is  to  be  depended  on  in 
the  great  concern  of  religion;  and  that,  upon 
the  credit  of  his  having  been  divinely  inspired, 
and  called  in  an  extraordinary  manner;  then 
let  the  Church  of  Rome  be  thought  guilty  of 
the  errors,  whereof  he  has  accused  her. 

But  we  have  hitherto  seen  but  one  part  of 
his  true  picture.  He  has  been  so  just  to 
posterity  as  to  leave  it  drawn  at  full  length 
in  his  own  writings.  Let  us  then  take  a  full 
view  of  him,  and  when  we  have  considered  him 
attentively,  judge,  whether  he  bears  the  least 
resemblance  of  a  man  divinely  inspired,  and 
commissioned  immediately  by  Christ  to  reform 
his  Church. 

The  passages  I  have  made  use  of,  are  all 
taken  out  of  his  works,  printed  at  Wittemberg. 
The  first  tome  anno  1582,  the  second  1562, 
the  third  1583,  the  fourth  1574,  the  fifth  1554, 
the  sixth  1580,  the  seventh  1558.  And  all 
these  have,  at  the  beginning,  Martin  Luther 
and  his  protector,  the  duke  of  Saxony,  repre- 
sented at  their  prayers  before  a  crucifix.  If 
any  Protestant  can  convict  me  of  unfair  dealing 
in  my  quotations,  I  shall  be  ready  to  make 
any  public  reparation,  that  shall  be  demanded 
of  me. 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO  END  DISPUTES. 


253 


SECTION  III.— HIS  DOCTRINE  CONCERNING   FREE-WILL,  REPENTANCE,  AND  GOOD  WORKS. 


"If  God  foresaw,"  says  he,  "that  Judas 
would  be  a  traitor,  Judas  of  necessity  became 
a  traitor.  Neither  was  it  in  the  power  of  Judas, 
or  of  any  other  creature  to  do  otherwise,  or  to 
change  his  will,"  De  Servo  Arb.  Tom.  2,  fol. 
460,  3. 

"This  is  the  highest  degree  of  faith  to 
believe  God  to  be  just,  though  by  his  own 
will,  he  lays  us  under  a  necessity  of  being 
damned ;  and  in  such  a  manner  too,  as  if  he 
took  delight  in  tormenting  the  miserable." 
Fol.  434,  I. 

"  Thou  shalt  not  covet,"  "  is  a  commandment 
which  proves  us  all  to  be  sinners ;  since  it  is 
not  in  any  man's  power  not  to  covet. — And  the 
same  is  the  drift  of  all  the  commandments,  for 
they  are  all  equally  impossible  to  us."  De 
Lib.  Chris.  Tom.  4,  2. 

Here  God,  the  Father  of  mercies,  is  repre- 
sented as  a  merciless  and  arbitrary  tyrant : 
commanding  things  which  we  have  it  not  in 
our  power  to  perform,  and  punishing  the  non- 
performance with  eternal  torments, 

"  Free-will  after  sin  is  no  more  than  an 
empty  name :  and  when  it  does  its  best,  sins 
mortally."  Adversus  Execrat.  Anti.  Bullam. 
Tom.  2,  fol.   3,  2. 

"Man's  will  is  in  the  nature  of  a  horse.  If 
God   sits   upon   it,   it   tends   and   goes  as  God 

would   have  it  go. If  the  devil    rides  it,   it 

tends  and  goes,  as  the  devil  would  have  it. 
Nor  can  it  choose  which  of  the  riders  it  will 
run  to,  or  seek.  But  the  riders  themselves 
strive  who  shall  gain,  and  possess  it."  De 
Ser,  Arb.  Tom.  2,  fol.  434,  2. 

This  doctrine  paves  the  way  to,  and  is  an 
apology  for  any  wickedness  whatsoever.  Be- 
cause necessity  has  no  law.  But  what  follows 
makes  large  amends  for  it  in  delivering  us  not 


only  from  eternal  damnation  for  any  sins  but 
infidelity.  So  that  a  man  may  be  the  most 
profligate  sinner  upon  earth,  and  yet  be  in  the 
state  of  salvation,  if  he  does  but  believe. 

"  A  person,"  says  he,  "  that  is  baptized,  can- 
not, though  he  would,  lose  his  salvation  by  any 
sins  how  grievous  soever,  unless  he  refuses  to 
believe.  For  no  sins  can  damn  him  but  un- 
belief  alone."     Capt.    Bab.  Tom.  2,    fol.  74,  i. 

"  The  contrition,  with  which  a  man  reflects 
upon  his  past  years  in  the  bitterness  of  his 
soul,  by  considering  the  grievousness,  the 
damage  and  baseness,  the  multitude  of  his  sins, 
and  then  the  loss  of  eternal  happiness,  and 
the  incurring  eternal  damnation,  makes  him  a 
hypocrite,  and  even  the  greater  sinner."  Serm. 
de  Pcenit.  Tom.  i,  fol.  50,  2. 

"The  Papists  teach,  that  faith  in  Christ 
justifies  indeed,  but  that  God's  commandments 
are  likewise  to  be  kept.  Now  this  is  directly 
to  deny  Christ,  and  abolish  faith."  In  Ep.  ad 
Gal.  Tom.  5,  fol.  311,  2. 

A  man  must  be  very  wicked,  indeed,  to  turn 
Papist,  since  they  teach  that  God's  command- 
ments are  to  be  kept.  What  follows  is  admira- 
ble. 

"  Let  this  be  your  rule :  where  the  Scriptures 
command  the  doing  a  good  work,  understand 
it  in  this  sense,  that  it  forbids  thee  to  do  a 
good  work,  because  thou  canst  not  do  it."  Tom. 
3,  fol.   171,  2. 

This  certainly  is  a  most  golden  nile,  to  in- 
terpret the  Scriptures  backwards.  Not  to  do 
what  they  command,  and  to  do  what  they  for- 
bid. Martin  Luther  was  without  all  dispute 
the  first,  to  whom  this  rule  was  revealed.  And 
I  presume  he  had  it  in  view,  when  contrary  to 
express  word  of  God,  he  denied  all  legislative 
power  in  men. 


254 


SHORTEST   WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


SECTION   IV.— HIS   DOCTRINE   CONCERNING   THE   LEGISLATIVE   POWER. 


"Neither  pope,  nor  bishop,  nor  any  man 
living,  has  a  right  to  impose  one  syllable  upon 
any  Christian,  unless  he  gives  his  consent.  And 
whatsoever  is  done  to  the  contrary,  is  by  the 
spirit  of  tyranny."  Cap.  Bab.  Tom.  2,  fol. 
76,  2. 

"  The  power  of  making  laws  belongs  to  God 
alone."      Contra     Reg.     Ang.     Tom.     2,     fol. 

346,   I. 

This  is  reforming-  both  Church  and  state 
with  a.  witness,  by  purging  the  one  as  well  as 


the  other  of  all  its  laws  ;  which,  as  to  discipline 
in  the  Church,  and  order  of  government  in  the 
state,  were  all  made  by  men ;  who,  according  to 
Luther's  gospel,  have  no  legislative  power.  But 
these,  perhaps,  were  all  involuntary  mistakes  ; 
which  (though  it  derogates  very  much  from  the 
credit  of  his  being  inspired)  are  no  reflection 
upon  his  sincerity.  But  the  following  piece  will 
show,  how  great  a  lover  he  was  of  truth,  when 
he  was  convinced  of  it,  and  what  pains  he  took 
to  find  it. 


SECTION   v.— LUTHER   NO   SLAVE   TO   TRUTH. 


Epis.  ad  Amicos  Argent,  Tom.  7,  fol.  502,  i. 
"  If  Carlostadius,  or  any  man  else,  could  five 
years  ago  have  convinced  me,  that  in  the 
sacrament  there  is  nothing  but  bread  and  wine, 
he  had  wonderfully  obliged  me  :  for  with  great 
anxiety  did  I  examine  this  point,  and  labor 
with  all  my  force  to  get  clear  of  the  difficulty. 
[Mark  well  the  reason  why  he  took  so  much 
pains.]  Because  by  this  means  I  know  very 
well  I  should  terribly  incommode  the  Papacy — 
But  I  find  I  am  catched  without  hope  of  escap- 
ing. For  the  text  of  the  Gospel  is  so  clear  and 
strong,  that  it  will  not  easily  admit  of  a  mis- 
construction." 

Poor  man!  What  a  hardship  it  was  upon 
him,  that  he  should  be  forced  to  own  the  truth, 
when  he  had  so  good  an  inclination  to  deny 
it!  But  why  did  he  not  spell  the  Gospel 
;  backwards,  according  to  his  own  rule,  and 
declare  that  these  words  of  Christ  "  this  is  my 
body;  this  is  my  blood,"  signify  the  same,  as 
"this  is  not  my  bod}';  this  is  not  my  blood?" 
for  this  would  have  done  his  business  with  the 
greatest  ease  imaginable. 

But  I  assure  the  reader,  he  will  find  him 
more  resolute  in  the  following  piece.  For  there, 
to  be  revenged  of  the    pope,   he    stoutly  gives 


himself  the  lie ;  and  repents  of  having  come 
too  near  the  truth  in  his  former  writings. 

Adversus  Execrab.  Anti.  Bullam.  Tom.  2, 
fol.  109,  I.  "  Whereas  I  said  that  some  of  John 
Huss's  articles  were  evangelical ;  this  I  retract. 
And  now  I  say  not  that  some,  but  all  John 
Huss's  articles  were  condemned  at  Constance 
by  Antichrist,  and  his  apostles  in  that  syna- 
gogue of  Satan.  And  I  tell  thee  plainly  to 
thy  face,  most  holy  vicar  of  God,  that  all  the 
condemned  propositions  of  John  Huss  are 
evangelical  and  Christian,  and  that  all  thine 
are  wholly  impious  and  diabolical.  Therefore, 
as  to  the  condemned  articles  of  John  Huss,  I 
maintain  them  all,  and  am  ready  by  the  grace 
of  God  to  defend  them." 

N.  B.  That  one  of  John  Huss's  evangelical 
articles,  which  he  had  learned  of  his  master 
Wycliff,  was  this,  viz. :  "  That  the  committing 
a  mortal  sin  made  kings  and  bishops  forfeit 
their  power  and  character."  Which  doctrine 
introduces  anarchy  both  into  Church  and  state. 

I  am  sorry  I  have  been  forced  to  foul  my 
paper  with  so  much  ribaldry.  But  I  thought 
it  necessary,  in  order  to  convince  the  reader 
of  two  things:  first,  that  I  have  not  wronged 
the  person,  who  gave  birth  to  the  reformation^ 


SHORTEST  WAY   TO   END   DISPUTES. 


255 


in  any  thing  I  have  said  of  him.  And,  secondly, 
that  a  person  so  violent  and  brutal  in  his 
temper,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other, 
guilty  of  such  scandalous,  nay,  even  impious 
and  blasphemous  doctrine,  cannot  be  looked 
upon  as  an  inspired  man,  or  raised  immediately 
by  God  to  reform  his  Church.  Those,  whom 
Almighty  God  has  almost  in  all  ages  chosen 
as  peculiar  instruments  of  his  mercy,  have  ever 
appeared  in  the  world,  not  only  with  a  clear 
character,  but  with  the  most  evident  marks  of 
the  divine  spirit  residing  in  their  hearts,  and 
speaking  by  their  mouths.  A  meek  and 
humble  zeal  appeared  in  all  their  works,  and 
every  word  they  spoke,  hath  truth  stamped 
upon  it.  Luther,  therefore,  was  not  of  this 
heavenly  race;  nor  could  his  mission  be  imme- 
diately from  God,  who  had  the  character  of  the 
beast  impressed  on  every  feature:  and  since  it 
is  likewise  manifest,  that  he  had  no  ordinary 
mission  from  any  man  upon  earth,  the  conse- 
quence is,  that  whatever  he  preached  in  oppo- 
sition to  his  mother-Church,  was  a  doctrine 
either  borrowed  from  old  condemned  heretics, 
or  hammered  out  in  his  own  brain.  And  so 
we  can  regard  him  no  otherwise,  than  as  an 
instrument  of  divine  justice,  and  one  of  those 
great  scourges  which  God  makes  use  of  from 
time  to  time,  and  permits  to  prosper  in  their 
wickedness,  both  to  try  and  purify  the  faith  of 
the  elect,  and  accomplish  his  just  judgments 
on  reprobate  sinners. 

If  any  one  asks  me,  whether  all  the  extrava- 
gant and  scandalous  opinions  of  Luther,  or  other 
reformers^  are  to  be  charged  upon  any  particular 
reformed  Church,  or  the  whole  reformation?  I 
answer  to  the  first,  that  neither  the  Lutheran, 
nor  any  other  particular  reformed  Church,  can 
justly  be  charged  with  any  proposition,  which 
they  disavow  and  condemn ;  as  I  presume  they 
all  do  the  grosser  part  of  the  errors  scattered 
up  and  down  in  their  writings.  As,  for  instance; 
if  a  Lutheran,  or  preacher  of  any  sect,  should 
now  presume  to  maintain  in  any  government 
whatsoever,  "  that  the  power  of  making  laws 
belongs  to  God  alone;"    I    believe   a  collar  of 


hemp  would  soon  put  a  stop  to  such  seditious 
doctrine.  Or,  if  a  preacher  should  now  tell  the 
British  wives,  that  they  may  lawfully  have 
"ten,  or  more  husbands  living  at  once;"  or  the 
young  man,  "  that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to 
live  without  a  maid :"  I  fancy  such  a  preacher, 
though  he  should  quote  Paul  for  his  author, 
as  Luther  did,  would  not  be  long  without 
having  his  canonical  gown  turned  over  his 
head. 

I  answer  to  the  second,  that  even  the  re- 
formation in  general  cannot  justly  be  charged 
with  the  scandalous  doctrine  of  any  particular 
reformer^  provided  that  all  the  reform.ed 
Churches  disown  this  principle,  viz.:  "That  the 
rule  of  faith  is  Scripture,  as  interpreted  by  a 
man  of  sound  judgment."  For,  if  they  stand 
to  that  principle,  they  are  all  equally  accountable 
for  every  thing  taught  by  their  reformers^  even 
when  they  contradict  one  another :  because 
they  surely  look  upon  them  as  men,  who  were 
not  only  of  sound  judgment,  but  great  learn- 
ing. All  opinions,  therefore,  though  ever  so 
extravagant,  or  impious,  if  supported  by  the 
fore-mentioned  principle,  are  properly  the  doc- 
trine of  the  reformation^  unless  that  principle 
be  utterly  disowned.  Because  whatever  follows 
clearly  from  an  avowed  principle  of  a  party, 
may  justly  be  charged  upon  the  whole  party  ; 
as,  whatever  follows  clearly  from  any  principle, 
maintained  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  may  pro- 
perly be  called  her  doctrine.  But  if  the  re- 
formed Churches  disown  that  principle,  and 
instead  of  it  make  the  revealed  word  of  God,  as 
interpreted  by  the  Church,  the  rule  of  their 
faith ;  there  will  be  no  danger  of  their  account- 
ing for  the  scandalous  doctrine  either  of 
Martin  Luther,  or  his  fellow  reformers:  but 
then  the  reformation  loses  its  best  support. 

But  I  shall  waive  all  further  remarks  relat- 
ing to  this  matter,  as  being  foreign  to  my 
present  purpose.  For  I  am  wholly  upon  the 
defence  of  my  own  Church,  and  have  had  no 
other  view  in  exposing  the  irregular  conduct, 
and  extravagant  principles  of  Martin  Luther, 
than  to  invalidate  the  testimony  of  a  man,  who 


»5^ 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


has  appeared  as  a  principal  evidence  against 
the  Church  whose  cause  I  espouse.  Luther 
was  the  first  informer  against  her,  "  and  for  a 
long  time  stood  alone ;"  Tillot.  Those  who  fol- 
lowed him,  only  built  upon  the  foundation 
which  he  had  laid ;  though  they  could  not  agree 
with  their  architect  about  the  manner  of  the 
superstructure ;  but  like  the  builders  of  Babel, 
were   divided  in  their  tongues. 

If,  therefore,  I  have  clearly  showed,  that  this 
great  informer  against  the  Church  of  Rome  is 
not  restus  in  curia,  that  he  is  no  legal  evidence, 
but  a  scandal  to  his  cause :  I  hope  it  will  be 
of  some  use  to  remove  the  general  preposses- 
sion against  the  doctrine  of  that  Church,  and 
serve  as  a  collateral  proof  to  convince  impartial 
readers,    that    the    errors     charged     upon    the 


Church  of  Rome,  are  all  imaginary  and  ficti- 
tious ;  and  then  the  positive  proofs,  of  her 
infallibility  being  considered  without  prejudice, 
will  lose  nothing  of  their  weight :  as  they  will 
most  certainly  do  upon  persons  strongly  pre- 
judiced, and  prepossessed  against  it. 

I  shall  here  add  the  copy  of  a  printed  paper 
I  casually  met  with.  For,  as  we  have  now 
seen  by  what  hands  the  first  foundation  of  the 
reformation  in  general  was  laid  ;  so  will  this 
piece  inform  us,  who  were  the  three  principal 
authors  of  the  particular  reformation  in  Great 
Britain,  and  what  motives  induced  them  to  it. 
The  piece  I  mean,  is  the  declaration  of  the 
Duchess  of  York,  occasioned  by  her  conver- 
sion to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  and  publish- 
ed in  the  year  1670. 


THE  DECLARATIONIOF  THE  DUCHESS  OF  YORK,  CONCERNING  THE  OCCASION   AND  MOTIVES 

OF  HER  CONVERSION. 


"  It  is  so  reasonable  to  expect,  that  a  person 
always  bred  up  in  the  Church  of  England, 
and  as  well  instructed  in  the  doctrine  of  it  as 
the  best  divines  and  her  capacity  could  make 
her,  should  be  liable  to  many  censures,  for 
leaving  that,  and  making  herself  a  member  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  to  which,  I  con- 
fess, I  was  one  of  the  greatest  enemies  it  ever 
had ;  that  I  choose  rather  to  endeavor  to  satisfy 
my  friends  by  reading  this  paper,  than  to  have 
the  trouble  to  answer  all  the  questions  that 
may  daily  be  asked  me.  And  first,  I  do  profess 
in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  that  no 
person,  man,  or  woman,  directly  or  indirectly, 
ever  said  any  thing  to  me,  (since  I  came  into 
England)  or  used  the  least  endeavor  to  make 
me  change  vny  religion.  It  is  a  blessing  I 
wholly  owe  to  Almighty  God,  and  I  hope  the 
hearing  of  a  prayer  I  daily  made  him,  ever 
since  I  was  in  France  and  Flanders,  where 
seeing  much  of  the  devotion  of  the  Catholics 
(though  I  had  very  little  myself)  I  made  it 
my  continual    request    to  Almighty  God,    that 


if  I  were  not,  I  might,  before  I  died,  be  in  the 
true  religion.  I  did  not  in  the  least  doubt, 
but  that  I  was  so ;  and  never  had  any  manner 
of  scruple  till  November  last:  when  reading  a 
book,  called  "  The  History  of  the  Reformation, 
by  Dr.  Heylin ;  which  I  had  heard  very  much 
commended,  and  had  been  told,  if  ever  I  had 
any  doubt  in  my  religion,  that  would  settle  me ; 
instead  of  which,  I  found  it  the  description  of 
the  most  horrid  sacrileges  in  the  world :  and 
could  find  no  reason  why  we  left  the  Church, 
but  for  three  of  the  most  abominable  ones,  that 
were  ever  heard  of  amongst  Christians.  First, 
Henry  VHI.  renounces  the  pope's  authority, 
because  he  would  not  give  him  leave  to  part 
with  his  wife,  and  marry  another,  in  her  life- 
time. Secondly,  Edward  the  Sixth  was  a  child, 
and  governed  by  his  uncle,  who  made  his  estate 
out  of  Church  lands. 

"  And  then  queen  Elizabeth,  who  being  no 
lawful  heiress  to  the  crown,  could  have  no  way 
to  keep  it,  but  by  renouncing  a  Church  that 
could    never    suflFer   so  unlawful  a  thing  to  be 


THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION  OF  MARY. 

"  It  is  an  article  of  faith  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  Maiy  by  a  special  grace  and  privilege  of  God,  on  account  of  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ, 
1  from  the  first  instant  of  her  o  ncepUon  protected  and  preserved  from  every  stain  of  original  sin." 


THE  ASSUMPTION  OF  THE   BLESSED  VIRGIN  MARY. 

Who  can  fancy  the  tender  gaze,  the  loving  countenance,  the  divine  caresses,  by  which  she  was  received  by  her  Son  and  placed  over  all 
cr«ated  beings,  honored  as  became  such  a  mother  with  the  glory  that  became  such  a  Son. 


SHORTEST   WAY  TO   END   DISPUTES. 


257 


done  by  one  of  her  children.  I  confess,  I  can- 
not think  the  Holy  Ghost  could  ever  be  in 
such  councils :  and  it  is  very  strange,  that,  if 
the  bishops  had  no  design  but  (as  they  say) 
the  restoring  us  to  the  doctrine  of  the  primitive 
Church :  they  should  never  think  upon  it, 
till  Henry  VI H.  made  'the  breach  upon  so 
unlawful  a  pretence.  These  scruples  being 
raised  I  began  to  consider  of  the  diflference 
between  the  Catholics  and  us ;  and  examined 
them  as  well  as  I  could  by  the  holy  Scriptures, 
which,  though  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  able  to 
understand,  yet,  there  are  some  things  I  found  so 
easy,  that  I  cannot  but  wonder  I  had  been  so  long 
without  finding  them  out :  as  the  real  presence 
in  the  blessed  sacrament,  the  infallibility  of 
the  Church ;  confession,  and  praying  for  the 
dead.  After  this,  I  spoke  severally  to  two  of 
the  best  bishops  *  we  have  in  England,  who 
both  told  me,  there  were  many  things  in  the 
Roman  Church,  which  it  were  very  much  to 
be  wished  we  had  kept ;  as  confession,  which 
was,  no  doubt,  commanded  by  God  ;  that  praying 
for  the  dead  was  one  of  the  ancient  things  in 
Christianity ;  that  for  their  parts,  they  did  it 
daily,  though  they  would  not  own  it.  And 
afterwards  pressing  one  of  them  very  much 
upon  the  other  points,  hef  told  me,  that  if 
he  had  been  bred  a  Catholic,  he  would  not 
change  his  religion ;  but,  that  being  of  another 
Church,  wherein  he  was  sure  were  all  things 
necessary  to  salvation,  he  thought  it  very  ill, 
to  give  that  scandal  as  to  leave  that  Church, 
wherein  he  had  received  his   baptism. 

"  All  these  discourses  did  but  add  more  to  the 
desire  I  had,  to  be  a  Catholic :  and  gave  me 
the  most  terrible  agonies  in  the  world,  within 
myself  For  all  this,  fearing  to  be  rash  in  a 
matter  of  that  weight,  I  did  all  I  could  to  sat- 
isfy myself;  made  it  my  daily  prayer  to  God, 
to  settle  me  in  the  right ;  and  so  went  on 
Christmas-day  to  receive  in  the  king's  chapel ; 
after    which    I    was    more    troubled    than  ever, 

•Sheldon,   Archbishop  of    Canterbury — Blandfort,    Bishop    of 
Worcester. 

t  Blandfort,  Bishop  of  Worcester. 
17 


and  could  never  be  in  quiet,  till  I  had  told  my 
desire  to  a  Catholic,  who  brought  a  priest  to 
me,  and  that  was  the  first  I  ever  did  converse 
with,  upon  my  word.  The  more  I  spoke  to 
him,  the  more  I  was  confirmed  in  m}^  design  : 
and,  as  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  doubt  of  the 
words  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  who  says,  the 
holy  sacrament  is  his  body  and  blood ;  so  I 
cannot  believe,  that  he  who  is  the  author  of  all 
truth,  and  who  has  promised  to  be  with  his 
Church  to  the  end  of  the  world,  would  permit 
them  to  give  that  holy  mystery  to  the  laity 
but  in  one  kind,  if  it  were  not  lawful  so  to  do. 

"  I  am  not  able,  nor  if  I  were,  would  I  enter 
into  disputes  with  any  body.  I  only,  in  short, 
say  this,  for  the  changing  of  my  religion,  which 
I  take  God  to  witness,  I  would  never  have 
done,  if  I  had  thought  it  possible  to  save  my 
soul  otherwise.  I  think,  I  need  not  say,  it  is 
any  interest  in  this  world  leads  me  to  it.  It 
will  be  plain  enough  to  every  body,  that  I  must 
lose  all  the  friends  and  credit  I  have  here  by 
it ;  and  have  very  well  weighed,  which  I  could 
best  part  with,  my  share  in  this  world  or  the 
next.  I  thank  God  I  found  no  difficulty  in  the 
choice. 

"  My  only  prayer  is,  that  the  poor  Catholics  of 
this  nation,  may  not  suflfer  for  my  being  of 
their  religion :  that  God  would  but  give  me 
patience  to  bear  them,  and  then,  send  me  any 
afflictions  in  this  world,  so  I  may  enjoy  a  blessed 
eternity  hereafter. 

"  St.  James's,  August  20,  1670." 


I  am  sensible  this  piece  will  make  a  more 
powerful  impression  upon  minds,  that  are  sin-! 
cere,  than  the  strongest  arguments  I  can  pro- 
duce. For  in  disputes  all  men  are  naturally 
upon  their  guard,  as  in  an  enemy's  country : 
and  suspect  there  lies  a  fallacy  hid  in  every 
argument,  that  presses  too  hard  upon  them. 
But  in  this  piece,  there  is  nothing  but  plain 
matter  of  fact,  delivered  with  such  an  air  of 
sincerity  and  candor,  as  prevents  all  suspicion 


358 


SHORTEST  WAY  TO  END  DISPUTES. 


of  fallacious  dealing,  and  finds  its  way  to  the 
heart  without  resistance.  I  will  only  add  this 
one  reflection,  that  there  is  not  a  Protestant  in 
the  world,  but  if  he  traces  the  reformation  of 


the  Church,  whereof  he  is  a  member,  to  its 
source,  will  find  that  either  avarice,  ambition, 
revenge,  or  some  other  criminal  passion  gave 
a  beginning  to  it. 


fla  CEi  c&f  en  tT'j  tTj  iT'j  CI3  C!&  en  da 
m  OS  cts  CO  rr^  ^j^  fi^  (1?  w  w  w 


How  to  Shua  Evil;  or,  The  Sinner's  Guide. 


Bg  the 


REV.  F.  LEWIS 


Sen  en  cci  i3^  C[d  iX<  A  en  (Kr  en 
'35  W  W  qJ  ^1^  ^I^  OJ  OS  OS  OS 


(259) 


Hoai  to  Shan  Evil;  on,  The  Sionefs  Guide. 


By  the  fiev.  F.  ItEWIS. 


8B©*^^®SiS 


CHAPTER   1. 

OF  THE   FIRST  MOTIVE  THAT  OBLIGES   US  TO  VIRTUE  AND  THE   SERVICE  OF  GOD,  CONSIDERING 
J  .      ^y  ,  ^  .  IN   ITSELF ;   AND   OF  THE   EXCELLENCY  OF  HIS 


'i^  ^N.  ~  '/ 


DIVINE   PERFECTIONS. 


-WO  things,  Christian  reader, 
particularly  dispose  the 
will  of  man  to  the  under- 
taking of  any  commend- 
able action.  The  con- 
sideration of  duty  and 
justice  is  the  one;  the 
other,  the  benefit  and  ad- 
vantage we  may  reap  by 
it.  All  wise  men,  there- 
fore, agree,  that  justice 
and  profit  are  the  two 
most  powerful  induce- 
ments to  incline  our  will 
to  whatsoever  it  ought  to 
undertake.  Now,  though 
profit  be  more  generally 
sought  after,  yet  justice 
is,  in  itself,  the  more 
prevalent  of  the  two  ;  for, 
as  Aristotle  teaches,  no 
worldly  advantage  can  be 
equivalent  to  the  excel- 
lence of  virtue,  nor  any  loss  so  great,  as  that  a 
prudent  man  should  not  embrace  it  rather  than 
incline  to  vice.  The  design  of  this  book  being 
to  allure  and  incline  men  to  embrace  the  beauty 


of  virtue,  it  will  be  proper  to  begin  with  the 
principal  part,  showing  how  far  we  are  obliged 
to  it,  on  account  of  the  duty  we  owe  to  God, 
who,  being  goodness  itself,  neither  commands, 
requires  nor  asks  any  thing  in  this  world,  but 
that  we  be  virtuous.  Let  us  see,  in  the  first 
place,  and  seriously  consider,  on  what  grounds, 
and  for  what  reasons.  Almighty  God  claims  this 
duty  of  us. 

But  since  these  are  innumerable,  we  shall  here 
touch  upon  only  six  of  the  chief  of  them,  on 
account  of  every  one  of  which,  man  owes  all  he 
is  or  can  do.  The  first,  greatest  and  most  in- 
explicable of  them,  is  the  very  being  of  God^ 
which  comprehends  the  greatness  of  his  infinite 
majesty  and  of  all  his  perfections ;  that  is,  the 
incomprehensible  immensity  of  his  goodness  and 
mercy,  of  his  justice,  his  wisdom,  his  omnipo- 
tence, his  excellence,  his  beauty,  his  fidelity, 
his  sweetness,  his  truth,  his  felicity,  with  the 
rest  of  those  inexhaustible  riches  and  perfec- 
tions that  are  contained  in  his  divine  essence. 
All  which  are  so  great  and  wonderful,  that, 
according  to  St.  Augustine,  if  the  whole  world 
were  full  of  books,  and  each  particular  creature 
employed  to  write  in  them,  and  all  the  sea 
turned   into   ink,   the   books   would   be   sooner 


(261) 


262 


HOW  TO  SHUN  EVIL ;  OR,  THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


filled,  the  writers  sooner  tired,  and  the  sea  sooner 
drained,  than  any  one  of  his  perfections  could 
be  fully  expressed.  The  same  doctor  says 
further,  that  should  God  create  a  new  man,  with 
a  heart  as  large  and  as  capacious  as  the  hearts 
of  all  men  together,  and  he,  by  the  assistance 
and  favor  of  an  extraordinary  light,  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  any  one  of  his  inconceivable 
attributes,  the  pleasure  aud  delight  this  must 
cause  in  him  would  quite  overwhelm  and  make 
him  burst  with  joy,  unless  God  were  to  support 
and  strengthen  him  in  a  very  particular  manner. 
This,  therefore,  is  the  first  and  chief  reason, 
that  obliges  us  to  the  love  and  the  service  of 
God.  It  is  a  point  so  universally  agreed  upon, 
that  the  very  Epicureans,  who,  by  their  denying 
of  a  Divine  Providence,  and  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  have  ruined  all  philosophy,  never 
went  so  far  as  to  cut  off  all  religion,  which  is 
nothing  else  but  the  worship  and  adoration  we 
owe  to  God.  For  one  of  those  philosophers, 
discoursing  upon  this  matter  (Cic.  de  Nat. 
Deorum),  brings  very  strong  and  undeniable 
arguments,  to  prove,  that  there  is  a  God ;  that 
this  God  is  infinite  in  all  his  perfections,  and 
deserves,  therefore,  to  be  reverenced  and  adored ; 
and  that  this  duty  would  be  incumbent  on  us, 
though  God  had  no  other  title  to  it.  If  a  king, 
even  out  of  his  own  dominions,  purely  only 
for  the  dignity  of  his  person,  is  treated  with 
respect  and  honor,  when  we  have  no  expecta- 
tion of  any  favor  from  him ;  with  how  much 
more  justice  are  we  to  pay  the  same  duties  to 
this  King  and  Lord,  who,  as  St.  John  says, 
has  these  words  written  upon  his  garment,  and 
upon  his  thighs,  King  of  kings,  and  Lord 
OF  LORDS  I  This  is  he,  who  with  three  fingers 
holds  up  the  frame  of  the  earth.  It  is  he  that 
disposes  the  causes  of  all  things  ;  it  is  he  that 
gives  motion  to  the  celestial  orbs,  that  changes 
the  seasons,  and  that  alters  the  elements.  He 
it  is  that  divides  the  waters,  produces  the  winds, 
and  creates  all  things.  It  is  from  him  that 
the  planets  receive  their  force  and  influences. 
It  is  he,  in  fine,  that,  as  King  and  Lord  of  the 
universe,    gives    every    creature    its    life     and 


nourishment.  And,  besides  all  this,  the  king- 
dom he  is  in  possession  of,  neither  came  to  him 
by  succession,  nor  by  election  or  inheritance, 
but  by  nature.  And  as  man  is  naturally  above 
an  ant,  so  this  noble  Being  is,  in  such  an  emi- 
nent degree,  above  all  created  things  whatsoever, 
that  they,  and  all  the  world  together,  are  scarce 
any  more,  in  regard  of  him,  than  one  of  these 
insects.  If  philosophers,  so  ill  principled  as  the 
Epicureans  were,  have  acknowledged  this  truth, 
what  ought  we  to  do,  who  are  brought  up  in  the 
Christian  religion  ? —  a  religion,  which  teaches 
us,  that,  notwithstanding  the  infinite  obligations 
we  have  to  God,  we  are  more  indebted  to  him, 
upon  this  account,  than  upon  any  other ;  so  that, 
if  a  man  had  a  thousand  hearts  and  bodies, 
this  reason  alone  should  be  enough  to  make 
him  offer  them  all  to  his  honor  and  service. 
This  is  a  point  which  all  the  saints,  who  have 
had  a  sincere  and  disinterested  love  for  him, 
have  faithfully  complied  with.  And,  therefore, 
St.  Bernard,  upon  this  subject,  says,  ''True  love 
is  neither  increased  by  hope,  nor  lessened  by 
distrust ;"  Serm.  83,  in  Can  tic.  Hereby  giving 
us  to  understand,  that  it  is  not  the  reward  he 
expects,  that  makes  him  serve  God  :  but  that 
he  would  go  on  still  with  the  same  fervor, 
though  he  were  sure  he  should  never  have  any 
thing  for  it ;  because  he  is  not  influenced  by 
interest,  nor  wrought  upon  by  any  other  con- 
sideration, but  that  of  the  pure  love  which  is 
due  to  his  infinite  goodness. 

But  though  this,  of  all  obligations,  is  the 
greatest,  yet  it  is  that  which,  least  of  all,  moves 
those  who  are  not  perfect.  Because,  the  greater 
power  self-love  has  over  them,  the  more  they  are 
carried  on  by  their  own  interest ;  and,  being 
as  yet  but  rude  and  ignorant,  they  are  unable 
to  conceive  the  beauty  and  excellence  of  this  su- 
preme goodness.  Whereas,  were  they  but  a  little 
more  enlightened,  the  very  brightness  of  this 
divine  glory  would  charm  them  into  a  love  of  it 
above  all  other  things.  For  which  reason,  it  will 
be  very  proper  to  instruct  them  upon  this  mat- 
ter, that  they  may  acquire  a  more  perfect  knowl- 
edge  of  the  majesty  of  God.     All  I   intend  to 


HOW  TO   SHUN    EVIL ;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


263 


make  use  of,  for  the  eflfecting  of  this,  shall  be 
taken  out  of  St.  Denis,  who  wrote  his  treatise 
of  Mystical  Divinity  with  no  other  design,  but 
to  let  us  know  how  infinitely  different  God 
Almighty's  excellences  and  perfections  are,  from 
those  of  creatures  :  that,  by  seeing  this,  we  may 
learn,  if  we  have  a  mind  to  know  what  God  is, 
the  necessity  of  shutting  our  eyes  to  the  beauties 
we  observe  in  creatures,  for  fear  of  deceiving 
ourselves,  whilst  we  judge  of  God  by  those 
things  that  bear  no  proportion  at  all  with  his 
greatness.  We  are  to  look  upon  them  as  mean 
and  base,  and  raise  up  our  souls  to  the  contem- 
plation of  a  Being  that  exceeds  all  beings ;  of  a 
Substance,  above  all  other  substances ;  of  a  Light, 
that  eclipses  all  other  lights;  and  of  a  Beauty 
which  is  so  far  beyond  all  beauties  imaginable, 
that  the  greatest  of  them,  and  the  most  com- 
plete, is  but  ugliness  and  deformity  when  set  by 
this.  This  is  what  we  are  told  by  the  cloud 
Moses  entered  into  to  discourse  with  God,  which 
removed  every  thing  but  God  from  him,  that  he 
might,  by  that  means,  have  a  better  knowledge 
of  God;  Exod.  xxiv.  16,  18.  And  Elias's  cov- 
ering his  face  with  his  cloak,  when  he  saw  the 
glory  of  God  passing  before  him,  is  a  lively  ex- 
pression of  the  same  thing ;  3  Kings  xix.  13. 
It  is  certain,  then,  that  a  man,  to  contemplate 
the  perfections  and  beauty  of  God,  should  turn 
away  his  eyes  from  all  the  things  of  this  world, 
as  too  base  and  mean  to  be  regarded  at  the  same 
time  with  him. 

We  shall  understand  this  much  better,  if  we 
consider  the  vast  difference  between  this  uncre- 
ated Being  and  all  that  are  created ;  that  is  to 
say,  between  the  Creator  and  his  creatures.  For 
all  these  we  see  had  a  beginning,  and  may  have 
an  end ;  but  he  is  without  a  beginning,  and  can 
have  no  end.  They  all  acknowledge  a  superior, 
and  depend  upon  another  ;  but  he  knows  nothing 
above  himself,  and,  therefore,  is  independent. 
The  creatures  are  variable  and  inconstant,  but 
the  Creator  is  always  the  same,  and  cannot 
change.  The  creatures  are  composed  of  dif- 
ferent matters,  but  the  Creator  is  a  most  pure 
Being,  and  free  from  all  those  mixtures  which 


bodies  are  made  up  of ;  for,  should  he  consist  of 
several  parts,  there  must,  of  necessity,  have 
been  some  being  above  and  before  him,  to  have 
ordered  these  parts,  a  thing  altogether  impossi- 
ble. The  creatures  can  never  come  to  such  a 
degree  of  perfection  as  not  to  admit  of  a  further 
increase  ;  they  may  receive  more  than  they  have 
already,  and  know  what  they  are  at  present  igno- 
rant of ;  but  God  can  never  be  better  than  he  is 
now,  because  he  contains  within  himself  the 
perfections  of  all  other  beings :  nor  is  it  possible 
that  he,  who  is  the  Source  of  all  riches,  should 
ever  be  richer.  Nor  can  he  know  more  than  he 
does  already,  because  his  wisdom  is  infinite,  and 
his  eternity,  which  has  all  things  present  to  it, 
suffers  nothing  to  be  concealed  from  his  knowl- 
edge. Aristotle,  the  chief  of  all  the  heathen 
philosophers,  not  ignorant  of  this  truth,  calls 
him  a  pure  act ;  which  is  a  complete  and  abso- 
lute perfection,  incapable  of  any  further  addi- 
tion, there  being  nothing  imaginable  above  it ; 
nor  can  we  think  of  any  thing  it  stands  in  need 
of  There  is  no  creature  in  the  world  free  from 
motion  and  change ;  and  it  is  this  that  helps 
them  in  the  finding  of  what  they  want,  for  they 
are  all  of  them  poor  and  needy.  God,  on  the 
contrary,  is  fixed  and  immovable ;  because  he  is 
never  exposed  to  any  kind  of  necessity,  but  is 
present  in  all  places.  There  is,  in  all  created 
things,  some  difference  or  other,  by  which  one 
creature  is  to  be  easily  known  and  distinguished 
from  another ;  but  the  purity  of  God's  essence 
allows  of  no  difference  or  distinction.  So  that 
his  being  is  his  essence,  his  essence  is  his 
power,  his  power  is  his  will,  his  will  is  his 
understanding,  his  understanding  is  his  being, 
his  being  is  his  wisdom,  his  wisdom  is  his 
justice,  his  justice  is  his  mercy.  And  though 
the  effects  of  the  one  are  contrary  to  those  of 
the  other,  because  the  duty  of  mercy  is  to 
pardon,  and  that  of  justice  to  punish ; 
they  are,  notwithstanding,  so  perfectly  one  and 
the  same  thing  in  him,  that  his  mercy  is 
his  justice,  and  his  justice  is  his  mercy. 
So  that,  to  appearance,  there  are  contrary 
perfections  and    qualities  in  God;    but    yet,  as 


s64 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


St.  Augustine  observes,  there  is  no  such  thing 
in  effect  (Medit.  c.  19  and  20),  because  he  is 
very  remote  and  yet  very  present,  very  beauti- 
ful and  very  strong,  constant  and  inconceiv- 
able, confined  to  no  place  and  in  all  places, 
seen  by  none,  and  yet  seeing  all,  who  changes 
every  thing,  whilst  he  himself  can  never  change. 
He  it  is,  who  is  always  in  action,  and  yet 
always  enjoys  an  eternal  rest:  it  is  he  that 
fills  all  things,  but  cannot  himself  be  circum- 
scribed :  who  provides  for  all  without  the  least 
solicitude:  who  is  great  without  quantity,  and 
consequently  immense :  who  is  good  without 
quality,  and,  therefore,  truly  and  sovereignly 
good:  nay,  what  is  yet  more,  he  only  is  good; 
Matt.  xix.  17.  In  fine,  not  to  lose  ourselves 
in  this  abyss,  we  may  venture  to  say,  that  as 
all  things  are  tied  up  to  the  bounds  of  a 
limited  being,  so  they  have  a  limited  power, 
beyond  which  they  can  never  pass.  The  works 
they  are  employed  about  are  limited,  the  places 
they  live  in  have  their  bounds,  they  have 
names  to  distinguish  them  by,  and  definitions 
by  which  we  may  know  them,  and  are  reduci- 
ble to  their  particular  kinds.  But  as  for  this 
supreme  Substance,  it  is  as  infinite  in  its  power, 
and  in  all  its  other  attributes,  as  it  is  in  its 
being.  It  is  not  known  by  any  definition,  nor 
comprehended  under  any  kind,  nor  confined  to 
any  place,  nor  distinguished  by  any  name.  On 
the  contrary,  according  to  St.  Denis,  it  has  all 
names,  though  it  has  no  name,  because  it  con- 
tains within  itself  all  those  perfections  which  are 
signified  by  names.  We  may,  therefore,  say, 
that  all  creatures,  as  they  are  limited,  are  to  be 
comprehended ;  whilst  this  divine  essence,  inas- 
much as  it  is  infinite,  is  far  above  the  reach  of 
any  created  understanding.  For,  as  Aristotle 
says,  since  that  which  is  infinite  has  no  end,  it 
is  not  to  be  comprehended  but  by  him  alone  who 
comprehends  all  things.  What  else  could  be 
the  meaning  of  those  two  seraphims  Isaias  saw 
near  the  majesty  of  God,  seated  upon  a  high 
throne,  each  of  which  had  six  wings ;  with  two 
of  them  they  covered  his  face,  and  with  two  his 
feet;  Isa.  vi.  12.     Was  it  not  to  teach  us,  that 


these,  which  possess  the  chief  places  in  heaven, 
and  are  seated  the  nearest  to  God,  are  not  capa- 
ble of  knowing  perfectly  what  he  is,  though  they 
have  the  favor  to  see  him  clearly,  in  his  very 
essence  and  in  all  his  beauty  ?  For  as  a  man, 
standing  on  the  shore,  sees  the  sea  itself,  yet 
cannot  discover  its  depth  or  extent,  so  these 
blessed  spirits,  with  all  the  saints  in  heaven,  see 
God  truly  and  really,  but  can  neither  fathom 
the  abyss  of  his  greatness,  nor  measure  the 
duration  of  his  eternity.  For  this  reason  God  is 
said  to  be  seated  upon  the  cherubims  :  and,  though 
they  are  filled  with  treasures  of  wisdom,  never- 
theless, to  show  how  short  they  come  of  con- 
ceiving his  majesty,  or  of  understanding  his 
essence,  it  is  said,  that  he  sits  upon  them. 

This  is  the  darkness  David  speaks  of,  when 
he  says,  God  made  darkness  his  covert;  Ps.  xvii. 
12.  To  g^ve  us  to  understand  what  the  apostle 
has  expressed  more  clearly,  saying,  that  God  in- 
habiteth  light  inaccessible ;  i  Tim.  vi.  16.  The 
prophet  calls  light  darkness,  because  it  dazzles 
our  eyes  so  that  we  cannot  look  against  it  to  see 
God.  And  as,  according  to  one  of  the  philoso- 
phers, there  is  nothing  more  resplendent  or 
visible  than  the  sun,  and  nothing  at  the  same 
time  which  we  can  less  look  at,  because  of  its 
extraordinary  brightness  and  the  weakness  of 
our  sight ;  in  like  manner,  there  is  nothing  more 
intelligible  in  itself  than  God  is,  and  yet  noth- 
ing, for  the  same  reason,  that  we  understand 
less. 

If,  therefore,  any  man  desire  to  know  what 
God  is,  when  arrived  at  the  highest  degree  of 
perfection  he  is  capable  of  conceiving,  he  must 
with  humility  confess,  that  an  infinite  space  still 
remains ;  that  what  he  proposed  to  himself  is 
infinitely  greater  than  he  imagined  ;  and  that 
the  more  sensible  he  is  of  these  incomprehen- 
sibilities, the  further  advance  he  has  made  in 
this  sublime  science.  For  this  reason  St. 
Gregory,  writing  upon  those  words  of  Job,  v. 
9,  Who  doth  great  things  and  unsearchable^  and 
wonderful  things  without  number — says  thus : 
We  never  speak  better  of  the  works  of  the 
Almighty    God,     than    when,    surprised    with 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


265 


astonisliment  and  ravished  with  wonder,  we 
keep  an  awful  silence.  And  as  those  persons, 
who  design  to  praise  another,  whose  deserts 
are  beyond  all  they  are  able  to  say,  think  they 
best  discharge  themselves  from  their  obligation 
when  they  say  nothing  at  all ;  so  ought  we, 
in  St.  Denis's  opinion,  to  reverence  the  won- 
ders of  this  supreme  Deity  with  a  holy  and 
profound  respect  of  soul,  and  with  a  chaste 
and  devout  silence.  The  saint  seems  herein 
to  allude  to  those  words  of  David,  A  hymn,  O 
God,  becometh  thee  in  Sion  (Ps.  Ixiv.  2),  which 
St.  Jerome  has  translated  thus  :  "  Thou,  O  God, 
art  praised  by  silence  in  Sion : "  to  signify  to 
us,  that  we  cannot  praise  God  in  a  more  per- 
fect manner  than  by  saying  nothing  at  all  in 
praise  of  him,  acknowledging  the  incapacity 
of  our  understanding,  owning  with  humility 
that  this  inexpressible  substance  is  too  high 
for  us  to  conceive ;  and  confessing  that  his 
being  is  above  all  beings,  his  power  above  all 
powers,  his  greatness  above  all  greatnesses, 
and  that  his  substance  infinitely  excels,  and  is 
inconceivably  diflferent  from  all  other  sub- 
stances, whether  material  or  spiritual.  Upon 
which  St.  Augustine  says  excellently  well, 
"  When  I  seek  my  God,  I  seek  not  the  beauty 
of  the  body,  nor  the  agreeableness  of  the  sea- 
sons, nor  the  brightness  of  the  light,  nor  the 
sweet  charms  of  the  voice,  nor  the  odoriferous 
smell  of  flowers,  perfumes  and  essences ;  it 
is  neither  manna  nor  honey,  nor  any  other 
thing  that  is  pleasing  to  the  flesh ;  I  seek 
none  of  these  things  when  I  seek  my  God : 
and  yet  I  seek  a  certain  light  not  to  be  seen 
by  the  eyes,  and  exceeding  all  light ;  a  voice 
beyond  all  voices,  yet  not  to  be  discerned  by 
the  ears ;  a  smell  surpassing  all  smells,  which 
the  nostrils  are  not  capable  of;  a  sweetness 
more  delightful  than  all  sweetness,  yet  un- 
known to  the  taste,  and  a  satisfaction  above 
all  satisfactions,  that  is  not  to  be  felt.  For 
this  light  shines  where  there  is  no  place,  this 
voice  sounds  where  the  air  does  not  carry  it 
away,  this  smell  is  perceived  where  the  wind 
does    not    disperse    it,  and    this    taste   delights 


where  there  is  no  palate  to  relish  it,  and  this 
satisfaction  is  received  where  it  is  never  lost." 
L.  10.     Conf.  c.  6.     Soliloq.  c.  31. 

If  none  of  these  reasons,  as  weighty  as  they 
are,  can  give  you  the  satisfaction  you  expect, 
of  having  some  idea  of  this  unspeakable 
majesty,  cast  your  eyes  upon  the  frame  of  this 
material  world,  the  work  of  God's  own  hands ; 
that  so  the  contemplation  of  such  a  noble  efiect 
may  give  you  some  insight  into  the  excellence 
of  the  cause.  Presupposing,  in  the  first  place, 
with  St.  Denis,  that  in  every  thing  there  is  a 
being,  power  and  action,  which  bear  such  pro- 
portion to  one  another,  that  the  power  is  always 
suitable  to  the  being,  and  the  action  to  the 
power.  This  being  presupposed,  consider  the 
beauty,  the  order  and  extent  of  this  world : 
since,  as  astronomers  tell  us,  there  are  stars  in 
heaven  fourscore  times  as  big  as  the  earth 
and  sea  together.  Consider  again,  how  many 
different  sorts  of  creatures  there  are  upon  the 
earth,  in  the  water  and  in  the  air ;  you  will 
see  every  thing  so  complete  and  perfect  in  its 
kind,  monsters  only  excepted,  that  you  can  wish 
for  nothing  to  be  added  or  diminished,  to  make 
its  being  more  complete ;  and  yet,  according  to 
St.  Augustine,  who  grounds  his  opinion  on 
Ecclesiasticus  xvii.  i,  God,  in  one  single 
moment,  created  this  world,  as  great  and  wonder- 
ful as  it  is ;  drew  a  being  from  no  being,  and 
wrought  this  great  work  without  any  matter  to 
work  upon ;  without  any  help  or  assistance ; 
without  any  outward  draft  or  platform ;  with- 
out any  tools  or  instruments  ;  without  any  limits 
of  either  space  or  time.  He  created  the  whole 
earth,  and  all  that  is  contained  within  the 
extent  of  the  same,  by  one  single  act  of  his 
will.  Consider,  further,  that  God  could  have 
produced  a  thousand  worlds  more,  much  fairer 
and  larger  than  this,  much  better  peopled,  too, 
as  easily  as  he  created  this ;  and  that,  if  he 
had  made  them,  he  could  with  as  much  ease, 
and  without  any  kind  of  opposition,  reduce 
them  to  nothing  again. 

Now,  if,  according  to  our  supposition  taken 
from  St.  Denis,  by  the  effects  and  operations  of 


266 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


things  we  judge  of  their  power,  and  by  their 
power  of  their  being ;  how  powerful  must  that 
cause  be,  which  has  produced  such  wonderful 
effects  I  And,  if  this  power  be  so  great,  what 
must  the  Being  be,  which  we  are  to  judge  of 
by  this  power  ?  This,  doubtless,  surpasses  all 
expression  or  imagination ;  and  yet  we  are  fur- 
ther to  consider,  that  all  these  great  and  per- 
fect works,  which  are  or  might  have  been,  are 
nothing  at  all  in  comparison  of  the  divine 
power,  but  infinitely  inferior  to  it :  who,  then, 
can  reflect  on,  or  contemplate  the  greatness  of 
so  eminent  a  Being,  and  so  high  a  power, 
without  surprise  and  astonishment?  Yet, 
though  we  did  not  see  with  our  corporal  eyes, 
we  cannot,  from  what  has  been  said,  but  con- 
ceive, in  some  measure,  how  great  and  incom- 
prehensible this  power  is. 

St.  Thomas,  in  his  Sum  of  Divinity,  explains 
this  infinite  g^atness  very  clearly,  by  this 
example :  We  see,  says  he,  that  in  material 
or  corporeal  things,  that  which  is  the  most 
perfect  is  the  greatest  in  quantity.  Thus  the 
water  is  greater  than  the  earth,  the  air  is 
greater  than  the  water,  and  the  fire  grater 
than  the  air.  The  first  heaven  is  greater 
than  the  element  of  fire ;  the  second  heaven 
gpreater  than  the  first;  the  third  than  the 
second ;  and  so  of  the  rest,  till  you  come  to  the 
tenth  sphere  or  empyreal  heaven,  which  is  of 
unmeasurable  greatness.  This  will  appear  much 
plainer  yet,  if  we  consider  what  proportion  the 
sea  and  earth  joined  together  have  with  the 
heavens ;  for  astronomers  tell  us,  they  are  both 
but  as  a  point  in  comparison  of  them ;  which 
they  prove  by  this  demonstration.  They  divide 
the  heavens  equally  into  twelve  signs,  through 
which  the  sun  performs  its  yearly  course;  and 
because  a  man  may  always  see  six  of  these 
signs,  in  whatsoever  part  of  the  earth  he  be, 
they  conclude,  that  the  earth  is  but  as  a  point, 
or  a  sheet  of  paper,  in  the  middle  of  the  world; 
for,  if  its  extent  could  be,  though  ever  so  little, 
compared  with  that  of  the  heavens,  we  should 
not  be  able  to  discover  half  of  them  at  once, 
in  any  part  of   the  earth  whatsoever.     Now,  if 


the  empyreal  orb,  the  most  excellent  and  most 
noble  of  all  material  substances,  is  so  incom- 
parably bigger  than  all  the  other  orbs  ;  we  may 
from  thence  infer,  that  God,  who  is  above  all 
beings  imaginable,  whether  corporeal  or  spir- 
itual, as  being  the  Author  of  them  all,  must  be 
infinitely  greater  than  all  of  them  together; 
not  in  quantity,  for  he  is  a  pure  Spirit,  but  in 
the  excellence  and  perfection  of  his  being. 

But,  to  come  more  home  to  our  subject,  you 
may,  I  say,  by  this  means  know,  in  some  man- 
ner, what  God's  perfections  are,  because  they 
cannot  but  bear  a  proportion  to  his  being. 
The  author  of  the  book  called  Ecclesiasticus, 
speaking  of  God's  mercy,  says,  "  His  mercy  is 
as  great  as  himself^''  Eccl.  ii.  23.  Nor  are  any 
of  his  other  attributes  less.  So  that  his  good- 
ness, his  mercy,  his  majesty,  his  meekness, 
his  wisdom,  his  bounty,  his  omnipotence  and 
his  justice,  are  all  entirely  equal.  Thus  he  is 
infinitely  good,  infinitely  merciful,  infinitely 
wise,  infinitely  amiable,  and  upon  these  consid- 
erations most  infinitely  worthy  to  be  obeyed, 
respected,  reverenced  and  feared,  by  all  crea- 
tures. Nay,  were  man's  heart  capable  of  an 
infinite  love  and  fear,  justice  would  oblige  him 
to  give  it  all  to  God,  upon  the  account  of  his 
infinite  greatness.  For,  if,  the  greater  quality 
a  person  is  of,  the  more  respect  we  are  to  show 
him,  we  ought  to  pay  God  an  infinite  respect, 
because  his  dignity  is  infinite.  Whatsoever, 
therefore,  our  love  wants  of  acquiring  this 
degree,  is  wanting  upon  no  other  account  but 
our  inability  of  making  God  the  returns  his 
boundless  greatness  deserves. 

Since,  then,  it  is  certain  that,  were  there  no 
other  consideration  but  that  alone,  it  would  be  a 
sufficient  motive  to  oblige  us  to  the  love  of  God ; 
what  can  he  be  in  love  with,  who  does  not  love 
this  goodness  ?  Or  what  can  he  be  afraid  of, 
who  does  not  fear  this  infinite  majesty?  Whom 
will  he  serve,  who  will  not  serve  this  Lord  ? 
What  was  our  will  given  us  for,  but  to  love 
and  to  embrace  good  ?  If,  therefore,  this  great 
God  be  the  sovereign  good,  why  does  not  our 
will  embrace  it  before  all  other  goods?     If  it  is 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIIv;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


267 


»n  unhappiness  and  misery  not  to  love  him, 
nay,  and  that,  too,  above  all  things  in  the 
world,  what  should  those  persons  expect,  who 
love  every  thing  else  better  than  they  do  him? 
Who  would  ever  have  thought  that  man  could 
carry  his  ingratitude  and  malice  so  far:  and 
yet,  what  do  they  less,  who  are  continually 
offending  this  sovereign  goodness,  for  a  beastly 
pleasure,  for  a  trifling  punctilio  of  honor,  or  for 
some  vile  and  sordid  interest  ?  What,  then, 
shall  we  think  of  them,  who  sin  upon  no  motive 
at  all,  but  either  out  of  mere  malice  or  custom, 
and  without  the  least  hope  of  advantage  or 
profit  ?  Yet  this  pass  mankind  is  now  come  to. 
O,  unparalleled  blindness  and  folly !  O,  insen- 
sibility, worse  than  that  of  brutes  !  O,  the  dia- 
bolical rashness  and  impudence  of  man !  What 
punishment  does  he  not  deserve,  that  lets  him- 
self be  carried  away  by  such  a  crime  as  this  ? 
What  torments  ought  not  he  to  expect,  who 
has  the  boldness  to  despise  so  high  a  majesty? 
Such  an  unhappy  soul  shall,  without  doubt,  be 
condemned  to  those  pains  and  torments  pre- 
pared for  it ;  to  burn  with  the  devils  in  hell 
for  all  eternity; — a  punishment  far  less  than 
such  offences  deserve. 

This  is  the  first  and  chiefest  reason  that 
obliges  us  to  the  love  and  service  of  God.  An 
obligation  so  close  and  strict,  that  there  is  noth- 
ing in  the  world  can  oblige  us  to  love  the  crea- 


tures, because  of  their  perfections,  which  is  to 
be  called  an  obligation,  if  we  compare  it  with 
this.  For  as  the  perfections  of  the  creatures 
are  but  mere  imperfections,  in  comparison  with 
the  perfections  of  God;  so  all  the  obligations, 
that  proceed  from  these  perfections  and  excel- 
lences, cannot  with  any  justice  be  called  obli- 
gations, if  you  set  them  against  those  we  owe 
to  God :  nor  can  the  offences  we  commit  against 
the  creatures,  be  properly  accounted  such,  if  we 
but  consider  those  we  are  guilty  of  towards 
God.  This  is  the  reason  why  David,  in  his 
Penitential  Psalm,  cries  out.  Against  thee  alone ^ 
meaning  God,  have  I  sinned ;  Ps.  i,  5.  Though, 
at  the  same  time,  he  had  sinned  against  Urias, 
whom  he  murdered;  against  Urias's  wife,  whom 
he  seduced;  and  against  all  his  subjects,  in 
the  scandal  his  bad  example  gave  them :  and 
yet,  after  all,  he  declared  he  had  sinned  against 
God  alone ;  looking  upon  all  those  other  offences 
as  nothing  at  all,  if  compared  with  those  he  had 
committed  against  the  law  of  God.  This  crime 
so  afBicted  him,  that  he  took  no  notice  of  the 
rest. — For  as  God  is  infinitely  greater  than  all 
the  creatures;  so  the  obligations  we  have  to 
serve  him,  and  the  offences  we  commit  against 
his  divine  majesty,  are  infinitely  greater  too, 
there  being  no  comparison  nor  proportion  be- 
tween finite  and  infinite. 


CHAPTER   II. 


OF   THE    SECOND   MOTIVE   THAT   OBLIGES   US   TO   VIRTUE   AND   THE    SERVICE   OF  GOD,    WHICH 

IS   THE   BENEFIT   OF  OUR   CREATION. 


[jNOTHER  obligation  we  have  in  the 
pursuit  of  virtue,  and  the  keeping  of 
God's  commandments,  besides  his 
being  in  itself,  is  the  consideration 
of  what  he  is  towards  us,  that  is,  of  those  in- 
numerable favors  we  have  received  from  him  ; 
which,  though  we  have  spoken  of  elsewhere, 
upon  other  occasions,  we  will  nevertheless  treat 


of  them  again,  that  so  we  may  the  better  under- 
stand how  much  we  are  obliged  to  this  liberal 
Benefactor. 

The  first  of  these  benefits  is  our  creation^ 
which  being  so  well  known,  I  will  only  say, 
that  such  a  favor  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  oblige 
man  to  give  himself  up  entirely  to  the  service 
of   his  Creator;  because  in    justice    he    stands 


s68 


HOW   TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


indebted  for  all  lie  has  received ;  and  since  by 
this  benefit  he  has  received  his  being,  that  is, 
his  body  with  all  its  senses,  and  his  soul  with 
all  its  faculties,  it  follows  he  is  obliged  to 
employ  them  all  in  the  service  of  his  Creator, 
under  the  penalty  of  being  looked  on  as  un- 
grateful to  so  bountiful  a  Benefactor.  For,  if  a 
man  builds  a  house,  who  should  have  the  use  or 
the  rent  of  it,  but  he  that  built  it  ?  If  a  man 
plants  a  vine,  who  else  should  have  the  fruit  of 
it  but  the  planter  ?  If  a  man  has  any  children, 
who  are  they  obliged  to  serve  but  the  father 
that  begot  them  ?  This  obligation  is  so  strict, 
that  the  laws  themselves  give  every  father  a 
right  and  power  to  sell  his  own  children,  if  he 
should  be  reduced  to  a  very  pressing  necessity. 
For  his  having  given  them  their  being,  makes 
his  authority  over  them  so  absolute,  that  he 
may  dispose  of  them  as  he  pleases. — What  power, 
then,  and  authority  ought  he  to  have,  who  is  the 
sovereign  Master  and  Author  of  all  creatures 
both  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  since  the  nower 
a  father  has  over  his  children  extends  so  far  ? 
And  if  those  persons  who  receive  a  favor  are, 
according  to  Seneca,  obliged  to  imitate  a  good 
soil,  which  returns  with  interest  what  it  receives, 
how  shall  we  be  able  to  make  God  any  such  return, 
when,  after  having  given  him  all  we  have,  we  can 
g^ve  him  no  more  than  what  we  have  received 
from  him  ?  And  if  he  who  gives  back  but 
just  what  he  received,  does  not  comply  with 
this  precept  of  the  philosopher,  what  shall  we 
say  of  him  that  does  not  return  so  much  as 
the  least  part  of  it  ?  Aristotle  tells  us  it  is 
impossible  for  a  man  to  make  equal  returns  to 
the  favors  his  father  and  the  gods  have  be- 
stowed on  him.  How,  then,  can  it  be  possible 
for  us  to  make  any  return  to  this  great  God, 
who  is  the  Father  of  all  fathers,  and  from  whom 
mankind  has  received  infinitel}'  more  than 
from  all  the  fathers  in  the  world  together? 
If  for  a  son  to  disobey  his  father  is  so  heinous 
a  sin,  how  grievous  a  crime  must  our  rebellion 
be  against  God,  who  has  so  many  titles  to  the 
name  of  Father,  that,  in  comparison  with  him, 
no  father  deserves  to  be  so  called.     And,  there- 


fore, he,  with  much   reason,  complains  of  this 
ingratitude,  by    one   of  the   prophets,  in  these 
words :     //  I  am  your   Father^   where   is    my 
honor  ?     And  if  I  am  your  Lord,    where   is 
my  fear  ?     Mai.  i.  6.     It  is   upon   the  account 
of  the  same  ingratitude  that  he  expresses  his 
indignation  in   another   place  with  much  more 
severity  and  anger,  saying.  Is  it  thus  that  you 
requite  the  Lord,  O  foolish  and  tcnwise  nation  ? 
Is  not  he  thy  Father,  that  has  taken  thee  into 
his  possession,  and  has  made  and  created  thee  ? 
Deut.  xxxii.  6.     These  are  truly  the  ungrateful 
creatures,  that  never  lift  up  their  eyes  toward 
heaven  to  contemplate  on  it,  nor  look  down  to 
consider  themselves.     Did  they  but  enter  into 
this    consideration,    they    would    soon    inform 
themselves  what   they   are,  and  desire  to  have 
some    knowledge    at    least    of    their    original. 
They  would  be  willing  to  know  by  whom  and 
for  what  end  they  have  been  created,  that  they 
might   by   this   means  be  acquainted  with  one 
part   of  their   duty.     But  having  already   neg- 
lected  the    one,  they   easily  neglect  the  other, 
and  live  as  if  they  had  made  and  created  them- 
selves.    This    was   the    crime  of  that  unfortu- 
nate king  of  Egypt,  whom  God  threatened  so 
severely    by    his    prophet,  when   he   sent   him 
this    message :      Behold,    O   Pharaoh,    king  of 
Egypt,  it  is  to  thee   that  I  speak ;    thou  great 
dragon,    that    liest  dowtt    in    the    midst   of  thy 
rivers,  and  sayest,   The    river  is   mine,  and   I 
have   made    myself     These   words,  if  they  are 
not   in   the  mouths,  are  at  least  in  the  hearts 
of  those  who  think  as  seldom  of  their  Creator 
as  if  they  themselves  were  the  authors  of  their 
own  being,  and    would   acknowledge  no  other. 
St.  Augustine's  sentiments  were  quite  different 
from   these ;     for   the    knowledge   of    his    own 
origin    brought  him  to  the   knowledge  of  him 
from  whom  he  had  received  it.     Hear  how  he 
speaks  in  one  of  his  soliloquies :    "  I  returned 
to    myself,    and    entered    into    myself,    saying. 
What    art   thou  ?     And  I  answered  myself,  A 
rational    and   a   mortal  man.     And  I  began  to 
examine  what  this  was,  and  said,  O,  my  Lord 
and    my    God,  who   is   it  that    has   created  so 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,  THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


269 


noble  a  creature  as  this  is?  Who,  O  Lord, 
but  thou?  Thou,  O  my  God,  hast  made  me, 
and  not  I  myself.  What  art  thou?  Thou  by 
whom  I  and  all  things  live.  Can  any  one 
create  and  make  himself?  Can  he  receive  his 
being  and  his  life  from  any  one  else  but  from 
thee  ?  Art  not  thou  the  chief  being,  from 
whom  every  other  being  comes  ?  Art  not  thou 
the  fountain  of  life,  from  which  all  lives  flow  ? 
For  whatsoever  has  life  lives  by  thee,  because 
nothing  can  live  without  thee.  It  is  thou,  O 
Lord,  that  hast  made  me,  and  without  thee 
nothing  is  made.  Thou  art  my  Creator,  and 
I  am  thy  creature.  I  thank  thee,  O  my  Lord 
and  my  God,  because  thou  hast  created  me ; 
thou,  by  whom  I  live,  and  by  whom  all  things 
live.  I  thank  thee,  O  my  Creator,  because 
thy  hands  have  made  and  fashioned  me.  I 
thank  thee,  O  my  Light,  for  having  enlight- 
ened and  brought  me  to  the  knowledge  of 
what  thou  art,  and  what  I  am  myself" 

This  is  the  first  favor  we  have  received  from 
God,  and  the  foundation  of  all  the  rest,  because 
all  other  benefits  presuppose  a  being,  and  this 
is  first  given  us  at  our  creation.  Nay,  there 
is  no  benefit  but  has  a  near  relation  to  our 
being,  as  the  accidents  of  a  thing  have  to  the 
substance  of  it ;  by  which  you  may  see  how 
great  a  benefit  this  is,  and  how  deeply  you  are 
indebted  to  God  for  it.  If,  then,  it  is  certain, 
that  God  is  very  careful  and  exact  in  requiring 
some  acknowledgment  for  all  the  benefits  he 
bestows  upon  us,  not  out  of  any  interest  or 
advantage  to  himself,  but  only  for  our  good ; 
what  acknowledgment  do  we  think  he  will  ex- 
pect from  us,  for  that  favor,  upon  which  all 
others  are  built  ?  For  God  is  no  less  rigorous 
in  exacting  our  thanks,  than  he  is  liberal  in 
conferring  his  grace ;  not  that  he  gets  any 
thing  by  it,  but  because  the  performance  of 
our  duty  is  so  very  advantageous  to  us.  Thus 
we  read  in  the  Old  Testament,  that  God  no 
sooner  bestowed  any  grace  upon  his  people, 
than  he  commanded  them  not  to  forget  the 
same.  As  soon  as  he  had  brought  his  Israel- 
ites out  of  the  slavery  of  Egypt  (Exod.  xii.). 


he  immediately  commanded  them  to  keep  a 
solemn  feast  every  year,  in  remembrance  of 
that  happy  day.  He  destroyed  all  the  first- 
born of  the  Egyptians,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
to  prevent  his  people's  ingratitude,  he  gave 
orders,  that  in  return  for  so  signal  a  favor, 
they  should  offer  up  all  their  first-born  to  him. 
A  little  after  their  departure  from  Egypt  (Exod. 
xvi.  33),  when  he  first  rained  down  the  manna 
from  heaven,  a  food  with  which  he  maintained 
them  for  forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  he 
ordered  immediately  that  a  certain  quantity  of 
it  should  be  put  into  a  vessel,  and  kept  in 
the  sanctuary,  as  a  memorial  to  all  their  pos- 
terity of  so  extraordinary  a  mercy  ;  Exod.  xvii. 
14.  After  the  victory  which  he  gave  them 
over  the  Amalekites,  he  bids  Moses  write  it 
down  in  a  book  for  a  memorial,  and  deliver 
the  same  to  Josue.  Now,  if  God  has  been  so 
exact,  in  requiring  that  his  people  should  never 
forget  those  temporal  favors  he  has  done  them, 
what  will  he  not  expect  from  us,  for  this  im- 
mortal one  ?  For  since  the  soul  he  has  given 
us  is  immortal,  the  benefit  we  receive  with  it 
must  be  so  too.  It  was  this  that  introduced 
the  custom  amongst  the  old  patriarchs,  of 
erecting  altars,  as  often  as  God  had  favored 
them  in  any  particular  manner ;  Gen.  xiii.  7, 
8  ;  xiii.  18  ;  xxii,  etc.  Nay,  the  very  names 
they  gave  their  children  expressed  the  favors 
they  had  received,  that  so  they  might  always 
be  mindful  of  them.  Hence  St.  Augustine  took 
occasion  to  say  that  man  ought  to  think  of 
God  every  time  he  draws  his  breath  ;  Soliloq. 
c.  18.  Manuale  c.  29.  Medit.  c.  6.  Because, 
as  it  is  by  the  means  of  his  being  that  he 
lives,  he  should  be  continually  giving  God 
thanks  for  this  immortal  being,  which  he  has 
had  from  the  divine  mercy. 

We  are  so  strictly  obliged  to  the  perform- 
ance of  this  duty,  that  it  is  the  advice  even 
of  worldly  philosophers  never  to  be  ungrateful 
to  God.  Hear  how  Epictetus,  a  very  noted 
Stoic,  speaks  upon  this  matter.  "  Have  a  care," 
says  he,  "  O  man,  of  being  ungrateful  to  that 
sovereign    Power,    and     forgetting    to    return 


ajo 


HOW  TO  SHUN  EVlI^i  OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


thanks,  not  only  for  having  given  you  all  your 
senses  and  life  itself,  but  for  all  those  things 
that  support  it :  not  only  for  the  pleasant 
fruits,  for  the  wine,  the  oil,  and  for  whatever 
other  advantages  of  fortune  you  have  received 
from  him ;  but  praise  him  particularly  for 
having  endowed  you  with  reason,  by  which 
you  may  know  how  to  make  that  use  of 
every  thing  which  it  ought  to  be  put  to,  and 
understand  the  true  worth  and  excellence  of 
all  things."  If  a  heathen  philosopher  obliges 
us  to  such  acknowledgments  for  these  common 
and  ordinary  things,  what  sentiments  of  grati- 
tude should  a  Christian  have,  who  has,  beside 
all  these,  received  the  light  of  faith,  which  is 
a  most  inestimable  favor. 

But  you  will  perhaps  ask,  What  obligations 
can  these  benefits  lay  upon  me,  which  are 
common  to  all,  and  seem  rather  to  be  the  ordi- 
nary graces  of  God,  since  they  are  nothing 
but  the  consequences  and  products  of  such 
causes  as  work  always  after  the  same  manner  ? 
This  objection  is  so  much  below  a  Christian, 
that  a  heathen  would  be  ashamed  to  make  it, 
and  none  but  a  beast  can  be  guilt}'^  of  such 
baseness.  That  you  may  the  more  easily 
believe  me,  hear  how  the  same  philosopher 
condemns  it :  "  You  will  say,  perhaps,  that  you 
receive  all  these  benefits  from  nature.  Sense- 
less and  ignorant  creature  that  you  are !  do 
not  you  see,  that  when  you  say  so,  j'ou  only 
change  the  name  of  God  ?  For  what  is  nature 
but  God,  who  is  the  Author  of  nature  ?  It  is 
therefore  no  excuse,  ungrateful  man,  to  say 
you  owe  this  obligation  to  nature,  not  to  God, 
because  without  God  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
nature.  Should  you  borrow  a  sum  of  money 
of  Lucius  Seneca,  and  afterward  say  you  were 
obliged  only  to  Lucius,  and  not  to  Seneca,  that 
would  only  change  your  creditor's  name,  but 
not  your  creditor." 

§  I.  Of  another  Part  of  this  Motive  that  obliges 
us  to  the  Service  of  God,  which  is,  that  we 
are  to  receive  our  Perfection  from  him. 

It   is    not  justice    alone    that  obliges  to  the 


service  of  our  Creator:  our  own  necessities 
force  us  to  address  ourselves  to  him,  if  we 
desire  to  arrive  at  the  happiness  and  perfection 
of  our  being,  which  is  the  end  of  our  creation. 
For  the  better  understanding  hereof,  you  must 
conceive  that,  generally  speaking,  whatever  is 
born  is  not  bom  with  all  its  perfections :  it  has 
something,  but  it  wants  much  more  yet,  and 
none  but  he  that  began  the  work  can  rightly 
finish  it.  So  that  no  being  can  be  perfected 
by  any  other  cause  than  that  which  put  the 
first  hand  to  it.  This  is  the  reason  why  all 
effects  have  an  inclination  and  tendency  towards 
those  particular  causes  which  produced  them, 
that  they  may  receive  their  last  stroke  and 
perfection  from  them.  The  plants  love  the 
sun,  and  run  as  deep  as  they  can  into  the 
earth  which  shot  them  forth.  The  fishes  con- 
tinue in  the  waters  where  they  were  first  engen- 
dered. A  chicken  runs  under  the  hen's  wings 
as  soon  as  it  is  hatched,  and  follows  her  up 
and  down  for  shelter.  A  lamb,  as  soon  as  it 
is  brought  forth,  runs  after  its  ewe,  and  can 
distinguish  it  from  a  thousand  others  of  the 
same  color.  It  follows  her  without  ever  losing 
sight  of  her,  and  seems  to  say,  "  Here  it  is  I 
received  whatsoever  I  have,  and  it  is  here  I 
will  receive  whatsoever  I  want."  This  is  what 
usually  happens  in  the  works  of  nature;  and 
if  those  of  art  had  any  sense  or  motion,  they 
would  do  the  same.  Should  a  painter  draw  a 
piece  and  leave  out  the  eyes,  what  would  it  do 
were  it  sensible  of  its  wants?  whither  would 
it  go  ?  Not  to  the  palaces  of  kings  or  princes, 
who,  as  such,  could  never  be  able  to  supply 
its  defects,  but  to  the  master's  house,  that  he 
who  drew  the  first  strokes  might  give  the  last, 
and  finish  it  quite.  Is  not  this  your  own  case, 
O  rational  creature  ?  You  are  not  yet  fin- 
ished. You  have,  it  is  true,  received  something, 
but  there  is  a  great  deal  yet  wanting  to  make 
you  as  complete  and  perfect  as  you  should  be. 
You  are  scarce  any  more  than  a  rough  draught. 
You  have  received  nothing  of  the  beauty  and 
lustre  you  are  to  have.  This  you  will  be  very 
sensible  of,  if  you  do  but  observe  the  propension 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


271 


of  nature  itself,  which,  being  always  in  want, 
never  rests,  but  is  continually  craving  and 
wishing  for  more.  God  thought  fit  to  starve 
you  out,  that  your  own  wants  might  force  you 
to  have  recourse  to  him.  For  this  reason  it 
was  he  left  you  at  first  unfinished.  His  not 
giving  you  at  your  creation  all  that  you  stood  in 
need  of,  was  an  effect  not  of  covetousness,  but 
of  love.  It  was  not  to  leave  you  poor,  but 
to  make  you  humble.  It  was  not  to  forsake 
you  in  your  necessities,  but  to  oblige  you 
to  address  yourself  to  him.  For  since  you 
are  really  poor  and  blind,  why  do  you  not 
go  to  the  Father  that  made  you,  and  to  the 
painter  that  first  began  to  draw  you,  that  he 
may  give  you  what  you  have  not  yet  received  ? 
Consider  whether  David  did  not  understand  this 
secret,  when  he  said,  Thy  hands,  O  Lord  I  have 
made  me,  and  formed  me :  give  me  understanding, 
and  I  will  learn  thy  commandments;  Ps.  cxviii. 
73.  As  if  he  had  said,  all  that  is  in  me  is  the 
work  of  thy  hands,  O  Lord !  but  thy  work  is 
not  yet  completed.  I  am  not  quite  finished,  O 
Lord,  because  the  eyes  of  my  soul  are  not  yet 
opened.  I  have  not  light  enough  to  see  what 
is  convenient  for  me.  Whom  shall  I  have 
recourse  to  for  the  obtaining  what  I  want, 
unless  to  him  who  has  given  me  what  I  have  ? 
Grant  me,  O  Lord!  that  light  which  is  neces- 
sary for  me.  Enlighten  the  eyes  of  this  wretch 
that  has  been  born  blind,  that  he  may  see  thee, 
and  that  thou,  O  God !  may  est  finish  what  thou 
hast  already  begun  in  me. 

As,  therefore,  there  is  none  but  this  great 
God  that  can  perfect  the  understanding,  so 
neither  is  there  any  beside  him,  that  can  com- 


plete and  rectify  the  will,  with  all  the  other 
faculties  of  the  soul ;  that  so  he,  who  first 
began  the  work,  may  finish  it.  It  is  this 
Lord  alone,  who  satisfies  without  leaving  any 
want,  who  enlarges  without  noise,  who  enriches 
without  vanity,  and  gives  a  solid  contentment, 
without  possessing  many  things:  with  whom 
the  creature  lives,  though  poor,  yet  content; 
though  rich,  yet  destitute;  though  alone,  yet 
happy ;  though  deprived  of  all  things,  yet 
possessing  all.  It  is  upon  this  occasion  the 
wise  man  says,  with  so  muoh  reason.  One  is  as 
it  were  rich,  when  he  hath  nothing ;  and  another 
is  as  it  were  poor,  though  he  hath  great  riches; 
Prov.  xiii.  7.  By  this  we  are  taught,  that  the 
poor  man,  who  has  God  for  his  inheritance,  as 
St.  Francis  had,  is  truly  rich,  and  that  he  whom 
God  takes  no  notice  of  is  very  poor,  let  him 
be  ever  so  rich  in  worldly  possessions. 

What  advantage  have  great  and  wealthy  men 
by  all  their  riches,  if  they  are,  nevertheless, 
racked  with  such  cares  and  diseases,  that  all 
they  have  cannot  give  them  any  ease?  Or 
what  comfort  can  rich  clothes,  a  plentiful  table, 
and  chests  crammed  with  gold  and  treasures, ' 
bring  to  an  unquiet  and  troubled  mind  ?  How 
often,  and  with  what  restlessness,  does  the  rich 
man  turn  and  toss  about  every  night  in  his 
down-bed;  nor  can  all  his  wealth  help  him  to 
the  least  wink  of  sleep,  or  give  any  rest  to 
his  disturbed  conscience  ?  It  follows,  from 
what  has  been  said,  that  we  are  infinitely 
obliged  to  serve  God,  not  only  on  account  of 
his  benefits,  but  for  whatsover  else  contributes 
to  the  making  our  happiness  complete. 


272 


HOW   TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


CHAPTER    111. 

OF  THE  THIRD  MOTIVE   THAT  OBLIGES    US    TO  SERVE    GOD,   WHICH   IS  THE   BENEFIT  OF  OUR 

PRESERVATION    AND   DIRECTION. 


OTHER  obligation  man  has  to  God, 
besides  that  of  his  creation,  is  the  care 
he  takes  to  preserve  him.  He  it  is 
who  gave  you  your  being,  and  who 
still  continues  the  same  to  you.  So  that  you 
depend  now  as  much  upon  his  power,  for  the 
preserving  of  it,  as  you  did,  before  he  gave  it  to 
you,  for  the  receiving  it ;  and  it  is  as  impossible 
for  you  to  subsist  without  him,  as  it  was  before 
you  were  created,  to  create  yourself.  Nor  is  the 
second  obligation  less  than  the  first,  but  rather 
greater,  for  that  was  laid  upon  you  but  once ; 
whereas  this  is  conferred  on  you  every  moment 
of  your  life.  For,  to  be  continually  preserving 
you  after  your  creation,  requires  no  less  love 
nor  power  than  it  did  to  create  you.  If,  there- 
fore, your  obligation  to  him,  for  having  created 
you  in  an  instant,  be  so  great;  what  do  you 
not  owe  him  for  preserving  you  so  many 
moments,  so  many  hours,  nay,  so  many  years? 
You  cannot  go  a  step  unless  he  gives  you 
power  to  move.  You  cannot  so  much  as  open 
or  shut  your  eyes  without  his  will  and  assist- 
ance. For,  if  you  do  not  believe  it  is  he  who 
moves  every  joint  and  member  of  your  body, 
you  are  no  Christian ;  but  if  you  believe  it  is 
from  him  yoti  receive  this  favor,  and  yet,  after 
all,  are  so  impudent  as  to  offend  him,  I  cannot 
tell  what  name  to  give  you.  If  a  man  were 
standing  on  the  top  of  a  high  tower  with  a 
small  cord  in  his  hand,  and  another  man 
hanging  at  the  end  of  it,  do  you  think  that 
he  who  should  be  so  near  falling  down  head- 
long, would  dare  to  give  abusive  language  to 
the  person  that  held  the  cord  ?  Imagine  your- 
self to  be  in  such  a  condition.  You  depend 
on  the  will  of  God  as  it  were  on  a  thread ;  so 
that,  should  he  forsake  you  but  for  one  moment, 
you  would  be  instantly  reduced  to  your  first 
nothing.  With  what  insolence,  then,  can  you 
dare  provoke  so  dreadful  a  Majesty,  who  is  so 


merciful  as  to  support  you,  even  when  you  sin 
against  him  ?  For,  as  St.  Denis  says,  such 
is  the  virtue  of  the  sovereign  Good,  as  to  give 
creatures  power  to  disobey  and  rebel  at  the 
very  moment  they  are  rebelling  against  it. 
Since  there  is  no  denying  this  truth,  how  dare 
you  presume  to  make  use  of  those  senses  and 
members,  as  instruments  to  offend  him  who 
preserves  them?  O  incredible  blindness  and 
folly !  O  unheard-of  rebellion  and  disobedience  I 
Was  there  ever  so  horrid  a  conspiracy  as  this 
is,  that  the  members  should  rise  up  against 
their  Head,  for  which  they  ought  to  die  a 
thousand  times  ?  The  day  will  come  when 
this  affront  shall  be  most  severely  punished. 
It  is  then  that  God  will  hear  those  complaints, 
which  his  own  honor,  trampled  under  foot  by 
you,  shall  make  to  his  divine  justice.  Disloyal 
and  ungrateful  man  I  is  it  not  just,  since  you 
have  conspired  against  your  God,  that  the 
whole  world  should  rise  up  and  exclaim  against 
you  ?  that  God  should  arm  all  his  creatures  to 
revenge  the  injuries  you  have  offered  him? 
and  that  the  whole  earth  should  fight  for  him 
against  the  ungrateful  ?  Without  doubt,  there 
is  no  greater  j  ustice  than  that  they,  who  would  not 
open  their  eyes  to  so  many  mercies,  when  they 
might  have  done  it,  should  be  forced  to  it  now 
by  severity  and  rigor,  without  finding  any 
remedy  or  comfort. 

If  to  all  these  benefits  we  add  the  whole 
world,  which  is  as  a  rich  and  plentiful  table  God  has 
prepared  and  spread  for  your  particular  use,  how 
infinitely  will  the  obligation  be  increased  ? 
There  is  not  any  one  thing  under  the  face  of 
heaven,  but  what  is  entirely  for  man  or  for  his 
service.  And  should  any  one  object,  that  flies 
are  of  no  use  to  man,  he  may  observe,  they  are 
food  for  birds,  which  are  created  for  him.  Though 
a  man  does  not  eat  the  grass  of  the  fields,  it 
nourishes  the    cattle    which    are  necessary    for 


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273 


his  subsistence.  Cast  your  eye  about  the  world, 
and  j-ou  will  see  what  rich  lands,  and  what 
large  possessions  you  have,  and  how  great  your 
inheritance  is.  All  that  moves  on  the  earth,  all 
that  swims  in  the  waters,  that  flies  in  the  air, 
or  that  shines  in  the  heavens,  is  made  for  j'ou. 
These  things  are  all  of  them  the  effects  of  God's 
bounty,  the  witnesses  of  his  mercy,  the  sparks 
of  his  charity,  and  the  common  publishers  of 
his  greatness.  Consider  these  are  so  many 
preachers  God  sends  to  you,  that  you  may  not 
want  the  opportunity  of  knowing  him.  Every 
thing,  says  St.  Augustine,  on  earth  and  in 
heaven,  perpetually  exhorts  me,  O  Lord  I  to  love 
you.  And  that  no  man  may  pretend  to  a  law- 
ful excuse  from  so  just  a  duty,  they  speak  the 
same  language  to  everybody  else. 

O!  that  you  had  but  ears  to  hear  the 
voices  of  the  creatures,  you  would  easily  under- 
stand how  they  all  agree  in  their  inviting  you 
to  the  love  of  God  ;  for  they  silently  declare  they 
have  been  created  to  serve  you  :  that  you  may, 
therefore,  love  and  adore  this  common  Lord,  not 
only  for  yourself,  but  for  them.  The  sky  says, 
It  is  I,  that  by  my  stars  continually  furnish 
you  with  light  that  you  may  not  walk  in  the 
dark.  It  is  I,  that  by  my  different  influences 
occasion  the  production  of  all  things  necessary 
for  life.  The  air,  on  the  other  side,  tells  you, 
It  is  I  who  gives  you  breath  ;  it  is  I  who  re- 
freshes you  with  my  gentle  blasts,  and  tempers 
the  heat  of  3'our  vital  spirits,  that  you  may 
not  be  scorched  up  by  it  ;  it  is  I  who  maintains 
this  almost  infinite  number  of  different  kinds  of 
birds,  pleasing  your  eyes  with  the  beauty  of 
their  feathers,  charming  your  ears  with  the 
sweetness  of  their  notes,  and  satisfying  the 
niceness  of  your  appetites  with  their  delicious 
taste.  The  water  says.  It  is  for  you  that  I 
pour  out  my  seasonable  and  moderate  rains ;  it 
is  for  you  that  my  streams  and  fountains  are 
always  running ;  it  is  for  your  nourishment 
that  I  engender  such  variety  of  fish.  I  water 
your  lands  and  your  gardens,  that  they  may 
bring  you  their  fruits  in  due  season.  I  make 
a  short  passage  for  you  through  the  sea,  that 
18 


you  may  thereby  have  the  opportunity  of 
making  use  of  the  whole  world,  and  of  joining 
the  riches  of  other  countries  with  those  of  your 
own.  What  shall  I  say  of  the  earth,  the 
common  mother  of  all  things,  and  the  universal 
shop,  as  it  were,  of  nature ;  where  all  the 
different  causes  produce  their  several  effects  ? 
She  may,  with  a  great  deal  of  reason,  speak 
to  you,  as  the  rest  have  done,  and  tell  you,  it 
is  she  that,  like  a  mother,  carries  you  in  her 
arms  ;  it  is  she  that  supplies  you  with  all  the 
necessaries  of  life ;  it  is  she  that  maintains 
you  with  the  variety  of  her  products  ;  that,  to 
serve  you,  she  holds  a  correspondence  with  all 
the  other  elements,  and  with  the  heavens 
themselves,  for  the  procuring  of  their  influence ; 
and  that  she,  in  short,  like  a  tender  mother, 
neither  forsakes  you  whilst  you  are  alive,  nor 
leaves  you  at  your  death ;  for  she  it  is  that 
nourishes  and  supports  you  during  your  life, 
and  takes  you  into  her  bosom  when  you  are 
dead,  and  there  gives  you  a  resting  place.  To 
conclude,  all  the  world  cries  out  aloud  to  you. 
Behold,  O  mortal  man,  and  consider,  what  a 
love  your  Creator  has  had  for  you;  since  it  is 
for  your  sake  that  he  has  made  me,  commanding 
me,  at  the  same  time,  for  the  love  of  him,  to 
serve  you  ;  that  so  you  may  love  and  serve 
him,  who  has  created  me  for  you,  and  you 
for  himself. 

This,  O  Christian,  this  is  the  general  voice 
of  all  the  creatures ;  and  can  you,  after  this, 
deny,  that  you  are  most  strangely  dull  and 
stupid,  if  you  have  no  ears  to  hear  the  same  ? 
How  can  you  avoid  confessing,  that  you  are 
guilty  of  an  unparalleled  ingratitude,  if  you 
take  no  notice  of  so  many  favors  ?  If  you  are 
not  ashamed  to  receive  an  obligation,  why  do 
you  refuse  to  make  a  simple  acknowledgment 
of  it  to  him  from  whom  you  have  received  it, 
that  so  you  may  escape  the  punishment  your 
ingratitude  otherwise  deserves  ?  For,  according 
to  a  great  writer,  there  is  no  creature  in  the 
world  but  what  speaks  these  three  words  to 
man  :  ''''Receive^  give^  take  heed ;  that  is  to  say, 
receive    the    benefit,    give    what    is    due,    and 


874 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


take  heed  of  the  punishment  which  follows  in- 
gratitude, if  you  do  not  do  so ; "  Rich,  de 
S.  Vict. 

And,  that  you  may  have  more  cause  to 
admire,  consider  how  Epictetus,  a  heathen 
philosopher  before  mentioned,  has  been  able  to 
lift  himself  up  to  this  sublime  divinity.  He 
advises  us,  in  these  words,  to  make  the  crea- 
tures serve  us,  as  so  many  memorials  of  the 
Creator : — 

"  When  the  raven  croaks,"  says  he,  "  and 
thereby  gives  you  notice  of  some  change  of 
weather,  it  is  God,  not  the  raven,  that  g^ves 
you  this  notice.  If  men  should,  by  their 
words  and  discourses,  advise  you  to  any  thing, 
is  it  not  God  that  has  g^ven  them  power  to 
advise  you  thus  ?  thereby  to  let  you  under- 
stand, that  he  exercises  his  divine  power 
several  waj's,  in  order  to  bring  about  his  de- 
signs ;  for  when  God  thinks  fit  to  acquaint  us 
with  matters  of  greater  moment,  he  makes 
choice  of  more  excellent  and  more  inspired 
men  for  this  purpose."  Afterwards,  he  adds 
this  :  "  In  fine,  when  you  shall  have  read  my 
instructions,  say  to  yourself.  Is  it  not  Epictetus, 
but  God,  that  has  given  me  this  advice ;  for 
whence  could  he  have  had  such  precepts  and 
rules  as  these  are,  if  God  had  not  suggested 
them  to  him  ?  "  Thus  far  the  words  of  Epic- 
tetus. Now,  is  there  any  Christian  -in  the 
world,  that  will  not  be  ashamed,  and  blush  to 
be  excelled  by  a  heathen  ?  If  there  be,  he 
may  well  be  confounded  to  think,  that  his 
eyes,  with  the  assistance  of  the  light  of  faith, 
cannot  see  as  far  as  those  that  were  in  the 
darkness  of  human  reason. 


S  I.  From  what  has    been   said  is   inferred  how 
unworthy  it  is  not  to  serve  God. 

Since  things  are  really  just  as  we  have 
represented  them,  is  it  not  great  ingratitude  and 
neglect  for  man  to  be  surrounded  on  all  sides  by 
so  many  benefits,  and  yet  to  forget  him  from 
whom  he  has  received  them  all  ?     St.  Paul  says. 


"  that  he  who  does  his  enemy  a  good  turn,  heaps 
coals  of  fire  upon  his  head  "  (Rom.  xii.  20.),  by 
which  he  inflames  his  charity  and  love.  Now, 
if  all  the  creatures  in  the  world  are  so  many 
benefits  God  bestows  on  you,  the  whole  world 
can  be  nothing  else  but  one  fire,  and  all  the 
creatures  so  much  fuel  to  feed  and  increase  it. 
Is  it  possible  any  heart  should  be  in  the  midst 
of  such  flames  as  these,  and  not  be  entirely 
inflamed,  or  so  much  as  warmed  by  them  ?  How 
comes  it  then,  that  after  receiving  so  many  bene- 
fits and  graces,  you  should  neglect  even  to  cast 
your  eyes  toward  heaven,  to  see  from  whence 
they  all  come  ?  If  you  were  to  go  a  great 
journey,  and  in  the  way,  being  quite  tired,  and 
almost  dead  with  hunger,  should  be  forced  to 
sit  down  at  the  bottom  of  a  high  tower,  from 
the  top  of  which  some  charitable  person  should 
take  care  to  supply  you  with  whatsoever  you 
wanted,  could  you  forbear  looking  up  sometimes, 
if  it  were  but  to  have  a  sight  of  one  that  was 
so  kind  and  charitable  to  you  ?  Does  God  do 
any  thing  less  for  you,  than  continually  shower 
down  from  above  all  sorts  of  blessings  upon 
you  ?  Find  me  out,  if  you  can,  but  one  thing- 
in  the  world,  that  does  not  happen  by  his 
particular  providence.  And  yet  you  never  so 
much  as  look  up  to  know,  and  by  that  means 
to  love,  so  liberal  and  constant  a  Benefactor. 
What  can  be  said  of  such  hard-heartedness,  but 
that  man  has  divested  himself  of  his  own  nature, 
and  is  grown  more  insensible  than  brutes  ?  It 
is  a  shame  to  say  whom  we  resemble  in  this 
particular,  but  it  is  fit  that  man  should  hear  it. 
We  are  like  a  herd  of  swine  feeding  under  an 
oak,  which,  all  the  time  their  keeper  is  shaking- 
down  the  acorns  from  the  top  of  the  tree,  do 
nothing  else  but  grunt  and  fight  with  one 
another  for  their  meat,  without  ever  looking 
upon  him  that  gives  it  them,  or  lifting  up  their 
eyes  to  see  from  whose  hands  they  receive  such 
a  benefit.  O  !  the  brutal  ingratitude  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Adam  !  who,  having  received  not  only  a 
rational  soul,  which  other  creatures  have  not, 
but  also  an  upright  body,  and  eyes  set  to  look 
up  toward  heaven,  yet  will  not  lift  up  the  eyes 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


275 


of  the  soul  to   behold  him    that  bestows    such 
blessings  on  them. 

It  is  to  be  wished,  that  brutes  and  irrational 
creatures  did  not  excel  us  in  this  point.  For 
this  duty  of  acknowledgment  is,  in  effect,  so 
deeply  engraved  by  the  finger  of  God  upon  all 
his  creatures,  that  the  fiercest  of  them  have  not 
been  deprived  of  so  noble  an  inclination.  There 
are  a  great  many  examples  in  history  to  prove 
what  we  here  assert.  Is  there  any  beast  more 
fierce  than  a  lion  ?  and  3'et  Appian,  a  Greek 
author,  tells  us  of  a  man  who,  having  accidentally 
sheltered  himself  in  a  lion's  cave,  and  there 
plucked  a  thorn  out  of  one  of  his  feet,  shared 
with  him  every  day  of  the  prey  he  got,  as  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  favor  and  the  cure  he 
had  wrought  upon  the  beast.  This  man  was 
taken  up  a  considerable  time  after  for  some 
notorious  crime,  and  was  condemned  to  be  ex- 
posed to  the  wild  beasts  in  the  amphitheatre  at 
Rome,  to  be  torn  in  pieces  by  them.  The  same 
lion,  which  had  been  taken  some  days  before, 
being  let  loose,  eyed  the  man,  and,  knowing  him, 
came  up  gently  and  fawned  upon  him,  just  as  a 
dog  does  upon  his  master  when  he  has  been 
abroad,  and  ever  after  followed  him  up  and  down 
without  doing  any  harm.  We  read  of  another 
lion,  who,  having  received  the  same  favor  from 
a  seaman,  that  had  been  cast  by  a  storm  upon 
the  coast  of  Africa,  brought  him  daily  a  part  of 
his  booty,  which  maintained  him  and  his  com- 
pany until  such  time  as  they  put  to  sea  again. 
Nor  is  that  less  to  be  admired,  which  they  tell 
us  of  another,  who,  as  he  was  fighting  with 
a  serpent,  was  so  put  to  it,  that  in  all  appearance 
he  would  have  lost  his  life,  had  not  a  gentleman, 
who  was  riding  that  way,  accidentally  come  to 
his  assistance,  and  killed  the  serpent ;  the  lion, 
to  return  the  obligation,  gave  himself  up  entirely 
to  his  deliverer,  and  followed  him  whithersoever 
he  went,  serving  him  as  a  hound  in  hunting. 
The  gentleman  at  last  took  shipping,  and  left 
his  lion  on  shore.  The  beast  was  so  impatient 
and  uneasy  to  stay  behind,  that  he  took  to  the 
water,  and,  not  being  able  to  make  to  the 
vessel,  was  drowned.     What  shall  I  saj-  of  the 


gratitude  and  fidelitj''  of  horses  ?  Pliny  gives 
us  a  relation  of  some,  that  have  had  such  a 
lively  concern  for  the  loss  of  their  masters,  as  to 
shed  tears  for  them;  and  of  others,  that  have 
starved  themselves  to  death  for  the  same  reason. 
Some  there  are,  again,  that  have  revenged  their 
masters'  death  upon  those  that  murdered  them 
by  tearing  them  in  pieces,  or  by  trampling 
them  under  their  feet.  Nor  is  the  gratitude 
of  dogs  less  surprising,  of  whom  the  same 
author  relates  such  strange  things  as  are 
almost  incredible.  Amongst  the  rest  he  tells 
us  of  one,  that,  having  fought  for  his  master, 
who  was  murdered  by  highwaymen,  as  long  as 
he  was  able,  sat  by  the  dead  body,  to  keep  off 
the  birds  and  beasts  from  devouring  it.  He 
speaks  of  another,  that  would  neither  eat  nor 
drink  after  he  had  seen  his  master,  Lucius, 
dead.  He  relates  another  much  more  remark- 
able passage,  that  happened  at  Rome  in  his 
time,  which  is  this :  A  man,  that  was  con- 
demned to  die,  had  a  dog  which  he  had  kept 
very  long,  and  which  never  left  him  all  the 
time  he  was  in  prison,  no,  nor  after  his  execu- 
tion ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  staying  always  by 
him,  made  known  his  grief  by  his  howling. 
If  any  body  flung  him  a  piece  of  bread,  he 
would  take  it  up,  and  carry  it  immediately  to 
his  master,  and  put  it  into  his  mouth.  At  last, 
the  body  being  thrown  into  the  Tiber,  the  dog 
leaped  in,  and  got  under  it,  to  keep  it  from 
sinking.  Can  there  be  anything  in  the  world 
more  grateful  than  this  was  ?  Now  if  beasts, 
who  have  only  a  small  spark  of  natural 
instinct,  whereby  to  acknowledge  a  good  turn, 
are  yet  so  ready  to  requite,  serve  and  attend 
their  benefactors,  how  can  man,  who  has  so 
much  more  light  to  know  the  good  he  receives, 
be  so  forgetful  of  him  that  bestows  so  much 
upon  him  ?  How  comes  he  to  suffer  himself 
to  be  exceeded  by  beasts,  in  courtesy,  fidelity 
and  gratitude  ?  Especially,  when  the  benefits, 
which  man  receives  from  God,  are  so  infinitely 
beyond  those  which  beasts  receive  from  men ; 
when  the  Benefactor  is  so  excellent,  his  love  so 
singular,  and  his  intention  so  sincere,  that  he 


376 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


proposes  no  interest  to  himself,  but  does  all 
out  of  mere  charity  and  bounty.  This  is, 
indeed,  a  matter  of  no  small  wonder  and  aston- 
ishment, and  evidently  shows  there  are  devils, 
that  blind  our  understandings,  harden  our 
hearts,  and  impair  our  memories,  that  we  may 
not  remember  so  liberal  a  Benefactor. 

Now,  if  it  be  so  great  a  crime  to  forget 
this  Lord,  what  must  it  be  to  affront  him,  and 
to  convert  his  favors  into  the  instruments  of 
our  offences  against  him  ?  Seneca  says,  that 
not  to  pay  back  the  benefits  we  have  received, 
is  the  first  degree  of  ingratitude ;  the  second  is 
to  forget  them  ;  the  third  is  to  render  evil  for 
good ;  and  this  last  is  the  highest  degree.  But 
what  is  all  this  to  the  affronting  and  abusing 
your  Benefactor  with  those  very  kindnesses  he 
has  shown  to  you  ?  I  doubt  whether  there  is 
any  man  in  the  world,  who  has  ever  dealt  with 
his  fellow  creatures,  as  we  frequently  deal  with 
God.  What  man  would  be  so  ungrateful,  as  to 
go  immediately ,  and  employ  a  considerable  sum 
of  money  he  had  received  from  his  prince,  in 
raising  an  army  against  him  ?  And  yet  you, 
base  and  miserable  wretch !  never  cease  to 
make  war  upon  God,  with  those  very  bounties 
you  have  received  from  him.  What  can  a  man 
think  more  abominable  than  this  ?  Should  a 
husband  make  a  present  to  his  wife  of  a  neck- 
lace of  pearl,  or  a  rich  set  of  diamonds,  to 
oblige  her  to  honor  and  love  him  the  more ; 
what  would  you  say  of  the  perfidiousness  of 
this  woman,  if  she  should  throw  all  away 
immediately  upon  her  gallant,  to  tie  him  the 
more  strongly  to  her,  and  make  herself  more 
the  mistress  of  his  affection  ?  Every  body 
would  certainly  look  upon  this  as  the  basest 
action  she  could  be  guilty  of;  and  yet  the 
offence  here  is  only  between  equals.  How  much 
more  heinous,  then,  is  the  crime,  when  the 
affront  is  offered  to  God?  And  yet  this  it  is 
those  persons  are  guilty  of,  who  waste  all  their 
strength,  and  spend  their  estates,  and  ruin  their 
health,  in  committing  sinful  actions.  Their 
strength  makes  them  proud,  their  beauty  makes 
them  conceited,  and  their  health  unmindful  of 


God.  Their  wealth  enables  them  to  devour 
the  poor,  to  vie  with  the  great  ones,  to  pamper 
their  flesh,  and  to  corrupt  the  virtue  of  some 
unthinking  maid,  making  her,  like  Judas,  sell 
what  Christ  purchased  by  his  blood,  whilst  they 
buy  it  with  money  like  the  Jews.  What  shall 
I  say  of  the  abuse  of  other  graces  ?  The  sea 
serves  but  to  satisfy  their  gluttony,  and  the 
beauty  of  creatures  their  lust.  The  fruits  and 
product  of  the  earth  serve  to  feed  their  avarice, 
and  their  wit  and  natural  gifts  go  to  the  increas- 
ing of  their  vanity.  They  are  puffed  up  in  pros- 
perity, even  to  folly,  and  cast  down  to  despair  in 
adversity.  They  choose  the  darkness  of  the 
night  to  hide  their  theft,  and  the  light  of  the  day 
for  the  laying  of  snares,  as  we  read  in  holy  Job. 
In  short,  whatever  God  has  created  for  his  own 
glor}'-,  they  have  devoted  to  satisfy  their  inordin- 
ate passions. 

What  shall  I  say  of  their  essences  and  per- 
fumes, of  their  stately  furniture,  their  sumptu- 
ous tables,  and  niceness  and  superfluity  of  their 
dishes,  with  their  different  sorts  of  sauces,  and 
their  several  ways  of  cooking  ?  Nay,  sensuality 
and  luxury  are  so  much  in  fashion,  that  men 
have  made  a  trade  of  these  scandalous  excesses, 
and  published  books  to  instruct  us  how  to  sin  in 
this  matter.  They  have  corrupted  all  things  by 
their  misusing  them,  and,  instead  of  taking  an 
occasion  from  them  to  praise  God,  the  end  they 
were  given  them  for,  they  have  made  use  of  them 
as  the  incentives  to  their  debaucheries  and  van- 
ities ;  thus  perverting  the  lawful  use  of  the  crea- 
tures, they  have  made  those  things  help  and 
assist  them  in  vice,  which  ought  to  have  encour- 
aged and  excited  them  to  virtue.  There  is  noth- 
ing, in  fine,  which  they  have  not  sacrificed  to 
the  gratifying  of  their  senses,  and  the  pamper- 
ing of  their  flesh,  whilst  they  have  quite 
neglected  to  relieve  their  neighbor,  though  God 
has  so  particularly  recommended  him  to  their 
care.  They  never  complain  that  they  are  poor, 
but  to  those  that  are  so  themselves;  nor  do 
they  ever  so  much  as  think  of  paying  their 
debts,  unless  when  any  body  comes  to  beg 
an   alms   of    them;    take   them    at    any   other 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


277 


time,  and  you  shall  neither  find  them  poor  nor 
in  debt. 

Have  a  care  this  be  not  laid  to  your 
charge  at  the  hour  of  your  death.  Do  not  suf- 
fer so  heavy  a  burden  as  this,  to  be  pressing 
upou  you  at  that  time.  Consider  that  the 
greater  the  concern  is,  the  more  strict  account 
you  must  give  of  it.  To  have  received  much, 
and  to  have  made  but  small  acknowledgment 
of  it,  is  a  kind  of  judgment  laid  upon  you 
already.  It  is  a  great  sign  of  a  man's  reproba- 
tion when  he  continues  to  abuse  those  favors 
God  Almighty  bestows  on  him.     Let  us  look 


upon  it  as  the  utmost  disgrace,  that  beasts 
should  surpass  us  in  this  virtue;  since  they 
requite  their  benefactors  with  gratitude,  whilst 
we  neglect  to  do  it.  If  the  Ninevites  are  to 
rise  up  in  judgment  against  the  Jews,  and  con- 
demn them  for  not  entering  into  a  state  of  pen- 
ance after  our  Saviour's  preaching,  let  us  take 
care  that  the  same  Lord  have  no  reason,  at' 
the  last  day,  to  condemn  us  upon  the  examples 
of  beasts,  for  taking  so  little  notice  of  our 
Benefactor,  when  they  have  expressed  much 
love  to  theirs. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OF   THE   FOURTH    MOTIVE   THAT   OBLIGES   US  TO   THE    PURSUIT   OF   VIRTUE,  WHICH   IS   THE 

INESTIMABLE    BENEFIT    OF  OUR   REDEMPTION. 


|ET  us  come  now  to  the  great  work 
of  our  redemption,  a  favor  not  to  be 
comprehended  by  either  men  or 
angels.  A  mystery  so  much  above 
whatsoever  I  am  able  to  say,  and  myself  so 
unworthy  at  the  same  time  to  speak  any  thing 
of  it,  that  I  neither  know  where  to  begin  or 
where  to  leave  off,  what  to  take  or  what  to 
leave.  Were  not  man  so  stupid  as  to  stand 
in  need  of  these  incentives,  to  stir  him  up  to 
the  love  of  virtue,  it  would  be  much  better  to 
adore  this  profound  mystery  in  silence,  than 
to  eclipse  it  by  the  darkness  of  our  expression. 
They  tell  us  of  a  certain  famous  painter,  who, 
having  drawn  a  picture  representing  the  death 
of  a  king's  daughter,  and  painted  her  friends 
and  relations  standing  about  her  with  most 
sorrowful  countenances,  and  her  mother  more 
melancholy  than  the  rest ;  when  he  came  to 
draw  the  father's  face,  he  hid  it  under  a  shade, 
to  signify  that  so  much  grief  was  not  to  be 
expressed  by  art.  Now  if  all  we  are  able  to 
say  falls  short  of  explaining  the  benefit  of 
our  creation,  what  eloquence  will  suflSce  deserv- 
edly  to   extol    that    of  our   redemption  ?     God 


created  the  whole  universe  by  one  single  act 
of  his  will,  without  spending  the  least  part  of 
his  treasures,  or  weakening  the  strength  of  his 
almighty  arm.  But  to  the  redeeming  of  it,  there 
went  no  less  than  thirty-three  years  of  sweat 
and  toil,  with  the  effusion  of  his  blood  to  the 
very  last  drop,  and  not  one  of  his  senses  or 
members  was  exempt  from  suffering  its  particu- 
lar pain  and  anguish.  It  looks  like  a  lessen- 
ing of  such  sublime  mysteries,  to  attempt  to 
explain  them  with  mortal  tongue.  What  shall 
I  do  then  ?  shall  I  speak,  or  shall  I  hold  my 
peace?  I  am  obliged  not  to  be  silent,  and  am 
unfit  to  speak.  How  can  I  be  silent  of  such 
wondrous  effects  of  God's  mercy  ?  And  how 
shall  I  be  able  to  discourse  of  such  ineffable 
mysteries  ?  To  be  silent  looks  like  ingratitude, 
and  to  speak  of  it  seems  a  rashness.  Where- 
fore, I  here  prostrate  myself  before  thee,  O  my 
God,  imploring  thy  divine  assistance  and  mercy 
to  the  end,  that  whilst  my  ignorance  detracts 
from  thy  glory,  instead  of  extolling  and  dis- 
playing it,  those  who  are  capable  of  doing  it 
may  praise  and  glorify  thee  in  heaven,  that 
they  may  supply  what  I  am    deficient  in,  and 


878 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


beautify  and  adorn  what  a  mortal  man  cannot 
but  spoil  by  the  meanness  of  his  capacity. 

After  God  had  created  man,  and  with  his 
own  band  seated  him  in  a  place  of  delights, 
investing  him  with  honor  and  glory,  that 
which  ought  to  have  engaged  him  the  more 
deeply  in  his  Creator's  service  emboldened 
him  the  more  to  rebel  against  him.  Whereas, 
the  infinite  favors  he  had  received  should  have 
laid  a  stricter  obligation  on  him,  to  love  that 
divine  goodness  that  bestowed  them,  he  made 
use  of  them  as  instruments  of  his  ingratitude. 
This  was  the  cause  of  his  being  driven  out 
of  Paradise,  into  the  banishment  of  this  world, 
and  condemned  to  the  pains  of  hell,  that,  as 
he  had  been  the  devil's  associate  in  sin,  he 
might  partake  of  his  sufferings  and  torments. 
When  Giezi,  Elisha's  servant,  had  received  the 
present  which  Naaman  the  leper  made  him, 
the  prophet  said  to  him:  "Since  thou  hast 
received  Naaman's  money,  the  leprosy,  therefore, 
of  Naaman  shall  cleave  unto  thee,  and  unto 
thy  seed  for  ever;"  4  Kings  v.  25,  27.  God 
has  pronounced  a  like  sentence  against  man, 
judging  it  requisite,  that  since  he  has  coveted 
the  riches  of  Lucifer,  which  are  his  guilt  and 
his  pride,  he  should  in  like  manner  be  defiled 
■with  Lucifer's  leprosy,  which  is  the  punishment 
of  his  rebellion.  Thus  man,  by  imitating  the 
devils'  sins,  becomes  like  them,  and  shares 
with  them  in  their  punishment,  as  well  as  in 
their  g^ilt. 

Man  having  brought  such  a  disgrace  upon 
himself,  this  same  God,  whose  mercy  is  as 
great  as  his  majest}',  considered  not  the  affront, 
which  was  offered  to  his  infinite  goodness,  so 
much  as  he  did  our  misery.  He  was  more 
concerned  for  the  unhappy  condition  we  were 
reduced  to,  than  angry  for  the  offences  we 
had    committed    against    him ;    and,    therefore, 

)  resolved  to  succor  us  by  the  means  of  his 
only  Son,  and  to  make  him  the  Mediator 
of  our  reconciliation  with  himself  But 
what  was  this  reconciliation  ?  Who  is 
able  to  express  this  mercy  ?  He  settled 
such  a  close  friendship  betwixt  God  and  man, 


as  to  find  out  a  way  to  make  God  not  only 
pardon  man,  receive  him  into  his  favor  again, 
and  make  him  one  and  the  same  thing  with 
himself,  by  love,  but,  what  is  far  beyond  all 
expression,  he  united  him  to  himself  in  such 
a  manner,  that  there  are  no  created  beings  in 
nature  so  closely  united  as  these  two  are  now; 
because  they  are  not  only  one  in  love  and  in 
grace,  but  in  person  too.  Who  could  ever  have 
thought,  that  such  a  breech  as  this  would  have 
been  so  made  up  again  ?  Who  could  have 
imagined  that  these  two  things,  which  nature 
and  sin  had  set  at  such  a  distance,  should  ever 
have  been  united  together,  not  in  the  same 
house,  at  the  same  table,  in  the  same  union 
of  grace  and  love,  but  in  the  same  person?  Are 
there  any  two  things  in  the  world  more  different 
from  one  another,  than  God  and  a  sinner? 
And  yet,  are  there  any  things  more  closely 
united  than  God  and  man  are  now?  There  is 
nothing,  says  St.  Bernard,  more  high  than 
God,  and  nothing  lower  'than  the  clay  man 
was  made  of.  Yet  has  God,  with  so  much 
humility,  descended  into  this  clay,  and  this 
clay  with  so  much  honor  ascended  to  God, 
that  we  may  say  the  clay  has  done  whatsoever 
God  has  done,  and  God  has  suffered  all  the 
clay  has  suffered. 

When  man,  finding  himself  naked,  and  be- 
come an  enemy  to  God,  endeavored  to  hide 
himself  in  the  most  concealed  parts  of  the 
terrestrial  paradise,  who  would  have  made  him 
believe  a  time  would  come,  when  this  base  and 
vile  substance  should  be  united  to  God,  in  one 
and  the  same  person  ?  This  alliance  was  so 
strict  and  close,  that  it  could  not  be  separated 
even  by  death,  which  broke  the  union  between 
soul  and  body,  but  could  never  divide  the 
divinity  and  humanity,  because  God  never 
quitted  what  he  had  once  taken  on  him  for 
our  sake. 

Thus  our  peace  was  concluded ;  this  is  the 
medicine  we  have  received  at  the  hands  of  our 
Saviour  and  Mediator.  And  though  we  are 
infinitely  more  indebted  to  God  for  so  sovereign 
a  cure,  than  we  are  any  wise  able  to  express, 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


279 


we  are  no  less  obliged  to  him  for  tlie  manner 
of  applying  it,  than  for  the  remedy  itself.  I 
am  infinitely  indebted  to  thee,  O  my  God,  for 
having  redeemed  me  from  hell,  and  restored 
me  to  thy  favor;  but  I  owe  thee  much  more, 
for  the  manner  of  restoring  my  liberty,  than 
for  the  liberty  itself.  All  thy  works,  O  Lord, 
are  to  be  admired  in  every  part  of  them ;  and 
though  man  may  seem  to  lose  himself  in  the 
contemplation  of  any  one  of  thy  wonders,  the 
same  disappears,  as  soon  as  he  lifts  up  his  eyes 
towards  heaven  to  reflect  upon  another.  Nor 
is  this  any  discredit  to  thy  greatness,  O  Lord, 
but  an  argument  of  thy  glory. 

What  course,  O  my  God,  hast  thou  taken  to 
heal  me  ?  Thou  mightest  have  procured  me 
my  salvation  by  an  infinite  number  of  ways, 
without  putting  thyself  to  the  trouble  or  ex- 
pense ;  but  thy  bounty  was  so  great  and  sur- 
prising that  to  give  me  a  more  manifest  proof 
of  thy  goodness  and  mercy,  thou  hast  chosen 
to  relieve  my  miseries  by  thy  own  pains  and 
sufferings,  which  were  so  vehement,  that  the 
very  thoughts  of  them  drew  a  bloody  sweat 
from  thy  veins,  and  thy  undergoing  of  them 
Tent  the  very  rocks  with  sorrow.  Let  the 
heavens  and  the  angels  praise  thee,  O  my 
God,  for  ever;  and  let  them  never  cease  to 
publish  thy  wondrous  works  1  What  need  hadst 
thou  of  our  goods,  or  what  damage  were  our 
miseries  to  the  ?  "  If  thou  shouldst  sin,"  says 
Elihu  to  Job,  "what  hurt  wilt  thou  do  to  God  ? 
And  if  thy  transgressions  should  be  multiplied, 
what  wilt  thou  do  against  him  ?  On  the  contrary, 
if  thou  shalt  do  that  which  is  just  what  wilt 
thou  give  him,  or  what  can  he  receive  from  thy 
hand  ?  "  Job  xxxv.  6,  7.  This  great  God,  who 
is  so  powerful,  and  so  far  above  the  reach  of 
any  misfortune ;  he,  whose  riches,  whose  power 
and  whose  wisdom  can  neither  be  increased 
nor  lessened ;  he,  who  was  neither  greater  nor 
(less  after  he  had  created  the  world  than  he  was 
before ;  he,  who  can  receive  no  more  glory 
from  all  the  praises  men  and  angels  are  able 
to  give  him,  than  he  has  always  had  from  all 
eternity  ;    he,  who  would   be   no   less   glorious. 


though  each  particular  mouth  were  to  be  em- 
ployed in  cursing  and  blaspheming  him :  this 
Lord,  I  say,  whose  majesty  is  so  great  and 
infinite,  notwithstanding  our  infidelities  and 
treacheries  have  been  such  as  deserve  his 
eternal  anger  and  hatred,  has  vouchsafed,  even 
when  he  had  no  need  at  all  of  us,  and  upon 
no  other  motive  but  that  of  his  excessive  love 
to  us,  to  bow  down  the  heavens  of  his  great-  ■ 
ness,  and  to  descend  into  this  place  of  banish- 
ment, to  clothe  himself  with  our  flesh,  to 
undertake  the  payment  of  our  debts,  and,  that 
he  might  discharge  us,  to  undergo  the  most 
dreadful  torments  that  ever  were,  or  that  ever 
shall  be  undergone!  It  was  for  my  sake,  O 
my  God,  that  thou  hast  been  bom  in  a  stable, 
laid  in  a  manger,  circumcised  the  eighth  day, 
and  forced  to  fly  into  Egypt :  it  was  for  the 
love  of  me,  that  thou  hast  been  so  affronted 
and  injured :  it  was  for  me  that  thou  hast 
fasted,  watched  and  wandered  from  place  to 
place ;  that  thou  hast  sweated,  wept  and  sub- 
jected thyself  to  all  those  miseries  which  my 
sins  have  deserved,  notwithstanding  that  thou 
wert  so  far  from  being  the  offender,  as  to  be 
all  this  while  the  party  offended ;  it  was  for 
me,  that  thou  wert  apprehended,  forsaken,  sold, 
denied,  and  brought  before  several  courts  and 
judges;  it  was  for  my  sake  that  thou  wert 
accused  before  them,  and  that  thou  wert  , 
affronted,  buffeted,  spit  upon,  whipped,  blas- 
phemed, put  to  death  and  buried.  Thou  hast, 
in  fine,  vouchsafed,  for  the  healing  of  my 
wounds,  to  die  upon  a  cross,  in  the  sight  of 
thy  most  holy  mother,  in  so  great  poverty,  as 
not  to  have  one  drop  of  water  at  the  hour  of 
thy  death,  and  in  so  stupendous  a  manner  for- 
saken by  all,  that  thy  heavenly  Father  himself 
seemed  to  neglect  thee  at  that  time.  Can  any 
thing  enter  into  the  heart  of  man  more  lament- 
able than  this,  to  see  a  God  of  most  infinite 
majesty  come  down  upon  earth  to  end  his  life 
upon  a  cross,  like  a  notorious  malefactor? 

If  any  man,  though  of  ever  so  mean  a  con- 
dition, were  to  be  executed  for  some  public 
crime    he     had    committed,    there    is     nobody 


28o 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,  THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


could,  without  some  kind  of  concern,  especially 
if  he  had  known  him  before,  consider  the 
deplorable  state  his  misery  had  reduced  him 
to,  and  the  unhappy  end  he  was  going  to  make. 
Now  if  it  be  surprising  to  see  a  man  of  but 
an  ordinary  condition  brought  to  such  disgrace, 
how  ought  we  to  be  astonished,  when  we  see 
the  Lord  of  all  created  things  in  no  better 
circumstances?  What  a  subject  of  wonder 
should  it  be,  to  see  a  God  like  a  malefactor  ? 
and  if  it  be  true,  that  the  greater  the  quality 
a  person  is  of,  the  more  we  are  surprised  at 
his  disgrace  and  fall,  what  surprise  should  here 
seize  us  ?  O  you  blessed  angels,  who  had  so 
full  a  knowledge  of  the  greatness  of  this  Lord, 
what  did  you  think,  when  you  saw  him  hang- 
ing upon  a  cross  ?  God  commanded  Moses  to 
put  two  cherubims  at  the  sides  of  the  ark, 
with  their  faces  turned  towards  the  mercy- 
seat,  and  looking  upon  one  another  with 
admiration  (Exod.  xxv.  i8) ;  and  for  what 
other  end  was  all  this,  but  to  g^ve  us 
to  understand  with  what  a  holy  aston- 
ishment those  supreme  spirits  must  be  seized, 
when  they  considered  the  eflfect  of  so  great  a 
charity,  and  beheld  this  great  God,  who  cre- 
ated heaven  and  earth,  nailed  to  the  holy 
cross,  to  atone  for  our  crimes  ?  Nature  herself 
is  amazed,  and  every  creature  is  astonished. 
The  principalities  and  powers  of  heaven  are 
ravished  with  this  inestimable  goodness,  which 
they  behold  in  God.  Is  there  any  body,  after 
all  this,  that  is  not  swallowed  up  in  the  abyss 
of  such  wonders  ?  Who  is  there,  that  is  not 
drowned  in  the  ocean  of  such  infinite  mercies? 
Who  is  there  that  can  contain  his  admiration, 
so  as  not  to  cry  out  with  Moses,  when  God 
showed  him  the  figure  of  this  mystery  upon 
the  mount,  "O  the  Lord,  the  God,  merciful  and 
gracious,  patient  and  of  much  compassion,  and 
true !"  Exod.  xxxiv.  6.  He  was  unable  to  do 
any  thing  else,  but  publish  aloud  the  infinite 
goodness  God  had  given  him  a  sight  of.  Who 
would  not,  like  Elias  (3  Kings  xix.  13),  hide 
his  eyes,  if  he  saw  his  God  passing  by,  not  in 
the  brightness  of  his  majesty,  but  under  the 


veil  of  his  littleness ;  not  overturning  moun- 
tains, or  splitting  the  rocks  in  pieces  by  his 
omnipotence,  but  delivered  up  into  the  hand 
of  the  wicked,  and  making  the  very  rocks 
melt  and  burst  asunder  with  compassion  ?  Who 
is  there  that  will  not  shut  the  eyes  of  his 
understanding  and  open  the  bosom  of  his  will, 
that  at  the  sight  of  so  boundless  a  love,  it 
may  be  inflamed  with  gratitude,  and  return  all 
the  love  it  is  able  to  give,  without  setting  any 
limits  or  measure  to  its  passion  ?  O  height 
of  charity  I  O  greatness  of  mercy !  O  abyss 
of  incomprehensible  goodness ! 

It  is  true,  O  Lord,  that  I  am  thus  indebted 
to  thee  for  having  redeemed  me ;  how  great 
must  the  obligation  be,  for  having  redeemed 
me  in  such  a  manner  ?  For  to  redeem  me  thou 
hast  suffered  such  torments,  and  such  disgrace, 
as  are  above  the  reach  of  our  imagination. 
Thou  hast  made  thyself  the  scorn  of  men,  and 
the  contempt  of  the  world,  for  the  love  of  me. 
To  procure  me  honor,  thou  hast  dishonored 
thyself ;  and  hast  suffered  thyself  to  be  accused, 
that  I  might  be  acquitted.  Thou  hast  shed 
thy  blood,  to  wash  away  the  stains  of  my  guilt. 
Thou  hast  died,  to  raise  me  to  life,  and  by  thy 
tears  hast  delivered  me  from  everlasting  weep- 
ing and  gnashing  of  teeth.  How  truly  dost 
thou  deserve  the  name  of  a  kind  Father,  since 
thou  hast  had  so  tender  a  love  for  thy  children  ? 
How  justly  art  thou  called  a  good  Shepherd, 
who  hast  given  thyself  for  the  nourishment 
of  thy  flock  ?  How  truly  faithful  a  guardian 
art  thou,  since  thou  hast  so  freely  laid  down 
thy  life  for  those  whom  thou  hast  taken  into  thy 
care  ?  What  present  shall  I  make  thee, 
answerable  to  this  ?  With  what  tears  shall  I 
return  these  tears  ?  With  what  life  shall  I 
repay  this  life  ?  What  proportion  is  there 
between  the  life  of  a  man  and  the  life  of  his 
God,  between  the  tears  of  a  creature  and  those 
of  his  Creator  ? 

But  if,  O  man,  thou  shouldest  perhaps 
imagine,  that  his  suffering  for  everybody  else, 
as  well  as  for  thee,  has  lessened  thy  obliga- 
tion, thou   deceivest    thyself.     For   though    he 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,    THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


281 


suffered  for  all  mankind  in  general,  it  was  in 
such  a  manner,  that  he  suffered  for  each  par- 
ticular person.  For  his  infinite  wisdom  gave 
him  as  clear  and  distinct  a  representation  of 
all  those  for  whom  he  underwent  those  tor- 
ments, as  if  there  had  been  but  one  single 
person  ;  and  his  immense  charity,  which  made 
him  take  in  all  together,  has  done  no  less  for 
each  one  in  particular.  So  that  he  has  shed 
his  blood  for  every  single  man,  as  much  as 
for  all  mankind  together ;  and  so  great  has 
been  his  mercy,  that  had  there  been  but  one 
sinner  in  the  whole  world,  he  would  have  suf- 
fered as  much  for  him  alone,  as  he  has  done 
now  for  all  the  world.  Consider,  therefore,  how 
infinitely  thou  art  obliged  to  this  Lord,  who 
has  done  so  much  for  thee,  and  who  would 
have  done  a  great  deal  more,  if  there  had  been 
any  need  of  it  for  procuring  thy  happiness. 

§  I.  JVe  may  gather  from  what  has  hitherto 
been  said,  how  grievous  a  thing  it  is  to  offend 
God. — I  appeal  now  to  all  creatures,  whether 
man  can  possibly  think  of  any  greater  benefit, 
any  more  generous  favor,  or  any  obligation 
more  binding  than  this  is.  Tell  me,  O  all  ye 
choirs  of  angels,  whether  God  has  ever  done 
so  much  for  you?  Can  any  man,  then  after  all 
this,  refuse  to  give  himself  up  entirely  to  the  ser- 
vice of  God  ?  "  I  am  indebted  to  thee,  O  Lord," 
says  St.  Anselm,  "  for  all  that  I  am,  upon  three 
several  counts :  because  thou  hast  created  me,  I 
owe  thee  all  that  is  in  me :  but  I  owe  thee  the 
same  debt,  and  with  more  justice,  because  thou 
hast  redeemed  me,  and  because  thou  hast 
promised  to  reward  me  with  the  enjoyment  of 
thyself,  I  cannot  but  acknowledge  I  am  wholly 
thine.  Why,  then,  do  not  I  give  myself  once, 
at  kast,  to  him,  to  whom  I  am  so  justly  due  ?" 
O  insupportable  ingratitude !  O  invincible 
hardness  of  man's  heart,  which  is  not  to  be 
softened  by  so  many  favors  I  There  is  nothing 
in  the  world  so  hard  but  it  may,  by  some  means 
or  other,  be  made  softer.  Fire  melts  metal  ; 
iron  grows  flexible  in  the  forge ;  the  blood  of 
certain  animals  will  soften  even  the  diamond 
itself:     but,    O   more   than    stony    heart,  what 


iron,  what  diamond  is  so  hard  as  thou  art,  if 
neither  the  flames  of  hell,  nor  the  care  of  so 
charitable  a  Father,  nor  the  blood  of  the  un- 
spotted Lamb,  which  has  been  shed  for  thee, 
can  make  thee  soft  and  flexible  ?  Since  thou, 
O  Lord,  hast  showed  so  much  goodness,  so 
much  mercy,  and  so  much  kindness  to  man, 
is  it  to  be  endured  that  any  one  should  not 
love,  that  any  one  should  forget  this  benefit, 
and  that  any  one  should  still  offend  thee?  What 
can  that  man  love,  that  is  not  in  love  with  thee  ? 
What  favors  can  work  upon  him,  that  is  not  to 
be  wrought  upon  by  thine  ?  How  can  I  refuse 
to  serve  him  who  has  had  such  a  love  for 
me,  who  has  sought  after  me  with  so  much 
solicitude,  and  who  has  done  so  much  for 
the  redeeming  of  me  ?  "  And  I,"  says  our 
Saviour,  "  If  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth, 
will  draw  all  things  to  myself;  John  xii.  32. 
With  what  force,  O  Lord,  with  what  chains  ? 
With  the  force  of  my  love,  with  the  chains 
of  my  mercies.  "I  will  draw  them,"  says  the 
Lord,  "with  the  cords  of  Adam,  with  the  bands  of 
love  ; "  Osee  xi.  4.  Who  is  there  that  will  not 
be  drawn  with  these  cords  ?  Who  will  not 
suffer  himself  to  be  bound  with  these  chains, 
or  who  will  not  be  won  by  these  mercies  ? 

Now,  if  it  be  so  heinous  a  crime  not  to  love 
this  great  God,  what  must  it  be  to  offend  him, 
and  to  break  his  commandments  ?  How  can 
you  dare  employ  your  hands  in  injuring  those 
hands  which  have  been  so  liberal  to  you  as  to 
suffer  themselves  to  be  nailed  to  a  cross  for 
your  sake  ?  When  the  holy  patriarch,  Joseph, 
was  solicited,  by  his  lewd  mistress,  to  defile 
his  master  Potiphar's  bed,  the  chaste  and 
grateful  young  man,  by  no  means  consenting 
to  so  foul  an  action,  made  this  reply  :  "Behold, 
my  master  hath  delivered  all  things  to  me,  and 
knoweth  not  what  he  hath  in  his  house :  neither 
is  there  any  thing  which  is  not  in  my  power,  or 
that  he  hath  not  delivered  to  me,  but  thee,  who 
art  his  wife:  How  then  can  I  do  this  wicked  thing, 
and  sin  against  my  God?"  Gen.  xxxix.  8,  9. 
As  if  he  had  said.  Since  my  master  has  been 
so  kind  and  generous  to  me ;  since  he  has  put 


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all  that  he  is  worth  into  my  hands,  and  has 
done  me  such  an  honor  as  to  intrust  me 
with  his  whole  estate;  how  shall  I,  who  am 
bound  by  so  many  obligations,  dare  aflfront  so 
good  a  master  ?  We  are  to  observe,  here,  that 
Joseph  did  not  say,  /  ought  not,  or,  //  is  not 
Just  that  I  should  offend  him,  but,  How  can  I  do 
this  wickedness  ? — to  signify  that  extraordinary 
favors  ought  to  deprive  us,  not  only  of  the  will, 
but,  in  some  measure,  of  the  very  power  of 
offending  our  benefactor.  If,  therefore,  so  great 
an  acknowledgment  was  due  to  such  benefits 
as  these,  what  is  it  those  favors  we  have  received 
from  God  do  not  deserve  ?  That  master,  who 
was  but  a  mortal  man,  had  intrusted  him  with 
the  management  of  his  estate.  God  has  de- 
livered into  your  hands  almost  all  he  has ; 
consider  how  much  the  riches  of  God  exceed 
those  of  Potiphar,  for  so  much  more  have  you 
received  than  he  did.  And,  to  make  this  ap- 
parent, what  is  it  God  possesses  that  he  has  not 
intrusted  you  with  ?  Ps.  iii.  The  sky,  the  earth, 
the  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  the  rivers,  the  birds, 
the  fishes,  the  trees,  the  beasts ;  whatsoever,  in 
short, is  under  the  heavens,  is  in  your  power:  and 
not  only  what  is  under  heaven,  but  even  what 
is  in  heaven  itself;  that  is,  the  glory,  the 
riches,  and  the  happiness  that  is  to  be  found 
there.  "All  things  are  yours,"  says  the  Apostle, 
"whether  it  be  Paul,  or  Apollo,  or  Cephas,  or  the 
world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or 
things  to  come  ;  for  all  are  yours  ;"  (i  Cor.  iii. 
22);  for  they  all  contribute  to  your  salvation. 
Nor  is  that  which  is  in  heaven  all  we 
have ;  the  very  Lord  of  heaven  himself 
is  ours  too.  He  has  given  himself  to  us 
a  thousand  ways ;  as  our  Father,  our  Tutor, 
our  Sa\'iour,  our  Master,  our  Physician,  our 
Price,  our  Example,  our  Food,  our  Remedy, 
and  our  Reward.  To  conclude,  the  Father  has 
given  us  the  Son  ;  the  Son  has  made  us  worthy  of 
the  Holy  Ghost;  and  it  is  by  the  virtue  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  that  we  deserve  the  Father  and  the  Son,  who 
are  the  very  sources  and  fountains  from  whence 
all  sorts  of  riches  flow. 

If  it  be  true,  that    Gr>d   ha?    given   you   the 


possession  of  all,  how  can  you  find  in  your 
heart  to  offend  so  bountiful  and  so  generous  z. 
Benefactor  ?  If  it  be  a  crime  not  to  requite  such 
great  favors,  what  must  it  be  to  despise  and 
offend  him  that  bestows  them  ?  If  young 
Joseph  thought  himself  unable  to  do  an  injury 
to  his  master,  because  he  had  committed  the 
care  of  his  house  to  him,  with  what  face  can 
you  affront  him  who  has  delivered  all  heaven 
and  earth,  nay,  himself  too,  into  your  hands  ? 
O  miserable  and  unhappy  man !  if  you  are 
not  sensible  of  this  evil,  you  are  more  ungrate- 
ful than  the  brutes  are,  more  savage  than  the 
most  savage  tigers,  and  more  senseless  than 
any  senseless  thing  in  nature.  For  what  lion 
or  tiger  is  so  enraged  as  to  fly  at  him  that 
has  done  him  a  kindness  ?  St.  Ambrose  tells 
us  of  a  dog  that,  seeing  his  master  killed  by  one 
of  his  enemies,  continued  all  night  by  the  body, 
barking  and  howling.  The  next  day,  amongst  a 
great  many  people  that  crowded  to  see  the  corpse, 
the  dog  spied  out  the  person  that  had  committed 
the  murder,  and  immediately  flew  upon  him,  and 
so,  by  his  barking  and  biting,  discovered  the 
malefactor,  who  otherwise  might  have  probably 
escaped.  If  a  dog  showed  so  much  love  and 
fidelity  to  his  master  for  a  morsel  of  bread, 
how  can  you  be  so  ungrateful  as  to  let  a  dog 
exceed  you  in  good  nature  and  gratitude  ?  And 
if  this  creature  was  in  such  a  rage  against  the 
man  that  had  murdered  his  master,  how  can 
you  forbear  being  incensed  against  those  who 
have  put  yours  to  death?  And  who  do  you 
think  are  they  but  your  own  sins  ?  It  was 
they  that  apprehended  and  bound  him,  that 
scourged  and  crucified  him.  Your  sins,  I  say, 
were  the  cause  of  all  this.  For  his  execu- 
tioners could  never  have  had  so  much  power, 
if  your  sins  had  not  given  it  them.  Why, 
then,  do  you  not  rise  up  in  arms  against  these 
barbarous  murderers,  who  have  taken  away 
your  Lord  and  Saviour's  life  ?  How  can  you 
behold  him  lying  dead  before  you,  and  for 
your  sake,  without  increasing  your  love  for 
him,  and  your  aversion  to  sin,  which  has  been 
the  occasion  of  his  death  ?  especially,  knowing 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


283 


that,  whatsoever  he  either  said,  did  or  suffered, 
in  this  world,  was  for  no  other  end  but  to 
excite  in  our  hearts  a  horror  and  detestation 
of  sin.  He  died  to  make  sin  die,  and  suffered 
his  hands  and  feet  to  be  nailed,  that  he  might 
bind  up  sin  in  chains,  and  bring  it  under  sub- 
jection. Why,  then,  will  you  let  all  your  Sav- 
iour's toils,  sweat  and  pains  be  lost  to  you  ?  Since 
he  has,  with  his  blood,  delivered  you  from  your  fet- 
ters, why  will  you  still  remain  a  slave  ?  How 
can  you  forbear  trembling  at  the  very  name  of 
sin,  when  God  has  done  such  extraordinary  things 


to  ruin  and  destroy  it  ?  What  could  God  have 
done  more,  in  order  to  bring  men  off  from  sin, 
than  place  himself  upon  a  cross  betwixt  it  and 
them  ?  If  a  man  were  to  see  heaven  and  hell 
open  before  him,  would  he  then  dare  offend  God  ? 
And  yet  it  is,  without  doubt,  a  thing  much 
stranger  and  more  surprising,  to  see  a  God 
nailed  to  an  infamous  cross.  If,  therefore,  so 
frightful  a  spectacle  as  this  cannot  work  upon 
man,  there  is  nothing  in  nature  will  be  able  to 
move  him. 


CHAPTER  V. 

OF  THE  FIFTH   MOTIVE   THAT  OBLIGES   US  TO  VIRTUE,  WHICH   IS  THE  BENEFIT  OF  OUR 

JUSTIFICATION. 


UT  what  would  the  benefit  of  our  re- 
demption avail,  were  it  not  followed 
by  that  of  justification,  by  which  this 
extraordinary  favor  is  applied  to  us  ? 
For,  as  physic,  though  ever  so  well  prepared,  is 
wholly  useless,  if  not  applied  to  the  distemper,  so 
this  heavenly  medicine  would  work  no  cure  in  us, 
unless  applied  by  means  of  this  benefit  we  now 
treat  of.  This  application  is  peculiarly  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  whom  the  sanctification  of 
man  is  attributed.  He  it  is  who  prevents  the 
sinner  with  his  mercy,  who  having  thus  pre- 
vented, calls  him,  who  justifies  him  when  called, 
who  conducts  him,  when  justified,  in  the  paths 
of  justice,  and  thus  raises  him  to  perfection 
by  the  gift  of  perseverance,  to  crown  him  in 
the  end  with  everlasting  glory.  These  are  the 
different  degrees  of  grace  contained  under  the 
inestimable  favors  of  justification. 

§  I.  The  first  of  all  these  graces  is  that  of 
our  vocation.  When  man,  by  the  force  of  the 
divine  Spirit,  having  broken  all  the  bands  and 
fetters  of  his  sins,  is  freed  from  the  tyrannic 
slavery  of  the  devil,  and  raised  from  death  to 
life ;  when,  of  a  sinner,  he  becomes  a  saint, 
and  a    child    of   God    from    a  child    of   wrath^ 


which  is  not  to  be  done  without  the  special 
help  of  the  divine  grace,  as  our  Saviour  testi- 
fies to  us  by  these  words:  "No  man  can  come  to 
me,  except  the  Father,  who  has  sent  me,  draw 
him"  (John  vi.  44);  to  signify  to  us  that  neither 
free-will,  nor  all  the  advantages  of  human 
nature,  are  sufficient  of  themselves  to  lift  a 
man  out  of  the  depth  of  sin,  and  raise  him  to 
a  state  of  grace,  unless  the  Almighty  lend 
him  a  helping  hand.  And  as  St.  Thomas, 
explaining  these  very  words,  says,  "That, 
as  the  stone  naturally  tends  downwards,  and 
cannot  raise  itself  up  again  without  some 
exterior  assistance,  so  man,  according  to  the 
bent  of  his  nature,  depraved  by  the  cor- 
ruption of  sin,  is  always  sinking  downwards  in 
the  desire  of  earthly  things  ;  so  that  God  must, ' 
of  necessity,  lend  a  hand  to  lift  him  up  to  a 
supernatural  love  and  desire  of  heavenly  de- 
lights, or  he  will  never  be  able  to  rise."  This 
sentence  very  well  deserves  both  our  considera- 
tion and  tears,  for  by  it  man  comes  to  know 
himself,  grows  sensible  of  the  corruption  of  his 
nature,  and  of  the  necessity  he  perpetually  lies 
under  of  begging  Almighty  God's  assistance. 
But  to  come  to  the,  point,  it  is  impossible  for 


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man  to  return  from  sin  to  grace,  unless  the 
almighty  hand  of  God  raise  him  up.  But  this 
is  a  favor  of  such  value  that  there  is  no  express- 
ing how  many  graces  are  contained  in  it.  For, 
there  being  nothing  more  certain  than  that  sin 
is,  by  this  means,  extracted  from  the  soul,  and 
that  it  is  sin  which  is  the  cause  of  all  its 
miseries,  how  great  a  good  must  this  conse- 
quently be,  which  expels  and  banishes  so  many 
evils  ?  But,  for  as  much  as  the  consideration 
of  this  benefit  is  a  powerful  motive  to  make  us 
grateful  for  it,  and  excite  us  to  the  pursuit  of 
virtue,  I  will  explain  here,  in  short,  the  vast 
riches  this  benefit  brings  along  with  it. 

First,  then,  it  is  by  this  that  man  is  reconciled 
to  God,  and  restored  to  his  favor  ;  for  the  greatest 
misery  sin  causes  in  our  souls  is  the  rendering 
them  odious  to  God,  who,  as  he  is  goodness  itself, 
bears  such  a  hatred  to  sin  as  is  proportioned  to 
his  goodness.  For  this  reason,  the  royal  prophet 
says,  "  Thou,  O  Lord,  hatest  all  them  that  work 
iniquity;  thou  shalt  destroy  all  them  that  tell  lies; 
the  Lord  will  abhor  both  the  blood-thirsty  and  the 
deceitful  man ;"  Ps.  v.  7,  8.  It  is  this  which,  in 
effect,  is  the  greatest  of  all  evils,  and  the  source 
from  whence  all  others  flow;  as  the  love  of  God,  on 
the  other  side,  is  the  greatest  of  all  goods,  and 
the  very  fountain  of  all  the  rest.  This,  there- 
fore, is  the  evil  we  are  freed  from,  by  virtue  of 
our  justification,  since  by  it  we  are  restored  to 
God's  favor;  and,  though  we  were  his  enemies 
before,  this  reconciles  us  to  his  love  again,  and 
that  not  in  any  mean  degree,  but  in  the  highest 
that  may  be,  which  is  that  of  a  father  for  his 
son.  This  it  is  the  beloved  evangelist  St.  John 
so  much  extols,  where  he  says,  "  Behold  what 
manner  of  charity  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon 
us,  that  we  shall  be  called,  and  should  be  the 
sons  of  God;"  St.  John  iii.  i.  He  does  not  think 
it  enough  to  say  that  we  are  called  the  children 
of  God  ;  he  adds,  further,  that  we  are  really  so; 
to  the  end  that  human  distrust,  which  carries  so 
much  weakness  and  imperfection  along  with  it, 
should  have  a  clearer  and  more  distinct  view 
of  the  liberality  of  God's  grace,  and  perceive 
that  he  has  truly  and  really  ennobled  man,  by 


making  him  his  son,  and  not  given  him  the 
title  only.  If,  as  we  have  said,  it  is  so  miser- 
able a  thing  to  be  hated  by  God,  what  a  happi- 
ness must  it  be  to  be  beloved  by  him.  Phil- 
osophers  tell  us  that,  the  worse  any  thing  is,, 
the  better  and  more  excellent  its  contrary  must 
be.  Whence,  we  are  to  conclude  that  thing  to 
be  supremely  good  whose  opposite  is  supremely 
evil,  such  as  man  is  when  he  is  become  the 
object  of  God's  hatred.  If  men  use  so  much 
caution  in  this  world,  not  to  lose  the  love  of 
their  masters,  fathers,  princes,  superiors  or 
kings,  how  solicitous  should  we  be  to  keep  in 
favor  with  this  powerful  King,  this  heavenly 
Prince,  this  sovereign  Lord  and  Father,  in  com- 
parison of  whom  all  earthly  power  and  author- 
ity is  a  mere  nothing !  This  favor  is  the 
greater  by  how  much  it  is  more  freely  bestowed ; 
for,  as  man  could  do  nothing  before  he  was 
created  to  deserve  his  being,  because  at  that 
time  he  was  not ;  so  neither  could  he,  after 
having  once  fallen  into  sin,  do  any  thing  at  all 
that  might  deserve  the  gift  of  justification;  not 
because  he  was  not,  but  because  he  was  wicked 
and  odious  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Another  benefit,  besides  this,  is,  that  justifica- 
tion takes  off  the  sentence  of  everlasting  tor- 
ments, which  man's  sins  had  condemned  him 
to.  For,  whereas  sin  makes  a  man  the  object 
of  God's  hatred,  and  it  is  impossible  that  any 
one  should  be  hated  by  him,  and  not,  at  the 
same  time,  be  in  the  greatest  misery  imaginable, 
it  follows  that  the  wicked,  having  cast 
Almighty  God  off  from  them,  and  ungratefully 
despised  him,  deserve  very  justly  to  be  cast 
away  by  God,  and  to  be  despised  and  neglected 
by  him.  They  deserve  to  be  banished  for  ever 
from  his  presence,  never  to  enjoy  his  com- 
pany, never  to  enter  into  his  most  beautiful 
and  glorious  palace.  And  because,  in  separat- 
ing themselves  from  him,  they  have  had  an 
irregular  love  for  the  creatures,  it  is  but  jus- 
tice they  should  be  condemned,  for  the  same,, 
to  eternal  pains  and  torments,  which  are  so 
rigorous  that,  if  we  compare  all  that  men  suflFer, 
in  this  life,  to  them,  they  will  look  more  ideal 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


285 


than  real  torments.  Let  us  add  to  these  miser- 
ies the  never-dying  worm,  which  will  continu- 
ally gnaw  the  very  bowels,  and  tear  the  con- 
sciences of  the  wicked  ;  add,  also,  the  company 
which  these  unhappy  souls  must  always  keep, 
which  shall  be  no  pleasanter  than  that  of  all 
the  damned.  What  shall  I  say  of  their  hor- 
rible and  melancholy  habitation,  full  of  dark- 
ness and  confusion,  where  there  never  shall  be 
any  order,  joy,  rest  or  peace;  never  any  com- 
fort, satisfaction  or  hope  ?  where  there  shall  be 
nothing  but  eternal  weeping  and  gnashing  of 
teeth,  eternal  rage  and  blasphemies  ?  God 
delivers  those  whom  he  justifies  from  all  these 
miseries,  and,  having  restored  them  to  his  grace 
and  favor,  frees  them  entirely  from  his  wrath 
and  vengeance. 

There  is  another  advantage,  yet  more  spiritual 
than  the  former,  which  is  the  reforming  and 
renewing  of  the  inward  man,  all  deformed  and 
disfigured  by  sin.  Because  sin,  in  the  first 
place,  deprives  the  soul,  not  only  of  God,  but 
of  all  its  supernatural  force,  and  of  all  those 
treasures  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  with 
which  it  was  enriched  and  adorned.  So  that, 
being  once  robbed  of  the  riches  of  grace,  it  is 
immediately  maimed  and  wounded  in  all  its 
natural  powers  and  faculties;  because  man, 
being  a  rational  creature,  and  sin  being  an 
action  against  reason,  as  it  is  very  natural  for 
one  contrary  to  destroy  another,  it  follows,  of 
course,  that,  the  greater  and  more  numerous 
our  sins  are,  the  greater  must  be  the  ruin  the 
faculties  of  the  soul  lie  open  to,  not  in  them- 
selves, but  in  the  natural  inclination  they  have 
to  do  good.  Thus,  sin  makes  the  soul  miser- 
able, weak,  slothful,  inconstant  in  the  doing  of 
what  is  good,  and  bent  upon  all  kinds  of  evil, 
unable  to  resist  temptations,  and  soon  tired  with 
walking  in  the  way  of  God's  commandments. 
It  also  deprives  the  soul  of  true  libertj',  and 
of  that  sovereignty  of  the  spirit,  and  makes  it 
a  mere  slave  to  the  world,  the  flesh,  the  devil, 
.  and  its  own  inordinate  appetites ;  bringing  it 
tinder  a  harder  and  more  unhappy  servitude 
than  that  of  the  Israelites   in  Egypt  or  Baby- 


lon. Nor  are  these  all  the  miseries  which  sin 
reduces  the  soul  to :  it  oppresses  it,  besides,  in 
such  a  manner  that  it  can  neither  hear  God 
speaking  to  it,  nor  perceive  those  dreadful 
calamities  with  which  it  is  threatened ;  it  is 
quite  senseless  to  that  sweet  smell  which  comes 
from  the  virtues  and  examples  of  the  saints ; 
it  cannot  taste  how  sweet  the  Lord  is,  nor  feel 
the  strokes  of  God's  hand,  any  more  than  those 
graces  which  he  pours  into  it,  to  excite  it  to 
the  love  of  him.  Besides  all  these  ills,  it  takes 
away  the  peace  and  joy  of  conscience,  and  so, 
by  degrees,  lessens  and  cools  the  fervor  of  the 
spirit,  till  it  leaves  poor  man  in  such  a  miser- 
able condition  that  he  is  foul,  deformed  and 
abominable  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  of  his  saints. 
The  grace  of  justification  delivers  us  from 
all  these  miseries.  For  God,  who  is  an  infi- 
nite abyss  of  mercy,  thinks  it  not  enough  to 
pardon  our  sins,  and  receive  us  into  his  favor, 
unless  he  free  our  souls  from  all  those  dis- 
orders which  sin  had  raised  in  it,  by  reform- 
ing and  renewing  the  inward  man.  So  that 
he  heals  our  wounds,  he  cleanses  us  from  our 
filth,  he  loosens  our  chains,  he  eases  us  of  the 
burden  of  our  evil  desires,  he  frees  us  from 
the  slavery  and  captivity  of  the  devil,  he  mod- 
erates the  heat  of  our  passions,  he  restores 
us  to  a  true  liberty,  he  beautifies  the  soul 
anew,  he  settles  peace  and  joy  in  our  con- 
sciences again,  he  enlivens  our  inward  motions, 
he  makes  us  forward  to  do  what  is  good,  and 
backward  to  do  that  which  is  not,  he  strength- 
ens us  against  temptations,  and,  after  all  these 
benefits,  he  enriches  us  with  a  treasure  of 
good  works ;  in  fine,  he  repairs  our  inward 
man,  with  all  its  faculties,  after  such  a  man- 
ner, that  the  Apostle  does  not  hesitate  to  call 
those,  who  are  thus  justified,  "  new  men  and  new 
creatures  ;"  2  Cor.  iv.  16.  So  great  is  the  grace 
of  this  renovation,  that,  when  we  receive  it  by 
baptism,  it  is  called  a  regeneration  (Gal.  vi. 
15)  ;  when  by  penance,  a  resurrection  ;  not  only 
because  the  soul,  by  virtue  of  it,  is  raised  from 
the  death  of  sin  to  the  life  of  grace,  but  because 
it   holds    some   proportion   with    the    glory   of 


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HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


the  general  resurrection  at  the  last  day. 
This  is  so  certainly  true,  that  no  tongue 
is  able  to  declare  the  beauty  of  a  jus- 
tified soul,  but  only  that  divine  vSpirit  which 
beautifies  and  makes  it  his  temple  and  dwell- 
ing-place; so  that,  if  we  should  compare  all 
the  riches  of  the  earth,  all  the  honors  of  the 
world,  all  the  benefits  of  nature,  and  all  the 
virtues  we  are  able  to  acquire,  with  the  beauty 
and  riches  of  such  a  soul,  they  would  all 
appear  base  and  deformed  before  it.  Because 
the  life  of  grace  has  the  same  advantages  over 
that  of  nature,  the  beauty  of  the  soul  over  that 
of  the  body,  inward  riches  over  the  outward, 
and  spiritual  strength  over  the  corporeal,  as 
heaven  has  over  earth,  a  spirit  over  a  body,  or 
eternity  over  time.  For  all  these  things  are 
transitory,  limited  and  only  beautiful  to  the 
eyes  of  the  body ;  nor  have  they  need  of  any 
more  than  a  general  assistance  and  support 
from  God,  whilst  the  others  stand  in  need  of 
a  peculiar  and  supernatural  help,  and  cannot 
be  called  temporal,  because  they  lead  us  to 
eternity ;  nor  can  we  say  they  are  altogether 
finite,  because  they  make  us  worthy  to  partake 
the  infinity  of  God,  who  has  such  an  esteem 
and  love  for  them  that  he  is  even  enamored 
with  their  beauty.  And  though  God  could  do 
all  these  things  only  by  his  will,  yet  he  was 
not  so  satisfied,  but  would  adorn  the  soul  with 
infused  virtues,  and  the  seven  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost;  by  the  means  whereof,  not  only 
the  essence,  but  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul 
are  adorned  and  beautified  with  these  heavenly 
graces. 

To  all  these  extraordinary  benefits,  his  infi- 
nite goodness  and  boundless  liberality  has 
added  another,  which  is  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  of  the  blessed  Trinity,  which 
descends  into  the  soul  of  him  that  is  justified, 
to  instruct  him  what  use  to  make  of  all  these 
riches ;  like  a  good  father,  who  not  only  leaves 
his  estate  to  his  son,  but  provides  him  a 
guardian  to  look  after  and  manage  it  for  him ; 
so  that,  as  the  soul  of  one  that  is  in  sin  is  a 
den  of  vipers,  dragons  and  serpents ;  that  is  to 


say,  a  place  where  all  sorts  of  wicked  spirits 
dwell,  according  to  our  Saviour  (St.  Matthew, 
ch.  xii.)  ;  so  the  soul  of  a  justified  man  becomes 
the  habitation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  the 
blessed  Trinity,  which,  having  expelled  all 
these  hellish  monsters  and  wild  beasts,  make 
it  its  temple  and  place  of  abode,  as  our  Saviour 
has  expressly  signified  by  these  words :  "  If 
any  one  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  word,  and 
my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  to 
him,  and  will  make  our  abode  with  him  ;"  St. 
John  xiv.  23.  From  which  words  the  holy 
fathers  and  the  school-men  conclude  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  dwells,  in  a  particular  manner,  in 
the  soul  of  a  justified  man,  distinguishing 
between  the  Holy  Ghost  and  his  gifts ;  and 
declaring  that  such  persons  partake,  not  only 
of  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  himself;  who,  entering  into  every 
soul  thus  disposed,  makes  it  his  temple  and 
dwelling-place;  and  to  this  end,  he  himself 
cleanses,  sanctifies  and  adorns  it,  with  his  gifts, 
that  it  may  be  a  place  worthy  to  entertain 
such  a  guest. 

Add  to  all  these  benefits  one  more,  which  is, 
that  all  those  who  are  justified  become  living 
members  of  Jesus  Christ;  whereas  they  were 
dead  before,  and  incapable,  whilst  they  remained 
in  that  condition,  of  receiving  the  influence  of 
his  grace,  whence  many  other  singular  privi- 
leges and  excellences  flow  to  it.  For  this  is 
the  reason  why  the  Son  of  God  loves  and 
cherishes  these  persons  as  his  own  members, 
and,  as  their  Head,  is  continually  communicat- 
ing force  and  vigor  to  them.  And,  lastly,  the 
eternal  Father  beholds  them  with  eyes  of  affec- 
tion, because  he  looks  upon  them  as  living 
members  of  his  only  Son,  united  to  and  incor- 
porated with  him  by  the  participation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  And,  therefore,  their  actions  are 
pleasing  to  him  and  meritorious  to  themselves, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  actions  of  the  living 
members  of  his  only  Son  Christ  Jesus,  who 
produces  all  that  is  good  in  them.  This  is, 
also,  the  reason  why  those  persons  who  are 
thus  justified  v.'hensoever  they  beg  any  favor  of 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


287 


Almighty  God  address  themselves  to  him  with 
a  perfect  confidence ;  because  they  suppose  that 
what  they  ask  is  not  so  much  for  themselves 
as  for  the  Son  of  God,  who  is  honored  in  them 
and  with  them.  For,  since  the  members  can 
receive  no  benefit  but  the  head  must  partake  of 
it,  Christ  being  their  Head,  they  conceive  that 
when  they  ask  for  themselves  they  ask  for  him. 
And,  if  what  the  Apostle  says  be  true,  that  they 
who  sin  against  the  members  of  Jesus  Christ  sin 
against  Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  that  he  looks 
upon  any  injury  offered  to  one  of  his  members, 
upon  his  account,  as  done  to  him,  as  he  said  to  the 
Apostle  himself,  when  he  persecuted  the  Church ; 
what  wonder  is  it  that  the  honor  done  to  these 
members  should  be  done  to  him  ?  This  being 
so,  what  confidence  will  not  the  just  man  bring 
with  him  to  his  prayers,  when  he  considers 
that  in  begging  for  himself,  he,  in  some  mea- 
sure, begs  of  the  heavenly  Father  for  his  beloved 
Son?  For  when  a  favor  is  granted  at  the 
request  of  another,  it  may,  doubtless,  rather  be 
said  to  be  bestowed  on  him  that  begs,  than  on 
him  that  receives  it ;  as  we  see,  that  he  who 
serves  the  poor  for  the  love  of  God,  serves  God 
more  than  he  does  the  poor. 

There  remains  another  benefit,  to  which  the 
r^t  tend  and  are  directed ;  it  is  the  right  and 
title  those  that  are  justified  have  to  eternal 
life.  For  God,  who  is  no  less  merciful  than 
lie  is  just,  as  he  on  the  one  side  condemns  im- 
penitent sinners  to  everlasting  torments,  so,  on 
the  other  side,  he  rewards  them  who  are  truly 
penitent  with  everlasting  happiness.  And 
though  he  could  forgive  men  their  sins,  and 
restore  them  to  his  friendship  and  favor,  with- 
out raising  them  so  high  as  to  partake  of  his 
glory,  yet  he  would  not  do  so,  but  out  of  the 
excess  of  his  mercy  justified  those  whom  he  had 
pardoned,  adopted  those  whom  he  had  justified, 
and  made  them  his  heirs,  giving  them  a  share 
in  his  riches  and  an  inheritance  with  his  only 
Son.  Hence  proceeds  that  lively  hope,  which 
comforts  the  just  in  all  their  tribulations,  because 
they  are  assured  beforehand  of  this  inestimable 
treasure.      For    though    they    see    themselves 


surrounded  with  all  the  troubles,  infirmities 
and  miseries  of  this  life,  they  know  very  well 
that  all  the  evils  they  can  possibly  suffer  here 
are  nothing,  in  comparison  of  the  glory  which 
is  prepared  for  them  hereafter ;  nay,  on  the 
contrary,  they  assure  themselves,  that  "  our 
present  tribulation,  which  is  momentary  and 
light,  worketh  for  us  above  measure  exceed- 
ingly an  eternal  weight  of  glory ; "  2  Cor. 
iv.   17. 

These  are  the  advantages  comprehended 
under  that  inestimable  benefit  of  justification, 
which  St.  Augustine,  with  a  great  deal  of 
reason,  prefers  before  the  creation  of  the  whole 
world ;  because  God  created  all  the  world  with 
one  single  word:  but  the  justifying  of  a  man 
after  his  fall  was  at  the  expense  of  his  blood, 
and  of  those  other  most  grievous  pains  and 
torments  he  endured.  Now,  if  we  are  so 
strictly  obliged  to  the  Almighty's  goodness 
for  having  created  us,  how  much  more  do  we 
owe  his  mercy,  for  having  justified  us ;  a 
favor  we  stand  so  much  the  more  indebted 
for,  as  it  cost  him  more  than  the  other? 

And  though  no  man  can  certainly  tell 
whether  he  be  justified  or  not,  yet  he  may 
give  a  probable  guess,  especially  by  the  change 
of  his  life ;  as,  for  example,  when  one  that 
before  never  scrupled  at  committing  a  thousand 
mortal  sins,  would  not  now  commit  one,  though 
it  were  to  gain  the  world:  let  him  that  per- 
ceives he  is  in  such  a  happy  condition,  con- 
sider what  an  obligation  lies  upon  him  to  serve 
his  Lord,  for  having  thus  sanctified  him,  and 
at  the  same  time  delivered  him  from  all  those 
miseries,  and  heaped  all  those  favors  on  him 
which  we  spoke  of.  But  if  he  happen  to  be  in 
a  state  of  sin,  I  know  nothing  that  can  more 
efiicaciously  excite  him  to  a  desire  of  being 
freed  from  it,  than  the  consideration  of  those 
misfortxmes  which  sin  draws  after  it,  and  of 
those  treasures  of  blessings  which  go  along 
with  the  incomparable  benefit  of  justification. 

§  II.  Of  some  other  Effects  that  are  wrought 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  Soul  of  a  justified  Man^ 
and  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist. — Not- 


988 


HOW  TO   SHUN    EVIL;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


withstanding  those  effects  which  are  produced 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  soul  of  one  that  is 
sanctified  are  very  great,  yet  they  do  not  end 
there.  This  divine  Spirit  deems  it  not  enough 
to  put  us  in  the  way  of  justice,  but,  after  having 
led  us  in,  still  helps  us  forward  till  all  the  storms 
of  this  world  being  weathered,  he  brings  us  into 
the  haven  of  salvation  ;  so  that,  when  he  has 
entered  into  a  soul  by  the  grace  of  justification,  he 
does  not  remain  idle  there ;  he  not  only  honors 
such  a  soul  with  his  presence,  but  also  sanctifies 
it  with  his  virtue,  doing  in  it  and  with  it  whatever 
is  necessary  for  the  obtaining  its  salvation.  He 
behaves  himself  there  like  a  head  of  a  family  in 
his  house,  looking  after  and  directing  like  a  master 
teaching  in  his  school,  like  a  gardener  cultivating 
in  his  garden,  and  like  a  king  in  his  kingdom 
ruling  and  governing  it.  He  further  performs 
in  the  soul  what  the  sun  does  in  the  world ; 
that  is,  he  gives  light  to  it:  and,  like  the 
soul  in  the  body,  animates  and  enlivens  it, 
though  he  does  not  act  as  the  former  does 
upon  its  matter,  but  as  the  head  of  a  family 
in  his  house.  Can  man  desire  any  greater 
happiness  in  this  world  than  to  have  such  a 
Guest,  such  a  Guardian,  such  a  Companion, 
such  a  Governor,  such  a  Tutor,  and  such  an 
Assistant  within  himself;  for  he  being  all 
things,  exercises  all  capacities  in  the  soul,  in 
which  he  takes  his  habitation :  thus  we  see, 
that,  like  fire,  he  enlightens  the  understanding, 
inflames  the  will,  and  raises  us  from  earth  to 
heaven.  It  is  he  who,  like  a  dove,  makes  us 
simple,  peaceable,  gentle  and  kind  to  one 
another :  he  it  is  who,  like  a  cloud,  defends 
us  against  the  burning  lusts  of  the  flesh,  who 
moderates  the  heat  of  our  passions,  and,  in 
fine,  like  a  violent  wind,  forces  and  bends 
down  our  wills  toward  that  which  is  good, 
and  carries  them  away  from  all  such  affections 
as  may  lead  to  evil.  Hence  it  is,  that  they 
who  are  justified  conceive  such  a  horror  of 
the  \'ices  they  had  so  great  a  love  for  before 
their  conversion,  and  so  great  an  esteem  for 
the  virtues  they  so  much  detested  before. 
This  David  very  lively  represents  to  us,  speak- 


ing of  himself  in  one  of  his  Psalms,  where 
he  says,  "  I  hated  and  abhorred  iniquity  (Ps. 
cxix.  163) ; "  and  again,  in  the  same  Psalm, 
"  I  have  rejoiced  in  the  way  of  thy  testimonies, 
as  much  as  in  all  riches ; "  ver  14.  Who  was 
it  but  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  occasioned  this 
alteration  ?  for  he,  like  a  loving  mother,  put 
wormwood  upon  the  breasts  of  this  world,  and 
most  delicious  honey  into  the  commandments 
of  God. 

This  plainly  shows,  that  whatsoever  good  we 
do,  what  progress  sover  we  make,  we  are  entirely 
obliged  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the  same.  So 
that,  if  we  are  converted  from  sin,  it  is  by  his 
grace;  if  we  embrace  virtue,  it  is  he  that 
brings  us  to  it ;  if  we  persevere  in  it,  it  is  by 
his  assistance ;  if,  in  short,  we  one  day  receive 
the  reward  he  has  promised,  it  is  he  himself 
that  gives  it  us :  for  which  reason  St.  Augustine 
says  very  well,  "God  rewards  his  own  benefits 
when  he  rewards  our  services."  So  that  one 
favor  procures  us  another,  and  one  mercy  is 
only  a  step  to  the  obtaining  of  another.  The 
holy  patriarch  Joseph  (Gen,  xlii.  25)  thought 
it  not  enough  to  give  his  brothers  the  corn 
they  went  to  buy  in  Egypt,  but  ordered  his 
servants  to  put  the  money  they  brought  to  pay 
for  it  into  the  mouth  of  the  very  sack :  God 
in  some  measure  does  the  same  with  his  elect, 
for  he  gives  them  not  only  eternal  life,  but ' 
grace  and  a  good  life  to  purchase  it.  Where- 
upon Eusebius  Emissenus  sa3's  excellently  well, 
"  that  he  who  is  adored,  to  the  end  that  he 
may  show  mercy,  has  showed  mercy  already, 
when  he  gave  us  grace  to  adore  him." 

Let  every  man,  therefore,  consider  how  he 
has  spent  his  life,  and  reflect  upon  all  those 
favors  God  has  bestowed  on  him,  and  on  all 
those  crimes,  these  frauds,  adulteries,  thefts 
and  sacrileges,  which  he  has  preserved  him 
from  falling  into,  and  by  this  means  he  will 
see  upon  what  accounts  he  stands  indebted  to 
him ;  because,  according  to  St.  Augustine,  it  is 
no  less  mercy  to  preserve  us  from  falling  into 
sin,  than  to  pardon  it  when  committed,  but 
much  greater;    and,  therefore,  the   same   saint, 


THR  RESURRECTION. 

What  encouragement  does  this  sublime  triumph  over  death  give  us  ?  It  encourages  us  to  nse  spiritually  with  Him,  and  live  henceforth 
B  new  life,  which  we  do  by  renouncing  sin,  fleeing  its  occasions,  laying  aside  our  bad  habits,  subduing  our  corrupt  inclinations,  and  by 
aiming  after  virtue  and  heavenly  things. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION. 

j„  Only  few  there  were  who  clung  to  the  Saviour  in  unwavering  faith  and  true  love,  ready  to  die  with  Him  and  for  Him.     Of  these,  three 

were  especially  faitbiu] — Mary  His  Mother,  John  and  Magdalen — Mary  and  John,  pure  and  innocent,  and  Magdalen,  weeping  for  ber  sins. 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,  THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


289 


writing  to  a  virgin,  says,  "  Man  is  to  make 
account,  that  God  has  pardoned  him  all  sorts 
of  sin,  inasmuch  as  he  has  given  him  grace 
not  to  commit  them ; "  Lib.  2.  Conf.  c.  7. 
Let  not,  therefore,  your  love  be  little,  as  if  he 
had  pardoned  you  but  little ;  rather  endeavor 
to  love  much,  because  you  have  received  much. 
For  if  a  man  loves  a  creditor  that  forgives  a 
great  debt,  how  much  more  reason  has  he  to 
love  a  Benefactor  that  bestows  so  much  on  him  ? 
For  he  who  has  lived  chastely  all  his  lifetime, 
has,  therefore,  continued  so,  because  he  had 
God  to  direct  and  guide  him ;  he  who, 
of  an  impure  person,  becomes  pure,  has  had 
God  to  correct  him ;  and  he  who  continues 
impure  to  the  end,  is  justly  forsaken  by 
Almighty  God.  This  being  a  matter  be- 
yond all  doubt,  it  only  remains  that  we  saj?^, 
with  the  prophet,  "  Let  my  mouth  be  filled 
with  praise,  that  I  may  sing  thy  glory  and 
honor  all  day ; "  Ps.  Ixx.  8.  Upon  which 
words  St.  Augustine  says,  "  What  means  all  the 
day  ?  Nothing  else,  but  that  I  will  praise  thee 
for  ever,  and  without  ceasing;  in  my  pros- 
perity, because  thou  comfortest  me ;  in  my 
adversity,  because  thou  chastisest  me ;  since  I 
have  had  my  being,  because  it  is  from  thee 
that  I  have  received  it ;  when  I  sinned,  because 
thou  forgavest ;  when  I  return  to  thee,  because 
thou  receivedst  me ;  and  when  I  persevered  to 
the  end,  because  thou  rewardest  me.  For  this 
reason  my  mouth  shall  be  filled  with  thy 
praise,  O  Lord,  and  I  will  sing  thy  glory  all 
the  day." 

It  would  be  proper  here  to  speak  of  the 
benefit  of  the  sacraments,  which  are  the  instru- 
ments of  our  justification,  and  particularly  of 
that  of  baptism,  as  also  of  the  light  of  faith, 
and  of  the  grace  we  receive  with  it ;  but  having 
treated  this  subject  elsewhere,  I  shall  add  no 
more  at  present ;  yet  I  cannot  pass  in  silence 
that  grace  of  graces,  that  sacrament  of  sacra- 
ments, by  virtue  of  which  God  is  pleased  to 
live  with  us  on  earth,  to  give  himself  every 
day  to  us  as  our  food  and  as  our  sovereign 
remedy.     He  was   sacrificed   on  the   cross   but 


once  for  our  sakes ;  but  here  he  is  daily  offered 
up  to  his  Father  on  the  altar,  a  propitiation 
for  our  sins.  "  This  is  my  body  which  is  given 
for  you,"  says  he ;  "  do  this  for  a  commemora- 
tion of  me ;  "  Luke  xxii.  19.  O  precious  pledge 
of  our  salvation !  O  divine  sacrifice  !  O  most 
acceptable  victim !  Bread  of  life !  Most  deli- 
cious nourishment !  Food  of  kings !  O  sweet 
manna,  which  contains  whatsoever  is  pleasant 
and  delightful !  Who  can  ever  be  able  to 
praise  you  according  to  your  deserts  ?  who 
can  worthily  receive  ?  who  can  honor  you  with 
due  respect  and  reverence  ?  My  soul  quite 
loses  itself,  when  it  thinks  of  you ;  my  tongue 
fails  me ;  nor  am  I  able  to  express  the  least 
part  of  your  wonders  as  I  desire  to  do. 

Had  our  Lord  bestowed  this  favor  upon 
none  but  innocent  and  holy  men,  it  would  have 
still  been  inestimable ;  how  great,  then,  must 
this  unparalleled  charity  be,  which,  after  having 
moved  him  to  communicate  himself  so  freely 
to  those,  has  further  prevailed  on  him  to  pass 
through  the  impure  hands  of  many  wicked 
priests,  whose  souls  are  the  habitations  of 
devils,  whose  bodies  are  vessels  of  corruption, 
whose  lives  are  continual  sacrileges,  and  spent 
in  nothing  else  but  in  sin  and  iniquity?  And 
yet,  that  he  may  visit  and  comfort  his  friends, 
he  suffers  himself  to  be  touched  by  such 
polluted  hands,  to  be  received  into  such  profane 
mouths,  and  to  be  buried  in  their  noisome  and 
abominable  breasts.  His  bodj'^  was  sold  but 
once ;  but  in  this  sacrament  he  is  sold  a 
thousand  times.  He  was  scorned  and  despised 
but  once  in  his  passion  ;  whereas  these  impious 
priests  offer  him  infinite  affronts  and  injuries 
at  the  very  table  of  the  altar.  He  was  once 
crucified  between  two  thieves ;  but  here  he  is] 
crucified  millions  of  times  in  the  hands  of 
sinners. 

Who  is  there  that  will  pretend,  after  all  this, 
to  be  able  to  pay  due  respect  and  honor  to  a  Lord 
that  has  consulted  our  interest  so  many  several 
ways  ?  What  returns  can  we  make  for  so  wonder- 
ful a  nourishment  ?  If  servants  serve  their  mas- 
ters for  a  poor  livelihood,  if  soldiers  for  their  pay 


390 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


expose  themselves  to  fire  and  sword,  what  ought 
we  to  do  for  this  Lord,  who  maintains  us  with  this 
heavenly  and  immortal  food  ?  If  God,  in  the 
old  law,  required  so  great  an  acknowledgment 
for  the  manna  he  sent  from  heaven,  though  it 
was  corruptible  food,  what  returns  will  he  expect 
for  this,  which,  besides  being  exempt  from  cor- 
ruption, makes  all  those  who  receive  it  worthily 
incorruptible?  If  the  Son  of  God  thanks  his 
Father,  in  the  gospel,  for  only  one  meal  of 
barley-bread,  what  kinds  of  thanks  should  we 
give  him  for  this  bread  of  life  ?  If  we  are  so 
much  indebted  to  him  for  the  nourishment  he 
gives  us  to  preserve  our  being,  how  much  greater 
is  our  obligation  for  that  food  which  preserves 
in  us  the  supernatural  being  of  grace  ?  For  we 
do  not  commend  a  horse  purely  because  he  is  a 
horse,  but  because  he  is  a  good  horse ;  nor  wine 
because  it  is  wine,  but  because  it  is  good  wine ; 
nor  man  because  he  is  man,  but  because  he  is  a 
good  man.     If  you  are  so  much  obliged  to  him 


that  made  you  man,  how  much  greater  is  your 
obligation  for  having  made  you  a  good  man? 
If  the  acknowledgment  be  so  great  on  account 
of  corporal  benefits,  what  should  it  be  for  the 
spiritual  ?  If  you  are  so  deeplj'  indebted  for 
the  gifts  of  nature,  how  much  more  do  we  owe 
for  those  graces?  And  if,  to  conclude,  his 
having  made  you  a  son  of  Adam,  lays  so 
strict  a  tie  of  gratitude  on  you,  how  much 
must  you  be  obliged  to  him  for  having  made 
you  a  son  of  God  himself?  For  it  is  certainly 
true,  as  Eusebius  Emissenus  says,  "  That  the 
day  we  are  bom  to  eternity  is  infinitely  better 
than  that  which  brought  us  forth  to  the  toils 
and  dangers  of  this  world." 

This,  dear  Christian,  is  another  motive,  and, 
as  it  were,  a  new  chain  added  to  the  others, 
to  bind  your  hearts  the  faster,  and  oblige  you 
to  the  pursuit  of  virtue  and  service  of  this 
Lord. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


OF  THE  SIXTH  MOTIVE  THAT  OBLIGES  US   TO   THE   LOVE   OF  VIRTUE,  WHICH    IS,  THE 

BENEFIT   OF   DIVINE   PREDESTINATION. 


DD  to  all  the  benefits  we  have  hith- 
erto spoken  of,  that  of  election,  which 
belongs  to  none  but  those  whom 
God  has  chosen  from  all  eternity  to 
be  partakers  of  his  glory.  It  is  for  this  inesti- 
mable benefit  the  Apostle  thanks  God  in  his 
own  and  in  the  name  of  all  the  elect,  when, 
in  his  epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  he  says, 
! "  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us  with  all 
spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly  things,  in 
Christ:  as  he  hath  chosen  us  in  him  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world  that  we  should  be 
holy  and  unspotted  in  his  sight  in  charity. 
Who  hath  predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption 
of  children  through  Jesus  Christ  unto  himself : 
according  to  the  purpose  of  his  will ; "  Ephes.  i.  3, 


4,  5.  The  royal  prophet  highly  extols  this 
favor,  when  he  says,  "  Blessed  is  the  man  whom 
thou  choosest  and  receivest  unto  thee  ;  he  shall 
dwell  in  the  court ;  "  Ps.  Ixiv.  5.  This,  therefore, 
we  may  justly  call  the  grace  of  graces,  and 
benefit  of  benefits  ;  inasmuch  as  God,  purely  out 
of  his  own  goodness,  bestows  it  on  us  before  we 
deserve  it.  For  he,  like  one  who  is  the  absolute 
master  of  his  own  riches,  without  wronging  any 
man,  but  rather  afibrding  every  one  suflScient 
assistance  to  work  his  salvation,  pours  out  the 
abundance  of  his  mercy  on  some  particular  per- 
sons, without  any  limits  or  measure. 

It   is  also  the  benefit  of  benefits,   not   onlyi 
because  it  is  the  greatest,  but  because  it  is  the 
very  source  of   all  the  rest.     For  God,  having 
chosen  man  for    his    glory,   bestows  on   him, 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


291 


through  the  means  of  this  first  favor,  whatsoever 
is  necessary  for  obtaining  of  his  glory,  as  he 
testifies  by  the  mouth  of  one  of  his  pro- 
phets, in  these  words  :  "  I  have  loved  thee  with 
an  eternal  love,  and  therefore  with  loving  kind- 
ness have  I  drawn  thee"  (Jerem.  xxxi.  3 )  ; 
that  is,  I  have  called  you  to  my  grace,  that  by  its 
help  you  may  arrive  at  my  glory.  The  Apostle 
expresses  the  same  thing  to  us,  in  much 
clearer  terms :  "  Whom  God  has  foreknown, 
he  has  also  predestinated  to  be  made  con- 
formable to  the  image  of  his  Son,  that  he  might 
be  the  first-born  among  many  brethren.  And 
whom  he  predestinated,  them  he  also  called; 
and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified; 
and  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified;" 
Rom.  viii.  29,  30.  The  reason  of  this  is, 
because  as  God  disposes  all  things  sweetly  and 
regularly,  he  has  no  sooner  been  pleased  to 
choose  a  man  for  his  glory,  but  he  bestows  on 
him,  on  account  of  his  grace,  many  others,  and 
furnishes  him  with  a  suflicient  supply  of  all 
things  necessary  for  the  obtaining  of  the  first 
grace.  So  that,  as  a  father  that  has  a  design 
to  bring  one  of  his  children  up  for  the  Church, 
or  the  bar,  employs  him,  whilst  he  is  but  a 
child,  about  such  things  as  have  a  regard  to 
the  one  or  the  other,  and  directs  all  the  actions 
of  his  life  to  this  end ;  so  the  eternal  Father, 
when  he  has  chosen  a  man  for  his  glory, 
to  which  the  way  of  justice  leads  us,  takes 
care  always  to  keep  him  right  in  this  road, 
that  so  he  may  attain  the  end  he  is  designed 
for. 

It  is  fit,  therefore,  that  they  who  perceive  in 
themselves  any  token  of  this  favor,  should 
thank  God  sincerely  and  heartily  for  it.  For 
though  it  is  a  secret  hid  from  human  eyes,  yet 
there  are  certain  signs  of  our  election,  as  there 
are  of  our  justification.  And  as  the  surest 
mark  of  our  justification  is  the  conversion  of 
our  lives,  so  the  best  token  of  our  elec- 
tion is  our  perseverance  in  a  good  life ;  for 
he  who  has  lived  many  years  in  the  fear  of 
the  Lord,  and  has  been  very  careful  not  to 
fall  into  any  kind  of  sin,  may  piously  believe 


that,  according  to  the  Apostle,  "  God  will  con- 
firm him  to  the  end,  that  he  may  be  blameless 
in  the  day  of  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ;"  i  Cor.  i.  8. 

It  is  true,  no  man  ought  to  think  himself 
secure,  since  we  see  that  Solomon,  after  he  had 
led  a  pious  life  for  several  years,  was  seduced 
in  his  old  age ;  but  yet  this  example  is  only 
a  particular  exception  from  a  general  rule, 
which  is  the  same  in  efiect  with  what  the 
Apostle  has  taught  us,  and  which  the  same 
Solomon  tells  us,  in  his  Proverbs  (ch.  xxii.  6) , 
in  these  words  :  "  It  is  a  common  saying,  a 
young  man  according  to  his  way,  when  he  is 
old  will  not  depart  from  it ;"  so  that,  if  he  was 
virtuous  in  his  youth,  he  will  be  so  when  he 
is  old.  By  these  or  such  like  conjectures,  which 
are  to  be  met  with  in  the  writings  of  the  saints, 
a  man  may  humbly  presume  that  God,  out  of 
his  infinite  goodness,  has  made  him  one  of  the 
number  of  his  elect.  And  as  he  hopes  to  be 
saved  through  God's  mercy,  so  may  he  with 
all  humility  conclude  he  is  of  the  number  of 
those  that  are  to  be  saved,  since  the  one  pre- 
supposes the  other. 

This  principle  once  settled,  a  man  will  soon 
see  how  strictly  he  is  obliged  to  serve  God 
for  so  extraordinary  a  favor,  as  is  that  of  hav- 
ing his  name  written  in  that  book,  whereof  our 
Saviour,  speaking  to  his  Apostles,  says,  "Rejoice 
not  in  this,  that  spirits  are  subject  unto  you  ;  but 
rejoice  in  this,  that  your  names  are  written  in 
heaven;"  Lukex.  20.  For  what  greater  benefit  can 
there  be,  than  to  have  been  beloved  and  chosen 
from  all  eternity,  ever  since  God  has  been  God  ? 
to  have  been  lodged  in  his  bosom,  and  made 
choice  of  by  him  for  his  adopted  child,  when 
he  begot  his  own  Son,  according  to  nature  in 
the  glory  of  the  saints,  who  were  then  all 
really  present  in  the  divine  understanding? 

Weigh,  therefore,  all  circumstances  of  this 
election,  and  you  will  find  that  each  of  them 
is  an  extraordinary  favor,  and  a  new  obligation 
to  serve  God.  Consider  the  dignity  of  him 
who  has  elected  you ;  it  is  God  himself,  who, 
as   being   infinitely   rich  and  infinitely  happy, 


392 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


had  no  need  of  you  or  of  any  one  else  in  the 
world.  Reflect  next  upon  the  person  elected, 
how  unworthy  he  is  of  such  a  grace,  since 
he  is  no  better  than  a  poor  mortal  creature, 
exposed  to  all  the  necessities,  infirmities  and 
miseries  of  this  life,  and  worthy  for  his  sins 
to  be  condemned  to  eternal  torments  in  the 
next.  Observe  how  glorious  an  election  this 
is,  since  the  end  for  which  you  have  been 
elected  is  so  noble  that  nothing  can  be  above 
it;  for  what  can  be  greater  than  to  become 
the  Son  of  God,  the  heir  to  his  kingdom  and 
sharer  with  him  in  his  glory  ?  Examine,  in 
the  next  place,  how  gratuitous  his  election  was, 
since  it  was  before  all  merit  whatsoever,  pro- 
ceeding only  from  the  good  will  of  Almighty 
God,  and,  according  to  the  Apostle,  "  to  the 
praise  of  the  glory  of  his  g^ace ; "  Ephes.  i.  6. 
For  the  more  generous  and  free  a  favor  is,  the 
greater  the  obligation  it  lays  on  him  that  receives 
it.  Consider,  also,  how  ancient  this  election  is, 
for  it  did  not  begin  with  the  world,  but  was 
long  before  it,  for  it  is  co-eternal  with  God, 
who,  being  himself  from  all  eternity,  has,  in 
like  manner,  from  all  eternity  loved  his  elect, 
has  always  had  them  in  his  divine  presence, 
and  has  them  there  still,  beholding  them  with 
a  fatherly  eye  of  love,  and  being  always  re- 
solved to  confer  so  great  a  favor  on  them.  Con- 
sider, after  all,  how  particular  this  benefit  is, 
since  he  has  been  pleased  to  honor  you  with 
so  infinite  a  blessing,  as  is  the  admitting  of 
you  into  the  number  of  his  elect,  whilst  there 
are  so  many  nations  quite  ignorant  of  him, 
and  which  he  has  rejected,  and,  therefore,  he 
separated  you  from  the  mass  of  perdition,  to 
raise  you  to  a  holy  union  with  his  saints,  mak- 
ing that  which  was  the  leaven  of  corruption 
become  the  bread  of  angels.  Such  a  grace 
should  put  a  Stop  to  our  pens  and  tongues, 
that  we  may  be  wholl}'  taken  up  in  the 
acknowledging  and  admiring  of  it,  and  in  learn- 
ing what  returns  we  are  to  make  for  it.  But 
what  should  give  a  greater  value  to  this  favor, 
is  the  small  number  of  the  elect,  whilst  that 
of  the  reproved  is  so  great,  that  Solomon  (Eccl. 


i.  15)  calls  it  infinite  ;  the  number  of  fools  ^  that 
is,  of  the  reprobate,  is  infinite.  But  if  none 
of  all  these  considerations  is  able  to  make  any 
impression  on  you,  be  moved,  at  least,  by  the 
excessive  price  this  sovereign  Elector  has  given 
to  purchase  you ;  it  is  no  less  than  the  life 
and  blood  of  his  only  begotten  Son,  whom  he, 
from  all  eternity,  resolved  to  send  down  into 
the  world,  to  put  this,  his  divine  decree,  in 
execution. 

If  this  be  true,  what  time  can  suffice  to 
spend  in  humble  reflections  upon  so  many 
mercies  ?  What  tongue  can  be  eloquent  enough 
to  express  them  ?  What  heart  capacious  enough 
to  conceive  them  ?  What  returns  and  acknowl- 
edgments can  be  made  for  them?  With  what 
love  shall  a  man  be  ever  able  to  repay  this 
eternal  love  ?  Can  any  man  be  so  base  as  to 
defer  loving  God  to  the  end  of  his  life,  when 
God  has  had  such  a  love  for  him  from  all 
eternity  ?  Who  will  part  with  such  a  friend 
as  this  is,  for  any  friend  in  this  world  ?  For 
if  the  Scripture  sets  such  a  value  upon  an  old 
friend,  how  much  ought  we  to  praise  that 
friendship  which  is  eternal  ?  "  Forsake  not  an 
old  friend,  for  a  new  one  will  not  be  like 
him  ;  "  Eccl.  ix.  14.  If  this  advice  holds  good 
in  all  cases,  who  is  there  that  will  not  prefer 
this  friend  before  all  the  friends  in  the  world  ? 
And  if  this  be  true,  that  possession,  time  out 
of  mind,  gives  him  a  title  that  had  none 
before,  what  must  a  possession  do  that  has 
been  everlasting?  It  is  eternity  that  has  en- 
titled God  to  the  possession  of  us,  that  he 
might,  by  this  means,  make  us  his. 

What  riches  or  honor  can  there  be  in  the 
world,  which  a  man  should  not  give  in  exchange 
for  this  blessing  ?  What  troubles  or  misfortunes, 
which  we  ought  not  to  suffer  for  purchasing  it  ? 
Is  there  any  man,  though  ever  so  wicked,  that 
would  not  fall  down  and  kiss  the  ground  a 
beggar  trod  on,  were  he  assured  by  divine 
revelation  that  the  beggar  was  predestined  to 
everlasting  happiness,  that  would  not  run  after 
him,  and,  prostrating  himself  at  his  feet,  call 
him  a  thousand  times  happy  ?     Who   is   there 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


293 


that  would  not  cry  out,  O  blessed  soul,  is  it 
possible  that  you  should  be  one  of  this  happ}' 
number  of  the  elect  ?  Is  it  possible  that  God 
should  have  made  choice  of  you  from  all  eternity, 
to  see  him  one  day  in  all  his  beauty  and  glory  ? 
that  he  should  have  chosen  you  to  be  a  com- 
panion and  brother  to  the  elect  ?  Are  you  one 
of  those  who  are  to  be  seated  among  the  choirs 
of  angels  ?  Must  you  hear  the  heavenly  music  ? 
And  shall  you  behold  the  resplendent  face  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  holy  mother?  Happy 
the  day  which  first  brought  you  into  the  world ; 
but  much  happier  that  of  your  death,  because 
then  you  shall  begin  to  live  for  ever.  Happy 
the  bread  you  eat,  and  the  ground  you  tread 
on,  since  it  bears  such  an  inestimable  treasure ! 
But  much  more  happy  those  pains  you  endure, 
since  they  open  you  the  way  to  eternal  ease 
and  rest !  For  what  clouds  of  afiliction  can 
there  be,  which  the  assurance  of  this  happiness 
will  not  disperse  I 

We  should  doubtless  break  out  into  such 
transports  as  these,  did  we  behold  a  predestined 
person,  and  know  him  to  be  so.  For  if  all 
people  run  out  to  see  a  young  prince,  that  is 
heir    to    some    great    kingdom,   as    he    passes 


through  the  street,  admiring  his  good  fortune, 
as  the  world  accounts  it,  to  inherit  large 
dominions,  how  much  more  reason  have  we  to 
admire  the  happiness  of  a  man  elected  from 
his  birth,  without  any  preceding  merits  on  his 
side,  not  to  a  temporal  kingdom  in  this  world, 
but  to  an  eternal  crown  of  glory  in  heaven. 

Here  you  may  learn  how  great  these  obli- 
gations are,  which  the  elect  owe  to  God,  for  so 
unspeakable  a  favor.  And  yet  there  is  not  one 
of  us  all,  if  we  do  what  is  required  of  us,  that 
is  to  look  upon  himself  as  excluded  this  num- 
ber. On  the  contrary,  "every  one  should  use 
his  endeavors,"  according  to  St.  Peter,  "to  make 
his  calling  and  election  sure,  by  good  works ;" 
2  Pet.  i.  10.  For  we  are  most  certain  that  he 
who  does  so  shall  not  miss  his  salvation;  and, 
what  is  more,  we  know  that  God  has  never  yet 
refused,  nor  ever  will  refuse,  any  man  his  grace 
and  assistance.  It  is,  therefore,  our  main  busi- 
ness, since  we  are  assured  of  these  two  points, 
to  continue  in  the  doing  of  good  works,  that 
we  may  by  that  means  be  of  the  number  of 
those  happy  souls  whom  God  has  chosen  to  be 
partakers  of  his  glory  for  ever. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


OF  THE  SEVENTH   MOTIVE   THAT  OBLIGES   US   TO  THE  PURSUIT  OF  VIRTUE,  WHICH  IS 
DEATH,   THE    FIRST   OF  THE   FOUR   LAST  THINGS. 


NY  one  of  the  afore-mentioned  motives 
ought  to  be  sufl&cient  to  persuade  men 
to  give  themselves  up  entirely  to  the 
service  of  a  master  that  has  obliged 
them  with  so  many  favors.  But,  because  duty 
and  justice  have  less  influence  over  the  gener- 
ality of  mankind  than  profit  and  interest,  I 
will,  therefore,  add  those  great  advantages 
which  are  proposed  as  the  recompense  and 
reward  of  virtue,  both  in  this  life  and  in  the 
next,  and  shall  first  speak  of  the  two  greatest, 
viz. :    The  glory  we  shall  acquire,  and  the  pun- 


ishment we  shall  avoid,  by  faithfully  adhering 
to  it.  These  are  the  two  oars  that  are  so  ser- 
viceable to  us  in  this  voyage;  they  are,  as  it 
were,  the  compass  by  which  we  may  steer  our 
course  more  steadily  and  securely.  This  is  the 
reason  why  St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominick,  in 
their  rules,  both  of  them  moved  by  the  same 
spirit,  and  making  use  of  the  very  same  words,, 
commanded  the  preachers  of  their  orders,  never 
to  take  any  other  subjects  of  their  sermons  but 
virtue  and  vice,  heaven  and  hell ;  the  one  to 
instruct  us  how  to  live  well,  the  other  to  incline 


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HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,  THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


us  to  it.  It  is  a  received  opinion  among  phi- 
losophers, that  reward  and  punishment  are,  as  it 
were,  the  two  springs  which  make  the  wheels 
of  a  man's  life  turn  round  in  regular  motion. 
For  such,  alas  !  is  our  unhappiness,  and  so 
great  the  corruption  of  our  nature,  that  no  one 
can  endure  naked  virtue,  that  is  to  say,  if  the 
fear  of  punishment  does  not  go  along  with  it, 
or  the  hope  of  a  reward  attend  it.  But  since 
there  is  no  punishment  or  reward  which  can  so 
justly  deserve  our  consideration  as  those  which 
are  never  to  have  an  end,  we  will,  therefore, 
speak  here  of  everlasting  glory  and  everlasting 
torments,  together  with  those  other  two  things 
that  are  to  precede  them,  which  are  death  and 
judgment.  For  any  one  of  these  points,  con- 
sidered with  attention,  may  be  infinitely  advan- 
tageous to  the  making  us  love  virtue  and  hate 
vice,  according  to  the  wise  man,  where  he  says: 
"  In  all  that  thou  undertakest,  remember  thy 
last  end,  and  thou  shalt  never  do  amiss;" 
Eccl.  vii.  40.  He  means  here  those  four  things 
we  have  just  now  mentioned,  and  which  we  are 
going  to  discourse  on. 

To  begin  with  the  first,  which  is  death.  The 
reason  why  this,  of  all  the  rest,  works  most  on 
us,  is  its  being  the  most  certain,  the  most  fre- 
quent, and  the  most  familiar  of  them  all, 
especially  if  we  reflect  upon  the  particular  judg- 
ment that  is  to  be  griven  on  the  whole  course  of 
our  lives  at  that  time,  which,  when  once  past,  will 
not  be  reversed  on  the  general  j  udgment  day ;  for 
whatsoever  is  then  decreed  shall  stand  good 
for  ever.  But  how  rigorous  this  judgment  will 
be,  and  how  severe  an  account  will  be  taken 
of  our  actions,  I  do  not  desire  you  should 
believe  upon  my  bare  allegation,  but  that  you 
give  credit  to  a  passage,  related  by  St.  John 
Climachus  upon  this  point,  to  which  he  him- 
self was  an  eye-witness,  and  is,  indeed,  one  of 
the  most  dreadful  I  ever  read  in  my  life.  He 
tell  us,  "  there  was  a  certain  monk  in  his  time 
called  Hesy chins,  who  lived  in  a  cell  on  n-^unt 
Horeb.  Having  led  a  very  careless  and  negli- 
gent sort  of  life,  during  the  whole  time  of  his 
retirement,  without    so  much  of    ever  thinking 


of  his  salvation,  he  was  at  last  taken  very  ill, 
and,  being  past  all  hopes  of  recovery,  lay  for 
about  the  space  of  an  hour  as  if  he  had  been 
quite  dead.  But  afterwards  coming  to  himself 
again,  he  earnestly  desired  that  we  would  all 
go  out  of  his  cell.  And  as  soon  as  ever  we 
had  left  him,  he  walled  up  his  door,  and 
remained  thus,  shut  up  within  his  cell,  for 
twelve  years,  never  speaking  one  word  to  any 
person  during  all  that  time.  He  lived  upon 
nothing  but  bread  and  water;  and  continued 
always  sitting,  keeping  his  whole  thoughts, 
as  if  it  had  been  in  perpetual  ecstacy,  so 
bent  upon  what  he  had  seen  in  his  vision, 
that  he  never  so  much  as  once  altered 
the  posture  he  was  in,  but  remaining  as  it 
were,  always  out  of  his  senses,  and  in  deep 
silence,  wept  most  bitterly.  A  little  before  his 
death  we  broke  open  his  door,  and  went  into 
his  cell,  earnestly  desiring  him  to  speak  some 
words  of  edification.  But  all  we  could  get  from 
him  was:  'Pardon  me,  my  brethren,  if  I  have 
nothing  else  to  say  to  you  but  this,  that  he 
who  has  the  thoughts  of  death  deeply  imprinted 
upon  his  mind  can  never  sin.' "  These  are 
St.  John  Climachus's  own  words,  who  was  pre- 
sent when  this  happened,  and  relates  nothing 
but  what  he  saw ;  so  that,  though  the  passage 
may  seem  incredible,  there  is  no  cause  to  mis- 
trust the  truth  of  it,  since  we  have  it  from  so 
gfrave  and  so  credible  an  author.  There  is 
nothing  which  we  ought  not  to  fear,  when  we 
consider  the  life  this  holy  man  led,  but  much 
more  if  we  inquire  into  the  frightful  vision  that 
was  the  occasion  of  his  long  penance !  This 
evidently  makes  out  the  truth  of  that  saying 
of  the  wise  man :  "  Be  mindful  of  thy  last  end, 
and  thou  shalt  never  do  amiss ; "  Eccl.  vii.  40. 
If,  then,  this  consideration  be  of  such  force  to 
make  us  avoid  sin,  let  us  briefly  reflect  upon 
the  most  remaAable  circumstances  that  attend 
it,  to  the  end  we  may  by  this  means  obtain  so 
great  a  benefit. 

Remember,  therefore,  that  you  are  a  man 
and  a  Christian.  As  man,  you  know  you  are 
to  die,  and  as  a  Christian  you  know  you  are  to 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVII.;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


295 


give  an  account  of  your  life  as  soon  as  dead. 
Daily  experience  will  not  permit  us  to  doubt  the 
one,  nor  the  faith  we  profess  let  us  call  the 
other  into  question.  Every  one  of  us  all  lies 
under  this  necessity.  Kings  and  popes  must 
submit  to  it.  The  day  will  come  when  you 
shall  not  live  to  see  night,  or  a  night 
when  you  shall  not  survive  till  day.  The  day 
will  come,  and  you  know  not  whether  it  may 
not  be  this  very  day  or  to-morrow,  when  you 
yourself,  who  are  now  reading  this  treatise  in 
perfect  health,  and  who  perhaps  think  the 
number  of  your  days  will  be  answerable  to 
your  business  and  wishes,  shall  be  stretched 
out  in  your  bed,  with  a  taper  in  your  hand, 
expecting  the  last  stroke  of  death,  and  the 
execution  of  that  sentence  which  is  passed  upon 
all  mankind,  and  from  which  there  is  no  appeal. 
Consider,  then,  the  uncertainty  of  this  hour, 
for  generally  it  surprises  us  when  we  least 
think  of  it,  and  is,  therefore,  said  to  come  like 
a  thief  in  the  night ;  that  is,  when  men  are 
fastest  asleep.  A  violent  and  mortal  sickness 
is  the  usual  forerunner  of  death  and  of  all  its 
attendants.  Pains,  aches,  distractions,  griefs, 
ravings,  long  and  tedious  nights,  which  quite 
tire  and  wear  us  out,  are  but  so  many  ways 
and  dispositions  towards  it.  And  as  we  see 
that  an  enemy,  before  he  can  force  his  entrance 
into  a  town,  must  batter  down  the  walls,  so  the 
forerunner  of  death  is  some  raging  distemper, 
which  so  furiously,  without  intermission,  batters 
down  our  natural  vigor,  and  breaks  in  upon 
the  chief  parts  of  the  body,  that  the  soul,  not 
able  to  hold  out  longer,  is  obliged  to  sur- 
render. 

But  when  the  sickness  grows  desperate,  and 
the  physician  or  the  distemper  itself  undeceive 
us,  by  leaving  us  no  hopes  of  life,  how  great 
is  our  anguish  at  that  time !  Then  it  is  we 
begin  with  concern  and  sorrow  to  think  of 
departing  this  life,  and  of  forsaking  whatsoever 
we  held  most  dear.  Wife,  children,  friends, 
relations,  estates,  dignities,  employments,  all 
vanish  when  we  die.  Next  follow  those  last 
accidents,  that  attend  us  just  at  our  going  off. 


which  are  much  more  grievous  than  all  the 
rest ;  the  feet  grow  cold,  the  nose  shrinks  in, 
the  tongue  stammers  and  is  incapable  of  per- 
forming its  duty;  in  fine,  all  the  senses  and 
members  are  in  confusion  and  disorder  on  so 
sudden  and  hasty  a  departure.  Thus  man,  at 
his  going  out  of  the  world,  by  his  own  suffer- 
ings, pays  back  those  pains  he  put  others  to 
when  he  came  into  it ;  so  that  there  is  no  great 
difference,  as  to  the  matter  of  suffering,  between 
his  birth  and  his  death,  since  they  are  both  of 
them  attended  with  grief,  the  first  with  what 
his  mother  endured,  and  the  last  what  he 
endured  himself. 

Nor  is  this  all  that  makes  this  last  passage 
so  terrible ;  for  after  this  violent  anguish,  there 
appears  before  him  the  approach  of  death,  the 
end  of  life,  the  horror  of  the  grave,  the  miser- 
able condition  of  the  body,  just  ready  to  be 
preyed  on  by  worms ;  but  what  is  more  dread- 
ful yet  than  all  the  rest,  is  the  lamentable  state 
of  the  poor  soul,  as  yet  shut  up  in  the  body, 
but  knowing  not  where  she  shall  be  within  two 
hours ;  it  is  then  you  will  imagine  yourself 
before  the  judgment  seat  of  Almighty  God,  and 
all  your  sins  rising  up  against  you ;  it  is  then, 
unhappy  man,  you  will  be  sensible  of  the 
heinousness  of  those  crimes  you  committed  with 
so  little  concern ;  it  is  then  you  will  curse  a 
thousand  times  the  day  in  which  you  sinned,  and 
those  pleasures  which  were  the  occasions  of  your 
offences :  your  condition  will  be  so  deplorable, 
that  you  will  never  be  able  sufficiently  to  deplore 
yotir  own  blindness  and  folly,  when  you  shall  see 
for  what  trifles  ( for  all  you  have  so  foolishly  set 
your  affections  on  are  no  better )  you  have 
exposed  yourself  to  the  dangers  of  suffering 
■  most  exquisite  torments,  which  you  will  even  1 
then  be  sensible  of :  for  the  pleasure  being  now 
all  over,  and  the  judgment  that  is  to  be  passed 
on  them  approaching,  that,  which  of  itself  was 
little,  and  now  ceases  to  be,  seems  nothing,  and 
that,  which  of  itself  is  of  so  much  weight  and 
consequence,  being  present,  appears  just  as  it  is  ; 
thus  will  you  become  sensible  of  the  danger  you 
have  exposed  yourself  to,  of  losing  so  much  bliss 


396 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVII.;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


for  the  enjoyment  of  mere  vanities,  and  which 
way  soever  you  turn  your  eyes,  you  will  see  you 
are  surrounded  with  subjects  of  sorrow  and 
trouble ;  for  you  have  no  time  left  to  do  penance, 
the  glass  of  your  life  is  run  out,  nor  must  you 
expect  the  least  assistance  from  your  friends  or 
from  those  idols  you  have  hitherto  adored  ;  nay, 
what  you  have  had  the  most  affliction  for  will  be 
the  greatest  torment  and  affliction  to  you 
then.  Tell  me  now,  if  you  can,  what  your 
thoughts  will  be  at  that  time,  when  you 
shall  see  yourself  reduced  to  such  extremities  ? 
whither  will  you  run?  what  will  you  do? 
or  to  whom  will  you  have  recourse  ?  To  go 
back  is  impossible,  to  go  forward  is  intoler- 
able, to  continue  as  you  are  is  not  allowed ; 
what  is  it  then  you  will  do?  "Then,"  says 
God,  by  the  mouth  of  his  prophet,  "  the  sun 
shall  go  down  at  noonday,  and  I  will  darken 
the  earth  in  the  clear  day,  and  I  will  turn 
your  feasts  into  mourning,  and  all  your  songs 
into  lamentation,  and  your  last  day  into  a  day 
of  bitterness ;"  Amos  vii.  9,  10.  Is  there  any 
thing  more  dreadful  than  these  words?  God 
says  the  sun  shall  go  down  at  midday,  because 
then  the  wicked  having  the  multitude  of  their 
sins  laid  before  them,  and  perceiving  God's 
justice  is  beginning  to  shorten  the  course  of 
their  life,  many  of  them  will  be  seized  with 
such  dread  and  despair,  as  to  imagine  that  God 
has  entirely  removed  his  mercy  from  them. 
So  that,  though  they  are  still  in  broad  day, 
that  is,  within  the  bounds  of  life,  a  time  to 
merit  good  or  evil,  they  persuade  themselves 
that,  do  what  they  can,  it  is  lost,  since  it  is 
impossible  to  obtain  pardon.  Fear  is  a  very 
powerful  passion ;  it  makes  those  things  which 
are  little  seem  great,  and  gives  us  a  near  view 
of  that  which  is  furthest  from  us.  If  a  light 
apprehension  has  been  able  sometimes  to  do  so 
much,  what  must  a  certain  and  real  danger 
do?  Though  they  see  they  have  a  little  life 
left,  and  all  their  friends  about  them,  yet  they 
fancy  they  already  begin  to  feel  the  torments  of 
the  damned  in  hell.  They  look  on  themselves  as 
between  life  and  death,  and,  grieving  at  the  loss 


of  the  goods  of  this  life,  which  they  are  just  ready 
to  part  with,  they  begin  to  suffer  the  pains  of 
the  next,  which  they  apprehend.  They  think 
those  men  happy  whom  they  leave  behind,  and 
envying  the  condition  of  others,  increase  their 
own  misery.  It  is  then  the  sun  shall  truly  set 
to  them  at  noon,  when,  which  way  soever  they 
look,  the  way  to  heaven  shall  seem  to  be  blocked 
up  against  them,  and  they  shall  not  see  so 
much  as  the  least  glimmering  light.  If  they 
look  up  towards  God's  mercy,  they  think  them- 
selves unworthy  of  it ;  if  they  reflect  on  his 
justice,  they  imagine  it  is  now  going  to  fall  on 
them ;  that  till  then  it  has  been  their  day,^ 
but  now  it  is  the  day  of  God's  wrath  ;  if  they 
consider  their  lives  past,  there  is  scarce  one 
moment  but  what  rises  up  in  judgment  against 
them ;  if  they  reflect  on  the  present  time,  they 
see  themselves  on  their  death-beds ;  if  they  look 
forward,  they  imagine  they  see  the  judge  wait- 
ing for  them.  What  can  they  do,  or  whither  can 
they  fly  from  so  many  objects  of  fear  and  terror? 
The  prophet  tells  them,  "  that  God  will  darken 
the  earth  in  the  clear  day ;"  which  is,  that  those 
things,  which  they  have  most  delighted  in 
before,  shall  now  become  the  greatest  occasions 
of  their  sorrow.  A  man  in  perfect  health  loves 
to  see  his  children,  his  friends,  his  family,  his 
riches,  and  whatsoever  else  can  be  any  way 
agreeable  to  him ;  but  this  light  shall  be  then 
turned  into  darkness,  because  all  these  things 
Tvill  be  a  great  affliction  to  a  dying  man ; 
and  there  is  nothing  will  be  a  greater  torment  to 
him  than  what  he  most  delighted  in.  For  as 
we  naturally  are  pleased  in  the  possession  of 
what  we  love,  so  are  we  equally  troubled  and 
concerned  at  the  loss  of  it.  This  is  the  reason 
why  they  will  not  let  a  man's  children  come 
near  him  when  he  is  dying ;  and  why  women, 
that  are  unwilling  to  lose  their  husbands,  keep 
from  them  at  this  time,  for  fear  the  sight  of 
one  another  should  increase  grief  and  sorrow. 
And,  though  the  journey  is  so  long,  and  the 
period  of  absence  endless,  yet  grief  breaks 
through  all,  and  scarcely  allows  him  that  is 
departing    leisure   to    bid    his  friends  farewell. 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


297 


If  you  have  ever  been  in  this  condition,  you 
cannot  but  acknowledge  all  that  I  say  to  be 
true ;  but  if  you  have  never  yet  made  the  ex- 
periment, believe  those  that  have.  "  Let  them 
who  have  been  at  sea  recount  the  dangers  they 
have  met  with  there ;"  Eccl.  xliii.  26. 

§  II.  If  the  circumstances  which  go  before 
death  are  so  frightful,  what  must  those  be 
which  follow  it?  Death  has  no  sooner  closed 
the  sick  mau's  eyes,  than  he  is  brought  before 
;  the  judgment  seat  of  Almighty  God,  to  render 
his  accounts  to  him,  who  will  avenge  himself 
with  severity  and  terror  for  the  crimes  which 
have  been  committed  against  him.  For  the 
understanding  of  this,  5''ou  are  not  to  inquire 
of  the  men  of  the  world,  who,  living  in  Egypt, 
that  is,  in  darkness  and  ignorance,  are  always 
exposed  to  mistakes  and  errors.  Ask  the  saints, 
who  dwell  in  the  land  of  Jessen,  where  the 
light  of  this  truth  shines  always  in  its  full 
vigor.  They  w^ill  tell  you,  not  only  by  their 
words,  but  by  their  actions,  how  terrible  this 
account  will  be. 

For  David,  though  so  holy  a  man,  was  so 
prepossessed  with  this  fear,  and  with  the  just 
apprehensions  of  the  account  he  was  to  give, 
that  he  begged  of  God,  saying,  "  Enter  not  into 
judgment  with  thy  servant,  O  Lord,  for  in  thy 
sight  no  man  living  shall  be  justified;"  Ps. 
cxlii.  2.  Arsenius  was  a  great  saint,  who  had 
lived  a  very  virtuous  and  rigid  life  for  several 
years  in  the  desert ;  and  yet,  finding  that  he 
had  but  a  very  little  time  to  live,  was  seized 
with  such  apprehensions  of  this  judgment,  that 
his  disciples,  who  were  all  gathered  together 
about  him,  perceiving  it,  asked  him  this  ques- 
tion :  "  Father,  are  you  afraid  now  ?"  To  which 
the  holy  man  made  answer :  "  This  is  no  new 
fear,  which  you  observed  in  me,  my  children ; 
it  is  what  I  have  been  sensible  of  all  my 
lifetime."  They  write  that  St.  Agatho,  when 
he  was  near  his  death,  was  seized  with  the  same 
apprehensions,  and,  being  asked  what  he  could 
be  afraid  of,  who  had  lived  so  virtuously,  said, 
"  Because  the  judgments  of  God  are  quite  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  men."   St.  John  Climachus 


gives  us  another  no  less  dreadful  example  of 
a  holy  monk,  which,  being  very  remarkable, 
I  will  here  relate  it  in  the  saint's  own  words. 
"  There  was  a  certain  religious  man,"  says  he, 
"  called  Stephen,  that  lived  in  this  place,  after 
having  spent  a  great  many  years  in  a  monastery^ 
where  he  was  in  much  repute,  on  account  of 
his  tears  and  fasting,  and  where  he  had  enriched 
his  soul  with  several  other  excellent  virtues ; 
but  having  an  extreme  desire  to  lead  a  solitary 
and  retired  life,  he  built  himself  a  cell  at  the 
bottom  of  mount  Horeb,  where  the  prophet. 
Elias  had  the  honor  to  see  God.  This  man, 
notwithstanding  his  great  austerity  and  rigor, 
thinking  that  what  he  did  was  not  enough, 
but  aspiring  to  a  more  rigid  and  severe  way 
of  living,  went  to  another  place  called  Siden, 
where  some  holy  anchorets  lived.  Here  he- 
continued  for  some  years  in  the  severest  and 
strictest  life  imaginable,  destitute  of  all  human 
comfort  and  conversation,  having  seated  his 
hermitage  about  three  score  and  ten  miles  from 
any  town.  But  the  good  old  man,  towards  the 
end  of  his  life,  came  back  again  to  his  first 
cell,  at  the  foot  of  mount  Horeb,  having  there 
with  him  two  disciples  that  were  natives  of 
Palestine,  who  had  retired  thither  not  long- 
before  he  came  back.  Within  a  few  days  after 
his  return,  he  fell  into  his  last  sickness.  The 
day  before  he  died,  being  in  a  kind  of  ecstasy, 
but  with  his  eyes  open,  and  gazing  first  on  one 
side  of  his  bed,  and  then  on  the  other,  just  as 
if  he  saw  persons  there,  who  made  him  give 
an  account  of  his  life,  he  answered  so  loud 
that  every  person  cquld  hear  him,  sometimes 
saying,  '  Yes,  I  confess  it :  that  is  true ;  but  I 
have  fasted  so  many  years  in  atonement  for  the 
sin.'  Sometimes  he  was  heard  to  say,  'That is 
false;  you  wrong  me;  I  never  did  any  such  thing.' 
Immediately  after,  '  As  to  that,  I  acknowledge 
:t.  You  are  in  the  right,  but  I  have  bewailed 
the  same,  and  have  done  penance  for  it,  by 
serving  my  neighbor  upon  such  and  such  oc- 
casions.' Then  again  he  cried  out,  '  That  is 
not  true ;  you  are  all  impostors.'  But  to 
other  accusations,  he  answered,  'It  is  true,  and. 


298 


HOW  TO  SHUN  EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


I  have  nothing  to  say  to  that  point,  but  that 
oirr  God  is  a  God  of  mercy.'  Certainly  this 
invisible  judgment,  being  so  severe,  could  not  but 
be  terrible  and  frightful.  And  what  ought  to 
make  it  more  dreadful,  they  laid  such  crimes 
to  his  charge  as  he  had  never  been  g^uilty  of. 
O  my  God !  if  a  hermit,  after  about  forty  years 
spent  in  religious  and  solitary  life,  after  having 
obtained  the  gift  of  tears,  declared  that  he  had 
nothing  to  say  for  himself,  as  to  some  sins  that 
are  brought  against  him,  what  will  become  of 
such  a  miserable  and  unhappy  wretch  as  I  am  ? 
Nay,  what  is  yet  more,  I  have  been  credibly  in- 
formed by  several,  that,  whilst  he  lived  in  the 
desert,  he  used  to  feed  a  leopard  with  his  own 
hands.  He  died  as  he  was  giving  this  account 
of  himself,  leaving  us  in  an  entire  uncertainty 
of  the  end  of  this  judgment,  and  of  the  sentence 
that  was  passed  on  him."  Thus  far  St.  John 
Climachus.  By  this,  we  may  plainly  see,  what 
apprehensions  a  man  that  has  lived  idly  and 
carelessly  must  be  in,  when  he  comes  to  die, 
since  such  great  saints  as  these  have  been  so 
hard  put  to  it  at  that  moment. 

Should  you  ask  one,  what  there  is  in  death 
that  can  aflfright  such  holy  men,  I  will  answer 
you  out  of  St.  Gregory's  fourth  book  of  Morals 
(ch.  16,  17,  18),  where  he  says,  "The  saints, 
seriously  considering  how  just  the  Judge  is,  to 
to  whom  they  are  to  give  an  account  of  all  their 
actions,  are  continually  thinking  on  the  last 
moment  of  their  lives,  and  carefully  examining 
themselves  on  what  answer  they  shall  make 
to  every  question  their  Judge  shall  put  to  them. 
But  if  they  find  themselves  free  from  all  those 
sinful  actions,  which  they  might  have  com- 
mitted, another  subject  of  their  apprehension 
is,  lest  they  should  have  consented  to  those 
bad  thoughts  to  which  man's  corruption  always 
exposes  him.  For  let  us  suppose  that  the  over- 
coming of  surh  temptations  as  lead  to  the  per- 
formance of  some  sinful  action,  is  no  very  hard 
matter,  yet  you  will  not  find  it  so  easy  to  secure 
yourself  against  the  continual  war,  raised  by 
bad  thoughts.  And  though  these  holy  men 
are  always  afraid  of  the  secret  judgments  of  so 


just  a  Judge,  yet  they  then  particularly  fear 
them  most,  when  they  are  at  the  point  of  dis- 
charging the  common  debt  of  nature,  and  when 
they  perceive  themselves  advancing  nigher  to 
their  sovereign  Master.  But  this  fear  of  theirs 
is  much  greater,  at  that  time  when  the  soul  is 
just  going  to  quit  the  body.  Then  it  is  that 
the  mind  is  no  longer  filled  with  idle  thoughts, 
nor  the  imagination  drawn  away  by  impertinent 
fancies.  Neither  does  he,  that  is  now  done 
with  this  world,  think  of  any  thing  that  is 
in  it.  Dying  men  think  of  nothing  but  them- 
selves and  God  who  is  just  before  them.  They 
look  on  every  thing  else  as  no  concern  of 
theirs.  But  if,  whilst  they  are  in  this  condi- 
tion, they  cannot  think  of  any  good  action, 
which  they  have  knowingly  omitted,  they  are 
afraid  lest  they  might  have  omitted  that  which 
they  did  not  know ;  because  they  cannot  pass 
a  true  judgment  on  themselves,  nor  have  per- 
fect knowledge  of  their  own  failings.  This 
is  the  reason  of  their  being  seized  at  death 
with  such  great  and  secret  apprehensions, 
because  they  know  they  are  on  entering  into 
a  state,  which  they  shall  never  afterwards  be 
able  to  change."  These  are  St.  Gregory's  own 
words,  which  plainly  show  us  there  is  much 
more  to  be  feared  in  this  judgment,  and  at 
this  hour,  than  worldly  men  imagine. 

If  this  judgment  is  so  rigorous,  and  has 
been  so  much  and  so  justly  dreaded  by  holy 
men,  what  apprehensions  ought  theirs  to  be, 
who  are  not  so  ?  they  who  have  spent  the 
greatest  parts  of  their  lives  in  vanities 
and  trifles,  who  have  so  frequently  despised 
God,  and  his  commandments,  who  have  scarce 
so  much  as  ever  thought  of  their  salvation, 
and  have  taken  so  little  pains  to  prepare 
themselves  for  their  last  hour  ?  If  the  just  man 
be  ready  to  sink  under  the  weight  of  his  fear,  how 
shall  the  sinner  be  able  to  keep  up?  If  the 
cedar  of  Lebanon  be  thus  shaken,  what  will 
become  of  the  reed  in  the  wilderness?  And  in 
short,  "  If,"  as  St.  Peter  says,  "  thejustman  shall 
scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall  the  ungodly  and 
the    sinner    appear?"   i    Pet.   iv.    18.     Tell  me 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


299 


now,  after  all  this,  what  will  be  your  thoughts 
at  that  hour,  when,  having  left  this  world,  you 
appear  before  the  divine  tribunal,  in  a  lonely, 
poor  and  naked  condition,  without  any  other 
assistance  but  what  your  own  good  works  will 
bring  you,  without  any  other  company  but  that 
of  your  own  conscience ;  and  if  your  accounts 
fall  short,  how  miserable  will  3'^our  condition 
be  ?  To  what  shame  and  confusion  will  your 
past  neglects  put  you  ?  The  princes  of  Judah 
were,  without  doubt,  very  much  surprised  when 
they  saw  the  conqueror  Sesach,  king  of  Egypt, 
putting  all  Jerusalem  to  the  sword.  Their 
present  punishment  brought  them  to  a  sense 
of  their  former  crimes ;  and  yet  what  was  all 
this  in  comparison  with  the  trouble  and  dis- 
order the  wicked  shall  be  in,  when  they  are 
near  their  end  ?  What  shall  they  do  ?  whither 
shall  they  go  ?  or  what  defence  shall  they  be 
able  to  make  ?  Their  tears  will  be  then  un- 
profitable to  them,  their  repentance  will  not 
avail,  their  prayers  will  not  be  taken  notice  of, 
nor  their  promises  of  future  amendment  regarded: 
they  will  have  no  time  given  them  to  do  pen- 
ance ;  and  as  for  their  riches,  their  honors,  or 
the  respect  the  world  gave  them,  they  will 
signify  least  of  all.  For,  according  to  the  wise 
man,  "  riches  shall  not  be  profitable  in  the 
day  of  vengeance,  but  justice  will  deliver  a 
man  from  death  ;"  Prov.  xi.  4.  What  will  a  poor 
soul  do,  when  it  sees  itself  surrounded  with  so 
many  miseries  ?  What  will  it  do  but  cry  out, 
with  the  royal  psalmist,  "  The  sorrows  of  death 
have  encompassed  me,  and  the  dangers  of  hell 
have  found  me  out  ?"  Ps.  cxiv.  3.  Unhappy 
wretch  that  I  am  I  To  what  a  miserable  condi- 
tion have  my  sins  redu.ced  me  ?  how  unex- 
pectedly has  this  unfortunate  hour  stolen  on 
me?  how  suddenly  has  it  surprised  me  when 
I  least  thought  of  it  ?  what  good  will  all  my 
former  titles  and  honors  do  me  now  ?  All  my 
friends  and  servants,  those  riches  and  revenues 
which  I  have  once  been  master  of,  what  service 
can  I  expect    from  them   now  ?     Six  or  seven 


feet  of  clay  at  the  most,  with  a  poor  winding 
sheet  to  bury  me  in,  is  to  be  my  whole  inheri- 
tance ;  and  to  complete  my  misery,  all  that 
money  I  have  been  so  long  hoarding  up,  with 
so  much  pains  and  injustice,  I  must  now  leave 
behind  me,  to  be  squandered  away  by  an  ex- 
travagant heir,  whilst  the  sins  I  have  been 
guilty  of  in  getting  it,  will  pursue  me  to  the 
next  world  to  condemn  me  to  eternal  torments. 
Where  is  now  the  delight  I  took  in  all  my 
former  recreations  and  pleasures  ?  They  are 
now  at  an  end  for  ever,  and  nothing  but  the 
pangs  of  them  remain ;  that  is,  the  scruples 
and  remorse  of  my  guilty  conscience,  the  stings 
of  which  pierce  my  very  heart,  and  will  torment 
me  for  all  eternity.  Why  did  I  not  rather  employ 
my  time  in  preparing  myself  for  this  last 
hour?  How  often  have  I  been  forewarned  of 
what  I  suffer,  but  would  never  g^ve  ear  to  the 
advice  ?  "  Why  have  I  hated  instruction,  and 
my  heart  despised  reproof ;  and  have  not  obeyed 
the  voice  of  my  teachers,  nor  inclined  my  ear  to 
them  that  instructed  me  ?"  Prov.  v.  12,  13.  I 
have  committed  all  kinds  of  sins  and  iniquities, 
in  the  very  bosom  of  the  Church,  and  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  world. 

See  here  what  anxieties  and  disquietudes  the 
wicked  will  be  rent  with.  See  here  what  a  bur- 
den their  own  thoughts  will  be  to  them  in  this 
miserable  condition.  But  to  preserve  you  from 
falling  into  the  same  misfortunes,  I  here  advise 
you  to  gather,  from  what  has  been  said,  these 
three  considerations,  and  to  keep  them  continually 
in  your  mind.  The  first  is,  that  of  the  trouble 
you  will  be  in  at  the  hour  of  your  death,  for  all 
those  sins  you  have  committed  against  God  dur- 
ing the  whole  course  of  your  life.  The  second 
is,  how  you  will  wish  to  have  served  him,  that  i 
he  might  be  favorable  to  you  at  this  moment. 
The  last  is,  what  a  rigid  penance  you  would 
willingly  undergo  in  this  world,  if  you  could  but 
obtain  the  favor  of  returning  thither,  that  you 
might  begin,  from  that  very  moment,  to  live  as 
you  will  then  desire  to  have  lived  before. 


30O 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,  THK  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

OF  THE  EIGHTH  MOTIVE  THAT  OBLIGES  US  TO  THE  PURSUIT  OF  VIRTUE,  WHICH  IS,  THE  LAST 
JUDGMENT,  THE  SECOND  OF  THE  FOUR  LAST   THINGS. 


BS  soon  as  ever  the  soul  has  left  the 
body,  immediately  follows  its  par- 
ticular judgment,  and  after  that,  the 
general  one  of  all  mankind  together ; 
at  which  time  shall  be  accomplished  what  the 
Apostle  said  :  "We  must  all  appear  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  Christy  that  every  one  may 
receive  the  proper  things  of  the  body,  according 
as  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  evil ; " 
2  Cor.  V.  lo.  Having  treated,  in  another  place, 
of  those  dreadful  signs,  which  are  to  be  the 
forerunners  of  the  general  judgment-day,  I  shall 
speak  here  of  nothing  but  that  severe  and 
exact  account,  which  will  be  then  required  from 
us,  and  of  what  is  to  follow,  that  this  may 
teach  man  how  much  he  is  obliged  to  the  pur- 
suit of  virtue. 

As  to  the  first,  which  is  the  strict  inquiry 
God  will  make  into  all  our  actions,  it  is  so 
frightful,  that  there  was  nothing  surprised  holy 
Job  more  than  to  consider,  that  God,  whose 
majesty  is  so  great,  could  show  so  much  rigor 
towards  man,  notwithstanding  his  being  so  frail 
a  creature,  as  to  set  down  every  word,  every 
thought,  every  motion  of  his,  in  his  book  of 
justice,  to  require  a  particular  account  thereof. 
After  having  said  a  great  deal  to  this  purpose, 
he  goes  on  thus :  "  Why  dost  thou  hide  thy 
face,  and  lookest  upon  me  as  thy  enemy  ?  Thou 
exercisest  thy  power  against  a  leaf  which  is 
driven  to  and  fro  by  the  wind,  and  thou  pur- 
suest  the  dry  stubble.  For  thou  writest  bitter 
things  against  me,  and  hast  a  mind  to  destroy 
me  for  the  sins  of  my  youth ;  thou  hast  put 
my  feet  in  the  stocks,  and  hast  observed  all 
my  paths,  and  hast  taken  notice  of  the  steps 
of  my  feet.  I  who  am  to  be  consumed  as  a 
rotten  thing,  and  as  a  garment  that  is  moth- 
eaten ;  "  Job  xiii.  24,  25,  26,  27,  28. 

Immediately  after  he  adds,  "  Man  that  is  bom 
of  a  woman,  and  has  but  a  short  time  to  live, 


is  full  of  miseries.  He  comes  forth  like  a 
flower,  and  is  trodden  down;  he  flies  away  like 
a  shadow,  and  never  continues  in  the  same 
state.  And  dost  thou  think  fit  to  open  thy 
eyes  upon  such  a  one,  and  to  bring  him  into 
judgment  with  thee?  Who  can  make  that 
clean  which  is  conceived  of  unclean  seed  ?  Who 
but  thou  alone?"  Job  xiv.  i,  2,  3,  4.  These 
are  the  terrible  words  which  Job  spoke,  filled 
with  surprise  and  astonishment  at  the  severity 
the  divine  justice  exercises  against  so  poor  and 
helpless  a  creature  as  is  man;  against  one  so 
bent  on  any  thing  that  is  evil,  and  that  drinks 
up  iniquity  like  water.  For  that  God  should 
be  so  severe  to  the  angels,  who  are  spiritual, 
and  very  perfect  creatures,  is  not  to  be  a  matter 
of  so  much  wonder:  but  for  his  justice  to  call 
men,  whose  vicious  inclinations  are  numberless, 
to  so  strict  an  account,  as  not  to  pass  over  any 
one  circumstance  of  their  whole  lives,  not  to 
leave  out  any  one  idle  word,  nor  so  much  as 
one  moment  of  time  that  has  been  misemployed, 
without  a  very  narrow  inquiry  into  it,  is  a  sub- 
ject of  the  greatest  amazement.  For  who  can 
hear  these  words  of  our  Saviour  without  aston- 
ishment? "I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle 
word  that  men  shall  speak,  they  shall  render 
an  account  for  it  in  the  day  of  judgment ;  " 
Matt.  xii.  36.  If  we  are  to  give  an  account  of 
such  words  as  these  are,  that  hurt  nobody,  what 
an  examination  will  be  made  into  lewd  dis- 
courses, unchaste  thoughts,  bloody  hands,  and 
lascivious  looks  ?  What,  in  short,  into  all  that 
time  men  have  spent  in  committing  sinful 
actions  ?  And  if  this  be  true,  as  doubtless  it 
is,  what  can  a  man  say  of  the  severity  of  this 
judgment,  but  will  fall  far  short  of  it  ?  What 
a  fright  will  a  poor  man  be  in,  to  see  himself 
accused  before  so  venerable  an  assembly,  of 
some  light  word  he  spoke  in  his  lifetime,  with- 
out any  design  or  intention  ?     Who  will  not  be 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


301 


surprised  at  so  strange  a  charge  ?  or  who 
would  have  dared  to  aflBrm  this,  had  not  God 
himself  said  it?  Was  there  ever  any  prince 
that  called  his  servant  to  account  for  the  loss 
of  a  pin  or  a  needle  ?  O  the  excellence  of  the 
Christian  religion  I  what  perfection  and  purity- 
dost  thou  teach,  and  how  strict  an  account  wilt 
thou  require  of  it,  and  with  how  rigorous  a 
judgment  wilt  thou  examine  into  it! 

Now  if  this  judgment  day  be  so  great  a  sub- 
ject of  all  men's  astonishment,  what  shame  and 
confusion  must  sinners  be  then  put  to  ?  For 
all  the  wickedness  they  have  ever  committed, 
with  so  much  caution  and  privacy  in  their  most 
secret  closets,  and  all  the  impurities  they  have 
ever  been  defiled  with,  and  all  the  evil  that  has 
lain  hid  in  the  darkest  recesses  of  their  souls, 
shall  be  then  made  public,  and  exposed  to  the 
view  of  all  the  world.  Is  there  any  man  now, 
whose  conscience  is  so  clear,  as  not  to  begin  to 
blush  and  be  afraid  of  this  confusion?  We  see 
how  often  it  happens,  that  men,  upon  no  other 
motive  but  that  of  a  sinful  and  criminal  shame, 
will  not  discover  their  secret  sins  to  their  con- 
fessors, not  even  in  confession,  where  the  obli- 
gation to  secrecy  is  so  inviolable,  and  the  tie  so 
sacred.  They,  for  no  other  reason  but  this, 
choose  rather  to  let  their  souls  be  pressed  down 
under  the  weight  of  their  sins,  than  to  undergo 
the  shame  of  revealing  them.  How  great,  then, 
will  that  shame  be,  which  men  shall  be  put 
to  before  God,  and  in  the  sight  of  all  ages,  past, 
present  and  to  come  ?  The  prophet  tells  us  this 
confusion  will  be  so  extraordinary,  that  the 
wicked  "  shall  say  to  the  mountains :  cover  us, 
and  to  the  hills,  fall  upon  us,"  that  we  may 
not  be  exposed  to  such  shame;  Hos.  x.  8. 

But  what  horror  will  they  be  filled  with,  at 
the  hearing  of  this  last  sentence  thundered  out 
against  them  :    "  Depart  from  me,  ye  accursed, 

i'nto  everlasting  fire,  which  has  been  prepared 
or  the  devil  and  his  angels;"  Matt.  xxv.  41. 
What  will  the  damned  think  at  the 
sound  of  those  dreadful  words?  "If,"  says 
Job,  "we  can  scarce  endure  the  least 
sound    of   his   voice,    who     shall    be    able     to 


look  against  the  thunder  of  his  greatness  ? " 
Job  xxvi.  14.  This  word  will  carry  such  force 
along  with  it,  that  it  will  make  the  earth  open 
in  a  moment,  to  swallow  up  and  bury  in  its 
bowels  those  who,  as  the  same  Job  says  (ch. 
xxi.  12),  "Take  the  timbrel  and  harp,  and 
rejoice  at  the  sound  of  the  organ."  St.  John, 
in  his  Revelation,  describes  this  fall  in  these  1 
words :  "I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from 
heaven,  having  great  power,  and  the  earth 
was  enlightened  with  his  glory.  And  he  cried 
mightily  with  a  strong  voice,  saying,  Babylon 
the  great  is  fallen,  it  is  fallen,  and  is  become 
the  habitation  of  devils,  and  the  hold  of  every 
foul  spirit,  and  the  cage  of  every  unclean  and 
hateful  bird ;"  Rev.  xviii.  1,2.  In  the  same 
place  the  holy  evangelist  adds:  "And  a  mighty 
angel  took  up  a  stone  like  a  mill-stone,  and 
cast  it  into  the  sea,  saying.  Thus  with  violence 
shall  that  great  city  Babylon  be  thrown  down, 
and  shall  be  found  no  more  at  all."  After  the 
same  manner  shall  the  wicked,  who  are  to  be 
understood  here  by  Babylon,  be  flung  into  the 
dungeon  of  everlasting  darkness  and  confusion. 
But  what  tongue  shall  be  able  to  express  the 
multitude  of  torments  they  are  to  suffer  there? 
Their  bodies  shall  burn  in  scorching  flames, 
which  shall  never  be  extinguished ;  the  worm 
of  conscience  shall  perpetually  gnaw  and  tear 
their  very  souls  in  pieces,  without  ever  being 
tired  or  sated.  It  is  there  that  weeping,  and 
wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth,  we  are  so  often 
threatened  with  in  holy  Scripture,  shall  never 
cease.  There  it  is  that  the  damned,  hurried  on 
with  rage  and  despair,  shall  vent  their  fury  on 
God  and  themselves,  biting  off  their  flesh, 
bursting  their  hearts  with  sighs  and  grief, 
breaking  their  teeth  with  grinning  and  vexa- ! 
tion,  like  madmen  pulling  their  own  limbs  in 
pieces,  and  continually  blaspheming  that  just 
God  who  has  condemned  them  to  such  torments. 
There  every  one  of  them  will  a  thousand  times 
curse  the  hour  of  his  birth,  frequently  repeating, 
though  with  a  different  spirit,  these  words  of 
holy  Job:  "Let  the  day  perish  wherein  I  was 
born,  and   the  night   in  which  it  was  said,  A 


3oa 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


man-child  is  conceived.  Let  that  day  be  turned 
into  darkness,  let  not  God  regard  it  from  above, 
neither  let  the  light  shine  upon  it.  Let  dark- 
ness and  the  shadow  of  death  obscure  it,  let  a 
cloud  overcast  it,  and  let  it  be  wrapped  up  in 
terror.  As  for  that  night,  let  a  dark  tempest 
seize  upon  it,  let  it  not  be  reckoned  among  the 
days  of  the  year,  nor  come  into  the  number  of 
the  months.  Why  died  I  not  in  the  womb  ? 
Why  did  I  not  give  up  the  ghost  when  I  came 
out  of  the  belly  ?  Why  was  I  placed  upon  the 
knee  ?  or  why  had  I  the  breast  to  suck  ? " 
Job  iii.  3,  4,  5,  6,  11,  12.  These  are  the  com- 
plaints the  damned  shall  make  in  hell  for  all 
eternity.  O  unhappy  tongues,  which  shall 
never  utter  anything  but  blasphemies  I  O 
wretched  ears,  which  shall  never  hear  any- 
thing but  frightful  shrieks  and  groans?  O 
unhappy  eyes,  which  shall  never  see  anything 
but  objects  of  misery !  O  wretched  bodies, 
which,  instead  of  being  refreshed,  shall  be 
eternally  burning  in  hell-flames  !  What  a  con- 
dition will  those  sensual  persons  be  in  then, 
who  have  spent  all  their  days  in  sports  and 
delights?  01  for  how  short  and  how  fleeting 
a  pleasure  have  they  brought  on  themselves  an 
endless  train  of  miseries  ?  Foolish  and  sense- 
less creatures!  what  do  all  your  pastimes, 
which  lasted  so  short  a  time,  avail  you,  when 
the  consequence  is  an  eternity  of  pain  and 
sorrow  ?  what  is  now  become  of  all  your  riches 
and  treasures  ?  where  are  now  your  delights  ? 
Your  seven  fruitful  years  are  now  over,  and 
they  are  followed  by  seven  years  of  such  bar- 
renness that  your  former  abundance  is  all 
swallowed  up,  and  not  the  least  sign  or  mem- 
ory of  it  remains.  Your  honor  is  lost,  and 
your  happiness  drowned,  in  that  ocean  of  sor- 
row. You  are  reduced  to  such  extremity  as  not 
to  be  allowed  one  single  drop  of  water  to  quench 
the  scorching  thirst  which  parches  up  your  very 
bowels  ;  nay,  your  last  prosperity  is  so  far  from 
giving  you  any  comfort  now,  that  it  is  rather 
one  of  your  greatest  torments.  For  then  shall 
be  fulfilled  this  saying  of  Job:  "The  delight 
of  the  wicked  shall  be  changed  into  worms" 


(Job  xxiv.  20)  ;  which  according  to  St.  Gregory 
will  happen,  when  the  remembrance  of  their 
past  pleasures  shall  be  an  increase  of  ^heir  pre- 
sent torments :  when  they  shall  call  to  mind 
the  days  they  have  seen,  and  those  they  now 
see ;  thus  unhappily  experiencing,  at  their  own 
cost,  that,  for  things  of  so  short  a  continuance, 
they  sufier  miseries  which  shall  never  have  an 
end.  Then  they  will  plainly  see  how  the  enemy 
has  deceived  them,  and  being  now,  though  too 
late,  sensible  of  their  folly,  they  will  begin  to 
make  use  of  these  words  in  the  book  of  Wis- 
dom :  "We  fools  have  wandered  out  of  the  way 
of  truth,  and  the  light  of  justice  has  not  shiued 
upon  us,  and  the  sun  of  understanding  has  not 
rose  upon  us.  We  have  wearied  ourselves  in 
the  way  of  wickedness  and  destruction,  we  have 
walked  through  hard  ways ;  but  as  for  the  way 
of  the  Lord  we  have  not  known  it ; "  Wisd. 
V.  6,  7.  These  are  to  be  the  perpetual  com- 
plaints of  the  damned,  this  their  repentance, 
this  their  sorrow ;  but  all  to  no  purpose,  for  the 
time  of  improving  is  now  past. 

The  due  consideration  of  these  things  cannot 
but  excite  us  to  the  love  of  virtue.  And,  there- 
fore, St.  Chrysostoni  often  makes  use  of  these 
arguments  in  his  homilies,  to  exhort  us  to  it. 
In  one  of  them  he  says,  "  That  you  ma}'  prepare 
your  soul  in  time,  to  be  the  temple  and  abode 
of  God,  call  to  mind  the  dreadful  day  when  we 
are  to  appear  before  the  throne  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  give  an  account  to  him  of  all  our  actions. 
Consider  in  what  manner  this  Lord  will  come 
to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead.  Consider 
how  many  thousands  of  angels  will  attend 
him.  Imagine  you  already  hear  the  sound 
of  that  frightful  but  irrevocable  sentence, 
which  Jesus  Christ  will  pass  against  the  v/orld. 
Consider  that,  as  soon  as  this  sentence  shall 
be  given,  some  will  be  tumbled  headlong  into 
outward  darkness ;  others,  though  they  have 
taken  a  great  deal  of  pains  for  the  preserving 
of  their  virginity,  shall  have  the  gates  of 
heaven  shut  on  them ;  some  shall  be  tied  up 
like  bundles  of  weeds,  and  flung  into  the  fire ; 
others  again  shall   be  delivered   up  as  a  prey, 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


303 


to  the  worm  which  will  never  die,  and  con- 
demned to  everlasting  wailing  and  gnashing 
of  teeth."  We  are  all  of  us  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  these  things ;  why  then  do  not  we, 
whilst  we  have  time,  cry  out  with  the  prophet, 
"  Who  will  give  water  to  my  head,  and  foun- 
tains of  tears  to  my  eyes,  and  I  will  weep  day 
and  night?"  Jer.  ix.  i.  Let  us,  therefore, 
hasten  and  endeavor,  before  it  is  too  late,  to 
prevent  the  judgment  by  a  confession  of  our 
sins  :  it  is  written  :  "  Who  shall  confess  to  you, 
O  Lord,  in  hell?"     Ps.  vi.  6. 

Let  us  consider,  further,  that  God  has  given 
us  two  eyes,  two  ears,  two  feet  and  two  hands, 
that,  if  we  should  happen  to  lose  the  use  of 
any  one  of  these  members,  the  other  may  still 
serve  us.  But  he  has  given  us  but  one  soul, 
so  that,  if  we  lose  that,  we  have  no  other  left 
us  to  enjoy  eternal  glory.  Let  it,  therefore, 
be  our  main  concern  to  preserve  it,  for  this 
soul  must  be  one  day  saved  or  damned  with 
the  body  for  ever,  and  must  appear  before  the 
tribunal  of  our  great  God,  where,  if  you  would 
excuse  yourself,  saying,  you  were  dazzled  with 
the  false  glittering  of  money,  the  judge  will 
answer,  that  he  forewarned  you  of  this  danger, 
when  he  said,  "What  doth  it  profit  a  man,  if 
he  gain  the  whole  world,  if  he  loses  his  own 
soul  ? "  Matt.  xiv.  26.  Should  you  say,  the 
devil  seduced  me,  he  will  tell  you,  that  Eve 
did  not  clear  herself  by  saying,  it  was  the 
serpent  that  deceived  her;    Gen.  iii. 

Look  into  the  Scriptures,  and  consider  the 
prophet  Jeremiah's  vision :  first  he  saw  a 
watching-rod,  and  then  a  great  cauldron  boil- 
iug  over  a  hot  fire,  to  signify  how  God  dealt 
with  men.  First  he  threatens,  and  then,  if 
that  will  not  do,  punishes  them.  Nor  is  it  to 
be  doubted,  but  that  he  who  will  not  submit 
to  the  correction  of  the  rod,  shall  be  made  to 
undergo  the  torture  of  the  cauldron.  Read  but 
the  Gospel,  and  you  will  see  that  nobody  offered 
to  intercede  for  those  unhappy  wretches  whom 
our  Saviour  condemned.  Brothers  did  not 
speak  for  their  brothers,  nor  friends  for  their 
friends ;    the  father   did   not   stand   up  for   his 


son,  nor  the  son  for  his  father.  But  what  do 
I  speak  of  these,  who  were  sinful  men,  since 
neither  Noe,  Daniel  or  Job,  notwithstanding 
all  their  virtue  and  piety,  will  be  able  to  alter 
the  sentence  once  given  by  the  judge?  Ezech. 
xxvi.  See  whether  any  one  durst  so  much  as 
open  his  mouth  in  favor  of  him,  who  was 
turned  away  from  the  wedding-dinner ;  Matt. 
xxii.  II,  12,  13,  and  xxv.  11,  12,  13.  See 
whether  any  body  ever  spoke  one  word  for  that 
servant  who  would  not  trade  with  the  talent 
his  master  intrusted  him  with.  Which  of  all 
those  five  virgins,  that  could  not  get  any 
admittance  into  heaven,  ever  found  any  one 
that  undertook  to  plead  her  cause  ?  Jesus 
Christ  himself  called  them  fools,  for  managing 
themselves  so  unwisely  as,  after  having  despised 
the  delights  of  the  flesh,  and  extinguished  the 
fire  of  concupiscence,  nay,  after  having  observed 
the  great  precept  of  virginity,  to  neglect  the 
commandment  of  humility,  which  seems  to  be 
much  easier,  and  to  take  a  pride  in  their 
chastity.  Consider  whether  the  rich  man,  who 
took  no  pity  on  Lazarus,  could  obtain  one 
single  drop  of  water,  which  he  begged  of  the 
patriarch  Abraham,  as  poor  a  comfort  as  it 
was,  to  mitigate  those  scorching  flames  that  so 
tormented  him  ;  Luke  xvi.  Why  then  will  we 
not  charitably  assist  each  other?  why  will  we 
not  praise  and  glorify  God  before  the  sun  of 
his  justice  is  set,  and  before  he  removes  his 
light  from  our  eyes  ?  We  had  much  better 
let  our  tongues  be  parched  with  fasting  for  the 
short  remainder  of  this  life,  than,  having 
satisfied  them  in  this  world,  to  let  them  be 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  begging  a  drop  of 
water  in  the  next,  out  of  all  possibility  of 
obtaining  it.  If  we  are  so  nice  and  tender  here, 
that  we  cannot  suffer  the  heat  of  a  light  fever 
the  space  of  three  days,  how  shall  we  be  able 
to  endure  those  eternal  burnings?  If  the 
sentence  of  death  passed  on  us  by  a  mortal 
judge,  who  cannot  take  aw^y  above  forty  or 
fifty  years  of  our  life  at  furthest,  be  so  terrible, 
why  do  not  we  tremble  at  the  sentence  that  is 
to  be  given  by  a  Judge,   in  whose  power  it  is 


304 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


to  deprive  us  of  life  everlasting?  It  terrifies 
us  to  see  the  punishments  inflicted  on  male- 
factors here  on  earth,  to  see  the  executioners 
drag  them  away  by  force,  scourge,  disjoint, 
quarter,  tear  or  burn  them ;  and  yet  what  is 
this  but  a  mere  dream  or  shadow,  in  comparison 
to  the  pains  of  hell?  For  death  puts  an  end 
to  all  these  sufierings,  but  there  the  worm  of 
conscience  never  dies,  there  life  is  never  at  an 
end;  the  tormentors  are  never  tired,  and  the 
fire  never  is  put  out.  Let  us,  therefore,  set 
what  we  will  against  this  misery,  let  it  be  fire 
or  sword,  wild  beasts,  or  any  other  kind  of 
torment  whatever;  to  this  it  will  appear  but 
as  an  imperfect  draft  or  representation. 

What  will  these  unhappy  wretches  do,  when 
they  shall  see  themselves  deprived  of  so  many 
blessings,  and  condemned  to  suffer  such  un- 
speakable miseries  ?  What  will  they  say  ? 
How  will  they  cry  out  against  themselves? 
How  horribly  will  they  sigh  and  groan,  and 
yet  to  what  little  purpose  ?  For  neither  is  the 
sailor  useful  after  he  has  lost  his  vessel,  nor 
the  physician  when  his  patient  is  dead.  It  is 
then — but  too  late,  alas  I — they  will  begin  to 
reflect  on  their  sins,  and  to  say.  We  should 
have  looked  better  to  ourselves,  and  not 
fallen  into  this  deplorable  state.  Alas  I  how 
often  have  we  been  told  of  this,  and  would 
take  no  notice  of  it?  The  Jews  shall  then 
know  him,  who  came  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,    but    it    shall    not    avail    them,    because 


they  would  not  know  him  when  this  know- 
ledge might  have  been  beneficial  to  them. 
But  what  shall  we,  miserable  creatures,  be  able 
to  say  for  ourselves,  when  heaven  and  earth, 
the  sun  and  moon,  night  and  day,  nay,  the 
whole  world,  shall  cry  out  against  us,  and  be 
witnesses  of  the  sins  we  have  committed? 
But  should  every  thing  else  be  silent,  we  have 
still  our  consciences  to  rise  up  against  and 
accuse  us.  This  is  almost  all  taken  out  of 
St.  John  Chrysostom,  and  is  suflBcient  to  show 
us  how  terrible  the  idea  of  this  dreadful  day 
must  be  to  those  persons,  who  have  not  gov- 
erned themselves  by  the  dictates  of  reason  and 
virtue.  St.  Ambrose,  as  severely  as  he  searched 
into  his  own  actions,  gives  us  plainly  to 
understand,  in  his  commentaries  on  St.  Luke, 
that  this  was  his  sentiment :  his  words  are 
these:  "Woe  unto  me,  O  Lord,  if  I  do  not 
bewail  my  sins ;  if  I  do  not  rise  at  midnight 
to  praise  thy  holy  name,  if  I  deceive  my 
neighbor,  or  if  I  speak  against  the  truth, 
because  the  axe  is  now  laid  to  the  root  of  the 
tree."  Let  him,  therefore,  who  is  in  the  state 
of  grace,  endeavor  to  bring  forth  the  fruits  of 
justice  ;  let  him  who  is  in  the  state  of  sin, 
endeavor  to  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  penance. 
For  the  Lord  is  nigh  at  hand,  and  comes  to 
gather  in  his  fruit,  and  will  give  life  to  those 
who  work  faithfully  and  profitably,  and  death 
to  them  who  are  idle  and  unserviceable. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


OF  THE  NINTH  MOTIVE  THAT   OBLIGES  US   TO  VIRTUE,    WHICH    IS,    HEAVEN,  THE  THIRD  OF 

THE  FOUR  LAST  THINGS. 


NY  one  of  these  considerations,  we 
have  here  proposed,  should  suffice 
to  persuade  us  to  the  love  of  virtue. 
But  because  the  heart  of  man  is  so 
stubborn,  that  very  often  all  of  them  together 
are  not  able  to  prevail  on   it,  I  will  here  add 


another  motive,  no  less  powerful  than  any  of 
the  others ;  that  is  the  happiness  and  reward 
promised  to  a  good  life,  which  is,  the  possession 
of  everlasting  glory ;  wherein  two  things  par- 
ticularly occur  to  be  taken  notice  of;  one  is, 
the  beauty  of  the  place  itself,  which  is  heaven ; 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVII.;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


305 


the  other,  the  glory  and  excellency  of  the 
King,  who  keeps  his  residence  there  with  all 
his  elect. 

As  for  the  first,  though  no  tongue  is  able 
to  express  the  beauty  of  this  place,  yet  we 
will  endeavor  to  guess  at  it  9.S  well  as  we 
can,  and  to  discover  as  it  were,  at  a  distance, 
some  part  of  it.  The  first  thing  then  to  be 
_  considered  is,  the  end  for  which  God  created 
jthis  excellent  frame;  for,  generally,  the  best 
way  of  knowing  the  worth  of  a  thing  is,  to 
inquire  into  the  design  of  it.  Now  the  design 
of  this  place  is  to  make  known  God's  glory. 
For  though,  as  Solomon  says,  "  The  Lord  has 
made  all  things  for  himself"  (Prov.  xvi.  4), 
it  is  plain,  nevertheless,  that  he  particularly 
made  this  place  for  this  end,  because  it  is 
"here  that  he  manifests  the  greatness  and 
splendor  of  his  glory  in  a  more  than  ordinary 
manner.  Therefore,  as  the  great  king  Ahasu- 
erus  ( Esther  i. ),  who  reigned  over  an  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  provinces,  made  a 
sumptuous  feast  in  the  city  of  Susa,  the 
metropolis  of  his  empire,  which  lasted  a  hun- 
dred and  four-score  days,  with  all  the  cost  and 
state  imaginable,  to  let  his  subjects  see  how 
powerful  and  how  rich  he  was ;  so  this  al- 
mighty King  is  pleased  to  make  a  noble  feast 
in  heaven,  not  for  a  hundred  and  four-score 
days  only,  but  for  all  eternity,  to  show  the 
infinite  immensity  of  his  riches,  his  wisdom, 
his  bounty  and  his  goodness.  This  is  the 
feast  Isaias  speaks  of,  when  he  says,  "  In  this 
mountain  shall  the  Lord  of  hosts  make  unto 
this  people  a  feast  of  fat  things,  a  feast  of 
wines  on  the  lees,  of  fat  things  full  of  mar- 
row, .of  wines  on  the  lees  well  refined."  ( Isa. 
XXV.  6);  that  is  to  say,  of  most  rich  and 
delicious  things.  If  God  has  prepared  this 
banquet  to  make  the  greatness  of  his  glory 
known,  we  must  needs  imagine,  that  since  this 
glory  of  his  is  so  great,  the  beauty  of  the 
place  where  he  resides  is  proportionable  to  it. 
We  shall  better  understand  this,  if  we  but 
examine  into  the  power  and  riches  of  the 
Xrord  who  has  chosen  it  for  his  residence.     As 


to  his  power,  it  is  so  great,  that  he  created 
the  whole  world  out  of  nothing  with  one  word, 
and  with  one  word  can  destroy  it  again  when- 
soever he  please.  Nay,  it  reaches  so  far  that  with 
one  single  word  he  could  have  created  not  only  one 
wf  rid,  but  millions  of  them,  and  have  reduced 
them  to  nothing  with  another.  And  what  is 
more  considerable  yet,  whatsoever  he  has  made 
has  cost  him  no  pains  nor  trouble,  nor  was  it 
harder  to  him  to  create  the  noblest  seraphim 
than  it  was  to  create  the  least  insect,  because 
this  infinite  Power  can  do  whatsoever  it  has  a 
mind  to  do,  and  whatsoever  it  has  a  mind  to 
do  it  does  purely  of  its  own  will,  and  is  neither 
tired  by  the  greatest  works  nor  eased  by  the 
least.  If  this  Lord  is  so  powerful,  if  the  glory 
of  his  holy  name  is  so  great,  and  if  he  has 
such  a  love  for  his  own  glory,  how  beautiful 
must  that  place  or  that  banquet  consequently 
be,  which  he  has  prepared  to  show  us  his 
glory?  What  is  there  wanting  towards  the 
perfection  of  this  great  work?  There  can  be 
no  want  of  hands,  because  the  Workman  is 
infinitely  powerful;  no  want  of  skill,  because 
he  is  infinitely  wise ;  no  want  of  will,  because 
he  is  infinitely  good ;  no  want  of  wealth,  be- 
cause he  is  infinitely  rich.  If,  then,  all  things 
be  so  well  disposed  to  make  it  great,  what 
must  that  work  be,  which  is  performed  by  the 
omnipotence  of  the  Father,  by  the  wisdom  of 
the  Son,  and  by  the  goodness  of  the  Holy 
Ghost? — where  goodness  inclines,  wisdom  di- 
rects, and  omnipotence  performs  all  that  an 
infinite  goodness  desires,  and  an  infinite  wisdom 
prescribes,  though  all  these  things  are  the 
same  in  the  same  divine  Persons. 

There  is  another  remarkable  thing  yet  to  be 
considered  in  this  matter,  which  is,  that  God 
has  prepared  this  stately  place,  not  only  for 
his  own  honor,  but  also  for  the  glory  of  all 
his  elect.  How  solicitous  God  is  for  them,  and 
for  the  effecting  of  all  he  has  promised  in  their 
behalf,  when  he  said,  "  Whosoever  shall  glorify 
me,  I  will  glorify  him"  (i  Kings  ii.  30), 
plainly  appears  by  his  actions,  since  he  has 
put    every    thing    in    the    world    under    their 


ao 


■306 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


command,  even  whilst  they  are  in  this  life.  How 
wonderful  was  it  to  see  Josue  command  the 
sun  to  stand  still  in  the  midst  of  its  course, 
and  to  make  it  stop,  as  if  he  had  the  direction 
of  the  whole  world  in  his  power  I  "  God,"  as 
the  Scripture  says,  "  obeying  the  voice  of  a 
man;"  Jos.  x.  14.  How  strange  was  it  to  see 
the  prophet  Isaias  bid  king  Ezechias  (Isa.  xxxiii. 
8)  choose  whether  he  would  have  the  sun  go 
back  ten  degrees  upon  the  dial,  or  forward,  for 
either  should  be  performed !  How  prodigious 
was  it  to  see  the  prophet  Elias  (3  Kings  xvii. 
I,  and  xviii.  43,  etc.)  lock  up  the  waters  and 
clouds  of  heaven  as  long  as  he  thought  fit ; 
and  then  command  them,  by  virtue  of  his  word 
and  prayer,  to  pour  down  their  rain  again  1 
Nor  is  it  during  their  lifetime  only  that  God 
has  given  his  saints  such  powers  ;  he  continues 
the  same  after  their  death  and  confers  it  on 
their  very  bones  and  ashes;  4  Kings  xiii.  21. 
Who  can  forbear  praising  God,  when  he  reads 
of  the  prophet  Elisha's  bones  raising  a  dead 
man  to  life,  who  was  accidentally  thrown  by 
a  band  of  highwaymen  into  the  prophet's 
grave?  Who  will  deny  that  God  bestows 
great  favors  on  his  saints,  when  he  hears  that 
the  sea  opened  for  three  miles  together,  the  day 
that  St.  Clement  was  martyred,  that  so  those 
persons  who  had  mind  to  see  the  relics  of  one 
that  had  suffered  for  Christ's  sake,  might  pass 
over?  God  has  been  pleased  to  inspire  the 
whole  Church  to  institute  a  feast  in  honor  of 
St.  Peter's  chains,  that  we  may  see  what  an 
esteem  he  has  for  the  bodies  of  the  saints, 
since  he  commanded  us  to  pay  such  solemn 
respect  for  the  fetters  they  wore.  But  what  is 
all  this  in  comparison  with  the  honor  which 
God  did  not  only  to  this  Apostle's  fetters,  not 
only  to  his  bones  or  body,  but  to  his  very 
shadow;  which,  as  St.  Luke  afl5rms  in  the 
Acts  (ch.  V.  15),  cured  all  persons  of  their 
distempers  that  could  come  within  the  reach  of 
it.  O  God !  how  infinitely  art  thou  to  be  ad- 
mired I  O  God  !  how  infinitely  good  art  thou, 
and  with  what  an  infinite  honor  dost  thou 
reward   thy  saints!  Thou  hast  given  this  man 


what  thou  never  madest  use  of  thyself;  for 
nobody  ever  saw  Jesus  Christ  curing  the  sick 
with  his  shadow.  Now  if  it  be  certain  that 
God  has  such  a  love  for  his  saints,  even  at  such 
a  time  and  in  such  a  place  too  as  designed  for  them 
to  toil  and  labor  in,  and  not  to  receive  their  re- 
wards ;  how,  great  must  that  glory  be  which  he  has 
prepared  to  honor  them  with,  and  for  which  he 
will  be  honored  and  praised  in  them  I  What  may 
we  imagine  he,  who  has  so  g^eat  a  desire  to 
glorify  them,  and  who,  at  the  same  time,  both 
can  and  knows  best  how  to  do  whatsoever  is 
capable  of  contributing  to  their  glory,  has 
prepared  and  provided  for  this  end  ?  Consider 
further,  how  liberal  God  is  in  rewarding  services 
done  him.  He  commanded  Abraham  to  sacrifice 
his  son,  whom  he  loved  so  tenderly;  and  just 
as  the  patriarch  was  on  the  point  of  comply- 
ing with  his  command,  his  divine  goodness 
stopped  him,  and  would  not  let  him  proceed 
any  further.  "  The  angel  of  the  Lord  said  ta 
him.  Lay  not  thy  hand  upon  the  boy,  neither 
do  thou  any  thing  to  him ;  now  I  know  that 
thou  fearest  God,  and  hast  not  spared  thy 
only  begotten  son  for  my  sake.  By  my  own 
self  have  1  sworn,  saith  the  Lord,  because  thou 
hast  done  this  thing,  and  hast  not  spared  thy 
only  begotten  son  for  my  sake,  I  will  bless; 
thee,  and  I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars 
of  heaven,  and  as  the  sand  that  is  by  the  sea- 
shore :  thy  seed  shall  possess  the  gates  of  their 
enemies,  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  be  blessed,  because  thou  hast 
obeyed  my  voice  ;"  Gen.  xxii.  12,  16,  17,  18. 
Was  not  this  service  well  requited  ?  It  is 
truly  a  return  that  becomes  God,  who  ought 
to  appear  like  himself  in  all  things,  as  well 
in  the  favors  he  bestows,  as  in  the  punish- 
ments he  inflicts. 

David  began  one  night  to  consider  with  him- 
self, that  he  had  a  house  to  dwell  in,  and  the 
ark  of  God  had  none,  and  thereupon  resolved 
to  build  one  for  it.  But  God  sent  the  prophet 
Nathan  to  him  the  next  morning  with  this 
message  :  "  Because  thou  hast  thought  of  build- 
ing me    a    house,  I  swear  to    thee,  that    I  will 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,    THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


307 


build  cne  for  thee  and  tliy  posterity,  which 
shall  remain  for  ever ;  and  I  will  give  thee  a 
kingdom  that  shall  have  no  end,  nor  will  I  ever 
remove  my  mercies  from  it ;"  2  Kings  vii. ;  3 
Kings  viii. ;  i  Chron.  xvii.  This  was  the 
promise  God  made  David  ;  nor  did  he  fail  in 
t*he  performance  of  it,  for  the  kingdom  of 
Israel  was  governed  by  the  princes  of  the  house 
of  David  down  to  the  coming  of  our  Saviour, 
who  reigns  there  now,  and  will  there  reign  for 
all  eternity.  What  follows  on  this  is,  that 
heaven  is  nothing  else  but  the  general  reward 
which  God  gives  his  saints,  for  all  the  services 
they  have  done  him  ;  and  would  we  but  at  the 
same  time  consider  how  generous  God  is,  in 
the  presents  he  makes,  we  might  give  some 
kind  of  gness  at  least  at  the  qualities  and 
conditions  of  this  glory  ;  though  it  is  an  abyss 
too  deep  for  us  to  fathom. 

Another  way  of  passing  a  judgment  on  it 
is,  to  reflect  on  the  price  God  has  thought  fit 
it  sholild  be  purchased  at  for  us.  For  since 
he  has  been  so  liberal  to  us,  we  must  not 
think  he  would  set  a  greater  value  on  things 
than  they  are  worth  in  themselves.  Yet  that 
we  might,  after  we  had  sinned,  be  made  par- 
takers of  this  glory,  nothing  less  than  the 
blood  and  death  of  his  only  Son  could  procure 
it  for  us.  So  that  God  has  been  pleased  to 
die  the  death  of  man,  that  man  might  live  the 
life  of  God.  God  has  suffered  those  afflictions 
and  tribulations  which  were  due  to  man,  that 
man  should  enjoy  the  rest  and  ease  that  be- 
longed to  God.  Nor  would  man  have  ever  been 
honored  with  a  place  among  the  choir  of 
angels,  had  not  God  been  nailed  to  the  cross 
betwixt  two  thieves.  How  great  a  favor, 
then,  must  this  be,  for  the  procuring  of 
which  a  God,  has  sweated  blood,  has  been  taken 
prisoner,  has  been  scourged,  spit  upon  and  buf- 
eted ;  and,  after  all,  has  been  fastened  to  a  cross ! 
What  can  that  be,  which  God  who  is  so  generous, 
has  prepared,  to  procure  at  so  great  a  rate  ?  Could 
a  man  but  fathom  this  abyss,  he  could  have  no 
better  way  of  finding  out  the  greatness  of 
eternal  glory. 


But  besides  all  this,  God  requires  of  us  as 
much  as  possibly  can  be  required  of  man, 
which  is,  that  we  take  up  our  cross  and  fol- 
low him ;  and  if  our  right  eye  offend  us,  we 
pluck  it  out ;  that  we  have  no  further  concern 
for  father  and  mother,  nor  regard  any  thing  in 
this  world,  be  it  what  it  will,  if  it  be  consistent 
with  whatsoever  God  shall  command  us.  And 
after  we  have  punctually  complied  with  all  that 
he  enjoins,  he  tells  us  he  bestows  this  glory 
gratis.  This  is  what  he  says,  in  St.  John :  "  I 
am  Alpha  and  Omega ;  the  Beginning  and  the 
End.  To  him  that  thirsteth  I  will  give  of 
the  fountain  of  the  water  of  life,  free  cost ;" 
Apoc.  xxi.  6.  How  great  a  favor  must  this  be, 
when  God  requires  so  much  for  it ;  and  yet,  when 
we  have  given  him  all  we  can,  he  tells  us  him- 
self, he  gives  it  to  us  for  nothing.  I  say, 
"  for  nothing,"  with  respect  to  what  our  actions 
are  worth  in  themselves,  when  separated 
from  the  value  grace  puts  on  them.  Tel] 
me  now,  if  this  Lord  is  so  liberal  in  grant- 
ing of  his  favors ;  if  he  has  been  so 
good  as  to  bestow  upon  every  one  so  many 
several  kinds  of  benefits  even  in  this  life ;  if 
every  creature,  both  in  heaven  and  earth,  has 
been  created  for  man's  use  in  general ;  if  he 
has  given  the  sinner  as  well  as  the  just,  the 
bad  man  as  well  as  the  good,  a  free  and  com- 
mon possession  of  this  world,  how  shall  we  be 
able  to  rate  those  inexhaustible  riches,  which 
he  has  laid  up  for  none  but  the  just  ?  How 
will  he,  who  has  been  so  generous  in  confer- 
ring his  favors  on  those  who  have  not  deserved 
them,  reward  those  to  whom  his  graces  are  in 
some  manner  due  ?  How  noble  must  he  be  in 
requiting  services  done  him,  who  has  been 
always  so  forward  in  bestowing  of  his  mercies  I 
And  if  he  is  so  bountiful  in  his  gifts  and 
presents,  how  magnificent  will  he  be  in  the 
returns  he  makes  !  It  is  certain  we  can  neither 
express  nor  conceive  the  glory  he  will  bestow 
on  the  grateful,  since  he  has  here  laid  so  many 
obligations  on  the  unthankful. 

§  I.  Something  of  this  glory  may  be  further 
discovered  by  the  situation  and  height  of   the 


3o8 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


place  designed  for  it,  which  is  not  only  the 
most  capacious,  but  the  noblest  and  most 
beautiful  of  all  the  rest.  It  is  called  in  the 
Scripture,  "  the  land  of  the  living."  Whence 
we  are  to  infer,  that  the  land  we  now  live  in 
is  the  land  of  the  dying.  If  therefore,  it  is  cer- 
tain, there  are  so  many  excellent  and  curious 
things  in  this  country  of  the  dying,  what 
must  there  be  where  those  persons  reside 
who  are  to  live  for  ever  ?  Look  about,  in 
in  every  quarter  of  the  world,  and  consider 
how  many  beautiful  objects  there  are  in  it. 
Observe  the  greatness  of  the  heavens,  the 
brightness  of  the  sun,  moon  and  stars,  the 
beauteousness  of  the  earth  and  of  the  trees, 
of  birds,  and  other  creatures.  Consider  how 
pleasant  the  plain  and  open  fields  are :  how 
delightful  the  mountains,  with  their  unevenness  ; 
the  valleys,  with  their  greenness ;  and  how  the 
springs  and  rivers,  which  are  dispersed  and 
scattered,  like  so  many  viens  throughout  the 
whole  body  of  the  earth,  contribute  with  their 
freshness  to  its  beauty.  Reflect  on  the  vast 
extent  of  the  seas,  which  have  such  a  great 
variety  of  wonders  in  them.  What  are  the 
lakes  and  pools  of  pure  water,  but,  as  it  were, 
the  eyes  of  the  earth,  or  the  mirrors  of  the 
heavens  ?  Or  what  can  we  think  of  the  verdant 
meadows,  intervvoven  with  roses  and  other  flow- 
ers, but  that  they  resemble  the  firmament  all  be- 
spangled with  stars  in  a  clear  night  ?  What 
shall  we  say  of  the  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  and 
other  rich  metals,  of  rubies,  emeralds,  diamonds 
and  other  precious  stones,  which  seem  to  stand 
in  competition  with  the  stars  themselves,  for  a 
glittering  lustre  and  beauty  ?  What  shall  we 
say  of  that  variety  of  colors  which  is  to  be  seen 
in  birds,  in  beasts,  in  flowers,  and  in  an  infinite 
number  of  other  wonderful  objects?  Besides  all 
this,  art  has  added  to  the  perfections  of  nature,  and 
so  improved  thebeautyof  all  things.  Hence  come 
those  works,  which  are  so  pleasing  to  the  eye,  glit- 
tering with  gold  and  precious  stones,  noble 
paintings,  delightful  gardens,  royal  garments, 
stately  structures  adorned  with  gold  and  marble, 
and   innumerable   things    of   other    sorts.     If, 


then,  there  are  so  many,  and  such  delights  in 
this,  which  is  the  lowest  of  all  the  elements, 
and  the  land  of  the  dying,  what  must  there 
be,  in  that  sublime  place,  which  as  far  exceeds 
all  the  other  heavens  and  elements,  in  riches, 
honor,  beauty,  and  all  kinds  of  perfections,  as 
it  does  in  height  I  If  we  consider  how  much 
those  beauties  of  the  heavens,  which  are  visible 
to  our  eyes,  as  the  sun,  moon  and  stars,  sur- 
pass those  of  this  lower  world  in  brightness, 
in  form,  and  in  duration,  how  glorious  must  we 
imagine  those  of  the  next  world  to  be,  which 
are  only  to  be  seen  with  immortal  eyes  I  All 
we  are  able  to  conceive  or  think  will  come 
infinitely  short  of  them. 

We  know  man  must  have  three  difi"erent 
places  of  habitation,  answering  to  the  three 
different  states  of  life.  His  first  place  of  habi- 
tation is  his  mother's  womb  after  his  concep- 
tion ;  his  second  is  the  world  he  lives  in  after 
his  birth ;  his  third  is  heaven,  where  he  is 
placed  after  his  death,  if  he  has  lived  a  good 
life.  These  three  several  places  bear  some  sort 
of  proportion  to  one  another,  so  that  the  third 
has,  in  an  infinite  degree,  all  those  advantages 
over  the  second,  which  the  second  has  over  the 
first,  as  well  in  duration,  greatness  and  beauty, 
as  in  all  other  qualities  whatsoever.  As  to  the 
duration  it  is  visible,  for  the  length  of  life,  in  the 
first  place,  is  nine  months ;  in  the  second,  it  some- 
times extends  to  a  hundred  years ;  but  in  the 
third,  it  lasts  for  eternity.  The  same  is  to  be 
said  of  the  largeness  of  the  first  place,  which 
has  no  grater  extent  than  that  of  a  woman's 
womb ;  the  second  is  no  narrower  than  the  whole 
world  itself;  and  as  for  the  greatness  of  the 
third,  the  best  rule  we  have,  whereby  to  judge 
of  it  is,  the  wide  disproportion  which  is  between 
the  first  and  the  second  place :  nor  does  it  less 
excel  those  other  places  in  beauty, 'riches,  and 
all  other  perfections  and  accomplishments,  most 
proper  to  recommend  it  to  us,  than  it  does  in 
extent  and  duration.  If,  therefore,  this  world 
of  ours  be  so  great  and  glorious  as  we  have 
represented  it,  and  if  notwithstanding,  the  other 
we  have   been  speaking  of,  be  as  far  above   it 


HOW  TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE, 


309 


as  we  said  it  is,  how  charming  must  its  beauty 
be,  and  how  vast  and  spacious  its  extent ! 
This  we  may  discover  by  the  great  difference 
there  is  between  the  inhabitants  of  both  places, 
because  the  stateliness  of  a  building  should 
hold  a  proportion  with  the  quality  of  the  per- 
son that  is  to  live  in  it.  We  are  to  consider, 
that  the  place  we  live  in  is  the  land  of  the 
dying,  the  other  of  the  living;  the  one  is  the 
habitation  of  sinners,  the  other  of  saints ;  the 
one  is  the  dwelling  place  of  men,  the  other  of 
angels ;  the  one  is  a  place  for  penitents,  the 
other  for  those  who  are  justified  ;  the  one  is  the 
field  of  battle,  the  other  the  city  of  triumph. 
In  the  one,  to  conclude,  there  are  enemies  as  well 
as  friends ;  whilst  there  are  none  but  friends 
in  the  other,  and  those  are  no  other  but  the  elect 
themselves.  The  same  difference,  that  is  be- 
tween the  inhabitants  of  these  two  places,  is 
between  the  places  themselves.  For  God  has 
created  all  places  suitable  to  the  quality  of 
the  persons  they  are  designed  for.  "  Glorious 
things  are  spoken  of  thee,  O  city  of  God ; " 
Ps.  Ixxxvi.  Thou  art  unmeasurable  in  thy 
extent,  and  most  stately  in  thy  structure.  The 
matter  which  thou  art  made  of  is  most  precious, 
the  people  that  live  in  thee  are  most  noble : 
all  thy  employments  are  delightful,  all  sorts  of 
goods  abound  in  thee,  nor  is  there  any  kind 
of  misery  whatsoever,  which  thou  art  not 
entirely  secure  from.  Thou  art  very  great  in 
every  thing,  because  he  who  made  thee  is  very 
great,  because  the  end  which  he  designed  thee 
for  is  very  noble,  and  because  those  citizens, 
for  whose  sake  he  had  created  thee,  are  the 
most  honorable  of  all  mankind. 

All  we  have  hitherto  said  relates  only  to  the 
accidental  glory  of  the  saints,  besides  which 
there  is  another  sort,  called  essential  glory, 
infinitely  beyond  the  accidental.  This  essential 
glory  consists  in  seeing  and  enjoying  God 
himself,  which  St.  Augustine  speaks  of,  when 
he  says,  "  that  virtue  shall  be  rewarded  with 
no  less  a  price  than  with  God  himself,  the 
giver  of  all  earthly  virtue,  whom  we  shall  see 
for   all    eternity,  whom  we   shall    love  without 


ever  being  cloyed,  and  whom  we  shall  praise 
without  ever  giving  over."  So  that  this  is 
the  greatest  reward  we  can  receive;  for  it  is 
neither  heaven  nor  earth,  nor  sea,  nor  any 
created  being  whatsoever;  but  it  is  God  him- 
self, who,  notwithstanding  his  being  free  from 
all  kind  of  mixture,  contains  within  himself  all 
that  is  good  and  perfect.  For  the  understand- 
ing of  this  point  you  must  conceive,  that  one  of 
the  greatest  mysteries  in  this  divine  substance 
is,  that  it  comprehends  within  itself,  in  an  infin- 
itely eminent  degree,  the  perfections  of  all  the 
creatures,  though,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  a  most 
pure  Being :  because  God  having  created  them 
all,  and  directed  them  to  their  last  end,  he  must 
of  necessity  possess  what  he  gives  to  others. 
Whence  it  follows,  that  the  blessed  shall  enjoy 
and  behold  all  things  in  him,  each  in  propor- 
tion to  the  glory  he  shall  be  partaker  of.  For 
as  the  creatures  serve  us  now  instead  of  a  mir- 
ror, in  which  we  may  behold  some  part  of  God's 
beauty,  so  God  himself  will,  at  that  time,  be 
the  glass  wherein  we  shall  see  the  beauty  of  the 
creatures,  but  in  a  much  more  perfect  manner 
than  if  we  saw  them  in  themselves.  Thus  God 
will  be  the  universal  happiness  of  all  the  saints, 
he  will  be  their  complete  felicity  and  the  accom- 
plishment of  all  their  desires ;  he  will  then  be 
a  mirror  to  our  eyes,  music  to  our  ears, 
sweetness  to  our  taste,  and  a  most  pleasing 
perfume  to  our  nostrils.  In  him  we  shall 
behold  all  the  variety  of  the  several  times  and 
seasons  of  the  year,  the  freshness  of  the  spring, 
the  clearness  of  the  summer,  the  plenty  of  the 
autumn,  and  the  repose  of  the  winter.  There 
is  nothing,  in  short,  that  can  please  all  the 
senses  of  our  bodies,  or  the  faculties  of  our 
souls,  which  we  shall  not  meet  with  in  him. 
"  It  is  in  him,"  says  St.  Bernard,  "  we  shall 
find  the  fullness  of  light  for  our  understanding, 
tie  abundance  of  peace  for  our  wills,  and  the 
continuation  of  eternity  for  our  memories." 
There  the  wisdom  of  Solomon  will  appear  but 
folly,  the  beauty  of  Absalom  deformity,  the 
strength  of  Samson  weakness,  the  long  lives  of  " 
the  old   patriarchs  a  short   mortality,    and   the 


3IO 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


riches  of  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  mere  poverty 
and  want. 

If,  as  most  certainly  it  is,  all  this  be  true, 
why  do  3'ou  stay  to  look  for  straws  in  Egypt, 
and  to  drink  muddy  water  in  filthy  puddles, 
when  you  should  be  going  on  toward  this 
spring-head  of  happiness,  this  fountain  of 
living  waters  ?  Why  do  you  beg  by  parcels, 
what  you  may  find  heaped  up  together,  and 
more  abundantly  in  this  great  all  ?  If  you  aim 
at  pleasures,  raise  up  your  heart,  and  consider 
how  delightful  this  good  must  be  which  con- 
tains in  itself  all  goods  and  pleasures.  If  you 
are  in  love  with  this  created  life,  how  much 
greater  satisfaction  will  you  take  in  that  life 
which  has  created  every  thing!  If  the  health 
you  enjoy  be  a  pleasure  to  you,  how  much 
more  will  you  be  pleased  with  him  who  is 
himself  the  Author  of  health !  If  you  are 
taken  with  the  knowledge  of  the  creatures, 
how  much  more  will  you  be  with  that  of 
the  Creator !  If  beauty  charms  you,  he  it 
is  whose  beauty  the  sun  and  moon  admire. 
If  nobility  be  what  you  seek  after,  he  is 
the  very  source  and  origin  of  all  that  is 
noble;  if  you  wish  for  long  life,  he  is  ever- 
lasting ;  if  plenty  be  your  desire,  he  is  the  full- 
ness of  all  riches;  if  you  love  music  and 
charming  voices,  the  angels  are  continually 
singing  in  his  presence;  if  you  hunt  after  com- 
pany and  conversation,  you  will  there  have  the 
company  of  all  the  blessed,  who  have  but  one 
heart  and  one  soul.  If  you  aim  at  honorable 
employments  and  covet  riches,  they  are  both  to 
be  found  in  the  house  of  God ;  if,  in  fine,  3'ou 
would  be  freed  from  all  kinds  of  miseries  and 
sufferings,  it  is  there  you  will  be  happily 
delivered  from  them,  and  that  forever.  God 
commanded  his  people  in  the  old  law,  to  cir- 
cumcise their  children  on  the  eighth  day,  giv- 
ing us  thereby  to  understand  that  on  tli'' 
eighth  day,  that  is  the  day  of  the  general  resur- 
rection, which  is  to  follow  the  week  of  this  life, 
he  will  circumcise  and  cut  off"  the  miseries  of 
those  persons  who  shall  have  circumcised  them- 
selves, and  have  put  a  stop    to   all    their  inor- 


dinate desires,  who  shall  have  retrenched  all 
their  superfluities  and  have  overcome  their  fail- 
ings for  his  sake.  What  can  be  happier  than 
^uch  a  life  as  this,  which  is  free  from  all  misery 
and  trouble,  and  which,  as  St.  Augustine  says, 
shall  never  be  exposed  to  any  fear  or  poverty, 
indisposition  or  sickness ;  where  there  never 
shall  be  any  anger  or  envy,  where  we  shall 
never  stand  in  need  of  eating  and  drinking, 
never  covet  worldly  preferments  and  honors, 
never  be  afraid  of  devils,  never  dread  the  pains 
of  hell,  nor  apprehend  the  death  either  of  the 
body  or  of  the  soul  ;  for  we  shall  live  there 
with  all  manner  of  content  and  satisfaction, 
enjoying  the  delights  of  immortality,  which 
shall  never  be  interrupted  or  disturbed  with 
divisions  and  factions;  for  there  all  things  are 
in  perfect  and  perpetual  peace  and  concord. 

To  all  these  advantages  must  be  added,  that 
of  living  in  the  company  of  angels,  of  enjoying 
the  conversation  of  all  those  sublime  spirits, 
and  of  seeing  those  noble  troops  of  saints,  who 
are  more  bright  and  glorious  than  the  stars  of 
heaven.  There  the  patriarchs  shall  appear  with 
glory,  for  their  perfect  obedience,  and  the 
prophets,  for  their  lively  hope;  there  you  shall 
behold  the  martyrs  adorned  with  crowns,  dyed 
in  their  own  blood,  and  the  virgins  clothed  in 
white  robes,  in  token  of  their  chastity.  But 
what  tongue  shall  be  able  to  express  the 
majesty  of  the  sovereign  Monarch,  who  resides 
in  the  midst  of  them  all?  Were  we  every  day 
to  suffer  fresh  torments,  nay,  should  we  undergo 
for  some  time  the  pains  of  hell  itself,  that  we 
might  see  the  Lord  in  his  glory,  and  enjoy  the 
happy  company  of  his  elect,  it  would  certainly 
be  worth  our  while  to  endure  all  this,  that  we 
might  arrive  at  such  a  height  of  happiness. 
Thus  far  St.  Augustine. 

If,  therefore,  this  be  so  great  a  blessing,  how 
happy  shall  those  eyes  be,  that  are  to  be  always 
fixed  on  those  objects  I  What  a  happiness  must 
it  be,  to  see  this  stately  city,  to  behold  these 
honorable  citizens  in  all  their  glory,  to  have  a 
sight  of  the  face  of  this  Creator,  the  magnifi- 
cence of  these   buildings,    the  riches  of    these 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


3" 


palaces,  and  the  common  joy  of  this  heavenly 
country  I  What  must  it  be,  to  behold  all  the 
orders  of  these  blessed  spirits,  the  authority 
of  this  sacred  senate,  and  the  majesty  of  those 
venerable  elders,  whom  St.  John  saw  seated  on 
thrones  in  the  presence  of  God!  Apoc.  iv.  4. 
What  a  pleasure  must  it  be,  to  hear  these 
angelic  voices,  these  charming  singers,  and  this 
harmonious  music,  not  in  four  parts,  as  ours 
here  is,  but  in  as  many  parts  and  of  as  many 
diflferent  voices  as  there  are  blessed  souls  in 
heaven!  How  shall  we  be  charmed  when  we 
hear  them  sing  this  most  ravishing  song,  which 
the  same  St.  John  once  heard:  "  Benediction, 
and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving,  and 
honor,  and  power,  and  strength  to  our  God  for- 
ever and  ever.  Amen;"  ch.  vii.  12.  And,  if 
it  be  so  pleasing  a  thing  to  hear  the  harmony 
of  these  voices,  how  much  more  delightful  must 
it  be   to   see  the   unity   and   concord   of  these 


unanimous  souls  and  bodies  I  to  observe  what 
a  union  there  will  be  between  men  and  angels, 
but  more  particularly  between  men  and  God  I 
What  a  happiness  shall  it  be,  to  see  these  fine 
fields,  these  fountains  of  life,  and  these  pastures 
on  the  mountains  of  Israel !  Ezek.  xxxiv.  14. 
What  a  glorious  thing  will  it  be,  to  sit  down 
at  this  sumptuous  table,  to  have  a  place  amongst 
the  guests,  to  eat  of  the  same  dish  with  Jesus  - 
Christ,  that  is,  to  share  with  him  in  his  glory! 
There  the  blessed  shall  be  at  rest,  and  have  a 
full  enjoyment  of  eternal  bliss.  It  is  there  that 
they  shall  sing  and  praise,  and  be  perpetually 
entertained  with  the  most  delicious  banquets. 
Since,  therefore,  faith  tells  us,  that  such  great 
blessings  as  these  are  the  rewards  of  virtue, 
can  any  man  stand  so  much  in  his  own  light 
as  not  to  resolve  on  an  immediate  pursuit  after 
it,  in  hope  of  so  large  a  recompense  ? 


CHAPTER  X. 

OF    THE   TENTH   MOTIVE    THAT    OBLIGES   US  TO    LOVE  VIRTUE,  WHICH  IS,  THE  FOURTH    OF 
THE  FOUR  LAST  THINGS,  THAT   IS,  THE  PAINS  OF  HELL. 


[NY,  the  least  part  of  this  great  reward 
we  have  now  spoken  of,  should  be 
more  than  sufficient  to  inflame  our 
hearts  with  the  love  of  virtue.  But 
if,  to  the  fullness  of  that  glory  which  is  reserved 
for  the  just,  we  further  add,  the  severity  of 
those  torments  that  are  prepared  for  the  wicked, 
what  an  effect  should  this  have  on  us,  especi- 
ally there  being  no  middle  state  between  these 
two!  The  wicked  man  cannot  comfort  himself 
hy  saying,  "  All  that  can  come  of  my  living 
wickedly  is,  that  I  shall  never  enjoy  God ; 
as  for  the  rest,  I  expect  neither  happi- 
nesss  nor  misery."  The  sinful  man  shall 
not  escape  thus.  One  of  these  two  opposite 
conditions  must  be  his  lot :  he  must  either 
reign  with  God  for  all  eternity,  or  burn  for 
evir  with  the   devils    in   hell.     These    are   the 


two  baskets  the  Lord  in  a  vision  showed  the 
prophet  Jeremiah,  before  the  gates  of  the  temple 
(Jer.  xxiv.  i,  2),  one  of  which  had  very 
good  figs,  and  the  other  very  naughty  ones, 
which  could  not  be  eaten,  they  were  so  bad. 
God's  design  by  this  was  to  let  his  prophet 
know  that  there  were  two  sorts  of  persons,  the 
one,  objects  of  his  mercy,  the  other  of  his 
justice.  The  first  cannot  be  in  a  more  happy 
condition,  nor  the  latter  in  a  more  miserable ; 
because  the  happiness  of  the  first  consists  in 
seeing  God,  the  perfection  of  all  goodness, 
while  the  misery  of  the  other  is  to  be  deprived 
of  his  sight,  the  greatest  misfortune  that  can 
possibly  befall  poor  man. 

This  truth,  well  considered,  would  make 
those  men  who  sin  so  unconcernedly,  sensible 
what  a  weight  they  lay  on  themselves.     They 


312 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


who  get  their  living  by  carrying  of  burdens, 
observe  first  what  they  carry,  and  lift  it  up  a 
little,  to  see  if  it  is  not  too  heavy  for  them ; 
and  will  you,  who  are  brought  up  amidst  the 
delights  and  charms  of  sin,  let  your  sensual  de- 
sires draw  you  away  so  far,  in  opposition  to 
the  will  of  God,  as  to  oblige  you  to  carry  the 
heavy  burden  of  sin,  without  any  hope  of 
ease  or  rest,  and  all  this  for  the  enjoyment 
of  a  base,  infamous  pleasure  ?  Try  first  its 
weight,  that  is  consider  the  punishment  attend- 
ing it,  that  you  may  see  whether  you  are  able 
to  bear  it.  That  you  may  the  better  con- 
ceive how  painful  this  torment  is,  and  how 
weighty  a  burden  you  lay  on  your  shoulders, 
as  often  as  you  sin,  I  will  propose  to  you  the 
following  considerations :  and  though  I  have 
treated  of  this  matter  elsewhere,  yet  I  cannot 
pass  it  over  without  saying  something  on  it 
again  in  this  place,  though  quite  different  from 
what  I  have  said  before  ;  for  the  subject  is  so 
copious,  there  is  no  exhausting  it. 

Consider  first  the  immense  greatness  of  God, 
who  is  to  punish  sin.  He  is  God  in  all  his 
works,  that  this,  great  and  wonderful  in  them 
all,  not  only  in  heaven,  earth  and  sea,  but  even 
in  hell,  and  in  all  other  places.  Now  if  this 
Lord  is  God,  and  show  himself  God  in  all  his 
actions,  he  will  certainly  appear  so  no  less  in 
his  wrath,  in  his  justice,  and  in  the  punish- 
ment he  inflicts  on  sin.  This  is  what  he 
means,  when  he  says,  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah, 
"Fear  ye  not  me?  Will  ye  not  tremble  at 
my  presence,  who  have  placed  the  sand  for  the 
bound  of  the  sea,  by  a  perpetual  decree,  that 
it  cannot  pass  it,  and  though  the  waves  toss 
themselves,  yet  can  they  not  prevail ;  though 
they  roar,  yet  can  they  not  pass  over  it  ?  " 
Jer.  V.  22.  As  if  it  had  said  more  plainly, 
Is  it  not  highly  requisite  that  ye  should  fear 
the  strength  of  that  arm,  which  has  wrought 
so  great  a  miracle ;  which  will  be  neither 
less  powerful  nor  less  wonderful  in  the  pun- 
ishment it  inflicts,  than  in  all  its  other  works  ? 
So  that  we  have  as  much  reason  to  fear  him 
infinitely,  on    the    account    of  the  miseries  he 


can  reduce  us  to,  as  we  have  to  praise 
him  for  the  favors  he  has  bestowed  on 
us.  It  was  this  that  made  the  same  pro- 
phet, j;hough  innocent  and  sanctified  in  his 
mother's  womb,  to  tremble,  when  he  said,  "  Who 
will  not  fear  thee,  O  King  of  nations,  for  glory 
appertains  to  thee?"  Jer.  x.  7.  And'  in  an- 
other place,  "  I  sate  alone,  because  of  thy  hand  ; 
for  thou  hast  filled  me  with  commination  ;"  ch. 
XV.  17.  The  holy  prophet  knew  very  well, 
that  these  threats  did  not  touch  him ;  yet,  for 
all  this,  they  were  so  dreadful  as  to  make  him 
tremble.  Therefore,  it  is  with  reason  we  say, 
the  pillars  of  heaven  shake  before  the  majesty 
of  God,  and  the  powers  and  principalities  all 
tremble  in  his  presence;  not  that  they  are  in 
doubt  of  their  own  happiness,  but  because  they 
are  in  continual  admiration  of  his  infinite 
majesty.  If  these  pure  spirits  are  not  free 
from  fear,  what  apprehension  should  sinners, 
and  such  as  despise  God's  commandments,  be 
in,  as  being  the  persons  on  whom  he  will 
thunder  out  the  dreadful  effects  of  his  ven- 
geance 1  This  is,  without  doubt,  one  of  the 
chief  reasons,  which  ought  to  stir  up  in  our 
souls  a  fear  of  this  punishment,  as  St.  John 
plainly  shows  us  in  the  Apocalypse  (ch.  xviii. 
8),  where,  speaking  of  the  punishments  which 
God  will  inflict,  he  says,  "  Babylon's  plagues 
shall  come  in  one  day,  death,  and  mourning, 
and  famine,  and  she  shall  be  burnt  with  the  fire  ;' 
because  God  is  strong  who  shall  judge  her."  And 
St.  Paul,  who  very  well  knew  his  great  strength,' 
says,  "  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands; 
of  the  living  God  ;"  Heb.  x.  31.  It  is  no  dreadful 
thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  men,  because  they 
are  not  so  strong  but  that  a  man  may  break 
from  them,  nor  have  they  power  enough  to 
thrust  a  soul  headlong  into  hell.  Our  Saviour, 
for  this  reason,  said  to  his  disciples,  "  Be  not 
afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  and  after 
that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do.  Fear  him 
who,  after  he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast 
into  hell.  Yea,  I  say  unto  you,  fear  him." 
Luke  xii.  4,  5.  These  are  the  hands  the 
Apostle  says  it  is  terrible  to  fall  into.     Those 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


313 


persons  were  surely  very  sensible  of  the  force 
of  these  hands,  who  cried  out,  in  the  book  of 
Ecclesiasticus  (ch.  ii.  22),  "Unless  we  do 
penance  we  shall  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Lord,  and  not  into  the  hands  of  men."  All 
this  plainly  makes  it  appear,  that  as  God  is 
great  in  his  power,  in  his  authority,  and  in 
all  his  works,  so  will  he  be  in  his  anger,  in 
his  justice  and  in  punishing  the  wicked. 

This  will  still  be  more  evident,  if  we  but  con- 
sider the  greatness  of  the  divine  justice  which 
inflicts  this  punishment ;  and  we  may  see  more 
of  it,  in  those  dreadful  examples  we  have  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  How  remarkably  did  God 
punish  Dathan  and  Abiron  (Num.  xvi.),  with 
all  their  accomplices,  by  making  the  earth  to 
open  and  swallow  them  alive,  and  by  sinking 
them  down  into  hell  for  rebelling  against  their 
superiors !  Who  ever  heard  of  any  threats  or 
curses  like  those  that  are  to  be  read  in  Deute- 
ronomy, against  the  transgressors  of  the  law  ? 
These  are  some  of  those  many  dreadful 
communications :  "  I  will  send  armies  of 
enemies  against  you,  says  God,  which  shall 
besiege  your  cities,  and  shall  bring  you 
into  such  straights,  that  the  tender  and 
delicate  woman  among  you,  which  would 
not  venture  to  set  the  sole  of  her  foot  upon  the 
ground,  for  delicateness  and  tenderness,  shall 
devour  the  afterbirth,  with  the  blood  and  the  rest 
of  the  uncleanness  that  flows  from  her.  She 
shall  eat  them,  for  want  of  all  things,  secretly 
in  the  siege."  Deut.  xxviii.  50,  52,  55,  56,  57. 
These  are,  indeed,  most  terrible  punishments ; 
and  yet  neither  are  these,  nor  any  others  what- 
soever, that  man  can  sufiier  in  this  life,  any 
more  than  a  mere  shadow,  or  a  faint  resem- 
blance, in  comparison  of  those  which  are  re- 
served for  the  next.  Then  will  be  the  time 
that  the»  divine  justice  shall  organize  itself 
against  those  who  have  here  despised  his  mercy. 
If,  therefore,  the  shadow  and  the  resemblance  be 
so  frightful,  what  shall  we  think  of  the  sub- 
stance and  original  ?  And  if  the  chalice  of  the 
Lord  be  so  unpalatable  now,  when  there  is  water 
mixed  with  it,  and  when  the  severity  of  justice 


is  lessened  so  much  by  the  mildness  of  mercy^ 
how  bitter  must  the  potion  be,  when  we  shall 
be  forced  to  drink  it  off  without  any  mixture 
at  all !  and  when  those  persons  who  would 
not  accept  God's  mercy  shall  feel  nothing 
but  the  effects  of  his  judgments  !  And  yet  these 
torments,  though  so  great,  are  all  infinitely  less 
than  what  our  sins  deserve. 

Besides  the  consideration  of  the  greatness  of 
God's  justice,  another  way  to  make  us  under- 
stand the  rigor  of  these  punishments  he  will 
inflict,  is  to  reflect  on  the  efiects  of  his  mercy, 
on  which  sinners  so  much  presume.  For  what 
greater  subject  of  astonishment  can  we  have, 
than  to  see  a  God  taking  human  flesh  on 
him,  and  suffering  in  his  body  all  the  torments 
and  disgraces  which  he  underwent,  even  to  the 
dying  on  the  cross  ?  What  greater  mercy 
could  he  show,  than  thus  to  humble  himself, 
to  carry  the  burden  of  all  our  sins,  that  he 
might  thereby  ease  us  of  their  weight,  and  to 
offer  up  his  most  precious  blood  for  the  salva- 
tion of  those  very  wretches  who  shed  it  ?  Now, 
as  the  works  of  the  divine  mercy  are  wonderful 
in  themselves,  so  will  the  efiects  of  God's  jus- 
tice be.  For  since  God  is  equal  in  all  his 
attributes,  because  all  that  is  in  him  is  God, 
it  follows,  that  his  justice  is  no  less  in  itself 
than  his  mercy  is ;  and  as,  by  the  thickness  of 
one  arm,  we  may  judge  how  big  the  other  is, 
so  we  may  know  how  great  the  arm  of  God's 
justice  is,  by  that  of  his  mercy,  since  they  are 
both  equal. 

If  God,  when  he  was  pleased  to  make  known 
his  mercy  to  the  world,  performed  such  wonder- 
ful and  almost  incredible  things,  that  the  same 
world  looked  on  them  as  folly,  what  do  you 
think  he  will  do  at  his  second  coming,  which 
is  the  time  designed  for  manifesting  the  sever- 
ity of  his  justice?  especially  since  every  sin 
that  is  committed  in  the  world  gives  him  a 
new  occasion  to  exercise  it ;  whereas  he  never 
had  any  motive  to  mercy  but  that  same 
mercy  itself;  there  being  nothing  at  all,  in 
human  nature,  that  deserves  his  favor: 
but    as    for    justice,    he    will    have    as    many 


314 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,  THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


reasons  to  execute  its  utmost  rigor,  as  there 
have  been  crimes  committed  by  mankind.  Judge 
by  that  how  terrible  it  must  be.   . 

St.  Bernard,  in  one  of  his  sermons  on  the 
coming  of  our  Saviour,  has  explained  this  very 
well,  in  these  words :  "  As  our  Lord,  at  his  first 
coming  into  the  world,  showed  himself  very  mer- 
ciful and  easy  in  forgiving,  so,  at  his  second, 
he  will  show  himself  as  rigid  and  severe  in  pun- 
ishing ;  and  as  there  is  no  one  but  may  be 
reconciled  to  his  favor  now,  it  will  be  impossi- 
ble for  any  one  to  obtain  it  then  ;  because  he 
is  as  infinite  in  his  justice  as  he  is  in  his  mercy, 
and  can  punish  with  as  much  rigor  as  he  par- 
dons with  mildness.  His  mercy,  it  is  true,  has 
the  first  place,  provided  our  behavior  has  not 
been  such  as  may  provoke  the  severity  of  his 
justice."  These  words  g^ve  us  to  understand, 
that  the  greatness  of  God's  mercy  is  the  stan- 
dard whereby  we  may  gaiess  at  his  justice. 
The  same  doctrine  is  held  forth  to  us  by  the 
royal  prophet,  saying,  "  Our  God  is  the  God 
from  whom  cometh  salvation ;  God  is  the  Lord 
by  whom  we  escape  death.  God  shall  wound 
the  head  of  his  enemies,  and  the  hairy  scalp  of 
such  a  one  as  goeth  on  still  in  his  wickedness  ;  " 
Ps.  Ixviii.  20,  21.  This  shows  how  kind  and 
merciful  God  is  to  those  who  return  to  him, 
and  how  severe  against  hardened  and  obstinate 
sinners. 

Another  proof  of  this  we  have,  in  the  extra- 
ordinary patience  with  which  God  bears,  not 
only  the  world  in  general,  but  every  sinner  in 
particular.  How  many  do  we  daily  see,  who, 
from  the  very  first  moment  they  came  to  the 
use  of  reason  till  their  latter  days,  have  been 
employed  in  nothing  but  sin,  without  ever 
regarding  God's  promises  or  threats,  his  mer- 
cies or  commands,  or  any  other  thing  that 
tended  to  their  conversion  ?  And  yet  this 
sovereign  goodness  has  been  all  the  while 
expecting  them  with  patience,  without  cutting 
oflp  one  minute  of  their  unhappy  lives,  and  has 
not  ceased  to  make  use  of  several  means  to 
bring  them  to  repentence,  but  all  to  no  pur- 
pose.    What,  therefore,  will   he   do,  when,  after 


having  exhausted  this  long  patience,  his  anger, 
which  has  been  so  long  a  time  gathering  in 
the  repository  of  his  justice,  shall  overflow  the 
banks  which  kept  it  in?  With  how  much 
force  and  violence  will  it  rush  in  on  them  I 
This  is  what  the  Apostle  meant,  when  he  said, 
"  Knowest  thou  not,  O  man,  that  the  benignity 
of  God  leadeth  thee  to  penance?  But  accord- 
ing to  thy  hardness,  and  impenitent  heart,  thou 
treasurest  up  to  thyself  wrath  against  the  day 
of  wrath,  and  revelation  of  the  just  judgment 
of  God,  who  will  render  to  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  works  ;  "  Rom.  ii.  4,  5,  6. 

What  can  he  mean  by  treasurest  up  to  thy- 
self wrath,  but  as  they  who  hoard  up  riches 
daily  heap  gold  on  gold,  and  silver  on  silver, 
for  the  increasing  of  their  stock ;  so  God  daily 
adds  to  the  treasure  of  his  anger,  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  the  sinner's  crimes.  Were  a 
man  to  be  altogether  employed  for  fifty  or  sixty 
years  together,  in  heaping  up  treasures,  so  as 
not  to  let  one  day  or  hour  pass  without  mak- 
ing some  addition  to  it,  what  a  mighty  sum 
would  he  find  at  the  end  of  that  time !  How 
miserable,  then,  must  your  condition  be,  since 
you  scarce  sufier  one  moment  of  your  life  to 
slip  without  adding  something  to  the  treasure 
of  God's  wrath,  which  is  every  minute  increased 
by  the  number  of  your  sins !  For  though 
nothing  else  were  to  be  put  in  but  the  im- 
modest glances  of  your  eyes,  the  malicious 
and  vicious  desires  of  your  heart,  and  the 
oaths  and  scandalous  words  that  come  from 
your  mouth,  these  alone  would  suffice  to  fill  a 
whole  world.  Then,  if  so  many  other  enor- 
mous crimes  as  you  are  daily  guilty  of,  be 
added  to  these,  what  a  treasure  of  wrath  and 
vengeance  shall  you  have  heaped  against  your- 
self at  the  end  of  so  many  years ! 

If,  besides  all  this,  we  make  a  serious  reflec- 
tion on  the  ingratitude  and  malice  of  the 
wicked,  it  will,  in  a  great  measure,  show  us 
with  what  severity  and  rigor  this  punishment 
is  to  be  inflicted.  To  pass  a  true  judgment 
on  this  matter,  we  should  consider,  on  one 
side,  how    merciful    God  has   dealt  with   men, 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


315 


-what  lie  did  and  said  for  them  whilst  he  was 
here  on  earth,  and  how  much  he  suflfered  for  them, 
what  dispositions  and  means  he  has  found  for 
their  leading  a  virtuous  life,  how  much  he  has 
pardoned  or  seemed  not  to  take  notice  of,  the 
benefits  he  has  done  them,  the  evils  he  has 
■delivered  them  from,  with  infinite  other  graces 
he  is  always  bestowing  on  them.  Let  us  consider, 
on  the  other  hand,  how  forgetful  men  have  been 
of  God,  their  ingratitude,  their  treason,  their  in- 
fidelities, blasphemies,  the  contempt  they  have 
had  of  both  him  and  his  commandments,  which 
has  been  carried  so  far,  that  they  have  trampled 
him  under  foot,  not  only  for  a  trivial  interest, 
hut  very  often  for  nothing,  and  out  of  mere 
malice;  nay,  they  are  come  to  such  a  degree 
•of  impudence,  that  the  laws  of  God  are  the 
frequent  matter  of  their  pleasantry,  ridicule  and 
impiety.  What  do  you  think  those  persons 
who  have  despised  so  high  a  majesty  can  ex- 
pect, those  who,  as  the  Apostle  says  (Heb.  x. 
29),  "have  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God, 
and  have  esteemed  the  blood  of  the  covenant 
unclean,  with  which  he  was  sanctified,"  but  to 
be  punished  and  tormented  on  that  day,  where- 
in they  must  render  an  account  of  themselves, 
according  to  the  affronts  and  injuries  they  have 
oflFered  ?  For,  God  being  a  most  equitable 
judge,  that  is  to  say,  such  a  one  as  will 
punish  the  offender  proportionably  to  the  of- 
fence given,  and  being,  besides,  the  party 
offended,  how  great  must  the  torments  be, 
-which  the  soul  and  body  of  the  criminal, 
delivered  up  to  his  justice,  shall  suffer,  since 
they  are  to  equal  the  grievousness  of  the 
■crimes  by  which  the  divine  Majesty  has  been 
.affronted!  And  if  it  was  necessary  that  the 
Son  of  God  should  shed  his  blood  to  satisfy  for 
those  sins  which  had  been  committed  against  him 
(the  merits  of  the  person  supplying  what  might 
be  wanting  to  the  rigor  of  the  punishment), 
what  must  follow  when  this  satisfaction  is  to 
be  made  by  no  other  way  but  by  the  severity 
of  the  punishment,  without  any  consideration 
of  the  person  at  all  ? 

If,    as    we    have    seen,    the    quality    of   the 


Judge  ought  to  make  us  so  much  afraid,  what 
should  that  of  the  executioner  do?  For  the 
sentence  which  God  shall  pass  against  a  soul 
is  to  be  put  in  execution  by  the  devil,  and 
what  favor  can  be  expected  from  so  cruel  an 
enemy?  That  you  may  conceive  something 
of  his  fury  and  malice,  consider  how  he  dealt 
with  holy  Job,  when  God  had  delivered  him 
into  his  power.  What  cruelty  and  violence 
did  he  not  exercise  on  this  righteous  man, 
without  the  least  show  of  tenderness  or  pity? 
He  sent  the  Sabeans  to  drive  away  his  oxen 
and  asses ;  his  sheep  and  his  servants  he 
destroyed  by  fire  ;  he  overthrew  all  his  houses, 
he  killed  his  children,  he  covered  his  body  all 
over  with  sores  and  ulcers,  leaving  him  no 
part  of  those  vast  riches  he  possessed  before 
but  a  dunghill  to  sit  on,  and  a  tile  to  scrape 
off  the  corruption  that  ran  from  his  sores. 
And,  to  add  to  his  sorrow,  he  left  him  a 
wicked  wife,  and  such  friends  as  it  had  been 
more  humanity  to  destroy  than  spare  ;  for  they, 
with  their  tongues,  pierced  and  tormented  his 
heart  more  cruelly  than  the  worms  that 
preyed  on  his  flesh.  Thus  he  behaved  himself 
towards  Job.  But  what  was  it  he  did,  or  rather 
what  was  it  he  left  undone,  against  the  Saviour 
of  the  world,  in  that  dreadful  night,  when  he 
was  delivered  up  to  the  power  of  darkness  ?  It 
is  more  than  can  be  comprised  in  a  few  words. 
If,  then,  this  enemy  of  mankind,  and  all  his 
accomplices,  are  so  inhuman,  so  bloody,  such 
enemies  to  mankind,  and  so  powerful  to  do 
harm,  what  will  become  of  you,  miserable 
creature,  when  you  shall  be  delivered  up  into 
their  hands,  with  a  full  and  absolute  authority, 
to  execute  on  you  all  the  cruelties  they  shall 
be  able  to  invent?  And.  this  not  for  a  day,  on 
for  a  night,  nor  for  a  year  only,  or  for  an  age, 
but  for  all  eternity.  Do  you  think  these  merci- 
less devils,  when  they  have  you  in  their 
clutches,  will  use  you  kindly  ?  O !  how  dark 
and  dismal  will  that  unhappy  day  be,  when 
you  shall  be  delivered  up  to  the  power  of  these 
ravenous  wolves,  these  savage  beasts ! 

But  that   you   may  the  better  conceive  what 


3i6 


HOW   TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


usage  is  to  be  expected  at  their  hands,  I  will 
here  set  down  a  notable  example,  out  of  St. 
Gregory's  Dialogues;  h.  4.  c.  33.  He  tells 
us,  "  That  there  was  a  religious  man  in  one 
of  his  monasteries,  no  riper  in  virtue  than  in 
years,  who  was  ready  to  die  of  a  very  violent 
sickness.  The  brothers  being  all  met  together, 
according  to  their  custom,  to  assist  him  in  this 
his  dangerous  passage,  and  kneeling  about  his 
bed  to  pray  for  him,  the  dying  man  cried  out 
to  them,  '  Begone,  begone,  fathers,  and  leave 
me  a  prey  to  this  dragon,  that  he  may  swallow 
me  up,  for  my  head  is  already  in  his  fiery  jaws, 
and  he  presses  me  with  his  scales,  which  are 
like  the  teeth  of  a  saw,  so  that  I  am  in  most 
insupportable  torments.  I  desire  you,  therefore, 
to  quit  the  room,  and  leave  me  to  him,  for  not 
being  able  to  make  an  end  of  me  whilst  you 
are  here,  he  puts  me  to  so  much  greater  pain.' 
The  religious  advised  him  to  take  courage,  and 
make  the  sign  of  the  cross :  '  How  shall  I  do 
it,'  says  he,  '  when  the  dragon  has  so  twisted 
his  tail  about  my  hands  and  feet,  that  I  am  not 
able  to  stir  ?  '  They,  not  at  all  disheartened  at 
this,  renewed  their  prayers  with  much  greater 
fervor  than  before,  and  seconding  them  with 
sighs  and  tears,  obtained  of  the  Father  of  mer- 
cies his  deliverance  from  this  violent  agony, 
which  left  him  so  astonished  and  confounded, 
that  he  afterward  lived  so  virtuous  a  life  as  to 
put  him  out  of  all  danger  of  seeing  himself 
reduced  to  such  circumstances  again." 

These  are  the  wicked  spirits  which  St.  John 
describes  in  his  Revelation,  under  the  most 
frightful  forms  we  are  able  to  conceive.  "  I 
saw,"  says  he,  "  a  star  fall  from  heaven  upon 
the  earth,  and  there  was  given  to  him  the  key 
of  the  bottomless  pit.  And  he  opened  the  bot- 
tomless pit ;  and  the  smoke  of  the  pit  arose  as 
the  smoke  of  a  great  furnace  ;  and  the  sun  and 
the  air  was  darkened  with  the  smoke  of  the  pit. 
And  from  the  smoke  of  the  pit  there  came  out 
locusts  upon  the  earth,  and  power  was  given 
to  them,  as  the  scorpions  of  the  earth  have 
power.  And  it  was  commanded  them  that  they 
should  not  hurt  the  grass  of  the  earth,  nor  any 


green  thing,  nor  any  tree,  but  only  the  men  who 
have  not  the  seal  of  God  on  their  foreheads  :  and 
it  was  given  to  them  that  they  should  not 
kill  them  ;  but  that  they  should  torment  them 
five  months,  and  their  torment  was  as  the 
torment  of  a  scorpion,  when  he  striketh  a  man. 
And  in  those  daj^s  men  shall  seek  death,  and 
shall  not  find  it;  and  they  shall  desire  to  die, 
and  death  shall  fly  from  them.  And  the  shapes 
of  the  locust  were  like  tmto  horses  prepared 
for  battle :  and  on  their  heads  were,  as  it  were, 
crowns  like  gold ;  and  their  faces  were  as  the 
faces  of  men.  And  they  had  hair  as  the  hair 
of  women :  and  their  teeth  were  as  the  teeth 
of  lions.  And  they  had  breast-plates  as  breast- 
plates of  iron,  and  the  sound  of  their  wings 
was  as  the  sound  of  chariots  of  many  horses 
running  to  battle.  And  they  had  tails  like  to 
scorpions,  and  there  were  stings  in  their  tails." 
Apoc.  ix.  i-io.  Thus  far  are  the  words  of 
St.  John.  Now  what  was  the  design  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  showing  us  the  greatness  of 
these  torments  under  such  terrible  representa- 
tions and  figures  ?  What  other  design  could 
he  have,  but  to  let  us  know,  by  these  dread- 
ful forms,  how  great  the  wrath  of  the  Lord 
will  be,  what  the  instruments  of  his  justice, 
what  punishments  are  to  fall  on  sinners,  and 
what  power  our  enemies  are  like  to  have,  that 
the  dread  of  these  things  might  deter  us  from 
ofiending  God  ?  For  what  star  was  it  that  fell 
from  heaven,  and  had  the  key  of  the  bottom- 
less pit  delivered  to  it,  but  that  bright  angel, 
who  was  flung  headlong  out  of  heaven  into 
hell,  and  to  whose  power  the  kingdom  of  dark- 
nes  was  committed  ?  And  what  were  these 
locusts,  so  fierce  and  so  well  armed,  but  the 
devils  his  accomplices,  and  the  ministers  of  his 
rage  ?  What  were  these  green  things,  which 
they  were  commanded  not  to  hurt,  but  the 
just,  who  flourish  by  being  watered  with  the 
heavenly  dew  of  grace,  and  thus  bring  forth 
the  fruits  of  eternal  life  ?  Who  are  those  that 
have  not  the  seal  of  God  stamped  on  them, 
but  such  as  are  destitute  of  his  Spirit,  the  true 
and   fallible  mark  of  his  servants  and    of  the 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


3^7 


sheep  of  his  flock  ?  It  is  against  these  unhappy 
wretches  the  divine  justice  has  raised  such 
forces,  that  they  may  be  tormented,  both  in 
this  life  and  in  the  next,  by  those  very  devils 
whose  service  they  have  preferred,  before  that 
of  their  Creator,  as  the  Egyptians  once  were 
by  the  flies  and  gnats,  which  they  adored. 
Add  to  all  this,  how  dreadful  it  will  be  to 
behold,  in  this  sad  place,  those  hideous  and 
frightful  monsters,  this  devouring  dragon,  and 
this  writhing  serpent.  What  a  horrible  sight 
must  it  be  to  see  this  huge  and  monstrous 
behemoth,  which  is  said  in  the  book  of  Job,  to 
erect  his  tail  like  a  cedar,  to  drink  up  whole 
rivers,  and  to  devour  mountains. 

A  thorough  consideration  of  all  these  things 
is  sufl&cient  to  make  us  understand  what  tor- 
ments the  wicked  are  to  sufiier.  For  who  can 
imagine,  from  what  has  been  said,  but  that 
these  pains  must  be  very  great?  What  can  a 
man  expect  from  the  greatness  of  God  himself; 
from  the  greatness  of  his  justice  in  punishing 
sin ;  from  the  greatness  of  his  patience  in  bear- 
ing with  sinners  ;  from  the  infinite  multitude  of 
favors  and  graces  by  which  he  has  endeavored 
to  invite  and  draw  them  to  himself;  from  the 
greatness  of  the  hatred  he  bears  to  sin,  which 
deserves  to  be  infinitely  hated,  because  it  of- 
fends an  infinite  Majesty  ;  and  from  the  great- 
ness of  our  enemy's  cruelty  and  fury  ?  What 
can  we,  I  say,  expect  from  all  these  things, 
which  are  so  great,  but  that  sin  should  meet 
with  a  most  severe  and  terrible  punishment? 
If,  therefore,  so  severe  a  punishment  is  ordained 
for  sin,  and  no  doubt  can  be  made  of  it,  since 
faith  testifies  this  truth,  how  can  they,  who 
pretend  to  own  and  believe  it,  be  so  insensible 
of  the  heavy  weight  every  sin  they  commit 
throws  on  them,  when,  by  giving  way  to  but 
one  ofience,  they  bring  themselves  into  the 
■danger  of  incurring  a  penalty,  which  on  so 
many  accounts  appears  so  terrible  ? 

§  I.  Of  the  duration  of  these  Torments. — But 
though  all  these  considerations  are  sufficient, 
without  any  further  addition,  to  make  us 
tremble,  we  shall  have  much  more  reason  to  be 


afraid,  if  we  do  but  reflect  with  ourselves  on 
the  duration  of  the  pains  mentioned.  For  if, 
after  several  thousands  of  years,  there  should 
be  any  limits  set,  or  any  ease  given  to  these 
sufferings,  it  would  be  some  kind  of  comfor* 
to  the  wicked :  but  what  shall  I  say  of  thei] 
eternity,  which  has  no  bounds,  but  will  last  as 
long  as  God  himself?  This  eternity  is  such, 
that,  as  a  great  doctor  tells  us,  should  one  of 
the  damned,  at  the  end  of  every  thousand 
years,  shed  but  one  tear,  he  would  sooner  over- 
flow the  world  than  find  any  end  to  his  miseries. 
Can  any  thing,  then,  be  more  terrible  ?  This  is  cer- 
tainly so  great  an  evil,  that,  though  all  the  pains 
of  hell  were  no  sharper  than  the  prick  of  a  pin, 
considering  they  were  to  continue  forever,  man 
ought  to  undergo  all  the  torments  of  this  world 
to  avoid  them.  O !  that  this  eternity,  this  ter- 
rible word  forever  were  deeply  imprinted  in 
your  heart  I  how  great  would  be  the  benefit 
you  would  reap  by  it  I  We  read  of  a  certain 
vain  and  worldly-minded  man,  who,  consider- 
ing seriously  one  day  on  this  eternity  of  tor- 
ments, was  frightened  with  the  duration  of 
them  into  this  reflection  :  No  man  in  the  world 
in  his  right  senses  would  be  confined  to  a  bed 
of  roses  and  violets  for  the  space  of  thirty  or 
forty  years  though  he  were  at  this  price  to 
purchase  the  empire  of  the  whole  earth.  If 
so,  said  he  to  himself,  what  a  madman  must 
he  be,  that  will,  for  things  of  much  less  value, 
run  the  hazard  of  lying  infinite  ages  on  a  bed 
of  fire  and  flames  !  This  thought  alone  wrought 
him  up  to  such  and  so  immediate  a  change  of 
life,  that  he  became  a  great  saint  and  a  worthy 
prelate  of  the  Church.  What  will  those  nice 
and  effeminate  persons  say  to  this,  whose  whole 
night's  sleep  is  disturbed  and  broken  if  a  fly 
be  but  buzzing  in  their  chamber?  What  will 
they  say,  when  they  shall  be  stretched  out  on 
a  bed  of  fire,  and  surrounded  on  all  sides 
with  sulphurous  flames,  not  for  one  short 
summer's  night,  but  for  all  eternity  ?  These 
are  the  persons  to  whom  the  prophet  Isaias 
(ch.  xxxiii.  14)  put  this  question:  "Who 
among  you  can  dwell  with  the  devouring  fire  ? 


3^8 


HOW   TO    SHUN    EVIL;   OR,  THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


Who  among  you  can  dwell  with  everlasting 
burnings  ?  "  Who  can  be  able  to  bear  such  a 
scorching  heat  as  this  for  so  long  a  time  ?  O 
foolish  and  senseless  men!  lulled  into  a  lethargic 
sleep  by  the  charms  of  this  old  deceiver  of  man- 
kind! Can  any  thing  be  more  unreasonable  than 
to  see  men  so  busily  providing  for  this  mortal 
and  corruptible  life,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
have  no  greater  concern  for  the  things  which 
regard  eternity  ?  If  we  are  blind  to  this  mis- 
take, what  will  our  eyes  be  open  to  ?  What  will 
we  be  afraid  of,  if  we  have  no  apprehension  of 
this  miser}'^?  or  what  shall  we  ever  provide 
against,  if  not  against  a  matter  of  such  impor- 
tance? 

Since  all  this  is  so  undeniably  true,  why 
will  we  not  resolve  to  walk  in  the  way  of 
virtue,  though  ever  so  painful,  that  we  may 
avoid  those  punishments  we  are  threatened 
with,  if  we  take  the  contrary  way  ?  Should 
God  leave  it  to  any  man's  choice,  either  to  be 
tormented  with  the  gout  or  tooth-ache,  in  such 
a  violent  manner,  as  not  to  have  any  hopes  of 
ease  either  day  or  night,  or  else  to  turn  Car- 
thusian or  barefoot  Carmelite,  and  undergo  all 
the  austerities  those  religious  men  are  obliged 
to,  it  is  not  to  be  imagined  any  man  would  be 
so  stupid  as  not  to  choose  either  of  these  two 
states,  though  on  the  bare  motive  of  self-love, 
rather  than  suffer  such  torture  for  so  long  a 
time.  Why  then  do  not  we  accept  of  so  easy 
a  penance  to  avoid  such  lasting  torments, 
since  the  pains  of  hell  are  so  much  more 
insufferable,  of  so  much  longer  continu- 
ance, and  God  requires  so  much  less  of  us 
than  the  life  of  a  Carthusian  or  Carmelite? 
Why  do  we  refuse  to  undergo  so  little  pain, 
'when  by  it  we  may  escape  so  long  and  so  rig- 
orous a  punishment  ?  Can  any  man  be  guilty 
of  greater  folly  than  this  is  ?  But  the  punish- 
ment of  it  shall  be,  that  since  man  would  not, 
by  short  penance  done  here,  redeem  himself 
from  so  much  misery,  he  shall  do  penance  in 
hell  for  all  eternity,  without  reaping  any  bene- 
fit by  it.  The  fiery  furnace  which  Nabuchodo- 
nosor  commanded  to  be  kindled  in  Babylon  is 


a  type  hereof  (Dan.  iii.  47) ;  for  though  the 
flames  mounted  forty-nine  cubits,  they  could  never 
reach  to  fifty,  the  number  of  years  appointed  for 
solemnizing  the  Jewish  jubilee;  to  signify  to 
us,  that  though  the  flames  of  this  eternal  fur- 
nace of  Babylon,  which  is  hell,  are  continually 
casting  forth  a  most  violent  heat,  and  put  those 
souls  which  are  thrown  into  them  to  most  ex- 
quisite pains  and  torments,  yet  they  shall 
never  obtain  for  them  the  grace  and  remission 
of  the  year  of  jubilee.     O  unprofitable  pains  I 

0  fruitless  tears !  O  penance  so  much  the 
more  rigorous,  as  it  is  accompanied  with  per- 
petual despair  !  How  small  a  part  of  all  those 
evils  you  are  now  forced  to  suffer  might  have 
obtained  you  a  pardon,  if  you  would  but  will- 
ingly have  undergone  it  in  this  life  !  How  easily 
might  we  prevent  our  falling  into  such  miseries 
with  but  a  little  pains  and  trouble  !  Let  our  eyes> 
then,  melt  into  fountains  of  tears,  and  let  our 
hearts  break  forth  into  continual  sighs  without 
intermission.  "  For  this,"  says  the  prophet,  "  I 
wail  and  howl ;  I  will  go  stripped  and  naked ; 

1  will  make  a  wailing  like  the  dragons,  and 
mourning  as  the  ostriches;  for  her  wound  is 
desperate;  "    Mich.  i.  8. 

If  men  had  never  been  told  these  truths,  or 
if  they  had  not  looked  on  them  as  infallible, 
we  should  not  wonder  to  see  them  fall  into 
that  supine  negligence  they  are  subject  to. 
But  have  we  not  a  deal  of  reason  to  be  aston- 
ished, when  those  very  persons  who  hold  what 
we  have  here  asserted  as  an  article  of  faith, 
and  know  that,  as  our  Saviour  has  said,  Heaven 
and  earth  shall  pass  away^  but  not  my  word ; 
that  is  to  say,  it  shall  infallibly  have  its  effect, 
live  so  inexcusably  careless  and  unconcerned? 
Tell  me  now,  O  man,  blind  in  body,  but  blinder 
more  in  soul  and  understanding,  what  pleasure 
can  you  find  in  all  the  advantages  and  riches 
of  the  world,  to  counterbalance  the  hazard  of 
your  eternal  salvation?  "If,"  says  St.  Jerome, 
"  you  were  as  wise  as  Solomon,  as  beautiful  as 
Absalom,  as  strong  as  Samson,  as  old  as  Enoch, 
as  rich  as  Crcesus,  and  as  powerful  as  Caesar, 
what  good  would  all  this  do  you,  if,  when  you 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


319 


die,  the  worms  should  prey  upon  your  body, 
and  the  devils  seize  on  your  soul  to  torment 
it,  as  they  do  the  rich  glutton's,  for  all  eter- 
nity?" 


Thus  much  for  the  first  part  oi  the  exhor- 
tation to  virtue.  We  will  treat  now  of  the 
extraordinary  favors  which  are  promised  it, 
even  in  this  life. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OF  THE  ELEVENTH   MOTIVE  THAT  OBLIGES  US  TO  THE    PURSUIT   OF   VIRTUE,  WHICH    IS,  THE 
INESTIMABLE    ADVANTAGES    PROMISED    IT    IN    THIS   LIFE. 


KNOW  not  what  excuse  men  can  plead 
for  not  following  virtue,  which  is 
supported  by  such  powerful  reasons: 
for  in  its  behalf  may  be  urged  all 
that  God  is  in  himself,  all  he  deserves,  what 
favors  he  has  done  us,  what  he  still  promises, 
and  what  punishments  he  threatens.  And, 
therefore,  we  have  cause  to  ask  how  there 
come  to  be  so  few  Christians  that  seek  virtue, 
since  they  confess  and  believe  all  that  has 
been  said.  For  it  is  no  wonder  that  the 
heathens,  who  are  ignorant  of  its  value,  should 
not  prize  what  they  do  not  know,  like  a  delv- 
ing peasant,  who,  if  he  happen  to  find  a 
precious  stone,  makes  no  account  of  it,  because 
he  is  ignorant  of  its  value.  But  for  Chris- 
tians, who  are  well  acquainted  with  these  great 
truths,  to  live  as  if  they  believed  nothing  at 
all  of  them,  to  be  so  entirely  forgetful  of  God, 
to  be  such  slaves  to  their  vices,  to  let  their 
passions  so  tyrannize  over  them,  to  be  so 
wedded  to  the  things  of  this  world,  and  so 
little  concerned  about  those  of  the  next,  to 
give  themselves  over  to  all  manner  of  crimes, 
as  if  there  were  neither  death,  judgment, 
heaven  nor  hell ;  this  is  what  should  surprise 
the  whole  world,  and  give  us  ground  enough 
to  ask,  "  Whence  does  this  blindness,  this  stu- 
pidity proceed?  " 

This  mighty  evil  owes  its  rise  to  more 
causes  than  one.  The  chief  one  is  the 
general  prepossession  of  worldlings,  that  God 
reserves  to  the  next  life  all  the  rewards  he 
promises    to    virtue,  without    allowing    it    any 


recompense  in  this.  This  is  the  reason  why 
men,  who  consult  their  own  interests  so  much, 
and  are  so  violently  wrought  on  by  present 
objects,  concern  themselves  so  little  about  what 
is  to  come,  as  looking  after  nothing  that  does 
not  give  them  immediate  satisfaction.  Nor  is 
this  mistake  a  new  one,  for  it  is  what  was 
made  in  the  days  of  the  prophets.  Thus  we 
see  that  whenever  Ezekiel  either  [made  any 
great  promises,  or  threatened  severely  in  the 
name  of  God,  the  people  laughed  at  him,  and 
said  to  one  another,  "  The  vision  which  this 
man  sees  will  not  come  to  pass  yet;  nor  shall 
his  prophecies  be  fulfilled  this  great  while  ;  " 
Ezek.  xii.  27.  They  also  jeered  the  prophet 
Isaias,  and  repeated  his  words,  saying,  "  Com- 
mand and  command  again,  command  and  com- 
mand again,  expect  and  expect  again,  expect 
and  expect  again,  a  while  hence,  another  while 
hence;"  Isa.  xxviii.  13.  This,  then,  you  see,  is 
one  of  the  chief  reasons  of  men  not  observing 
the  commandments  of  God.  They  have  nothing 
they  think  to  hope  for,  from  his  mercy  at  pres- 
ent, but  that  all  is  to  be  put  off  till  hereafter. 
Solomon,  as  very  sensible  of  this  common  error, 
took  occasion  from  hence  to  say, "  That  the 
reason  why  men  give  themselves  over,  without 
any  kind  of  consideration,  to  all  manner  of 
vice,  is  because  the  sentence  passed  against  the 
wicked  is  not  immediately  put  in  execution." 
And  afterwards  he  says,  "  That  the  greatest 
misery  in  this  life,  and  what  of  all  makes 
men  sin  most,  is  to  see  that  the  good 
and  the  bad,  that  those  who  offer  up  sacrifice, 


320 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


and  those  who  contemn  it,  fare  alike  in  all 
things,  in  appearance  at  least ; "  Eccles.  ix.  2, 
etc.  And,  therefore,  the  hearts  of  men  are 
filled  with  malice  in  this  life,  and  they  are 
afterwards  plunged  into  hell.  What  Solomon 
said  concerning  the  wicked  is  suflBciently  con- 
firmed in  themselves,  in  the  prophet  Malachy 
(ch.  iii.  14,  15),  where  they  say,  "He  loses 
his  labor  that  serves  God ;  and  what  good  have 
we  got  by  keeping  his  commandments,  and  by 
our  walking  pensively  before  the  Lord  of 
hosts  ?  Wherefore  we  esteem  those  happy  who 
are  proud,  since  they  are  exalted,  whilst  they 
commit  iniquity,  and  have  tempted  God,  and 
are  yet  secure."  This  is  the  common  talk  of 
sinners,  and  one  of  the  chief  motives  of  their 
continuing  in  their  crimes.  For,  as  St.  Am- 
brose says,  "  they  think  that  to  buy  hopes 
with  dangers  is  too  hard  a  bargain,  "that  is,  to 
purchase  future  goods  with  present  evils,  and 
to  let  go  what  they  have  in  their  hands  to 
feed  themselves  up  with  an  imaginary  posses- 
sion of  things  which  they  have  no  hold  of 
yet ; "   L.  7.  in  Luc.  c.  7. 

There  is  nothing  better,  in  my  opinion,  to 
disabuse  us  of  this  dangerous  mistake,  than 
these  words  of  our  Saviour,  interrupted  with 
his  tears,  when  considering  the  deplorable 
state  of  Jerusalem;  he  wept  over  it,  saying, 
"  If  thou  also  hadst  known,  and  that  in  this 
thy  day,  the  things  that  are  for  thy  peace : 
but  now  they  are  hidden  from  thy  eyes ; " 
Luke  xix.  42.  Our  Saviour  considered, 
on  one  side,  what  advantages  this  people  had 
received  by  his  coming;  for  all  the  treasures 
and  all  the  graces  of  heaven  were  brought 
down  from  thence,  with  the  Lord  of  heaven. 
On  the  other  side,  he  saw  that  this  same  peo- 
ple, despising  the  poor  and  mean  appearance 
which  he  made  in  his  dress  and  in  his  person, 
would  neither  receive  nor  own  him  for  what  he 
was.  He  knew  how  great  a  loss  this  nation 
which  he  loved  so  tenderly  would  suflfer  by  their 
ignorance.  For  they  were  to  lose  not  only  all 
those  graces  which  he  brought  with  him  for 
them,    but     their    temporal     government     and 


liberty.     The  Lord,  pushed  on  by  the  force  of 
g^ief,   shed   these    tears    and    spoke    these    few 
words,    which    he    broke    oflf  abruptly,    though 
they  were    as    significant    as    they  were    short. 
The   same  words   may  be  well   applied   to   our 
present  purpose ;   because  if,  on  the  one  hand, 
we  consider  the  beauty  of  virtue,  with  the  extra- 
ordinary graces  which    go    along    with    it,  and 
how  these  graces,  on    the  other   hand,  are    hid 
from  the  sight  of  carnal  men,  it  is  manifest  we 
have    reason    to   weep,    and    to    say    with    our 
Saviour,    "  If    thou    also    hadst    known  I  "      O 
unhappy    sinner,    how    great    a    value    would 
you  set  on  virtue !    how  would    you  long  after 
it,  and  what  would   you  not    do   for  obtaining 
it,  should  God   but  open  your  eyes  to  let   you 
see   what    riches,  what    pleasures,  what    peace, 
what    liberty,    what    tranquillity,    what     light, 
what      sweetness,     and     what     other     benefits 
are   its  continual   attendants  ?      But    these  are 
all  hid  from  the  eyes  of  worldlings,  who,  mind- 
ing nothing  but    its   hard   and    bitter   outside, 
imagine    all    within    to    be     troublesome    and 
unpleasant,   and   that   it    may   pass  current  in 
the  next  life,  but  not  in  this.     So  that,  reason- 
ing according  to  the  flesh,  they   say  they  will 
not    be   at   the   charge   of  certain  dangers   for 
the  purchase    of   uncertain   hopes,    nor   hazard 
their  present  happiness   for  a  slippery  depend- 
ence on  what  is  to  come.     This  is  the  common 
discourse  of  those  who  are  daunted  by  the  out- 
ward appearance  of  virtue.     They  do  not  know 
that  Christian  philosophy  is    like   Christ  him- 
self, who,  under  the  form  of  a  poor  and  humble 
man,  continued  still  to  be  God    and    sovereign 
Lord  of  all  things.     And    for  this  reason  it  is 
said  of  the    faithful    that    they  "  are    dead  "  to 
the  world :   but  their  "  life  is    hid  with  Christ 
in    God ; "    Col.    iii.    3.     For  as  our  Saviour's 
glory  was  concealed  under   this  veil,  so  should 
the  glory  of  all  such  as  imitate  him.     We  read 
of  certain    images    that   were    called    Silenes, 
coarse    and     rough    on    the    outside,   but    very 
curious    and    artificial    within,  so    that    all   the 
beauty  and  art  lay  hid,  whilst  that  which  was 
but    mean    and    ordinary  was    turned  outward. 


THE  SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS. 

In  1675  our  blessed  Lord  appeared  to  Margaret  Mary  Alacoque,  saying  :  "  Behold  this  heart  which  has  loved  mankind  so  much, 
and  which  receives  only  ingratitude  and  coldness  in  return  for  its  love.  My  desire  is  that  you  make  reparation  to  my  heart  for  this 
ingratitude  and  induce  others  to  do  likewise." 


THE  IMMACULATE  HEART  OF  MARY. 

Would  God  have  permitted  the  blessed  Mother  of  His  only  begotten  Son,  from  whom  He  received  flesh,  to  be  touched  by  sin,  even  for 
an  instant  and  be  in  the  power  of  Satan  ?  No,  God's  hand  preserved  her.  And  the  Church  most  justly  applies  to  her  the  words  of  Holy 
Scripture:  "  Thou  art  all  fair,  O  my  love,  and  there  is  not  a  spot  in  thee  "  (Cant  iv.  7). 


HOW  TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


321 


Thuri  che  eyes  of  the  ignorant  were  deceived  by 
the  appearance,  but  the  inside  ingenuity  attracted 
the  wiser  sort.  Such,  without  doubt,  have  been 
the  lives  of  the  prophets  and  Apostles,  and  of 
all  true  and  perfect  Christians,  as  was  the  life 
of  their  Lord  and  Master. 

But  if  you  still  find  the  practice  of  virtue 
hard,  reflect  on  the  means  God  has  assisted 
you  with  to  make  it  easy.  Such  are  the  infused 
graces,  with  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
sacraments  of  the  new  law,  and  several  other 
divine  favors,  that  serve  as  oars  and  sails  to  a 
ship,  or  as  wings  to  a  bird.  Consider  what  the 
very  name  and  being  of  virtue  import,  which 
is  essentially  a  very  noble  and  perfect  habit ; 
and,  therefore,  regularly  speaking,  ought,  like 
all  other  habits,  to  make  us  act  with  facility 
and  pleasure.  Consider,  further,  that  our 
Saviour  has  promised  to  his  elect,  not  only 
the  goods  of  glory,  but  those  of  grace,  the  lat- 
ter for  this  life,  and  the  former  for  the  life  to 
come.  As  the  royal  prophet  assures  us,  saying, 
"  The  Lord  will  give  grace  and  glory "  (Ps. 
Ixxxiii.  12),  which  are  like  to  rich  vessels,  filled 
with  all  kinds  of  good  things,  the  one  for  this 
life,  and  the  other  for  the  next ;  by  which  we 
may  see  there  is  something  more  in  virtue  than 
appears  at  first  sight.  Consider,  again,  that 
since  God  lets  us  want  nothing  that  is  neces- 
sary, having  so  plentifully  provided  all  crea- 
tures with  whatever  they  stand  in  need  of,  it 
is  not  to  be  imagined,  since  nothing  can  be 
more  necessary  or  of  greater  importance  to  man 
than  virtue,  that  he  would  leave  us  entirely  to 
the  disposal  of  our  own  free  wills,  which  are  so 
weak  and  impotent  to  the  blindness,  of  our  un- 
derstanding, to  the  inconstancy  of  our  humors, 
to  our  own  desires,  which  are  so  bent  on  evil,  to  a 
nature,  in  short,  so  depraved  by  sin,  without 
strengthening  us  with  infused  habits,  which  are, 
as  it  were,  oars  to  help  us  over  all  those  shelves 
and  sands,  that  hinder  us  from  making  our 
way  through  the  sea  of  this  life.  For  it  is 
unreasonable  to  think  that  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence, which  has  taken  so  much  care  for  the 
fly,  the    spider  and   the   ant,   having   supplied 


them  with  all  things  requisite  for  their  subsist- 
ence, could  have  left  man,  the  noblest  of  all 
creatures  under  heaven,  without  such  means  as 
are  necessary  for  his  acquiring  virtue. 

To  go  further  yet,  how  can  God  possibly  be 
so  sparing  to  his  faithful  servants,  as  to  leave 
them  in  their  necessities,  and  forsake  them  in 
the  midst  of  their  sufi^erings,  whilst  the  world 
and  the  devil,  by  too  many  different  false 
delights  and  pleasures,  win  the  hearts  of  those 
who  serve  them  ?  How  can  you  imagine  the 
practice  of  virtue  to  be  so  mean,  and  that  of 
vice  so  noble?  Can  you  persuade  yourself 
that  God  would  ever  permit  this  last  so  much 
to  surpass  the  other?  What  do  you  think 
God  designed  to  signify  to  us  by  the  answer 
his  prophet  Malachy  made  in  his  name,  to  the 
complaints  of  the  wicked?  "Return,"  said  he, 
"  and  you  shall  see  what  difierence  there  is 
between  the  righteous  man  and  the  wicked, 
between  him  that  serves  God  and  him  that 
serves  him  not;  "  Mai.  iii.  i.  This  shows 
that  God  does  not  think  it  enough  to  propose 
the  advantages  of  the  next  life,  of  which  he 
treats  afterwards,  to  those  who  return  to  him ; 
but  he  says  to  them,  Be  cotiverted^  and  you 
shall  see  ;  as  if  he  had  said.  It  is  not  my  only  de- 
sign you  should  wait  till  the  other  life  to  know 
the  advantages  you  are  to  reap,  but  return  to 
me  and  you  shall  see,  this  very  moment,  what 
difference  there  is  between  the  good  and  the  bad, 
the  riches  of  the  one  and  the  poverty  of  the 
other ;  the  joy,  peace  and  satisfaction  the  one 
enjoys,  and  the  sorrow,  restlessness  and  discon- 
tent that  follow  the  other  ;  the  light  the  one  walks 
in,  and  the  darkness  that  surrounds  the  other. 
Thus  experience  will  show  you  how  many  advan- 
tages, more  than  you  imagined,  the  followers  of 
virtue  have  over  those  that  follow  vice. 

God  gives  almost  the  very  same  answer  again 
to  some  other  persons  who  had  no  better  opinion 
of  virtue  than  the  former.  Deceived  by  the 
same  appearance,  they  laughed  at  those  who 
were  virtuous,  and  said  to  them,  "  Let  your 
Lord  be  glorified,  and  we  shall  see  it  in  your 
joy  ;  "  Isa.  Ixvi.  5.     After  these  few  words,  the 


21 


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HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


prophet,  giving  a  large  account  of  the  torments 
prepared  by  God's  justice  for  the  wicked,  imme- 
diately tells  us  what  joys  are  laid  up  for  the 
just.  "  Rejoice,"  says  he,  "  with  Jerusalem,  and 
be  glad  with  her,  all  ye  that  love  her :  Rejoice 
for  joy  with  her,  all  ye  that  mourn  for  her. 
That  ye  may  suck,  and  be  filled  with  the  breasts 
of  her  consolations,  that  ye  may  milk  out,  and 
flow  with  delights  from  the  abundance  of  her 
glor3^  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  :  Behold  I  will 
bring  upon  her  as  it  were  a  river  of  peace,  and 
as  an  overflowing  torrent  the  glory  of  the  gen- 
tiles, which  you  shall  suck  :  you  shall  be  carried 
at  the  breasts,  and  upon  the  knees  they  caress 
you.  As  one  whom  the  mother  caresseth,  so  will 
I  comfort  you,  and  you  shall  be  comforted  in 
Jerusalem.  You  shall  see,  and  your  heart 
shall  rejoice,  and  your  bones  shall  flourish 
like  an  herb,  and  the  hand  of  the  Lord  shall 
be  known  to  his  servants;"  ch.  Ixvi.  lo,  ii,  12, 
13,  14.  This  is  to  signify,  that  as  men,  by 
the  vast  extent  of  the  heavens,  earth  and  sea, 
and  by  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  moou  and 
stars,  judge  of  the  omnipotence  and  the  infinite 
beauty  of  God,  the  Author  of  these  wondrous 
'works,  shall  discover  to  the  just  the  greatness 
of  his  power,  riches  and  mercy,  by  those 
infinite  favors  he  will  bestow  on  them,  and  the  joy 
they  receive.  So  that,  as  he  showed  the  world 
his  severity  and  rigor  toward  the  wicked,  by 
the  punishments  he  inflicted  on  Pharao,  he 
will,  in  the  same  manner,  show  the  greatness 
of  his  love  to  his  elect,  by  the  extraordinary 
favors  he  will  confer  on  them.  Happy  the 
soul  that  shall  receive  favors  from  God  in 
token  of  his  infinite  love !  and  unhappy  those 
whose  torments  and  sufferings  shall  manifest 
the  rigor  of  his  justice!  For  each  of  these 
attributes  being  infinite,  what  effects  must  sucli 
infinite  causes  produce! 

I  must  further  add,  that  if  you  shall  think 
the  way  of  virtue  uneasy  and  melancholy,  you 
may  look  into  those  words  the  divine  wisdom 
utters  of  herself,  as  follows  :  "I  walk  in  the 
ways  of  justice,  in  the  midst  of  the  paths  of 
judgment,   that  I  may  enrich    them    that    love 


me,  and  may  fill  their  treasures ; "  Prov.  viii. 
20,  21.  What  are  these  riches  but  the  riches  of 
this  heavenly  wisdom,  far  more  precious  than 
are  the  riches  of  the  world,  and  bestowed  on  the 
lovers  of  justice,  which  is  the  same  we  have 
hitherto  called  virtue  ?  For  if  her  riches  did 
not  much  better  deserve  the  name,  than  all  other 
riches,  how  could  the  Apostle  have  thanked  God 
for  the  Corinthians  being  rich  in  spiritual 
things  ?  I  Cor.  i.  5.  He  calls  them  rich  with- 
out any  kind  of  limitation,  whilst  he  styles  others 
the  rich  of  this  world  only. 

§  1.  Gospel  authority  for  what  has  been  said. 
For  further  proof  of  what  I  have  said,  I  will  add 
this  divine  sentence  of  Jesus  Christ.  St.  Mark 
tells  us,  that  when  St.  Peter  asked  our  Saviour, 
what  reward  they  should  have  who  had  quitted 
all  for  love  of  him,  he  gives  him  this  answer : 
"  Amen  I  say  to  you,  there  is  no  man  who  hath 
left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or 
mother,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my  sake  and 
for  the  Gospel,  who  shall  not  receive  a  hundred 
times  as  much,  now  in  this  time ;  and  in  the 
world  to  come  life  everlasting  ;  "  Mark  x.  29,  30. 
If  you  weigh  those  words  exactly,  you  cannot 
in  the  first  place  deny,  but  that  Jesus  Christ 
makes  a  formal  distinction  between  the  rewards 
of  virtue  in  this  life  and  in  the  next,  the  one 
being  a  promise  of  a  future,  and  the  other  of  a 
present,  happiness.  You  must  confess,  too,  that 
it  is  impossible  this  promise  should  not  be 
performed,  since  heaven  and  earth  are  sooner  to 
pass  away  than  one  tittle  of  these  words, 
how  hard  soever  they  appear,  shall  fail. 
And  as  we  certainly  believe,  there  is  in  God 
both  Trinity  and  Unity,  because  he  has  said 
so,  though  this  mystery  is  beyond  the  reach 
of  our  reason,  so  are  we  to  believe  this  other 
truth,  though,  it  exceeds  all  human  under- 
standing, since  it  is  grounded  on  the  same 
authority  of  God's  own  word. 

What,  then,  is  this  hundred  fold^  which  the 
just    receive    even    in    this    life?     For  we    seei 
they  are,    for   the    most   part,    men  of  no  very 
considerable  quality  nor  very  rich,  of  no  great 
employment   in  the  state,  nor  enjoy  any  other 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


323 


worldly  advantages,  but,  on  the  contrary,  many 
of  them  live  retired,  obscure,  poor  and  neces- 
sitous. How  then  can  this  infallible  word  of 
God  be  proved  to  be  true,  but  by  acknowledg- 
ing, that  God  makes  them  so  spiritually  rich, 
that  they  are  more  happy  and  quiet  than  if 
they  were  sovereign  lords  of  the  world,  and 
yet  are  destitute  of  the  conveniences  of  this 
life?  Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at,  because, 
as  God  may  preserve  mankind  by  other  means, 
and  not  by  bread  alone,  so  it  is  not  necessary  he 
should  satisfy  those  souls  he  has  such  a  love  for 
with  temporal  goods,  having  better  ways  of  doing 
it.  This  we  have  seen  in  a  particular  manner 
justified  in  all  the  saints,  whose  prayers,  fastings, 
tears  and  labors  have  given  them  far  greater 
delight  and  satisfaction  than  all  the  joys  and 
pleasures  of  the  world  could  ever  have  done : 
which  shows  us  plainly,  that  what  they  received 
was  a  hundred  times  better  than  what  they  left  for 
the  love  of  God.  For  instead  of  the  false  and 
apparent  goods  they  forsook,  they  received  such 
as  were  true  and  real ;  instead  of  the  uncertain, 
those  which  were  certain,  spiritual  instead  of 
temporal,  ease  instead  of  care,  quiet  instead  of 
trouble,  and  for  a  vicious  and  unpleasant  life, 
a  virtuous  and  delightful  one ;  so  that  if,  for 
the  love  of  God,  you  have  despised  the  base 
treasures  of  this  world,  you  shall  find  in  him 
such  as  are  inestimable.  If  for  his  sake  you 
have  contemned  false  honors,  you  shall  meet 
with  true  ones  in  him.  If  you  have  forsaken 
a  mortal  father  on  his  account,  the  eternal 
Father  will  satisfy  you  with  all  kinds  of 
delights.  If,  in  fine,  you  bid  adieu  to  hurtful 
pleasures  for  the  love  of  him,  he  will  entertain 
you  with  such  as  shall  be  free  from  the  least 
tincture  of  bitterness  or  alloy.  When  you 
shall  arrive  to  such  a  degree  of  perfection  as 
this  is,  you  will  then  abhor  what  you  took  the 
greatest  pleasure  in  before.  For  when  our  eyes 
are  once  cleared  up  by  this  heavenly  bright- 
ness, we  discover  a  new  light,  which  represents 
things  quite  different  from  what  they  appear  to 
us  at  first.  What  we  then  thought  sweet, 
tastes  bitter  to  us  now ;  and  what  we  looked  on 


as  bitter  then,  we  now  find  to  be  sweet.  We 
are  pleased  now  with  that  which  frighted  us 
before,  and  look  on  that  as  hideous  and  ghastly, 
which  once  seemed  beautiful  and  charming. 
Thus  we  find  our  Saviour's  words  to  be  verified, 
by  his  bestowing  on  vis  the  incorruptible  goods 
of  the  soul  for  the  corruptible  ones  of  the 
body,  and  for  the  goods  of  fortune  those  of 
grace,  which  are  incomparably  better,  and  more 
capable  to  satisfy  man,  than  all  earthly  goods. 
In  further  proof  of  this  important  truth,  I 
will  give  you  an  example,  taken  out  of  the 
lives  of  the  famous  men  of  the  order  of  the 
Cistercians.  It  is  there  written,  "  that  as  St. 
Bernard  was  preaching  in  Flanders,  full  of 
zeal  for  the  conversion  of  souls  to  God,  amongst 
those  who  were  touched  with  a  particular  grace, 
was  a  certain  person  called  Arnulphus,  one  of 
the  chief  men  of  that  country,  and  closely  tied 
to  the  things  of  this  world.  But  he  at  last, 
breaking  through  all,  became  a  Cistercian 
monk,  in  the  monastery  of  Clairvaux.  St.  Ber- 
nard was  so  pleased  with  this  great  change, 
that  he  used  often  to  say,  that  God  had  mani- 
fested his  power  as  wonderfully  in  converting 
Arnulphus,  as  in  raising  Lazarus  from  the 
dead,  having  drawn  him  from  so  many  plea- 
sures, which,  like  a  grave,  he  lay  buried  in,  to 
raise  him  to  a  new  life,  which  was  no  less  to 
be  admired  in  its  process  than  it  had  been  in 
his  conversion."  But  because  it  would  be  too 
tedious  to  give  you  a  particular  account  of  this 
holy  man's  virtues,  I  shall  only  make  use  of 
what  serves  our  present  purpose:  "This  good 
monk  was  very  subject  to  terrible  fits  of  the 
colic,  which  often  put  him  in  a  very  dying 
condition.  One  day  it  seized  on  him  so  vio- 
lently, that  he  lost  both  speech  and  senses ; 
whereon  the  religious,  seeing  but  little  hopes  of 
life  left,  gave  him  the  extreme  unction.  Soon 
after,  coming  to  himself,  he  began  to  praise 
God,  and  cried  out  aloud,  'All  thou  hast  ever 
said,  O  most  merciful  Jesus !  is  very  true.' 
The  religious,  surprised  at  his  frequent  repeat- 
ing the  same  words,  asked  him  what  he  meant, 
but   he    made    them  no    answer,  continuing  to 


334 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


cry  out  louder  aud  louder,  '  All  thou  hast  ever 
said,  O  most  merciful  Jesus,  is  very  true.' 
Some  who  were  present  fancied  his  pains  had 
put  him  beside  himself;  but  he,  perceiving 
their  mistake,  said  to  them,  'It  is  not  so,  my 
brothers,  it  is  not  so,  for  I  never  was  better  in 
my  senses  than  now  whilst  I  tell  you,  that  all 
that  Jesus  Christ  has  said  is  very  true.'  Hereon 
the  rest  of  the  monks  said.  It  is  what  we  all 
of  us  believe,  but  why  do  you  repeat  it  so 
often  ?  '  Because,'  said  he,  '  our  Saviour  has 
told  us  in  his  Gospel,  that  whosoever  shall  for- 
sake his  friends  and  relations  for  the  love  of 
him,  shall  receive  a  hundred  fold  now  in  this 
world,  and  in  the  world  to  come  life  everlast- 
ing; Mark  x.  30.  This  is  what  I  find  true 
by  my  own  present  experience ;  for  I  assure 
you,  I  at  this  very  moment  receive  that 
hundred  fold ;  the  excessive  pains  I  endtire 
being  so  pleasing  to  me,  through  the  lively 
hope  I  have  now  given  me  of  my  salvation, 
that  I  would  not  exchange  it  for  a  hundred 
times  as  much  as  I  left  when  I  forsook  the 
world.  And  if  so  great  a  sinner  as  I  am  finds 
so  much  satisfaction  in  what  I  suffer,  what 
consolations  must  they  who  are  perfect  be  sen- 
sible of?  For  the  anticipated  fruition  of  those 
eternal  pleasures,  which  I  now  enjoy  by  hope, 
is  not  a  hundred  times  only,  but  a  hundred  thou- 
sand times  better  than  all  the  delights  the  world 


could  ever  afford  me.'  They  were  all  astonished 
to  hear  a  man  of  no  learning  at  all  talk 
so  piously  and  sublimely ;  but  it  plainly  ap- 
peared that  what  he  said  was  dictated  by  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

This  is  a  demonstration,  that  God  can  give 
those  who  serve  him  more  pleasure  and  delight, 
than  they  forsook  for  his  sake,  and  yet  not 
enrich  them  with  temporal  goods.  And  thus 
we  see  how  much  in  the  wrong  those  men 
have  been,  who  could  never  persuade  themselves 
that  virtue  had  a  reward  in  this  life.  The 
twelve  following  chapters  shall  serve  for  the 
better  undeceiving  such  persons,  wherein  we 
shall  treat  of  twelve  wonderful  fruits  and  privi- 
leges that  attend  virtue  even  in  this  life ;  by 
which  they  who  have  hitherto  loved  nothing 
but  the  world,  may  understand  that  it  is  more 
delightful  than  they  imagine.  And  though  it 
is  in  some  manner  requisite  for  the  perfect 
comprehending  of  this  truth,  that  a  man  should 
have  had  some  experience  from  the  practice  of 
virtue,  because  there  is  no  one  knows  her  own 
worth  so  well  as  she  herself  does;  this  defect 
may,  nevertheless,  be  supplied  by  faith,  since 
by  means  of  it  we  believe  the  Holy  Scriptures 
to  be  true,  out  of  which  I  intend  to  prove  all 
I  shall  say  on  this  subject,  that  so  no  one 
may  call  the  truth  of  it  in  question. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


OF   THE   TWELFTH   MOTIVE   THAT   OBLIGES   US  TO  THE  PURSUIT  OF  VIRTUE,  WHICH  IS,  THE  PAR- 

TICULAR  CARE  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  TAKES  OF  THE  GOOD,  IN  ORDER  TO  MAKE 

THEM  HAPPY,  AND  THE  SEVERITY  WITH  WHICH  THE  SAME  PROVIDENCE 

PUNISHES  THE   WICKED.— THE   FIRST    PRIVILEGE. 


[F  all  these  favors,  the  greatest  certainly 
is,  the  care  God  takes  of  those  who 
serve  him.  From  this,  as  from  their 
fountain,  flow  all  the  other  privileges  of 
virtue.  For,  though  providence  extends  itself  to  all 
creatures,  yet  we  see  how  particularly  careful  it  is 


of  those  whom  God  has  chosen  for  himself;  be- 
cause they,  being  his  children,  and  receiving  as 
his  gift,  an  affection  truly  filial  for  him,  he,  on 
his  part,  loves  them  with  a  truly  fatherly  love, 
and  his  love  is  the  measure  of  the  care  he 
takes  for  them.     Yet  no  man  can  conceive  how 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,    THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


325 


great  his  providence  is,  unless  lie  has  either 
had  experience  of  it,  or  read  the  Holy  Bible 
with  much  attention,  and  observed  those  pas- 
sages there  that  treat  of  this  matter  ;  for  there 
is  scarce  any  part  of  Scripture  but  treats  on 
this  subject.  It  turns  on  these  two  points,  to 
ask,  and  to  promise,  as  the  world  turns  on  its 
poles.  So  that,  whenever  God  on  one  part 
requires  our  observance  of  his  command- 
ments, he  promises  a  generous  reward  to 
those  who  comply,  and  severely  threatens  such 
as  neglect  to  obey.  This  doctrine  is  so 
distributed,  that  almost  all  the  moral  books  in 
it  require  and  promise,  whilst  the  historical 
verify  the  fullfiUing  of  both ;  giving  'us  to 
understand  how  differently  God  deals  with  the 
just  man  and  the  sinner.  But,  considering  how 
liberal  he  is,  and  how  poor  man,  how  ready  he 
is  to  promise,  and  how  backward  man  is  to 
perform — we  must  needs  find  a  great  difference 
between  what  he  requires  and  what  he  gives. 
All  he  requires  of  us  is,  that  love  and  obedience 
which  he  himself  has  given  us ;  and  yet,  in 
return  of  that  little  which  we  hold  purely  of 
his '  liberality,  he  offers  us  inestimable  riches 
for  this  life  as  well  as  for  the  next.  Of  all  which 
the  chiefest  is,  the  fatherly  love  and  providence 
wherewith  he  assists  those  he  looks  on  as  his 
children,  and  this  is  infinitely  beyond  whatever 
aflFection  the  most  tender  father  in  the  world 
can  show ;  for  never  was  there  any  one  yet  who 
laid  up  such  riches  for  his  children  as  God 
does,  which  is  no  less  than  the  participation 
of  his  eternal  glory.  Never  did  any  man 
undergo  so  much  for  his  children  as  God  has 
done,  having  for  their  sakes  shed  the  very  last 
drop  of  his  blood ;  nor  will  ever  any  father 
take  so  much  care  of  them  as  God  does,  since 
he  always  has  them  in  his  sight,  and  assists  them 
in  all  their  necessities.  This  holy  David  ac- 
knowledges, when  he  says,  "Thou  hast  upheld  me 
by  reason  of  my  innocence  ;  and  has  established 
me  in  thy  sight  forever"  (Ps.  xi.  13),  which 
is  to  say,  you  have  always  watched  so  carefully 
over  all  my  actions  as  to  keep  your  eyes 
continually  fixed  on  me.    And  in  another  psalm 


he  says,  "  The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  upon  the 
just :  and  his  ears  unto  their  prayers.  But  the 
countenance  of  the  Lord  is  against  them  that 
do  evil  things  :  to  cut  off  the  remembrance  of 
them  from  the  earth."    Ps.  xxxiii.   16,  17. 

But    because    this    divine    providence  is    the 
greatest     treasure    a     Christian     has,    and    on 
his    hopes  and    assurance    of    being    protected 
by  it    depends    the    increase    of   his    holy  con- 
fidence   and    joy;  it    will    be    to    our    purpose 
here  to  make  use  of  some  passages  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, in  proof  of  those  immense  riches  where- 
with God    blesses  the   just.     In    Ecclesiasticus 
(ch.  xxxiv.   19,  20)  it    is    said,    "  The  eyes  of 
the  Lord  are    upon  them  that  fear    him,  he  is 
their    powerful    protector,    and    strong    stay,  a 
defence    from  the    heat,  and  a   cover    from  the 
sun  at  noon.     A  preservation  from    stumbling, 
and  a  help  from  falling,  he  raiseth  up  the  soul, 
and  enlighteneth  the  eyes,  and  giveth    health, 
and  life  and  blessing."  The  royal  prophet  says, 
"  With   the    Lord  shall  the  steps  of   a  man  be 
directed,  and  he  shall  like  well  his  way.  When 
he  shall  fall,  he  shall  not    be    bruised,  for  the 
Lord  putteth  his  hand  under  him."  Ps.  xxxvi. 
23,  24.     What  harm  can  he  come  to  who  falls 
so  soft,  and  is  supported  by  the  hand  of  God  ? 
He  says  again,  in    another    place,  "  Many  are 
the    afilictions    of  the   just :  but   out    of    them 
all    will    the    Lord    deliver    them.     The    Lord 
keepeth  all  their  bones,  not  one  of  them  shall 
be   broken;"  Ps.    xxxiii.  20,  21.     This    provi- 
dence is  yet  much  more  magnified  in  the  Gospel; 
for  our  Saviour  himself  there  not  only  tells  us, 
that    he  takes  care  of   all    their   bones,    but  of 
their  very  hairs,  that  not  one  of  them  may  be 
lost;   (Luke  xxi.   18);  thus,  to  express    in  how 
extraordinary  a  manner  he   protects  them  ;  for 
what  is  there  he  will  not  look  after,  who  does 
not   neglect    the    very  hair    of   our    heads  ?  If 
this  be  a  declaration    of   his   great  concern  for 
us,  what  the  prophet   Zachary  (ch.  ii.  8)    tells 
us  expresses  it  no  less  :  "  Whosoever,"  says  he, 
"  shall  touch  you,  touches  the  apple  of  my  eye." 
It    were  much  had  he  said,  "  Whosoever  shall 
touch  you,  touches  me;"  but  "Whosoever  shall 


326 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


touch    you,  touches   the    apple  of  my  eye,"  is 
still  much  more. 

Nor  does  he  only  look  after  us  himself,  but  has 
also  committed  us  to  the  care  of  his  augels  :  and, 
therefore,  David  says,  "  He  hath  given  his  augels 
charge  over  thee  ;  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways. 
In  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up:  lest  thou 
dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone;"  Ps.  xc.  ii,  12. 
Thus,  our  good  angels,  like  elder  brothers,  carry 
the  just  men  in  their  arms  ;  for  not  knowing  how 
to  walk  by  themselves,  they  have  need  of  another 
to  lead  them.  Nor  are  the  angels  content  to 
serve  them  thus  in  this  life  only,  but  even  at  their 
death  too,  as  appears  by  the  poor  man  in  the 
Gospel,  who,  after  he  was  dead,  "  was  carried  by 
angels  into  Abraham's  bosom  ;  "  Luke  xvi.  22. 
We  are  told  also  in  another  psalm,  "  The  angel 
of  the  Lord  shall  encamp  round  about  them  that 
fear  him  :  and  shall  deliver  them  ;  "  Ps.  xxxiii. 
8.  Or,  as  St.  Jerome  renders  it  more  expres- 
sive, "  The  angel  of  the  Lord  has  pitched  his 
camp  about  those  that  live  in  his  fear,  to  pre- 
serve them;"  B,  4,  c.  6,  v.  15,  16,  17.  What 
king  has  such  a  guard  about  his  person  as  this  ? 
We  see  it  plainly  in  a  passage  of  the  Book  of 
Kings,  where  we  read,  that  as  the  king  of  Syria's 
army  was  marching  toward  Samaria,  with  a  de- 
sign to  take  the  prophet  Elisha,  the  holy  man 
took  notice  of  the  concern  his  servant  was  in  at 
the  sight  of  so  formidable  an  army,  and  prayed 
to  God  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  open  the 
young  man's  eyes,  and  let  him  see  that  there 
was  a  much  greater  army  ready  to  defend  them 
than  that  of  their  enemies.  God  heard  the 
prophet's  prayer ;  whereon  the  young  man  saw 
the  whole  mountain  covered  with  horse  and  fiery 
chariots,  and  Elisha  in  the  midst  of  them.  We 
read  of  such  another  guard  in  the  Canticles 
(ch.  vii.  i),  in  these  words:  "What  will  you 
see  in  the  Sulamite,"  which  is  the  figure 
of  the  Church,  and  of  a  soul  in  a  state  of 
grace,  "  but  the  companies  of  an  army,"  which 
is  composed  of  angels  ?  The  same  thing  is 
signified  by  the  spouse,  under  another  figure, 
in  the  same  book  (ch.  iii.  7,  8),  where  it 
is    said,    "  Behold    threescore    valiant    ones    of 


the  most  valiant  of  Israel,  surround  the  bed  of 
Solomon :  all  holding  swords,  and  most  expert 
in  war:  every  man's  sword  upon  his  thigh, 
because  of  fears  in  the  night."  What  is  all 
this,  but  a  lively  representation  made  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  under  these  figures,  of  that  care 
the  divine  providence  has  over  the  souls  of  the 
just?  For  how  can  a  man,  who  is  conceived 
in  sin,  who  lives  in  a  body  so  naturally  in- 
clined to  evil,  and  who  is  surrounded  with  so 
many  dangers,  preserve  himself  for  several 
years  from  committing  any  mortal  crime,  did 
not  the  divine  providence  secure  and  keep  him 
from  it? 

This  providence  is  so  powerful,  that  it  not 
only  delivers  us  from  evil  and  leads  us  to 
good,  but  what  is  more,  very  often,  by  a 
wonderful  effect,  draws  even  good  out  of 
evil,  which  sometimes  God  permits  the  just 
themselves  to  fall  in.  This  happens  when, 
repenting  for  their  sins,  they  thence  take  occa- 
siou  to  become  more  circumspect,  more  humble, 
and  more  grateful  to  God,  for  the  mercies  he 
has  shown  them,  in  freeing  them  from  the 
danger  they  were  in,  and  in  pardoning  them 
all  their  faults.  It  is  in  this  sense  the  Apostle 
sa3's,  "  that  all  things  work  together  unto  good 
to  them  that  love  God ; "    Rom.  viii,  28. 

If,  therefore,  these  favors  so  highly  deserve 
our  admiration,  how  much  cause  have  we  to 
wonder  at  God's  being  so  careful  of  their 
children,  of  their  whole  posterity,  and  of  all  that 
belongs  to  them  ?  As  himself  has  assured  us, 
when  he  said,  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  mighty, 
jealous,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children,  upon  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tion of  them  that  hate  me :  and  showing  mercy 
unto  thousands  to  them  that  love  me,  and  keep 
my  commandments  ;  "  Bxod.  xx.  5,  6.  We  find 
him  as  good  as  his  word  to  David,  whose  race 
he  would  not  destroy  after  a  great  many  years, 
though  several  of  them  had  deserved  it  for  their 
sins ;  Kings  viii.  19.  Another  example  of  his 
care  we  have  in  Abraham,  whose  posterity  he 
pardoned  so  often  for  their  father's  sake.  This 
care  of  his  went  so  far  as  to  promise  Abraham 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


327 


that  he  would  bless  his  son  Ismael,  though  he 
were  born  a  slave,  "  that  he  would  make  him 
increase,  and  multiply  him  exceedingly ;  and 
that  he  should  grow  into  a  great  nation ; " 
Gen.  xvii.  20.  And  all  this  only  because  he 
was  Abraham's  son.  We  have  yet  a  further 
proof  hereof,  in  God's  conducting  Abraham's 
servant  through  the  whole  journey,  and  instruct- 
ing him  in  his  duty  when  he  went  to  seek  a 
wife  for  Isaac  ;  ch.  xxiv.  Nor  has  he  only  been 
merciful  to  a  servant  for  the  sake  of  a  good 
master,  but  even  to  wicked  masters  for  their 
pious  servant's  sake;  ch.  xxxiii.  22,  23.  Thus 
we  see  he  bestowed  great  favors  on  Joseph's  mas- 
ter, though  a  heathen,  in  consideration  of  the  vir- 
tuous young  man  who  lived  with  him.  What 
mercy  can  exceed  this  ?  Who  will  not  serve 
such  a  master,  who  is  so  liberal,  even  so  thank- 
ful to  those  that  do  him  any  service,  and  so 
careful  of  everything  which  belongs  to  them  ? 

§  I.  Of  the  Titles  given  to  Almighty  God 
in  Holy  IVrit^  on  Account  of  his  Providence. — 
This  divine  providence  producing  so  many 
different  and  wonderful  effects,  God  has,  there- 
fore, a  great  many  different  names  given  him 
in  the  Holy  Scripture;  but  the  most  usual 
and  most  remarkable  is  that  of  Father^  as  his 
beloved  Son  calls  him  in  the  Gospel,  and  he 
has  been  pleased  it  should  be  given  him  in 
several  places  of  the  Old  Testament.  And, 
therefore,  David  says,  "  As  a  father  hath  com- 
passion on  his  children;  so  hath  the  Lord 
compassion  on  them  that  fear  him,  for  he 
knoweth  our  frame,  he  remembereth  that  we 
are  dust;"  Ps.  cii.  13.  Another  prophet,  not 
content  to  call  God  Father,  because  his  care  is 
infinitely  greater  than  that  of  a  father,  speaks 
thus  to  him :  "  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  our  Father; 
Abraham  hath  not  known  us,  and  Israel  hath 
been  ignorant  of  us"  (Isa.  Ixiii.  16),  to  give 
us  to  understand,  that  these,  being  our  carnal 
fathers,  deserved  not  that  name  in  comparison 
of  God. 

But  because  a  mother's  affection  is,  generally 
■speaking,  more  affectionate  and  tender  than  a 
father's,  God  is  pleased  to  call  himself  2^ Mother., 


nay,  and  more  than  a  mother  too.  "  Can  a 
woman,"  says  he,  in  Isaias  (ch.  xlix.  15,  16), 
"  forget  her  infant,  so  as  not  to  have  pity  on 
the  son  of  her  womb  ?  and  if  she  should  for- 
get, yet  will  not  I  forget  thee.  Behold,  I  have 
graven  thee  in  my  hands :  thy  walls  are  always 
before  my  eyes."  Can  any  thing  be  more 
tender  than  this  ?  or  can  any  man  be  blind  to 
such  proofs  of  love  as  these  are  ? 

Did  we  but  consider  it  is  God  who  speaks, 
he,  whose  truth  cannot  deceive,  whose  riches 
are  inexhaustible,  and  whose  power  has  no 
limits,  what  joy  would  such  pleasing  words  as 
these  bring  us  ?  But  such  is  the  excess  of 
God's  mercy,  that,  not  content  to  compare  his 
affection  with  that  of  common  mothers,  he 
amongst  all  others  chooses  the  eagle,  a  creature 
the  most  remarkable  for  this  love,  and  com- 
pares his  tenderness  to  hers;  saying,  by  Moses, 
"  As  the  eagle  enticing  her  young  to  fly,  and 
hovering  over  them,  he  spread  his  wings,  and 
hath  taken  them  and  carried  them  on  his 
shoulders  ;  "  Deut.  xxxii.  11.  The  same  prophet 
expressed  this  yet  more  lively  to  the  people 
of  Israel,  when,  on  their  arrival  at  the  land  of 
promise,  he  told  them,  "  You  have  seen  how  the 
Lord  your  God  has  carried  you  through  the 
wilderness  all  the  way  you  went,  as  a  man 
doth  his  little  son,  until  you  came  to  this 
place;  "  Deut.  i.  31.  As  he  does  not  disdain  to 
call  himself  our  Father,  he  does  us  the  honor 
to  call  us  his  children;  as  a  proof  of  which,  we 
have  in  the  prophet  Jeremy  (ch.  xxxi.  20), 
"Ephraim  is  an  honorable  son  to  me,  surely 
he  is  a  tender  child  :  for  since  I  spoke  of  him, 
I  will  still  remember  him.  Therefore  are  my 
bowels  troubled  for  him  :  pitying  I  will  pity 
him."  Every  word  here  should  be  weighed 
with  attention,  as  coming  from  God,  and  should 
force  from  us  a  tender  affection  for  him,  in 
return  of  his  tender  love  to  us. 

It  is  on  account  of  the  same  providence  ttiat 
he  gives  himself  the  name  of  a  Shepherd,  as 
well  as  that  of  a  Father.  And  to  let  us  see 
that  how  great  his  pastoral  care  is,  he  says, 
"  I  am  the  good  Shepherd ;  and  I  know  mine, 


328 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,  THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


and  mine  know  me;"  John  x.  14,  15.  How  is 
it,  O  Lord,  that  thou  knowest  them  ?  How  doest 
thou  look  after  them  ?  "  As  the  Father  know- 
eth  me,  and  I  know  the  Father."  O  blessed 
care  I  O  sovereign  providence  !  What  greater 
happiness  can  a  man  enjoy  than  to  be  taken 
care  of  by  the  Son  of  God,  just  as  his  Fathei 
takes  care  of  him  ?  The  comparison,  it  is  true, 
will  not  hold  in  all  respects,  because  a  begotten 
son  deserves  much  more  than  one  that  is  only 
adopted ;  but  to  be  in  any  manner  whatever 
compared  with  him,  is  a  very  great  honor. 
God  acquaints  us  with  the  wonderful  effects  of 
this  his  providence,  fully  and  elegantly,  by  the 
mouth  of  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  saying,  "  Behold, 
I  myself  will  seek  my  sheep,  and  will  visit 
\hem.  As  the  shepherd  visiteth  his  flock,  in 
the  day  when  he  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  his 
sheep  that  were  scattered :  so  will  I  visit  my 
sheep,  and  will  deliver  them  out  of  all  the 
places  where  they  have  been  scattered  in  the 
cloudy  and  dark  day.  And  I  will  bring  them 
out  from  the  peoples,  and  will  gather  them  out 
of  the  countries,  and  \vill  bring  them  to  their 
own  land ;  and  I  will  feed  them  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Israel,  by  the  rivers,  and  in  all  the 
habitations  of  the  land :  I  will  feed  them  in 
the  most  fruitful  pastures,  and  their  pastures 
shall  be  in  the  high  mountains  of  Israel :  there 
shall  they  rest  on  the  green  grass,  and  be  fed 
in  fat  pastures  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel. 
I  will  feed  my  sheep  :  and  I  will  cause  them 
to  lie  down,  saith  the  Lord  God.  I  will  seek 
that  which  was  lost:  and  that  which  was  driven 
away,  I  will  bring  again  :  and  I  will  bind  up 
that  which  was  broken,  and  I  will  strengthen 
that  which  was  weak,  and  that  which  was  fat 
and  strong  I  will  preserve:  and  I  will  feed 
them  in  judgment"  (Ez.  xxxiv.  11,  12,  13,  14, 
15,  16);  that  is,  with  great  care,  and  with  a 
particular  providence.  A  little  lower  he  adds: 
"  I  will  make  a  covenant  of  peace  with  them, 
and  will  cause  the  evil  beasts  to  cease  out  of 
the  land :  and  they  that  dwell  in  the  wilderness 
shall  sleep  secure  in  the  forests.  And  I  will 
make  them  a  blessing   round   about    my  hill : 


and  I  will  send  down  the  rain  in  its  season, 
there  shall  be  showers  of  blessing "  (ver.  25, 
26);  that  is  to  say,  wholesome  showers,  and 
such  as  shall  do  no  hurt  to  the  places  which 
my  flock  feeds  in.  What  greater  promises  can 
God  make  us,  or  what  more  tender  expressions 
can  he  give  us  of  his  love  ?  For  it  is  certain, 
that  he  does  not  speak  here  of  a  material  but 
of  a  spiritual  flock,  composed  of  men,  as  the 
text  itself  plainly  shows.  It  is  no  less  certain 
that  he  does  not  mean  fat  lands,  or  an  abun- 
dance of  temporal  goods,  which  are  common 
to  the  bad  as  well  as  the  good,  but,  like 
a  good  shepherd,  he  promises  to  assist 
those  that  are  his  with  particular  graces, 
on  all  occasions.  It  is  what  he  him- 
self has  explained  by  Isaias  (ch.  xl.  11), 
where  he  says,  "  He  shall  feed  his  flock  like  a 
shepherd :  he  shall  gather  together  the  lambs 
with  his  arm,  and  shall  take  them  up  in  his 
bosom,  and  he  himself  shall  carry  them  that  are 
with  young."  Is  there  any  tenderness  like  this? 
The  divine  psalm  that  begins  thus,  "  The  Lord 
is  my  shepherd "  (Ps.  xxii.) ,  is  full  of  these 
rharitable  ofiices  of  a  shepherd,  which  God  per- 
forms to  man. 

As  we  call  God  our  shepherd,  because  he 
guides  us,  so  we  may  call  him  our  King,  because 
he  protects  us ;  our  Master,  because  he  instructs 
us ;  our  Physician,  because  he  heals  us ;  our 
Foster-father,  because  he  carries  in  his  arms ; 
and  our  Guard,  because  he  watches  so  carefully 
over  all  our  actions.  The  holy  Scripture  is  full 
of  such  names  as  these.  But  yet  there  is  none 
expresses  a  more  tender  love,  or  discovers  his 
providence  more  than  that  of  spouse,  a  title  he 
often  gives  himself  in  the  Canticles,  and  in  other 
places  of  the  Bible.  It  is  by  this  he  invites  the 
sinner  to  call  on  him :  "  Thou  art  my  Father, 
the  guide  of  my  virginity "  (Jer.  iii.  4) ; 
which  name  the  Apostle  highly  extols ;  for  after 
those  words  which  Adam  spoke  to  Eve,  "Where- 
fore a  man  shall  leave  father  and  mother,  and 
shall  cleave  to  his  wife,  and  they  shall  be  two 
in  one  flesh,"  he  goes  on  saying,  "  This  is  a 
great  sacrament ;  but  I  speak  in  Christ  and  in 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


339 


the  Church,"  which  is  his  spouse  (Gen.  ii.  24; 
Bph.  V.  31,  32),  and  we  may  in  some  respect 
say  the  same  of  every  one  in  the  state  of  grace. 
What,  then,  may  we  not  hope  from  him  who 
goes  by  such  a  name,  and  that  with  so  much 
reason  ? 

But  what  need  is  there  of  recourse  to  the 
Bible  to  seek  for  names,  since  there  is  not  one 
that  promises  us  any  good,  but  may  be  applied 
to  God  ?  For  whosoever  loves  and  seeks  him, 
shall  in  him  find  whatever  he  can  wish.  For 
this  reason  St.  Ambrose  says,  "  We  have  all 
things  in  Christ,  and  Christ  is  all  to  us.  If 
you  want  'a  cure  for  your  wounds,  he  is  a 
physician  ;  if  you  are  in  a  burning  fever,  he 
is  a  fountain  ;  if  you  are  tired  with  the  burden 
of  your  sins,  he  is  justice ;  if  you  are  afraid 
of  death,  he  is  life  in  you  ;  if  you  hate  dark- 
ness, he  is  light ;  if  you  would  go  to  heaven, 
he  is  the  way;  if  you  are  hungry,  he  is  your 
food."  L.  3,  de  Virg.  See  here  how  many 
names  God  has,  who  in  himself  is  but  one ; 
for  though  he  is  but  one  in  himself,  yet  he  is 
all  things  for  us,  that  he  may  relieve  all  our 
necessities,  which  are  infinite. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  count  all  the  authori- 
ties of  this  kind  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
These  I  have  taken  notice  of,  for  the  comfort 
and  encouragement  of  all  that  serve  God ;  and 
for  the  gaining  of  such  as  do  not ;  for  it  is  certain 
there  is  no  greater  treasure  under  heaven  than 
this.  As,  therefore,  those  persons  who  have  served 
their  prince  upon  some  extraordinary  occasions, 
and  received  certificates  under  his  hand,  and 
promises  of  considerable  rewards  for  their  ser- 
vices, are  very  careful  to  secure  those  authen- 
tic papers,  comforting  themselves,  in  the  midst 
of  dangers,  with  the  hopes  of  obtaining  the 
reward  of  their  labors ;  so  God's  servants  lay 
up  in  their  hearts,  all  these  divine  promises, 
which  are  much  more  securely  to  be  relied  on 
than  any  that  are  made  b}'  mortal  kings.  In 
these  they  place  their  hope,  these  are  their 
support  in  all  their  toils,  their  trust  in  all 
their  dangers,  and  their  comfort  in  all  their 
miseries.     To  these  they   have  recourse  in  all 


their  necessities ;  they  inflame  them  with  the 
love  of  so  good  a  master  and  oblige  theia 
wholly  to  his  service ;  for,  as  he  assures  them, 
he  will  give  himself  entirely  up  to  the  prcv- 
curing  of  their  good,  for  he  is  their  all. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  main  foundation  of  a 
Christian  life  is  the  practical  knowledge  of 
this  truth. 

Can  there  be  any  thing  in  the  world  more 
precious  or  valuable,  or  that  better  deserves 
our  esteem  and  love?  Or  what  greater  happi- 
ness can  a  man  enjoy  in  this  life  than  to  have 
God  for  his  father,  his  mother,  his  shepherd, 
his  physician,  his  tutor,  his  master,  his  medi- 
ator, his  will,  his  defence,  and,  what  is  yet 
more,  for  his  spouse,  in  short,  for  his  all  ? 
Has  the  world  any  thing  comparable  to  this  to 
give  to  its  admirers  ?  How  much  reason,  then, 
have  those  who  enjoy  such  a  benefit,  to  rejoice, 
to  comfort,  to  encourage  themselves,  and  to 
glory  in  him  above  all  things  I  "Be  glad  in  the 
Lord,"  says  the  prophet,  "and  rejoice,  ye  just; 
and  glory,  all  ye  right  of  heart;"  Ps.  xxxi.  11. 
As  if  he  said  more  clearly,  Let  others  rejoice 
in  their  worldly  riches  and  honor,  others  again 
in  their  birth  and  qualit}',  others  in  their  favor 
and  esteem  of  their  prince,  others  in  their  great 
employments  and  dignities ;  but  as  for  you, 
who  lay  claim  to  God  for  your  share,  do  you 
more  truly  rejoice  in  this  inheritance,  which  as 
far  exceeds  all  other  inheritances  as  God  him- 
self does  all  other  things.  This  we  may  leani 
from  the  royal  psalmist,  when  he  says, 
"  Deliver  me,  and  rescue  me  out  of  the  hand 
of  strange  children  ;  whose  mouth  hath  spoken 
vanity  ;  and  their  right  hand  is  the  right  hand 
of  iniquity.  Whose  sons  are  as  new  plants  in 
their  youth ;  their  daughters  decked  out, 
adorned  round  about  after  the  similitude  of  a 
temple  :  their  storehouses  full,  flowing  out  of 
this  into  that.  Their  sheep  fruitful  in  young, 
abounding  in  their  goings  forth :  they  have 
called  the  people  happy,  that  hath  these  things: 
but  happy  is  thait  people  whose  God  is  the 
Lord."  Ps.  cxliii.  11,  12,  13,  15.  The  reason 
why  David    delivers    himself   thus    is    evident. 


330 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


because  in  God  alone  we  possess  every  good 
thing  that  is  to  be  desired.  Let  others  value 
themselves  as  much  as  they  please  on  riches, 
but  as  for  me,  though  I  am  a  rich  and  powerful 
king,  in  God  alone  shall  be  all  my  glory.  Thus 
another  holy  prophet  glorified,  saying,  "  but  I 
will  rejoice  in  the  Lord ;  and  I  will  joy  in  God 
my  Jesus.  The  Lord  God  is  my  strength ;  and 
he  will  make  my  feet  like  the  feet  of  harts  ;  and 
the  conqueror  will  lead  me  upon  my  high- 
places,  singing  psalms  :  "  Habac.  iii.  i8,  19. 
This  is  the  treasure,  this  the  glory,  which  he 
has  prepared  even  here  for  those  that  serve 
him.  This  is  a  great  reason  why  all  men 
should  desire  to  serve  him,  and  on  this  will 
he  ground  the  greatest  complaint  he  can  make 
against  those  who  serve  him  not.  Thus  it 
was  he  complained,  by  the  prophet  Jeremy 
(ii.  5),  of  his  people:  "What  iniquity,"  says 
he,  "  have  your  fathers  found  in  me,  that  they 
are  gone  far  from  me,  and  have  walked  after 
vanity,  and  are  become  vain  ? "  and  a  little 
lower :  "  Am  I  become  a  wilderness  to  Israel, 
or  a  lateward  springing  land?"  (ver.  31)  as 
if  he  said,  It  is  plain,  it  is  not  so,  since  by 
my  means  they  have  been  so  successful  and 
victorious.  "Why  then  have  my  people  said: 
We  are  revolted,  we  will  come  to  thee  no 
more  ?  Will  a  virgin  forget  her  ornament,  or 
a  bride  her  stomacher?  but  my  people  hath 
forgotten  my  days  without  number"  (ver.  32), 
who  am  all  their  ornament,  their  glory  and 
their  beauty.  If  God  complained  thus  in  the 
time  of  the  old  law,  when  his  favors  were  so 
great,  how  much  more  reason  has  he  to  com- 
plain now  when  they  are  so  much  greater,  as 
they  are  more  spiritual  and  divine? 

§  n.  What  providence  God  uses  towards 
the  wicked  in  punishrnent  of  their  sins. — 
If  the  mercy  of  this  blessed  providence 
which  the  good  enjoy,  has  no  influence  on 
us,  let  us  at  least  be  moved  with  the  fear 
of  that  providence,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  which 
God  uses  against  the  wicked,  and  which  meas- 
ures sinners  by  their  own  measure,  and  deals 
with  them  according  to  their  forgetfulness  and 


contempt  of  the  divine  Majesty,  forgetting  those 
who  forget  him,  and  despising  those  by  whom 
he  is  despised.  God,  to  make  this  the  plainer 
to  us,  commanded  the  prophet  Osee  (ch.  i.  2) 
to  marry  an  adulteress,  to  signify  to  his  people 
the  spiritual  fornication  they  had  committed, 
in  leaving  their  true  spouse  and  Lord,  and 
ordered  the  child  he  had  by  his  wife  to  be  called 
Lo-ammi,  a  Hebrew  word,  which  means  "  not 
my  people,"  to  show  them  that  since  they  would 
not  acknowledge  or  serve  him  as  God,  he 
would  not  own  or  deal  with  them  as  his  people. 
And  that  they  might  know  him  to  be  in  ear- 
nest, he  says  to  them,  "Judge  your  mother, 
judge  her:  because  she  is  not  my  wife,  and  I 
am  not  her  husband  "  (ch.  ii.  2)  ;  giving  them 
to  understand,  that  since  she  had  not  observed 
the  respect  and  duty  of  a  good  wife,  neither 
would  he  show  her  the  love  and  kindness  of  a 
true  husband.  Thus  plainly  God  tells  us  he 
will  deal  with  us  just  as  we  deal  with  him. 

They,  therefore,  who  live  as  if  they  took  no 
notice  at  all  of  God,  are  abandoned  by  him, 
and  left  as  a  school  without  a  master,  a  ship 
without  a  rudder,  as  goods  without  an  owner, 
or  as  a  flock  that  goes  astray  for  want  of 
a  shepherd,  which  never  misses  falling 
among  the  wolves.  And,  therefore,  he  tells 
them  by  the  prophet  Zacharias  (ch.  xi. 
q),  "I  will  not  feed  you;  that  which 
dieth,  let  it  die,  and  that  which  is  cut  off,  let 
it  be  cut  off:  and  let  the  rest  devour  every  one 
the  flesh  of  his  neighbor."  What  he  says  by 
Moses,  in  his  canticle,  is  to  the  same  purpose  : 
"  I  will  hide  my  face  from  them,  and  will  con- 
sider what  their  last  end  shall  be ;"  Deuter. 
xxxii.  20. 

He  acquaints  us  more  at  large  with  this 
kind  of  providence,  by  the  prophet  Isaias  speak- 
ing to  his  people  under  the  figure  of  a  vine, 
against  which,  for  not  yielding  the  fruit  that 
was  expected  from  it,  after  having  been  so 
carefully  dressed  and  pruned,  he  pronounces 
this  sentence :  "I  will  show  you  what  I  will 
do  to  my  vineyard.  I  will  take  away  the  hedge 
thereof,  and  it  shall  be  wasted :     I  will   break 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


331 


down  the  wall  thereof:  and  it  shall  be  trodden 
down.  And  I  will  make  it  desolate ;  it  shall 
not  be  pruned,  and  it  shall  not  be  digged ;  but 
briars  and  thorns  shall  come  up :  and  I  will 
command  the  clouds  to  rain  no  rain  upon  it" 
(Isaias  v.  5,  6);  that  is  to  say  I  will  take  away 
all  those  efficacious  helps  and  succors  I  had 
given  it  before,  and  then  must  necessarily  fol- 
low its  utter  ruin  and  destruction. 

Do  not  you  think  this  sort  of  providence  is  much 
to  be  dreaded  ?  what  greater  misery  can  a  man 
fall  into  than  to  be  deprived  of  the  providen- 
tial care  of  God,  to  be  exposed  to  all  the  acci- 
dents of  the  world,  and  to  all  the  injuries  and 
calamities  this  life  lies  open  to?  For  since, 
on  the  one  hand,  this  world  is  like  a  tempestuous 
sea,  a  desert  of  so  many  wild  beasts  and  thieves, 
since  there  are  such  numbers  of  misfortunes 
and  accidents,  so  many  and  such  powerful 
enemies  to  encounter  with,  so  many  snares  laid 
for  us,  and  so  many  dangers  surrounding  us; 
and  since  man,  on  the  one  hand,  is  a  creature 
so  frail,  so  helpless,  so  blind,  so  impotent,  so 
destitute  of  strength,  and  so  much  in  need  of 
advice,  what  can  he  do  against  so  many  strong 
ones,  if  he  wants  the  help  and  assistance  of 
God  ?  What  can  he,  who  is  a  mere  dwarf,  do 
against  so  many  giants  ?  How  can  he,  who  is 
so  blind,  avoid  so  many  snares  ?  Or,  alone  and 
unarmed,  how  can  he  deal  with  so  many 
enemies  ? 

Nor  does  their  punishment  end  here.  For 
God  not  only  turns  his  eyes  from  the  wicked, 
whence  it  follows  that  they  fall  into  such  sins 
and  miseries,  but  does  himself  produce  and 
send  them  these  afflictions ;  so  that  the  eyes 
which  watched  for  their  advantage  before,  are 
now  open  to  their  ruin :  as  the  prophet  Amos 
(ch.  ix.  4)  testifies,  saying,  I  will  set  my  eyes 
upon  them  for  evil,  and  not  for  good ;  that  is, 
I,  who  before  looked  on  them,  in  order  to 
secure  them,  will  do  it  now  to  punish  them, 
according  to  what  their  sins  deserve.  And  the 
prophet  Osee  (ch.  v.  12)  tells  us  plainly,  that 
God  says,  "  I  will  be  like  a  moth  to  Ephraim, 
and    like    rottenness    to    the    house   of  Juda." 


And  because  this  seemed  too  easy  a  punishment, 
and  too  lingering,  he  immediately  threatens  them 
with  another  more  speedy  and  more  severe:  "  I 
will  be  like  a  lioness  to  Ephraim,  and  like  a 
lion's  whelp  to  the  house  of  Juda :  I,  even  I, 
will  catch,  and  go  away,  and  there  is  none  that 
can  rescue ;"  ver.  14.  Can  any  thing  be  more 
terrible  than  this? 

We  have  as  a  clear  proof  of  this  kind  of  provi- 
dence in  the  prophet  Amos,  who,  after  telling 
us,  that  God  would  put  all  the  wicked  to  the 
sword,  for  their  sins  of  covetousness,  goes  on 
and  says,  "  They  shall  flee,  and  he  that  shall 
flee  of  them  shall  not  be  delivered.  Though 
they  go  down  even  to  hell,  thence  shall  my 
hand  bring  them  out :  and  though  they  clitub 
up  to  heaven,  thence  will  I  bring  them  down. 
And  though  they  be  hid  in  the  top  of  Carmel, 
I  will  search  and  take  them  away  from  thence  : 
and  though  they  hide  themselves  from  my  eyes 
in  the  depth  of  the  sea,  there  will  I  command 
the  serpent,  and  he  shall  bite  them.  And  if  they 
go  into  captivity  before  their  enemies,  there  will 
I  command  the  sword  and  it  shall  kill  them. 
And  I  will  set  my  eyes  upon  them  for  evil, 
and  not  for  good;"  Amos  ix.  i,  2,  3,  4.  These 
are  the  words  of  the  prophet.  And  what  man, 
on  reading  them,  if  he  but  considers,  that  they 
were  spoken  by  God  himself,  and  does  but 
observe  what  kind  of  providence  he  exercises 
against  sinners,  can  without  trembling  see  how 
powerful  an  enemy  he  has  against  him,  and 
how  closely  he  pursues  him,  having  secured 
all  the  avenues,  and  lying  continually  in 
wait  to  destroy  him  ?  What  rest  can  a  man 
take  that  reflects  on  this  ?  What  stomach  can  he 
have  for  his  food,  who  has  the  eyes  of  God, 
red  with  indignation  and  fury,  fixed  on  him  ? ' 
Who  has  such  a  persecutor  and  such  an  arm 
stretched  out  against  him?  For  if  it  be  so 
great  a  misfortune  to  be  deprived  of  God's 
favor  and  providence,  what  must  it  be  to  have 
armed  this  same  providence  against  you,  and 
to  make  him  turn  that  sword  on  you,  which 
was  drawn  in  your  defence?  What  an  un- 
happiness  must  it  be  to  have  those  eyes  open 


333 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


to  your  destruction,  which  before  watched  for 
your  security ;  to  have  that  arm,  which  was 
before  stretched  out  to  hold  you  up,  extended 
now  to  cast  you  down ;  to  have  that  heart, 
which  thought  of  nothing  for  you  once  but  of 
peace  and  love,  have  no  other  thoughts  for 
you  now  but  of  affliction  and  sorrow  ?  What 
misery  is  it,  that  he  who  ought  to  shade,  shield 
'and  protect  you,  should  be  changed  into  a 
moth  to  consume  you,  and  into  a  lion  to  tear 
you  in  pieces  ?  How  can  that  man  sleep  securely, 
who  knows  that  God  all  the  while  stands  over 
him,  like  Jeremy's  rod,  to  punish  and  torment 
him  ?  What  means  can  he  use  to  frustrate 
the  designs  of  God  ?  What  arm  can  withstand 
his  arm  ?  Or  what  other  providence  can  resist 
his  providence  ?  Did  any  man,  says  Job  (ch. 
ix.  4),  ever  resist  him  and  prosper? 

This  evil,  in  fine,  is  of  such  a  nature,  that 
the  withdrawing  of  his  fatherly  providence  from 
sinners  is  one  of  the  severest  punishments  he 
either  inflicts  on,  or  threatens  them  with,  in 
this  life,  as  he  himself  has  declared  in  several 
places  of  the  Holy  Scripture.  In  one  of  which, 
he  says,  "  My  people  heard  not  my  voice  :  and 


Israel  hearkened  not  to  me"  (Ps.  Ixxx.  12,  13); 
for  which  reason  I  will  not  take  any  notice  of 
them,  as  I  have  done  before ;  "  So  I  let  them 
go  according  to  the  desires  of  their  heart :  they 
shall  walk  in  their  own  inventions."  Their  condi- 
tion must,  therefore,  grow  each  day  worse  and 
worse.  He  says  also,  by  the  prophet  Osee 
(ch.  iv.  6),  since  "thou  hast  forgotten  the  law 
of  thy  God,  I  also  will  forget  thy  children." 
As  there  is  no  greater  misfortune  can  befall  a 
woman  than  to  be  divorced  from  her  husband, 
nor  a  vine  than  to  lie  neglected  and  unpruned, 
so  the  greatest  loss  a  soul  can  undergo  is,  to 
have  God  withdraw  his  hand  from  her.  For 
what  is  a  soul  without  God,  but  a  vine  without 
its  pruner,  a  garden  without  a  gardener,  a  ship 
without  a  pilot,  an  army  without  a  general,  a 
commonwealth  without  a  ruler,  and,  in  short,  a 
body  without  life  ?  See  here  how  God  encom- 
passes you  on  all  sides,  that  the  fear  at  least 
of  being  forsaken  by  him  may  work  on  you, 
though  his  providential  love  and  concern  do 
not  move  you ;  for  fear  and  apprehension  often 
influence  those  whom  favors  and  benefits  can 
do  no  good  with. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


OF  THE  SECOND  PRIVILEGE  OF  VIRTUE,  THAT  IS,  THE  GRACE    OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST  BESTOWED 

UPON  VIRTUOUS   MEN. 


|ROM  this  fatherly  providence,  as  from 
a  fountain,  flow  all  the  favors  God 
bestows  on  those  who  serve  him. 
For  it  belongs  to  this  providence 
to  supply  them  with  all  necessaries  for 
the  obtaining  of  their  end,  which  is  their 
last  perfection  and  happiness,  by  assisting 
them  in  all  their  wants,  and  infusing  into  their 
souls  such  virtues  and  habits  as  are  requisite 
for  this  end.  Of  all  which  the  chief  is  the 
grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  because  next  to  this 
divine  providence,  it  is  the  beginning  of  all 
other  heavenly  gifts  and  privileges.     It  is  the 


garment  which  was  first  given  to  the  prodigal 
son,  on  his  return  to  his  father's  house.  And 
should  you  ask  me  what  this  grace  is,  I  an- 
swer, that  grace,  as  divines  define  it,  is  a  par- 
ticipation of  the  divine  nature,  that  is,  of 
God's  sanctity,  purity  and  greatness  ;  by  virtue 
of  which  a  man  rises  from  the  baseness  and 
filth  he  received  from  Adam,  and  partakes  of  the 
divine  sanctity  and  beauty,  divesting  himself 
of  himself,  and  putting  on  Christ  Jesus.  Holy 
writers  explain  this  to  lis  by  this  familiar 
example :  When  we  take  a  piece  of  iron  out 
of  the  fire,  it  sparkles    and  looks    red  like   fire 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


333 


itself,  but  continues  still  to  be  iron,  retaining 
the  same  name  and  substance  it  had  before, 
though  the  brightness,  Seat  and  other  accidents 
■belong  to  fire :  so  grace,  which  is  a  heavenly- 
quality,  infused  by  God  into  the  soul,  trans- 
forms man  into  God  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
make  him  in  some  measure  partake  of  the  vir- 
tues and  purity  of  God,  without  ceasing  to  be 
man.  Thus  was  he  transformed  who  said,  "  I 
.  live,  now  not  I ;  but  Christ  liveth  in  me ; " 
Gal.  ii.  20. 

Grace  is  also  a  divine  and  supernatural  form, 
by  means  whereof  man  lives  suitably  to  the 
origin  and  source  he  proceeds  from,  which  is 
supernatural  and  divine.  And  here  it  is  the 
providence  of  God  so  gloriously  exerts  itself. 
For  it  being  his  will  that  man  should  have 
two  lives,  the  one  natural  and  the  other  super- 
natural, he  has  to  this  end  given  him  two 
forms,  which  are,  as  it  were,  two  souls,  for  each 
life  one.  Hence  it  follows,  that  as  all  the 
powers  and  sensations  of  the  natural  life  spring 
from  the  soul,  the  natural  form ;  so  from  grace, 
the  supernatural  form,  flow  all  those  virtues 
and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  go  to  the 
support  of  the  supernatural  life.  As  if  one 
man  should  furnish  another,  that  understands 
two  trades,  with  two  sets  of  tools  to  work  at 
them  both. 

Grace  is  moreover  a  spiritual  dress  and 
ornament  for  the  soul  made  up  by  the  hands 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  renders  her  so 
acceptable  to  God  that  he  adopts  her  for  his 
daughter,  and  takes  her  for  his  bride.  It  was 
in  this  dress  the  prophet  gloried,  when  he  said, 
"  I  will  greatly  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  and  my 
soul  shall  be  joyful  in  my  God:  for  he  hath 
clothed  me  with  the  garments  of  salvation  ;  and 
with  the  robe  of  justice  he  hath  covered  me,  as 
a  bridegroom  decked  with  a  crown,  and  as  a 
bride  adorned  with  her  jewels "  (Is.  Ixi.  10); 
which  are  the  several  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
wherewith  the  soul  of  a  just  man  is  adorned 
and  beautified  by  the  hand  of  God.  This  is  the 
garment  of  divers  colors  with  which  the  king's 
daughter,  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  her  bride- 


groom, was  gloriously  arrayed;  Ps.  xliv.  For 
from  grace  come  the  colors  of  the  different 
virtues  and  divine  habits  wherein  their  beauty 
consists. 

By  what  has  been  said,  we  may  judge  what 
effects  grace  works  on  the  soul  it  resides  in. 
One  of  the  greatest  is,  to  make  it  look  so 
lovely  and  fair  to  the  eyes  of  God,  that  he 
chooses  her,  as  has  been  said,  for  his  daughter, 
his  spouse,  his  temple  and  his  habitation,  where 
he  takes  his  pleasure  with  the  children  of  men. 
Another  effect  is,  to  strengthen  the  soul  by 
means  of  those  virtues  it  brings  with  it,  which, 
like  Samson's  hair,  at  the  same  time  confer  both 
force  and  beauty.  She  is  commended  for  both 
these  qualities  in  the  book  of  Canticles  (ch.  vi. 
9) ,  where  the  angels,  admiring  her  beauty,  say, 
"  Who  is  she  that  cometh  forth  as  the  morn- 
ing rising,  fair  as  the  moon,  bright  as  the  sun, 
terrible  as  an  army  set  in  array  ?"  Grace 
then,  as  we  see,  is  like  a  complete  suit  of 
armor  which  secures  a  man  from  head  to  foot. 
It  both  beautifies  and  strengthens  him  in  such 
a  manner,  that,  as  St.  Thomas  says,  the  least 
degree  of  grace  suffices  to  overcome  all  the 
devils  and  all  sorts  of  sin. 

A  third  effect  of  it  is,  to  make  man  so  pleas- 
ing to  God,  and  to  give  him  such  power  with 
him,  that  every  action  deliberately  performed, 
saving  those  that  are  sinful,  is  acceptable  to 
the  meriting  eternal  life.  So  that  not  only 
acts  of  virtue,  but  even  those  actions  that  are 
done  in  submission  to  the  necessities  of  nature, 
as  eating,  drinking,  sleeping  and  the  like,  are 
grateful  to  God,  and  merit  such  a  favor.  For 
when  the  object  itself  is  so  agreeable  and  mer- 
itorious, whatever  it  does  that  is  not  sin  must  be  • 
so  too.  ' 

Besides  all  this,  grace  makes  man  the  adopted 
son  of  God  and  heir  to  his  kingdom.  It  causes 
his  name  to  be  written  in  the  book  of  life,  and 
gives  him  a  claim  to  the  inheritance  of  heaven. 
This  is  the  privilege  our  Saviour  so  highly  com- 
mended to  his  disciples,  when  observing  how 
pleased  they  were  that  the  devils  had  obeyed  them 
in  his    name,  he  said  to  them,  "  Rejoice  not  in 


334 


HOW   TO   SHUN    p:VII.;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


this,  that  spirits  are  subject  unto  you ;  but  re- 
joice in  this,  that  your  names  are  written  in 
heaven  ;"  Luke  x.  20.  This,  therefore,  is  the 
greatest  treasure  a  man  can  wish  for  in  this 
life. 

It  is  grace,  to  conclude,  that  qualifies  man 
for  all  kind  of  good,  that  makes  the  way  to 
heaven  smooth  and  easj',  and  the  yoke  of 
Christ  light  and  pleasant ;  it  is  this  makes  men 
run  in  the  paths  of  virtue;  it  is  this  that  cures 
the  infirmities  of  nature,  and  makes  that  easy 
and  light  which,  whilst  she  was  weak,  weighed 
her  down;  it  is  this  that,  by  means  of  those 
virtues  which  proceed  from  it,  reforms  and 
strengthens  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul, 
enlightening  the  understanding,  inflaming  the 
mind,  refreshing  the  memory,  fortifying  the  free- 
will, moderating  the  coucupiscible  appetite,  that 
it  may  not  give  way  to  evil,  and  animating  the 
heart,  that  it  may  not  be  too  backward  in  the 
pursuit  of  good.  And  because  all  the  passions 
of  nature  which  reside  in  these  two  inferior 
parts  are  like  so  many  hills  that  overlook  and 
command     the    fortress    of  virtue,  or    as    sally 


ports,  through  which  the  devils  enter  into  our 
souls,  to  remedy  this,  grace  sets  a  sentinel  at 
these  places  to  secure  the  passage ;  and  this 
is  some  infused  virtue  sent  down  from  heaven, 
and  placed  there  to  deliver  us  from  those 
dangers  which  the  heat  of  our  passions  may 
expose  us  to.  Thus  temperance,  for  example, 
secures  us  against  gluttony,  chastity  against 
impurity,  humility  against  pride,  and  so  with 
the  rest. 

But  what  is  yet  above  all,  grace  brings  down 
God  himself  into  our  souls,  that  he  by  his 
presence  may  govern,  defend  and  conduct  them 
to  heaven.  There  he  is  like  a  king  on  his 
throne,  like  a  general  in  his  array,  like  a  house- 
keeper in  his  family,  like  a  master  in  his 
school,  and  like  a  shepherd  amidst  his  flock, 
exercising  in  a  spiritual  manner  all  their  sev- 
eral oflBces.  If,  therefore,  so  precious  a  pearl 
as  this  is,  which  brings  in  such  vast  treasures, 
be  the  inseparable  portion  of  virtue,  can  any 
man  refuse  to  imitate  the  direction  of  the  wise 
merchant  in  the  gospel,  who  gave  all  he  had 
for  the  purchase  of  this  jewel  ?  Matt.  xiii.  46. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


OF    THE    THIRD    PRIVILEGE    OF  VIRTUE,   VIZ.:     SUPERNATURAL    LIGHT  AND   KNOWLEDGE. 


|HE  third  privilege  of  virtue  is  a  par- 
ticular light  and  wisdom  God  grants 
the  just,  which,  like  all  the  rest, 
comes  from  that  grace  we  have  spoken 
of.  For  as  it  is  [the  business  of  grace  to 
cure  nature,  and  to  heal  the  infirmities  occa- 
sioned by  sin  in  the  appetite  and  will,  so 
it  enlightens  the  understanding,  which  was 
no  less  obscured  by  sin ;  to  the  end  that 
man,  through  the  one,  may  know  his  duty, 
and  by  the  help  of  the  other  may  put  it  in 
execution.  It  is  on  this  account  St.  Gregory  says, 
in  his  Morals,  "  That  as  man's  not  knowing  his 
duty  is  a  punishment  for  his  sins,  so  is  his  not 
being  able  to  perform  it  when  he   does    know 


it ;"  L.  25,  c.  9.  For  the  same  reason  the  psalm- 
ist so  often  repeats.  The  Lord  is  mj  light  against 
ignorance  ;  The  Lord  is  my  sahaiion  against  the 
want  of  power.  By  the  one  we  are  taught  what 
we  are  to  desire,  and  we  are  enabled  by  the  other 
to  bring  our  desires  about ;  but  they  both  de- 
pend on  grace.  And,  therefore,  besides  the  hab- 
its of  faith  and  of  infused  wisdom,  which  instruct 
us  in  what  we  are  to  believe,  and  what  we  are  to 
do,  there  are  added,  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
whereof  four  belong  to  the  understanding  ;  which 
are,  that  of  wisdom,  to  give  us  the  knowledge 
of  the  sublimest  things  ;  that  of  knowledge,  for 
those  things  that  are  lower;  that  of  understand- 
ing, to  dive  into  the  divine  mysteries,  and  see 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,    THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


335 


how  beautiful  they  are,  and  how  consonant  to 
one  another;  and  that  of  counsel,  to  direct  us 
how  to  conduct  ourselves  amidst  the  difiBculties 
so  frequent  to  be  met  with  in  this  life. 

All  these  rays  of  the  divine  light  are  reflected 
on  us  by  grace,  which,  in  the  Holy  Scripture 
is  called  an  unction  or  anointing :  "  And  this 
anointing,"  says  St.  John,  "  instructeth  you  in 
all  things;"  i  John  ii.  20.  For  as  oil,  above  all 
other  liquid  things,  is  good  both  for  the  nourish- 
ing of  light  and  for  the  curing  of  wounds,  so  this 
divine  unction  performs  both,  curing  the  wounds 
of  our  will,  and  enlightening  the  darkness  of  our 
understanding.  This  is  the  oil  more  precious 
than  any  balsam,  which  David  gloried  in,  when 
he  said,  "  Thou,  O  Lord,  hast  anointed  my  head 
with  oil;"  Ps.  xxii.  5.  It  is  plain  he  speaks 
not  here  of  a  corporeal  head,  or  of  material  oil, 
but  of  a  spiritual  head,  which  is  the  noblest 
part  of  our  souls ;  and,  according  to  Didymus, 
on  this  text,  the  seat  of  the  understanding,  and 
of  the  spiritual  oil,  which  is  the  light  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  that  feeds  this  lamp  and  keeps  it 
in.  This  holy  king  was  sensible  of  the  light 
this  oil  gave,  as  he  himself  confesses  in  these 
words :  "  The  uncertain  and  hidden  things  of 
thy  wisdom  thou  hast  manifested  to  me ;  " 
Ps.   1.    6. 

Another  reason  is,  that  since  it  is  grace 
makes  a  man  virtuous,  and  since  it  cannot  do 
this  without  disposing  him  to  a  sorrow  for  his 
past  life,  to  a  horror  of  sin,  to  a  love  of  God, 
to  a  desire  of  heavenly  things,  and  to  a  con- 
tempt of  the  earthly,  the  will  can  never  be 
excited  to  such  affections  unless  the  under- 
standing receive  a  sufficient  light  and  knowl- 
edge to  produce  them.  For  the  will  is  a  blind 
faculty,  altogether  unfit  to  act,  unless  the 
understanding  go  before,  and  inform  it  what 
is  good  or  bad,  that  so  it  may,  accordingly, 
fix  or  withdraw  its  affection.  St.  Thomas, 
to  this  purpose,  says,  "  That  the  knowl- 
edge of  God's  goodness  and  beauty  increases 
in  the  souls  of  the  just  proportionably  to 
the  love  they  have  for  him.  So  that,  if  the  one 
advance  a  hundred  degrees,  the  other   will   ad- 


vance as  many ;  because  he  that  loves  much 
must  know  a  great  many  qualities  in  the  thing 
he  loves  which  make  it  deserve  his  love ;  and  so 
on  the  contrary;"  S.  Th.  2,  2,  qu.  2,  ar.  4. 
What  we  say  of  the  love  of  God  is  also  to  be  un- 
derstood of  fear,  of  hope,  and  of  the  horror  of 
sin,  which  he  can  never  have  above  all  things, 
if  he  does  not  know  that  it  is  so  great  an  evil* 
as  to  deserve  such  hatred.  For  as  the  Holy 
Ghost  requires  all  these  affections  to  be  in  the 
soul  of  a  just  man,  he  expects  there  should  be 
cause  to  occasion  and  produce  them ;  even  as 
when  he  designed  to  work  different  effects  on 
the  earth,  he  appointed  there  should  be  differ- 
ent causes  and  influences  in  the  heavens. 

Moreover,  since,  as  we  have  said  before,  grace 
makes  God  dwell  in  the  soul  of  a  just  man,  and 
God,  according  to  St.  John  (i.  9),  "  is  a  light  en- 
lightening every  man  that  cometh  into  this 
world,"  it  is  certain,  the  purer  and  cleaner  he 
finds  this  habitation,  the  rays  of  his  divine  light 
will  shine  the  brighter  on  it ;  as  a  glass,  the 
clearer  it  is,  the  brighter  and  the  stronger  it  re- 
flects the  sun.  St.  Augustine,  therefore,  calls 
God  "  the  wisdom  of  a  purified  soul  "  (Lib.  2,  de 
Lib.  Arbit.),  for  enlightening  the  soul,  which  is  in 
such  a  state,  with  the  raj'S  of  his  light,  and  in- 
structing it  in  what  is  necessary  to  its  salvation. 
And  what  wonder  that  God  should  do  this  for 
man,  since  it  is,  in  some  manner,  what  he 
dees  for  other  creatures  ?  For  they,  by 
a  certain  natural  in.stinct,  know  all  those 
things  that  are  necessary  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  being.  Who  has  taught  the 
sheep,  among  so  many  different  plants,  to  avoid 
those  which  are  hurtful  to  them,  and  to  browse 
on  those  which  are  not  ?  From  whom  has  it 
learned  what  creature  is  its  enemy,  and  what 
its  friend ;  and  by  this  means  to  run  from  the 
wolf,  and  to  follow  the  mastiff  ?  Is  it  not  from 
God  ?  Now,  if  God  thus  instructs  the  brutes, 
for  the  preserving  of  their  natural  life,  how 
much  more  reason  have  we  to  think  he  will 
enlighten  the  just  with  such  a  knowledge  as 
shall  be  necessary  to  the  maintaining  0/  their 
spiritual   life,  considering   that   man  stands   iv 


336 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


no  less  need  of  those  things  that  are  above  his 
nature,  than  brutes  do  of  such  as  are  suitable 
•to  theirs?  And  if  the  divine  providence  has 
been  so  careful  in  providing  what  regards  nature 
only,  how  much  more  solicitous  will  it  be  in 
furnishing  us  with  such  things  as  regard  grace, 
•which  are  infinitely  more  excellent,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  far  above  the  reach  and  power  of  man  ! 
This  example  teaches  us,  not  only  that 
there  is  such  a  knowledge,  but  what  a  kind 
of  knowledge  it  is,  which  consists  not  so 
much  in  the  speculation  as  in  the  practice ; 
since  it  is  given  us  more  for  the  direction 
of  our  actions  than  for  the  improvement  of  our 
understanding,  and  is  rather  to  instruct  us 
how  to  perform  all  we  do  virtuously  than  how 
to  discourse  learnedl}-.  For  this  reason,  it  stops 
not  at  the  understanding,  as  that  knowledge  we 
acquire  in  the  schools  does,  but  communicates 
itself  to  the  will,  and  makes  it  ready  in  the 
performance  of  whatever  this  knowledge  inclines 
it  to.  This  is  the  property  of  the  inspirations 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who,  like  an  accomplished 
master,  perfectly  instructs  those  under  his  care, 
in  all  that  is  requisite  for  them  to  know.  And, 
therefore,  the  Spouse,  in  the  Canticles  (ch.  v. 
6),  says,  "My  soul  melted  away  when  my 
laeloved  spake."  Thus  we  may  see  what  dif- 
ference there  is  between  this  and  human  learn- 
ing. For,  whereas  the  one  does  nothing  else 
but  increase  the  understanding,  the  other,  more- 
over, governs  and  excites  the  will,  and,  by  its 
virtue,  searches  unto  all  the  recesses  of  our  souls, 
doing  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  reformation 
of  each  in  particular.  Whereon  the  apostle  says, 
"The  word  of  God  is  quick  and  powerful,  and 
sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword "  (Heb.  iv. 
12) ;  because  it  separates  the  sensual  part  of 
man  from  the  spiritual,  cutting  asunder  those 
unhappy  knots  which  generally  tie  the  flesh  and 
the  spirit  together,  when  the  spirit,  closely 
contracting  with  the  wicked  flesh,  becomes  one 
with  it.  It  ic  the  force  and  eflScacy  of  the  word 
of  God  that  breaks  this  knot,  and  makes  man 
follow,  not  the  dictates  of  the  flesh,  but  of  the 
spirit. 


This  is  one  of  the  chief  effects  of  grace,  and 
a  particular  privilege  of  virtuous  men  in  this 
life.  But,  because  carnal  and  sensual  men,  per- 
haps, can  neither  understand,  nor  will  so  read- 
ily believe  this  truth,  I  will  make  it  plainly 
appear  to  them,  by  several  passages  both  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament.  In  the  New,  our 
Saviour  says :  "  The  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the 
Father  will  send  in  my  name,  shall  teach  you 
all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remem- 
brance, whatsoever  I  have  said  imto  you ; " 
John  xiv.  26.  He  tells  us  in  another  place 
(ch.  vi.  45),  "It  is  written  in  the  prophets, 
And  they  shall  be  all  taught  by  God.  Every 
man,  therefore,  that  hath  heard  and  hath  learned 
of  the  Father  cometh  unto  me;"  Isa.  liv.  13. 
He  has  told  us,  in  like  manner,  by  his  prophet 
Jeremy,  "  I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward 
parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts.  And  they 
shall  teach  no  more  every  man  his  neighbor, 
and  every  man  his  brother,  saying,  know  the 
Lord  ;  for  they  shall  all  know  me  ;  "  Isa,  xxxi. 
33,  34.  In  the  prophet  Isaias  (ch.  liv.  11,  12, 
13),  the  Lord,  speaking  of  the  prosperity  of  his 
Church,  uses  these  words  :  "  Oh,  thou  afflicted, 
tossed  with  tempests,  and  not  comforted  !  Be- 
hold, I  will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair  colors,  and 
lay  thy  foundations  with  sapphires.  And  I  will 
make  thy  windows  of  agates,  and  thy  gates  of 
carbuncles,  and  all  thy  borders  of  pleasant 
stones.  And  all  thy  children  shall  be  taught 
of  the  Lord."  He  repeats  the  same  again, 
elsewhere,  by  the  same  prophet :  "  I  am  the 
Lord  thy  God,  which  teacheth  thee  to  profit, 
which  leadeth  thee  by  the  way  that  thou 
shouldst  go ; "  ch.  xlviii.  16.  By  these 
words  are  understood  two  sorts  of  knowledge, 
that  of  saints,  and  that  of  wise  men.  It  is 
that  of  the  saints  which  Solomon  speaks  of, 
when  he  says,  "  The  knowledge  of  the  holy  is 
understanding;"  Prov.  ix.  10.  For  bare  knowl- 
edge does  but  teach  us  how  to  know,  but 
prudence  instructs  us  how  to  act  by  what  we 
know ;  and  this  is  the  knowledge  of  holy  men. 

Besides,  how  often   shall  we    find   this   very 
same  wisdom  promised  to  the  just,  in  David's 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


337 


Psalms.  In  one  of  them,  lie  says,  "  The  month 
of  the  righteous  shall  be  exercised  in  wisdom, 
and  his  tongue  will  be  talking  of  judgment;" 
Ps.  xxxvi.  30.  God,  in  another,  makes  the  good 
man  this  promise  :  "  I  will  instruct  thee  and 
teach  thee  in  the  way  which  thou  shalt  go  ;"  Ps. 
xxxi.  8.  In  another,  as  if  it  were  a  business  of 
the  greatest  consequence,  the  prophet  puts  the 
question,  saying,  "  What  man  is  he  that  feareth 
the  Lord  ?  him  shall  he  teach  in  the  way  he 
shall  choose  ;"  Ps.  xxiv.  12.  And  in  the  same 
psalm  we  have  these  words :  "The  salvation  of 
the  just  is  of  the  Lord;"  which  St.  Jerome  ren- 
ders thus  :  "  The  Lord  discovers  his  secrets  to 
those  that  fear  him,  and  he  will  show  them 
his  covenant ;"  that  is,  his  holy  laws  are 
made  known  to  them.  This  knowledge  is 
a  great  light  to  the  understanding,  a  de- 
licious food  to  the  will,  and  the  greatest  pleas- 
ure man  can  enjoy.  The  same  prophet  calls  it 
a  pasture  in  which  God  fed  him ;  a  water  with 
which  he  refreshed  his  soul ;  and  a  table  upon 
which  were  placed  such  meats  as  might 
strengthen  him  against  all  the  power  of  his 
enemies  ;  Ps.  xxii.  2,  5.  For  which  reason,  the 
same  prophet  so  frequently  begs  for  this  inward 
light,  and  for  their  inward  instructions,  in  that 
divine  psalm,  which  begins,  "  Blessed  are  the 
undefiled ; "  Ps.  cxviii.  To  this  end,  he  says, 
in  one  place,  "  O  Lord,  I  am  thy  servant ;  give 
me  understanding,  that  I  may  know  thy  testi- 
monies; "  ver.  12.  In  another  place,  "Open 
thou  my  eyes,  O  Lord,  that  I  may  behold 
wondrous  things  out  of  thy  law;"  ver.  18. 
And  again,  "  Give  me  understanding,  and  I 
shall  search  into  thy  law,  and  I  shall  observe 
it  with  my  whole  heart ; "  ver.  34.  This  is,  in 
fine,  the  petition  he  so  often  makes  in  this 
psalm.  Nor  would  he  have  done  it  with  such 
earnestness,  had  he  not  been  very  well  acquainted 
with  its  efficacy,  and  with  the  manner  of  God's 
communicating  the  same. 

All  this  being  undeniably  true,  what  greatei 
honor  can  man  receive,  than  to  have  such  a 
master  and  such  a  school  to  go  to,  where  the 
Lord    himself  teaches    his  elect    this  heavenly 


wisdom  ?  If,  as  St.  Jerome  says',  men  in  former 
times  went  as  far  as  Rome,  from  the  remotest 
parts  of  France  and  Spain,  to  see  Livy,  a  man 
so  renowned  for  his  eloquence  (Ep.  120,  ad 
Paulin) ;  and  if  Apollonius,  who  had  the  false 
reputation  of  one  of  the  wise  men  of  his  age, 
went  to  Mount  Caucasus,  and  traversed  the 
greatest  part  of  the  world,  to  see  Hiarchas  sit- 
ting among  a  few  scholars,  on  a  golden  throne, 
disputing  with  them  on  the  motions  of  the 
heavens  and  of  the  planets  ;  what  should  men 
do  to  hear  God,  seated  on  the  throne  of  their 
hearts,  not  to  teach  them  how  the  heavens 
move,  but  how  they  themselves  may  move 
thither  ? 

And,  that  you  may  not  look  on  this  doctrine 
as  contemptible,  hear  the  royal  prophet's  com- 
mendations of  it :  "I  have  more  understanding 
than  all  my  teachers,  because  thy  testimonies 
are  my  meditation  ;  I  understand  more  than  the 
aged,  because  I  have  soiight  after  thy  command- 
ments ; "  Ps.  cxviii.  99,  100.  Nay,  the  Lord 
promises  more  than  all  this,  by  his  prophet 
Isaias,  to  those  that  serve  him.  "  The  Lord," 
says  he,  "  shall  give  thee  rest,  and  shall  fill  thy 
soul  with  brightness,  and  shall  set  thy  bones  at 
liberty ;  and  thou  shalt  be  like  a  watered  garden, 
and  like  a  spring  of  water,  whose  waters  should 
not  fail;"  Isa.  Iviii.  11.  What  brightness  is 
this,  wherewith  God  fills  the  souls  of  his  ser- 
vants, but  the  knowledge  he  gives  them  of  things 
necessary  to  their  salvation  ?  For  it  is  he  that 
shows  them  how  beautiful  virtue  is,  and  how 
deformed  vice :  he  it  is  that  tells  them  how  vain 
a  thing  the  world  is,  that  informs  them  of  the 
worth  of  grace,  the  greatness  of  eternal  glory, 
the  sweetness  of  those  consolations  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  bestows,  the  goodness  of  God,  the 
malice  of  the  devil,  the  shortness  of  life,  and  the 
general  mistake  of  most  men.  God,  as  the  same 
prophet  observes,  by  virtue  of  this  knowledge, 
makes  his  servants  dwell  on  high,  "  that  they 
may  behold  the  king  in  his  beauty,  and  look 
down  upon  the  earth  that  is  very  far  off;"  Isa. 
xxxiii.  17.  Therefore,  the  things  of  this  world 
are  of  so  little  value  with  them,  because,  besides 


338 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,  THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


their  being  generally  so,  they  see  them  only  at 
a  distance ;  but  as  to  the  riches  of  the  other 
world,  they  prize  them  at  what  they  are  worth, 
as  having  a  very  near  view  of  them.  The  wicked, 
on  the  contrary,  having  a  distant  prospect  of 
heavenly  things,  and  standing  so  close  by  the 
earthly,  undervalue  those,  and  overrate  these. 
This  is  what  preserves  such  persons  as  partake  of 
this  heavenly  gift  from  being  either  puffed  up 
with  prosperity,  or  cast  down  by  adversity ;  for 
they,  by  the  help  of  this  light,  see  how  little 
what  the  world  can  give  them  is  in  comparison 
of  what  they  have  from  God.  And,  therefore, 
Solomon  sa3's,  "The  goodly  man  remaineth  in 
wisdom  like  the  sun,  but  the  fool  is  changed  like 
the  moon;"  Ecclus.  xxvii.  12.  Upon  which 
words  St.  Ambrose  says,  "  That,  as  for  the 
\vise  man,  neither  can  fear  move  him,  nor  power 
change  him ;  amidst  his  prosperity  he  is  never 
proud  (Epist.  L.  2),  nor  melancholy  in  the  midst 
of  troubles  (Ep.  7);  because  virtue,  strength  and 
courage  are  the  perpetual  attendants  on  wisdom." 
Such  a  man's  soul  is  always  in  an  even  temper ; 
no  change  makes  him  either  greater  or  less  ;  nor 
is  he  to  be  carried  away  by  the  \vinds  of  a  new  doc- 
trine, but  remains  steady  in  Jesus  Christ,  immov- 
able in  his  charity,  unshaken  in  his  faith. 

Nor  are  we  to  wonder  at  the  force  of  this 
wisdom,  since  it  is  not  earthly,  but  heavenly ; 
which  does  not  puff  up,  but  edify ;  which  does  not 
enlighten  the  understanding  by  its  speculation, 
but  inflames  the  will  with  its  heat.  Thus  won- 
derfully was  St.  Augustine  touched  and  moved, 
that,  as  is  written  of  him,  he  never  heard  the 
psalms  and  hymns  of  the  Church  sung  but  he 
wept.  The  words,  entering  in  at  his  ears,  sunk 
down  to  the  very  bottom  of  his  heart,  whilst  the 
warmth  of  his  devotion  spread  the  truth  of  them 
throughout  his  whole  soul.  This  made  him 
break  out  into  tears,  and,  according  to  his  own 
confession,  gave  him  a  great  deal  of  joy  and  com- 
fort. O  blessed  tears  !  O  divine  school !  O  happy 
wisdom,  that  bears  such  fruit  as  this  I  Conf.  L. 
9,  V.  24.  Is  there  any  in  the  world  we  can  com- 
pare with  this  wisdom  ?  Job  says,  "  It  cannot  be 
gotten  for  gold,  neither  shall  silver  be  weighed 


for  the  price  thereof  It  cannot  be  valued  with  ttr- 
gold  of  Ophir,  with  the  precious  onyx,  or  the 
sapphire.  No  mention  shall  be  made  of  coral  or 
of  pearls,  for  the  price  of  wisdom  is  above  rubies," 
etc.  Job  xxviii.  15,  16,  etc.  After  all  these 
commendations,  the  holy  man  concludes  :  "  Be- 
hold the  fear  of  the  Lord  that  is  wisdom,  and  to 
depart  from  evil  is  understanding  ;  "  ver.  28. 

This  is  one  of  the  greatest  rewards  that  can  be 
offered  to  excite  you  to  follow  virtue.  And 
Solomon  makes  this  proposal  to  encourage  men 
to  a  good  life :  ''  My  son,  if  thou  wilt  receive  my 
words,  and  hide  my  commandments  with  thee, 
then  shalt  thou  understand  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
and  find  the  knowledge  of  God.  For  the  Lord 
giveth  wisdom  ;  out  of  his  mouth  cometh  knowl- 
edge and  understanding  ;  "  Prov.  i.  5,  6.  This 
wisdom  does  not  always  continue  in  the  same 
degree,  but  receives  a  daily  increase  of  light  and 
knowledge,  as  the  same  wise  man  has  hinted  to  us 
"  The  part  of  the  just,"  says  he,  "  is  as  the  shin- 
ing light,  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
perfect  day"  (Prov.  iv.  18);  the  day  of  this 
blessed  eternity,  wherein  we  shall  receive  the 
divine  inspirations,  I  will  not  say,  with  Job's 
friends,  by  stealth,  but  shall  have  a  full  sight 
and  knowledge  of  God  himself;  Job  iv.  12, 

Of  this  true  wisdom  the  children  of  light  par- 
take, whilst  the  wicked,  on  the  contrary,  live  in 
such  ignorance,  that  like  the  Egyptian  darkness, 
they  may  feel  it  with  their  hands.  We  have  a 
lively  figure  of  the  one  in  the  land  of  Jessen, 
where  the  Israelites  lived,  which  always  enjoyed 
the  light :  and  of  the  other  in  the  land  of  Egypt 
(Ex.  X.  22,  23),  which  was  quite  covered  over 
with  darkness,  a  true  emblem  of  that  horrible 
blindness  in  which  the  wicked  live,  as  they  them- 
selves acknowledge  in  Isaias,  when  they  say 
"  We  looked  for  light,  but  behold  obscurity  ;  for 
brightness,  and  we  have  walked  in  the  dark.  We 
have  groped  for  the  wall,  and  like  the  blind,  we 
have  groped  as  if  we  had  no  eyes ;  we  have 
stumbled  at  noon-day  as  in  the  dark ;  we  are 
in  dark  places  as  dead  men ; "  Isa.  lix.  9, 
10.  What  greater  blindness  than  what  the 
wicked  fall  into  every  step  they  take  ?     What 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


339 


greater  blindness  than  for  a  man  to  sell  the  solid 
joys  of  heaven  for  the  vanities  of  the  world? 
What  greater  blindness  than  for  a  man  not  to  be 
afraid  of  hell,  not  to  seek  after  heaven,  not  to 
have  a  horror  for  sin,  not  to  think  of  the  last 
judgment,  not  to  regard  the  threats  or  promises 
which  God  has  made,  not  to  be  afraid  of  death 
which  may  every  moment  surprise  him,  not  to 
prepare  himself  for  the  making  up  of  his  accounts, 
not  to  see  how  short  and  momentary  his  delights 
are,  whilst  the  torments  that  shall  follow  them 
are  to  last  forever  ?  "  They  will  not  be  learned 
nor  understand,"  says  the  royal  prophet,  "  but 
walk  on  in  darkness  "  (Ps.  Ixxxi.  5)  ;  from  an 
inward  darkness  to  an  outward  one,  from  the 
darkness  of  this  life  to  that  of  the  next. 

I  shall  conclude  this  chapter  with  a  word  or 
two  of  advice,  which  is,  that,  notwithstanding 
the  truth  of  all  I  have  said  upon  this  matter,  a 
man,  how  just  soever  he  is,  should  not  on  this 
account  withdraw  himself  from  the  humble  sub- 
mission he  owes  to  the  opinion  and  counsel  of 
those  above  him,  especially  of  such  as  are  looked 


upon  as  the  doctors  of  the  Church.  For  was  ever 
man  more  enlightened  than  St.  Paul  or  Moses, 
who  talked  with  God  face  to  face  ?  And  yet  one 
of  them  goes  to  Jerusalem  to  confer  with  the 
Apostles  on  the  gospel  he  had  learned  in  the 
third  heaven  (Gal.  ii.  i,  2);  and  the  other 
refuses  not  the  advice  of  Jethro  his  father-in-law, 
though  a  heathen  ;  Ex.  xviii.  The  reason  is, 
because  the  inward  helps  of  grace  exclude  the 
outward  assistance  of  the  Church,  since  the 
Divine  Providence  has  been  pleased  to  allow 
them  both  to  supply  our  weakness,  which  stands 
much  in  need  of  them.  As,  therefore,  the  out- 
ward heat  of  the  air  maintains  the  inward  natural 
heat,  and  as  nature,  after  all  its  care  to  procure 
the  health  of  every  particular,  is  assisted  with 
such  medicines  as  have  been  created  for  this  end, 
so  is  the  light  and  doctrine  of  the  Church  a  help 
to  the  inward  lights  and  assistance  of  grace,  and 
whosoever  refuses  with  humility  to  submit  to 
the  authority  of  the  one,  is  to  be  judged 
unworthy  to  receive  the  favors  and  helps  of  the 
other. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

OF  THE  FOURTH  PRIVILEGE   OF  VIRTUE,  THAT  IS,  THE   CONSOLATIONS   WHICH   GOOD  MEN 

RECEIVE  FROM  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 


MIGHT  here  very  well,  after  having 
spoke  of  the  light  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  enlightens  the  darkness  of  our 
understandings,  count  charity  and  the 
love  of  God,  with  which  our  wills  are  inflamed, 
as  the  fourth  privilege  of  virtue,  especially  since 
the  Apostle  accounts  it  the  first  fruit  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  But  our  design  at  present  being  not  so 
much  to  treat  of  virtue  itself,  as  of  the  favors 
granted  to  it,  and  charity  being  not  only  a  virtue, 
but  of  all  virtues  the  noblest,  we  shall  forbear  to 
treat  of  it  here  ;  not  but  that  we  might  speak  of 
it  in  this  place,  though  not  as  of  a  virtue,  yet  as 
of  a  gift  which  God  bestows  on  the  virtuous, 
inflaming  their  wills  in  an  unspeakable  manner, 


and  making  them  love  God  above  all  things. 
The  more  perfect  this  virtue  grows,  the  pleas- 
anter  it  becomes,  so  that  we  may  therefore  look  on 
it  as  the  fruit  and  reward,  not  onl}?-  of  the  virtues, 
but  of  itself  too.  But  not  to  be  thought  ambi- 
tious of  speaking  too  much  in  commendation  of 
this  virtue,  which  gives  us  so  many  other  occa- 
sions of  speaking  in  its  favor,  I  will  assign  the 
fourth  place  to  the  joy  and  comfort  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  it  being  the  natural  property  of  charity 
itself,  and  one  of  the  chief  fruits  of  this  same 
spirit,  as  St.  Paul  tells  us  ;  Gal.  v.  22. 

This  privilege  is  a  branch  of  the  former ; 
because,  as  we  said  before,  this  light,  with  which 
God  enlightens  his  servants,  does  not  stop  at  the 


340 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


understanding,  but  descends  into  the  will,  and 
there  darts  out  the  rays  of  its  brightness,  with 
which  it  entertains  them,  and  gives  them  a  won- 
derful delight  in  God.  So  that  from  this  spirit- 
ual light  comes  the  spiritual  joy  we  speak  of,  as 
the  material  light  produces  the  heat  we  perceive 
by  our  senses.  This  gave  the  royal  prophet 
occasion  to  say,  "  Light  is  risen  to  the  just,  and 
joy  to  the  right  of  heart ;"  Ps.  xcvi.  ii.  We 
have  treated  on  this  subject  elsewhere,  yet  we 
may  venture  to  speak  of  it  again,  -without  any 
fear  of  repeating  what  we  said  before. 

For  the  better  pursuing  the  design  of  this 
book,  we  must  first  explain  the  greatness  of  this 
joy,  because  the  knowing  of  this  will  go  a 
great  way  towards  making  men  in  love  with  vir- 
tue. We  all  know,  that  as  all  kinds  of  miseries 
are  included  in  vice,  so  are  all  kinds  of  delight 
in  virtue,  those  excepted  which  the  wicked  com- 
plain they  have  not.  For  which  reason, man  being 
naturally  a  friend  to  pleasure,  these  persons  tell 
us,  by  their  actions  at  least,  if  not  by  word  of 
mouth,  that  they  had  rather  enjoy  what  pleases 
them,  though  at  the  expense  of  their  salvation, 
than  not  to  satisfj'  their  sensual  desires,  though 
hell  follows  the  consenting  to  them.  Lactantius, 
writing  on  this  subject,  says,  "  that  men  are 
frightened  into  a  flight  from  virtue,  and  charmed 
into  a  pursuit  of  vice,  because  vice  has  a  sensible 
pleasure  attending  it ;"  L.  2,  de  Falsa  Relig.  c. 
2.  This  being  the  rise  of  so  many  misfortunes, 
he  that  shall  disabuse  men  of  this  mistake,  and 
show  them  plainly  that  the  way  of  virtue  is  much 
more  pleasant  than  that  of  vice,  must  certainly 
be  very  serviceable  to  mankind  in  general.  My 
design,  therefore,  is,  to  prove  this  to  them  by 
unquestionable  authorities,  drawn  particularly 
from  the  Holy  Scripture,  the  best  proof  we  can 
bring  for  matters  of  this  nature,  since  "  heaven 
and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  the  words  of  God 
shall  not ;"  Mark  xiii.  31. 

Tell  me,  then,  blind,  deluded  man  !  if  the  way 
to  heaven  be  so  rough  and  so  unpleasant  as  you 
imagine  it  is,  what  means  the  prophet  David, 
when  he  says,  "  O  how  plentiful  is  thy  sweetness, 
which  thou  hast  laid  up  for  them  that  fear  thee !" 


Ps.  xxx.  20.  Here  he  lets  us  see  what  delights 
the  virtuous  enjoy,  and  why  they  are  unknown 
to  the  wicked,  because  God  hides  them  from  such. 
What,  likewise,  do  these  words  of  the  same 
prophet  signify:  "  My  soul  shall  rejoice  in  the 
Lord,  and  shall  be  delighted  in  his  salvation. 
All  my  bones,"  that  is,  all  the  powers  of  my  soul, 
"  shall  say.  Lord,  who  is  like  to  thee  ?"  Ps,  xxxiv. 
9,  10.  This  is  to  teach  us,  that  the  comfort  the 
just  have  is  so  great,  that,  notwithstanding  it  is 
immediately  received  by  the  spirit,  it  rebounds  in 
such  a  manner  on  the  flesh,  that  though  its  chief 
delight  is  in  carnal  things,  yet,  by  the  communi- 
cation of  the  spirit,  it  is  pleased  with  the  spirit- 
ual, and  places  its  satisfaction  in  God,  and  that 
with  such  transports  of  joy,  that  all  the  bones  of 
the  body  being  ravished  with  this  sweetness,  men 
are  forced  to  cry  out,  "Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O 
Lord  ?"  What  pleasures  are  to  be  compared  with 
those  we  enjoy  in  thee?  What  content,  what 
love,  what  peace,  what  delight  can  any  creature 
g^ve,  like  what  we  receive  from  thee  ?  What  is 
it  again  the  same  prophet  means  by  his  saying, 
"  The  voice  of  rejoicing  and  of  salvation  is  in  the 
tabernacles  of  the  just?"  (Ps.  cxvii.  15)  but  to 
tell  us,  that  true  peace  and  pleasure  are  nowhere 
to  be  met  with,  but  in  the  dwellings  of  the  just. 
He  says  again,  "  Let  the  just  feast  and  rejoice 
before  God ;  and  be  delighted  with  gladness  ;" 
Ps.  Ixvii.  3.  And  this  to  show  us,  what  spiritual 
feasts  God  often  makes  for  the  entertainment  of 
his  elect,  by  giving  them  a  taste  of  heavenly 
things  for  the  refreshment  of  their  souls. 

It  is  at  these  divine  banquets  they  drink,  that 
delicious  wine,  the  same  prophet  so  highly  com- 
mends :  "  They  shall  be  inebriated,"  says  he, 
"  O  Lord,  with  the  plenty  of  thy  house,  and  thou 
shalt  make  them  drink  of  the  torrent  of  thy 
pleasure  ;"  Ps.  xxxv.  9.  Could  the  prophet  have 
used  more  expressive  words  to  show  how  these 
delights  even  force  men  to  a  hearty  love  of  God  ? 
For  as  one,  that  has  drank  a  deal  of  wine,  loses 
the  use  of  his  senses,  and  is,  in  that  point,  like 
a  dead  man  ;  so  he,  that  has  once  drank  of  this 
celestial  banquet,  dies  to  the  world,  and  to  the 
irregular  desires  of  what  is  in  it. 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


341 


We  read  again,  "  Happy  is  the  people,  that 
know  what  jubilation  isl"  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  16. 
Others  would  perhaps  have  said,  Happy  they 
who  roll  in  riches,  who  are  enclosed  with  strong 
walls,  and  have  their  soldiers  to  defend  them  I 
But  holy  David,  who  had  a  good  share  of  these 
things,  terms  only  him  happy^  who,  by  experi- 
ence, knows  what  it  is  to  rejoice  in  God,  and  that 
not  with  an  ordinary  joy,  but  with  such  a  one  as 
deserves  the  name  of  jubilation  ;  which,  accord- 
ing to  St.  Gregory,  is  a  joy  of  spirit,  we  can 
neither  express  by  words,  nor  discover  by  out- 
ward signs  and  actions  ;  L.  24,  Moral,  c.  3.  Hap- 
py they,  who  have  made  such  an  advance  in  the 
love  of  God  as  to  have  experience  of  this  jubila- 
tion I  It  is  a  knowledge,  which  neither  Plato, 
with  all  his  wisdom,  nor  Demosthenes,  with  all 
his  eloquence,  could  arrive  to.  For  God  resides 
in  none,  but  in  the  pure  and  humble  of  heart. 
If,  then,  God  be  the  Author  of  this  joy,  how 
great  must  it  be  of  course,  since  the  comforts, 
that  come  from  him,  are  as  equally  proportioned 
to  himself,  as  are  the  punishments  he  inflicts  ? 
If,  then,  he  punishes  with  so  much  rigor,  with 
what  sweet  delights  must  he  fill  the  souls  of  those 
that  love  him  ?  If  his  arm  is  so  heavy,  when  he 
holds  it  out  to  chastise,  how  light  must  it  be 
when  stretched  out  to  caress  ?  For  he  is  more 
wonderful  in  his  works  of  mercy  than  in  those  of 
justice. 

What  cellar  of  rich  wine  is  that,  which  the 
Spouse  in  the  Canticles  (ch.  i.  3)  boasts  of  her 
being  carried  into  by  her  beloved,  and  of  being 
filled  there  with  charity  and  love  ?  What  noble 
banquet  is  that,  which  the  same  Spouse  invites 
us  to  ?  "  Eat,  O  friends,  and  drink,  and  be  in- 
ebriated, my  dearly  beloved;"  Cant.  v.  i.  We  look 
on  that  man  to  be  drunk,  when,  having  had  more 
wine  than  his  natural  heat  can  digest,  the  vapors 
fly  up  into  his  head,  and  rendering  him  incapable 
of  governing  himself,  force  him  to  follow  the 
impressions  they  make  on  his  imagination.  If 
this  be  so,  what  condition  must  a  soul  be  in,  that 
has  drank  so  much  of  this  heavenly  wine,  and  is 
so  full  of  God  and  of  his  love,  as  to  be  over- 
charged with  an  excess  of  delight  and  pleasure, 


and  to  be  made  unable,  with  all  its  force,  to  bear 
up  under  such  a  weight  of  happiness  ?  So  it  is 
written  of  St.  Ephrem,  that  he  was  so  often  over- 
powered with  the  strength  of  the  wine  of  this 
divine  sweetness,  that  his  body  not  being  able  to 
support  these  delights,  he  was  forced  to  cry  out, 
"  Retire  from  me  a  little,  O  Lord !  because 
my  body  is  too  weak  to  endure  the  force  of 
thy  sweetness  any  longer ;"  St.  John  Clim. 
deg.  19. 

O  unspeakable  goodness  !  O  immense  sweet- 
ness of  this  sovereign  Lord  I  who  communicates 
himself  with  such  profusion  to  his  creatures,  that 
their  bodies  are  too  weak,  and  their  hearts  to  nar- 
row, to  endure  and  contain  the  strength  and  ful- 
ness of  such  charms  I  It  is  by  this  celestial  wine 
the  powers  of  the  soul  are  lulled  to  rest ;  it  is 
this,  that  gives  them  a  gentle  slumber  of  peace 
and  life  ;  it  is  this,  that  raises  the  soul  above  her- 
self;  it  is  by  virtue  of  this  she  knows,  and  loves, 
and  enjoys  such  pleasures,  as  are  far  above  the 
strength  of  her  natural  faculties.  Hence  it  fol- 
lows, that  as  water  over  a  fire,  when  it  has  arrived 
to  a  certain  degree  of  heat,  forgetful,  as  it  were, 
of  its  own  quality,  which  is  to  be  heavy,  and  con- 
sequently to  tend  downward,  mounts  upwards, 
borrowing  the  natural  lightness  of  fire,  which 
gives  it  this  extraordinary  motion  ;  so  the  soul, 
warmed  with  this  heavenly  fire,  lifts  herself  up 
above  herself,  and,  endeavoring  to  fly  from  earth 
to  heaven,  from  whence  this  flame  was  darted,  is 
transported  with  the  desire  of  enjoying  God; 
runs  after  him,  with  all  the  speed  she  can,  and 
stretches  out  her  hands  to  embrace  him,  whom 
she  so  passionately  loves.  But  if  she  can  neither 
overtake  him,  nor  cool  the  heat  of  her  flames, 
she  pines  and  languishes  under  the  loss  of  her 
wish,  and  all  the  comfort  she  has  is  to  send  up 
her  amorous  sighs  to  heaven,  crying  out  with  the 
Spouse,  in  the  Canticles  (v.  8),  "  Tell  my 
beloved  that  I  languish  with  love."  Holy  writers 
inform  us,  that  these  languishings  proceed  from 
the  opposition  the  soul  meets  with,  in  the  effect- 
ing of  her  desires.  Whereon,  one  of  them  says, 
"  Be  not  discouraged,  O  amorous  soul,  for  thy 
sickness  is  not  to  death ;  it  is  for  God's  glory, 


348 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,    THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


and  that  the  Son  of  God  may  be  glorified  there- 
by;"  St.  John  xi.  4.  But  what  tongue  can 
express  the  charms  and  pleasures  these  happy 
lovers  enjoy,  on  Solomon's  stately  bride-bed, 
"  which  was  made  of  the  wood  of  Libanus,  the 
pillars  thereof  were  of  silver,  and  the  bottom  of 
gold  I"  Cant.  iii.  9,  10.  Here  it  is  the  spiritual 
marriage-feast  is  kept.  It  is  called  a  bed^  for  its 
being  a  place  of  rest  and  love,  and  where  they 
enjoy  such  pleasures  that,  as  St.  John  says  in  his 
Revelation,  no  man  can  conceive  how  great  they 
are,  but  he  that  has  experienced  them.  Though 
the  knowledge  of  these  things  be  hid  from  us, 
we  may  nevertheless  frame  to  ourselves  some 
idea  of  them.  For  if  a  man  does  but  consider 
what  an  excess  of  love  the  Son  of  God  had  for 
him,  in  suflFering  such  unheard-of  injuries  and 
torments  for  his  sake,  he  cannot  wonder  at  what 
we  now  say,  since  it  is  but  little  when  compared 
to  this.  What  will  he  not  do  for  the  just,  who 
has  undergone  so  much  for  sinners  ?  How  will 
he  caress  and  make  much  of  his  friends,  who  has 
endured  such  pains,  as  well  for  his  enemies  as 
for  them !  We  have  a  token  of  this  in  the  book 
of  Canticles,  where  the  heavenly  bridegroom 
shows  such  a  passionate  tenderness  to  his  bride, 
which  is  the  Church,  and  every  particular  person 
in  the  state  of  grace.  Such  amorous  discourses 
pass  there  between  them,  that  no  other  eloquence 
or  love  can  express. 

We  may  also  conceive  it  from  the  just  them- 
selves, God's  true  friends  ;  for  if  you  look  into 
the  hearts  of  those  persons,  you  will  find  their 
greatest  concern  and  desire,  and  the  perpetual 
employment  of  their  thoughts,  is  the  service  of 
God,  and  the  putting  themselves  in  a  condition 
of  doing  something  for  him,  who  has  done,  and 
who  continues  every  day  to  do  so  much  for  them, 
treating  them  with  such  sweetness  and  love.  If, 
therefore,  man,  of  himself  so  unfaithful,  and  so 
unable  to  dr^||Kiy  good,  can  nevertheless  be  so 
faithful  to  God,  what  is  there  that  God  will  not 
do  for  him  ? — God,  who  is  infinite  in  his  fidelity 
and  love.  If  it  is  the  property  of  God,  as  the 
Psalmist  says,  "  to  be  holy  with  the  holy,  and 
good  with  the  good  "  (Ps.  xvii.  26),  and  if  man 


can  arrive  to  such  a  degree  of  goodness,  as  we 
have  said  he  can,  how  far  will  the  goodness  of 
God  reach  ?  If  God  should  vie  with  just  men 
on  this  point,  how  much  will  he  outdo  them  in 
this  glorious  strife  ?  If,  therefore,  a  good  man 
is  -willing  to  do  so  much  to  make  himself  pleas- 
ing to  God,  what  will  not  God  do  in  return  to 
comfort  and  please  him  ?  He  will  do  more  than 
we  can  express  or  conceive.  For  this  reason  the 
prophet  Isaias  says,  "  The  ear  hath  not  heard, 
neither  hath  the  eye  seen  what  thou,  O  God,  hast 
prepared  for  them  that  wait  for  thee ;"  ch.  Ixiv. 
4.  This  is  to  be  understood,  not  of  the  goods  of 
glory  only,  but,  according  to  St.  Paul  (i  Cor.  ii.), 
of  those  of  grace  too. 

This  surely  may  suffice  to  show  how  pleasant 
the  way  of  virtue  is,  and  that  the  delights  of  this 
world  are  not  to  be  compared  with  what  the  just 
enjoy.  For  what  comparison  is  there  between 
light  and  darkness,  Christ  and  Belial,  between 
the  pleasures  of  earth  and  those  of  heaven,  the 
satisfactions  of  the  flesh,  and  those  of  the  spirit, 
the  thoughts  which  come  from  the  creature,  and 
those  from  the  Creator  ?  It  is  certain  the  more 
excellent  it  is,  the  more  capable  it  is  of  content- 
ing us.  What  did  the  prophet  mean  else,  when 
he  said,  "  Better  a  little  to  the  just,  than  the 
great  riches  of  the  wicked  I"  Ps.  xxxvi.  10.  And 
in  another  place :  "  I  had  rather  be  the  abject 
person  in  the  house  of  my  God,  than  dwell  in  the 
tabernacles  of  sinners  ;"  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  11.  These 
words  of  the  Spouse,  in  the  Canticles,  teach  us 
the  same  lesson  :  "  Thy  breasts  are  better  than 
wine."  And  a  little  lower  :  "  We  will  be  glad 
and  rejoice  in  thee,  remember  my  breasts  more 
than  wine"  (Cant.  i.  i,  3)  ;  that  is  to  say,  we  will 
think  of  the  most  delicious  milk  of  comforts,  and 
caresses  more  sweet  than  wine,  with  which  you 
feed  your  spiritual  children  at  your  breasts.  It 
is  certain,  that  neither  material  wine  nor  mate- 
rial milk  is  meant  here;  for  by  these  are  under- 
stood the  pleasures  of  the  world,  which  the  lewd 
woman  in  the  Apocalypse  (xvii.),  seated  over 
many  waters,  clothed  in  scarlet  and  holding  a 
golden  cup  in  her  hand,  made  the  inhabitants  of 
Babylon    drunk    with ;     thus    drowning    their 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


343 


senses,  that   they    might   be   heedless    of  their 
ruin. 

§  I.  It  is  partiailarly  in  Prayer  that  the  Vir- 
tuous enjoy  these  divine  Co7isolations. — If,  on  fur- 
ther inquiry  into  this  matter,  you  should  ask  me, 
where  it  is  particularly  the  virtuous  enjoy  these 
comforts,  God  himself  will  answer  the  question, 
by  the  prophet  Isaias  (ch.  Ivi.  6,  7)  :  "  The  chil- 
dren of  the  stranger,"  says  he,  "  that  adhere  to 
the  Lord,  to  worship  him,  and  to  love  his  name, 
to  be  his  servant :  every  one  that  keepeth  the 
sabbath  from  profaning  it,  and  that  holdeth  fast 
my  covenant :  I  will  bring  them  into  my  holy 
mount,  and  make  them  joyful  in  my  house  of 
prayer."  So  that  it  is  in  this  holy  employment 
particularly,  that  the  Lord  comforts  his  elect  in 
such  a  manner.  It  was  on  this  occasion,  St.  Lau- 
rence Justinian  said  (Tract,  de  Ord.  Lig.  Vitae), 
"The  hearts  of  the  just  are  inflamed  with  this 
love  of  their  Creator,  whilst  they  are  at  prayer. 
It  is  then  they  are  at  times  raised  above  them- 
selves, and  imagine  they  are  amidst  the  choirs  of 
angels,  singing  with  them  in  the  presence  of 
their  God ;  it  is  then  they  love  and  sigh ;  it  is 
then  they  praise,  weep  and  rejoice;  it  is  then 
they  eat,  and  are  still  hungry,  they  drink  with- 
out being  satisfied,  and  endeavor,  with  all  the 
force  that  love  can  give  them,  to  transform  them- 
selves into  their  Lord,  whom  they  contemplate 
by  faith,  whom  they  adore  with  humility,  whom 
they  desire  with  passion,  and  enjoy  with  the 
utmost  heat  of  love.  It  is  then  they,  by  their 
own  experience,  find  these  words  of  his  to  be  true  : 
'  My  joy  shall  be  fulfilled  in  you  ;'  "  John  iii.  29. 
This  joy,  like  a  gentle  stream,  spreads  itself  over 
all  the  faculties  of  the  soul  ;  it  enlightens  the 
understanding,  it  pleases  the  will,  it  refreshes 
the  memory,  and  makes  them  think  of  nothing 
but  God,  and  they  lovingly  embrace  what  they 
are  unacquainted  with,  and  which  yet  they  have 
such  a  passion  for,  that  they  had  rather  die  than 
lose  it.  Thus  the  heart  wrestles  with  this  divine 
sweetness,  lest  it  should  get  away,  being  the  only 
object  of  its  wishes,  as  the  patriarch  Jacob  did 
with  the  angel ;  Gen.  xxxii.  26.  And  thus,  like 
St.  Peter  on  the  mountain,  it  cries  out,  "  O  Lord, 


it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here  ;"  Matt.  xvii.  4.  It  is 
here  the  soul  has  all  that  amorous  discourse, 
which  is  in  the  Canticles  addressed  to  her,  whilst 
she,  on  her  part,  sings  these  charming  airs  of 
love :  "  His  left  hand  is  under  my  head,  and  his 
right  hand  doth  embrace  me.  Support  me  with 
flowers,  and  comfort  me  with  apples,  for  I  lan- 
guish with  love ;"  Cant.  ii.  5,  6.  Then  it  is, 
the  soul,  inflamed  with  these  divine  heats,  desires 
nothing  more  than  to  break  out  of  the  prison  of 
her  body,  whilst  her  tears  are  her  food  both  day 
and  night,  because  the  time  of  her  enlargement 
is  not  yet  come.  Life  is  the  trial  of  her  patience, 
but  the  object  of  her  desire  is  death,  and,  there- 
fore, she  is  continually  using  these  words  of  the 
spouse  :  "  Who  will  tell  me  where  thou  art,  my 
brother,  who  suckest  the  breast  of  my  mother  ? 
When  I  shall  find  thee  without  I  would  kiss 
thee;"  Cant.  viii.  i.  It  is  then  she  is  astonished 
at  herself,  and  wonders  how  such  treasures  could 
be  hid  from  her  so  long ;  but  finding  it  is  a  hap- 
piness which  every  man  is  capable  of  enjoying, 
she  longs  to  run  up  and  down  in  the  streets  and 
public  places,  and  to  cry  out,  Fools  and  mad- 
men !  whither  do  you  run  ?  what  is  it  you  are  in 
search  of?  why  do  you  not  run  to  the  possession 
of  such  a  treasure  as  this  is  ?  "  Taste  and  see 
how  sweet  the  Lord  is ;  happy  is  the  man  that 
puts  his  trust  in  him ;"  Ps.  xxxiii.  9.  When  the 
soul  has  once  tasted  these  spiritual  pleasures, 
none  carnal  will  please  her.  Company  is  then  a 
restraint  on  her,  whilst  she  looks  on  solitude  as 
a  paradise  ;  for  all  her  desire  and  comfort  is,  to 
be  alone  with  her  God  whom  she  loves.  Honors 
and  preferments  are  but  a  burden  to  her,  and  an 
estate  and  family  a  torment.  She  would  not  for 
all  the  world,  no  not  for  heaven  itself,  be  deprived  . 
of  her  comforts  ;  and,  for  this  reason,  all  her 
endeavors  are  to  disengage  herself  from  the 
world.  She  has  but  one  love,  and  one  desire  ;  so 
that,  whatsoever  she  loves,  it  is  for  the  sake  of 
one  alone,  and  this  one  she  loves  i»  all  things  ; 
she  knows  how  to  cry  out,  with  the  royal  prophet, 
"  What  have  I,  O  Lord,  in  heaven,  or  what  is 
there  upon  the  earth  that  I  desire  besides  thee  ? 
My  flesh  and  my  heart  faileth,  but  God  is  the 


344 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


strength  of  my  heart,  God  is  my  portion  forever;" 
Ps.  xxii.  25,  26. 

The  knowledge  of  holy  things  seems  no 
longer  obscure  to  a  soul  in  this  state  ;  she  sees 
them  now  with  other  eyes,  and  feels  such  motions 
and  changes  within,  as  are  strong  proofs  of  every 
article  of  faith.  She  thinks  the  day  long  and 
tedious,  and  the  management  of  her  temporal 
concerns  is  troublesome  to  her,  longing  till  the 
night  comes,  that  she  may  spend  it  in  the  com- 
pany of  her  God.  She  never  looks  on  the  night 
as  too  long ;  the  longest,  on  the  contrary,  are 
those  she  desires  most.  If  they  happen  to  be 
clear,  with  their  eyes  cast  up  to  heaven,  she 
admires  its  beauty  and  the  brightness  of  the 
moon  and  stars,  considering  them  quite  differ- 
ently from  what  she  used  to  do,  and  much  more 
cheerfully  ;  she  looks  on  them  as  so  many  marks 
of  her  Creator's  beauty,  and  so  many  mirrors  of 
his  glory,  as  so  many  messengers  that  come  to 
bring  her  news  of  him,  as  so  many  lively  drafts 
of  his  grace  and  perfections,  and  as  so  many 
presents  which  the  bridegroom  sends  his  bride, 
to  endear  and  make  her  constant  to  him,  till  he 
himself  shall  come  and  lead  her  by  the  hand  to 
this  happy  marriage,  for  an  eternity  in  heaven  ; 
she  looks  on  the  whole  world  as  a  book  that 
treats  of  nothing  else  but  of  God ;  she  regards 
it  as  a  letter  from  her  beloved,  and  a  token  of 
his  love.  These  are  the  pleasures  and  delights 
they  who  love  God  pass  the  nights  in  ;  these  the 
quiet  sleeps  they  enjoy.  For  the  regular  mo- 
tions all  creatures  observe,  are  like  a  harmonious 
concert  to  the  soul,  that  makes  her  slumber  a 
little,  and  lulls  her  into  the  gentle  and  soft  sleep, 
of  which  it  is  said,  "  I  sleep,  and  my  heart 
watcheth;"  Cant.  v.  2.  And  when  her  dearest 
spouse  perceives  her  thus  at  rest  within  his 
arms,  he  takes  care  not  to  disturb  her,  and  gives 
orders  that  no  one  presumes  to  wake  her,  saying, 
"I  adjure  you,  O  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem,by  the 
roes  and  harts  of  the  field,  that  you  stir  not  up, 
nor  make  the  beloved  awake,  till  she  please;" 
Cant.  ii.  7. 

What  do  you  think   now  of  such   nights  as 
these  ?  which  do  you  imagine  to  be  the  pleasanter. 


these,  or  those  of  worldlings,  who  spend  their 
time,  lying  in  wait  to  defile  innocent  virgins,  to 
rob  them  of  their  chastity,  and  make  them  lose 
their  honor  and  their  souls  ?  Thus  they  miser- 
ably expose  themselves  to  the  hazard  of  their 
own  lives,  heaping  up  for  themselves  a  treasure 
of  vengeance  against  that  day,  wherein  God  will 
punish  them  according  to  the  heinousness  of 
their  crimes  ;  Rom.  ii.  5. 

§  II.  Of  Ihe  Comforts  they  enjoy ^  who  begin  to 
serve  God. — Perhaps  you  will  tell  me  such  ex- 
traordinary favors  as  these  are  for  none  but 
those  who  have  already  advanced  in  perfection 
and  virtue.  It  is  true  they  are  for  them,  but 
yet  God  presents  even  thosje  who  are  but  just 
entered  into  his  service,  with  all  the  blessings 
of  his  consolation.  He  feeds  them  at  first  like 
children  with  milk,  and  brings  them  by  degrees 
to  eat  more  solid  meats.  You  see  how  the 
prodigal  son  was  entertained  at  his  return,  and 
welcomed  home  with  music  and  feasting.  This 
is  but  a  representation  of  the  spiritual  joy  which 
the  soul  conceives,  wheu  she  sees  herself  escaped 
out  of  Egypt,  and  freed  from  the  captivity  of 
Pharao,  from  the  slavery  of  the  devil ;  Luke 
XV.  For  how  can  a  slave,  when  he  has  got  his 
liberty,  choose  but  to  be  glad  of  such  a  bene- 
fit ?  What  can  he  do  less  than  invite  all  crea- 
tures to  thank  his  deliverer  with  him?  "Let 
us  sing  to  the  Lord,  for  he  has  gloriously  mag- 
nified, the  horse  and  the  rider  he  hath  thrown 
into  the  sea;"  Ex.  xv.   i. 

If  this  were  not  so,  where  would  be  that  provi- 
dence which  supplies  every  creature  so  fully, 
according  to  its  nature,  strength,  age  and  capa- 
city ?  For  it  is  certain,  carnal  men  could  never 
be  able  to  enter  into  this  new  road,  and  trample 
the  world  under  foot,  unless  God  showed  them 
such  favors.  To  this  end,  his  divine  providence 
takes  care,  as  soon  as  ever  it  has  determined  to 
disengage  them  from  the  world,  so  to  smooth  and 
plain  the  way,  that  they  meet  with  no  rubs  to 
make  them  stumble.  This  is  admirably  repre- 
sented to  us  by  God's  leading  the  children  of 
Israel  into  the  land  of  promise,  whereof  Moses 
gives  us  this  relation  :   "  When  Pharao  had  sent 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


345 


out  tlie  people,  the  Lord  led  them  not  by  way  of 
the  land  of  the  Philistines,  which  is  near,  think- 
ing lest  perhaps  they  would  repent,  if  they 
should  see  wars  rise  against  them,  and  would 
return  into  Egypt;"  Ex.  xiii.  17.  The  same 
Lord  who  took  such  care  to  conduct  the  Israel- 
ites into  the  land  of  promise,  after  he  had 
brought  them  out  of  Egypt,  takes  no  less  at 
present  to  bring  those  to  heaven,  whom  he  is 
pleased  to  call  to  this  happiness,  after  having 
made  them  quit  the  world. 

But  I  would  have  you  to  conceive,  that 
though  such  as  have  arrived  to  perfection  in 
virtue  are  caressed  after  a  particular  manner,  yet, 
God  is  so  good  to  beginners,  that,  considering 
their  poverty,  he  helps  them  forward  in  the  new 
way  they  have  undertaken,  and  perceiving  they 
are  still  exposed  to  temptations  of  sin,  and  have 
passions  to  overcome,  he  gives  them,  imperfect 
as  they  are,  so  much  comfort,  that  their  joy 
does  not  fall  short  of  what  they  possess,  who 
are  advanced  much  further.  This  he  does  for 
no  other  end,  but  to  give  them  an  entire  vic- 
tory over  all  their  inordinate  appetites,  to  make 
them  break  off  with  their  own  flesh,  to  wean 
them  from  the  milk,  that  is,  from  the  weak 
delights  of  this  world,  and  to  tie  them  to  him 
with  such  strong  bonds  of  love,  that  they  may 
never  be  able  to  break  loose.  If  this  does  not 
convince  you,  consider  what  God  has  been 
pleased  to  signify  to  us  by  the  feasts  of  the 
Old  Testament,  where  he  commanded  the  first 
and  last  day  to  be  observed  with  an  equal 
solemnity.  As  for  the  six  days  which  were 
between  them,  they  were  no  more  than  the 
ordinary  days  of  the  week,  but  these  two  they 
always  kept  with  much  greater  veneration. 
What  can  this  be  but  a  figure  of  what  we  are 
now  treating  ?  He  ordered  the  first  day  to  be 
kept  solemnly,  as  well  as  the  last,  to  give  us 
to  understand  that  he  makes  much  of  those  who 
serve  him  in  the  beginning  of  their  conversion, 
as  well  as  those  who  have  attained  the  utmost 
perfection.  This  he  does  in  consideration  of 
what  these  have  deserved,  and  of  what  those 
stand  in  need  of,  dealing  with  the  one  accord- 


ing to  the  rules  of  his  justice,  by  giving  them 
what  their  virtue  has  deserved,  and  treating  the 
other  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  grace  and 
mercy,  by  bestowing  on  them  much  more  than 
they  have  deserved,  on  account  of  their  neces- 
sities. 

We  are  never  more  taken  with  the  sight  of 
trees,  than  when  they  are  in  their  flourishing 
condition,  and  their  fruit  is  ripe.  The  day  of 
betrothing  and  the  wedding-day  are  always 
devoted  to  mirth  and  festivity.  Almighty  God, 
on  the  return  of  a  soul  to  him,  betroths  her  to 
himself;  and  when  he  marries  her,  he  is  at  all 
the  charges  of  the  wedding  feast,  which  he 
makes  according  to  his  estate  and  ability,  not 
according  to  the  deserts  and  quality  of  his 
spouse ;  and,  to  that  purpose  he  says,  "  Our 
sister  is  little,  and  hath  no  breasts  "  (Cant.  viii. 
8),  and,  therefore,  she  must  live  on  another's 
milk.  The  bride,  speaking  to  her  bridegroom, 
tells  him,  "  The  young  maidens  have  loved 
thee ; "  Cant.  i.  2.  She  does  not  say  ^ke 
maz'dens,  which  are  those  souls  that  have  made 
a  considerable  progress  in  virtue,  but  those  who 
are  not  of  so  ripe  an  age,  that  is,  such  as  have 
but  just  opened  their  eyes  to  this  new  light. 
These,  says  she,  have  an  ardent  love  for  thee. 
For  young  lovers  do  usually  express  their  pas- 
sion with  the  greatest  force  and  heat.  This  is 
what  St.  Thomas  tells  us,  when,  among  several 
other  reasons,  he  alleges  this,  that  the  newness 
of  the  state,  of  the  love,  of  the  light,  and  of  the 
knowledge  of  divine  things,  discovers  those 
beauties  to  them,  which  they  never  perceived 
before;  filling  them  with  admiration,  giving 
them  at  the  same  time  a  particular  delight,  and 
teaching  them  what  returns  they  are  to  make 
him  who  has  so  kindly  restored  them  their 
sight,  after  they  had  been  so  long  blindfolded 
and  in  the  dark.  When  a  man  first  comes  into 
any  great  town  or  noble  place,  he  walks  up  and 
down  for  some  time,  and  is  pleased  with  what 
he  sees  ;  but  having  satisfied  his  curiosity  with 
the  frequent  sight,  he  is  less  taken  with  it  than 
he  was  before,  nor  does  he  admire  it  so  much. 
Thus  stands  the  case  with  those  who  first  came 


346 


HOW  TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


into  this  new  country  of  grace,  for  they  are  sur- 
prised to  find  such  wonderful  things.  So  that  it 
is  not  to  be  admired,  that  beginners  in  devotion 
should  feel  more  fervor  in  their  souls,  than  old 
practitioners ;  for  the  newness  of  the  light  and 
of  their  understanding  divine  mysteries,  causes 
greater  sensations  in  them.  This,  as  St.  Ber- 
nard remarks  (Serm.  14,  in  Cant.)  is  the  rea- 
son why  the  prodigal  son's  elder  brother  was  not 
in  the  wrong,  when  he  complained  to  his  father, 
and  told  him,  that  for  his  so  many  years'  ser- 
vice, without  ever  disobej'ing  the  least  of  his 
commands,  he  had  never  shown  him  so  much 
favor,  as  he  had  done  this  extravagant,  lewd 
son  at  his  return  home.  This  new  love,  like 
new  wine,  ferments  at  first,  and  as  water  over 
a  fire,  boils  up  as  soon  as  it  feels  the  heat  it 
never  felt  before ;  the  flame,  after  these  first 
sallies,  grows  more  strong  and  equal,  though  in 
the  beginning  it  is  more  violent  and  im- 
petuous. 

God  entertains  those,  who  enter  anew  into 
his  house,  with  a  deal  of  kindness  and  love ; 
he  bears  all  their  charges  at  first,  and  makes 
every  thing  seem  light  and  easy;  he  deals 
with  them  as  traders  do  with  their  customers, 
who  give  samples  of  their  wares  gratis,  but 
will  have  their  full  price  for  what  the}'  sell. 
The  affection  we  show  little  children  is  usually 
more  tender,  though  perhaps  not  greater,  than 
what  we  show  those  who  are  of  riper  years. 
We  can-}-  those  up  and  down  in  our  arms,  but 
let  these  go  by  themselves ;  and  whilst  these 
are  laboring  and  toiling,  we  lay  those  to  sleep, 
and  let  them  take  their  rest ;  without  giving 
them  the  trouble  of  asking  for  their  meat,  we 
feed  them  ourselves,  and  put  their  victuals 
into  their  mouths. 

It  is  this  kind  reception  new  beginners  find 
with  God,  and  the  manifest  favors  he  shows 
them,  which  occasions  that  spiritual  joy  and 
comfort  the  roj^al  prophet  speaks  of :  "  The 
young  plant  shall  flourish  with  thy  dops ;  "  Ps. 
Ixiv.  II.  Now,  what  is  this  plant,  and  what 
these  drops,  but  the  dew  of  the  divine  grace 
with  which  God  waters   these   spiritual  young 


plants,  which  he  has  lately  dug  up  from 
amongst  the  wild  brambles  of  the  world,  and 
set  in  his  own  garden?  These  are  the  plants 
which  the  prophet  means,  when  he  says,  "  They 
shall  rejoice  in  drops;"  Ibid.  This  shows  how 
great  the  joy  of  such  persons  is  at  their  first 
receiving  this  new  visit.  Nor  are  you  to  think 
that,  because  these  favors  are  called  but  drops^ 
they  have  no  more  in  them  than  their  name 
seems  to  promise :  "  For  (as  St.  Augustine 
says)  he  that  drinks  of  the  river  of  paradise, 
one  drop  of  which  is  more  than  all  the  ocean, 
is  sure,  though  he  drink  but  one  single  drop, 
it  will  quench  his  thirst  forever." 

If,  when  you  think  of  God.  you  are  sensible 
of  these  comforts,  it  is  no  argument  against 
what  has  been  said.  For  if  the  palate,  when 
it  is  out  of  taste  by  any  bad  humor,  cannot 
distinguish  what  is  bitter  from  what  is  sweet, 
but  judges  what  is  sweet  to  be  bitter;  what 
wouder  is  it  if  your  soul,  corrupted  with  so  many 
vices  and  irregular  affections,  and  which  longs 
so  earnestly  after  the  flesh-pots  and  onions  of 
Egypt,  should  not  relish  the  manna  of  heaven 
and  the  bread  of  angels?  Wash  your  mouth 
first  clean  with  tears  of  penance,  and  then 
you  will  be  able  "  to  taste  and  see  how  sweet 
the  Lord  is ; "    Ps.  xxxiii.  9. 

What  I  have  said  being  so  undeniably  true, 
is  there  any  pleasure  in  the  world  to  compare 
with  these?  Holy  writers  tell  us  there  are 
two  sorts  of  happiness ;  the  one,  a  happiness 
that  is  but  begun ;  the  other,  complete  and 
perfect;  the  latter  the  blessed  above  enjoy, 
and  just  men  here  on  earth  the  former.  What, 
therefore,  can  you  desire  better  than  from  this 
very  moment  to  begin  to  be  happy,  and  even 
in  this  life,  to  receive  the  pledges  of  that 
divine  marriage,  which  is  to  be  solemnized  in 
heaven,  though  it  be  proposed  here  but  at  a 
distance  ?  O  mortal  man !  whosoever  you  are, 
since  it  is  in  your  own  power  to  live  in  para- 
dise, and  to  enjoy  such  treasure,  go  and  sell 
your  all,  to  purchase  so  great  an  estate  for  so 
small  a  sum.  It  is  Jesus  Christ  will  sell  it, 
and  he  will   let  you  have  it,  in  a  manner   for 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


347 


nothing.  Do  not  defer  the  opportunity  any 
longer,  for  every  moment  lost  is  of  more  con- 
cern than  all  the  riches  of  the  world.  And 
though  you  may  perhaps  meet  with  an  occa- 
sion of  purchasing  it  hereafter,  assure  yourself 
yet  the  time  you  shall  have  lost  will  be  a 
trouble  to  you,  and  will  force  you  to  cry  out 
with  tears,  as  did  St.  Augustine,  "  O  ancient 
goodness !    it  is  too  late  I  have  known  thee ;  " 


Solil.  c.  31.  The  lateness  of  this  glorious 
saint's  conversion,  though  he  failed  not  of  his 
crown,  was  the  perpetual  subject  of  his  com- 
plaints and  tears.  Have  a  care,  therefore,  lest 
it  should  be  your  misfortune  to  deplore  the 
loss  of  both,  if  you  should  be  deprived  of  the 
benefits  of  glory,  the  inheritance  of  the  saints 
in  the  next  life,  and  of  those  of  grace,  the 
reward  of  the  just  in  this. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

OF  THE  FIFTH   PRIVILEGE  OF  VIRTUE,  VIZ.,  THE  PEACE  OF  CONSCIENCE,  WHICH  THE  JUST  ENJOY 
AND  OF  THE  INWARD  REMORSE  THAT  TORMENTS  THE  WICKED. 


ESIDES  the  joy  proceeding  from  the 
consolations  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  there 
is  another  attends  the  just,  which  is 
the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience. 
For  the  understanding  of  the  nature  and  value 
of  this  privilege,  you  are  to  conceive  that  the 
Divine  Providence,  which  has  furnished  all 
creatures  with  as  much  as  is  necessary  for 
their  preservation  and  perfection,  being  willing 
that  the  rational  creature  should  be  most  per- 
fect, has  supplied  it  with  all  that  was  requisite 
for  this  purpose.  And  because  the  perfection 
of  this  creature  consists  in  the  perfection  of 
its  will  and  understanding,  which  are  the  two 
principal  powers  of  the  soul,  the  one  made 
perfect  by  knowledge,  and  the  other  by  virtue ; 
therefore,  he  created  the  principles  of  all 
sciences,  whence  the  conclusions  flow,  and  the 
seed  of  all  virtues  in  the  soul,  endowing  it 
with  a  propensity  to  good,  and  aversion  to  evil, 
which  inclination  is  so  natural  and  prevalent, 
that  though  a  long  habit  of  ill  life  may  weaken, 
yet  it  can  never  totally  destroy  it.  Thus  we 
read,  that,  amidst  all  holy  Jacob's  misfortunes, 
there  was  always  a  servant  escaped  to  bring 
him  the  news ;  even  so  he  that  sins  is  never 
forsaken  by  that  faithful  servant,  conscience, 
who  still    escapes    alive    and    safe,  to  show  the 


wicked  man  what  he  lost  by  sin,  and  the  mis- 
erable estate  he  is  reduced  to. 

This  plainly  demonstrates  how  vigilant  Divine 
Providence  is,  and  its  love  for  virtue,  since  it 
has  furnished  us  with  a  monitor,  that  never 
sleeps,  a  continual  preacher,  that  is  never  silent, 
and  a  master  and  tutor,  that  never  ceases  guid- 
ing and  directing  us.  Epictetus,  the  Stoic,  was 
very  sensible  hereof,  when  he  said,  "  that  as 
fathers  are  wont  to  commit  their  young  chil- 
dren to  some  careful  tutor,  who  will  diligently 
divert  them  from  vice,  and  lead  them  to  virtue, 
so  God,  as  our  Father,  after  creating,  put  us 
into  the  hands  of  this  natural  virtue,  called 
conscience,  as  it  were  of  a  tutor,  that  it  might 
still  put  us  forward  in  the  way  of  goodness, 
and  check  us  in  wickedness." 

Now  this  conscience,  as  it  is  a  master  and 
tutor  to  the  good,  so  it  is  an  executioner  and 
scourge  to  the  wicked,  inwardly  punishing  and 
accusing  them  ot  the  ills  they  do,  and  mixing 
such  bitterness  among  their  delights,  that  they 
have  no  sooner  tasted  the  Egyptian  onion,  but 
their  eyes  presently  begin  to  water.  This  is 
one  of  the  punishments  wherewith  God  threat- 
ens the  wicked  by  the  mouth  of  Isaias,  saying, 
"  He  will  deliver  Babylon  into  the  power  of  the 
hedgehog."      For    God's    justice    delivers    the 


348 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


heart  of  a  wicked  man,  signified  by  Babjdon, 
to  the  hedgehogs,  that  is,  the  devils,  and  to  the 
pricks  of  conscience  that  attend  sin,  which,  like 
sharp  thorns,  pierce  the  heart.  If  you  would 
know  what  these  thorns  are,  one  is  the  defor- 
mity and  hideousness  of  sin,  which  is  so  abom- 
inable of  itself,  that  a  philosopher  was  wont  to 
say,  "  If  I  knew  the  gods  would  forgive  me, 
I  and  men  should  know  nothing  of  it,  yet  I  could 
not  dare  commit  sin,  because  of  its  own  defor- 
mity." Another  thorn  is,  when  the  sin  is  pre- 
judicial to  another,  for  then  it  appears  like  that 
blood  of  Abel  spilt,  which  cried  to  God  and 
craved  revenge.  Thus  it  is  written,  in  the  first 
book  of  Maccahabees,  that  king  Antiochus  had 
a  full  view  of  the  mischiefs  he  had  done  in 
Jerusalem,  which  so  afflicted  him  that  it  has- 
tened his  death,  and  being  ready  to  expire,  he 
said,  "  I  remember  the  evils  that  I  did  in  Jerusa- 
lem, from  whence  also  I  took  away  all  the  spoils 
of  gold  and  silver  that  were  in  it,  and  I  sent 
to  destroy  the  inhabitants  of  Judea  without 
cause,  I  know,  therefore,  that  for  this  cause 
these  evils  found  me  ;  and  behold  I  perish  with 
great  grief  in  a  strange  land."  Another  thorn 
is,  the  shame  that  attends  sin,  which  the  sinner 
cannot  be  ignorant  or  insensible  of,  because  it 
is  natural  for  man  to  desire  to  be  beloved,  and 
to  be  troubled  at  being  hated :  for,  as  a  wise 
man  said, "  There  is  no  greater  torment  in  the 
world  than  public  hatred."  Another  thorn  is 
the  inevitable  fear  of  death,  the  continual  uncer- 
tainty of  life,  the  apprehension  of  the  strict 
account  that  must  be  given  of  every  action,  and 
the  dreadful  horror  of  eternal  torments  ;  for  each 
of  these  things  pricks  and  gores  the  sinner's  heart 
in  such  a  manner,  that  he  can  never  think  of 
this  death,  so  certain  on  one  hand,  so  uncertain 
on  the  other,  without  being  extremely  concerned, 
as  the  book  of  Ecclesiasticus  says,  because  he  is 
sensible  that  day  will  take  vengeance  of 
all  his  crimes,  and  put  an  end  to  all  his 
sinful  pleasures,  it  is  impossible  for  any  man 
to  put  this  thought  out  of  his  mind,  because 
there  is  nothing  more  natural  to  man  than 
death  is,  and,  therefore,  the  least  indisposition 


fills  him  with  a  thousand  fears  and  doubts 
whether  he  shall  die  or  no ;  for  the  excess  of 
self-love,  added  to  so  violent  a  ^passion  as  fear 
is,  makes  him  afraid  of  every  shadow,  and  puts 
him  into  a  concern  and  apprehension  where 
there  is  not  the  least  ground  for  it ;  so  that  if 
any  mortality  should  happen,  any  earthquakes, 
or  thunder  and  lightning,  the  sinner  is  imme- 
diately disturbed  by  his  conscience,  and  fancies 
that  God  sends  all  this  to  punish  his  iniqui- 
ties. 

All  these  thorns  gore  the  wicked  at  once, 
as  one  of  holy  Job's  friends  declare  at  large, 
whose  words  I  will  add,  as  a  clearer  proof  of 
what  I  have  asserted :  "  The  wicked  man," 
says  he,  "  spends  his  whole  life  in  pride,  not- 
withstanding that  he  is  uncertain  how  soon  his 
tyranny  may  be  put  to  an  end.  The  noises 
of  fear  and  terror  are  continually  rattling  in 
his  ears"  (Job  xv.  20,  21,  22),  which  are  noth- 
ing but  the  cries  of  his  guilty  conscience,  accus- 
ing and  reproaching  him  every  moment ;  and 
in  the  very  midst  of  peace,  he  is  afraid  of  the 
snares  and  treacheries  of  his  enemies  :  because 
let  him  live  ever  so  quiet,  his  wicked  con- 
science never  fails  of  putting  him  into  continual 
apprehensions.  He  cannot  persuade  himself 
that  he  can  possibly  return  from  darkness  to 
the  light ;  that  is  to  say,  he  does  not  believe 
there  is  any  possibility  of  his  getting  out  of 
dreadful  darkness  he  lives  in,  to  enjoy  the  tran- 
quillity of  a  good  conscience,  which,  like  a  comfort- 
able and  clear  light,  rejoices  and  enlightens  the 
most  secret  parts  of  the  soul ;  for  which  way 
soever  he  turns  himself,  he  fancies  he  sees  a 
naked  sword  pointed  at  him ;  so  that,  even 
whilst  he  is  at  table,  which  is,  generally 
speaking,  a  place  of  mirth  and  joy,  he  is 
racked  with  all  kinds  of  fears,  distrusts  and  jeal- 
ousies, "and  imagines  he  is  just  beginning  the 
day  of  darkness"  (ver.  23),  that  is,  the  day 
of  death  and  judgment,  and  on  which  his  last 
sentence  is  to  be  passed  on  him.  "  He  shall  be 
frightened  with  tribulation,  and  surrounded  on 
all  sides  with  misery,  as  a  king  is  with  his 
guards,  when    he    is    going   into    the    field  of 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


349 


battle;"  ver.  24.  This  is  the  description  which 
Job's  friend  gives  of  the  dreadful  torments 
those  unhappy  wretches  sufiFer  within ;  for  to 
make  use  of.  the  saying  of  a  philosopher, 
"  God,  by  his  eternal  law,  has  ordained  that 
fear  should  be  the  constant  companion  of  the 
wicked ;"  which  agrees  very  well  with  a  sen- 
tence of  Solomon,  who  says,  "  that  the  wicked 
man  fleeth,  when  no  man  pursueth  ;  but  the 
just,  bold  as  a  lion,  shall  be  without  dread;" 
Prov.  xxviii.  i.  St.  Augustine  has  the  same 
thing,  in  short,  when  he  says,  "  Thou,  O  Lord  I 
hast  commanded,  that  every  soul  that  is  irreg- 
ular should  be  its  own  executioner,  and  we 
find  that  it  is  so;"  St.  Aug.  L,.  i,  Conf.  c.  12. 
There  is  nothing  in  nature  that  does  not  con- 
vince us  of  this  truth ;  for  can  you  tell  me  of 
any  thing  in  the  world  which  is  not  disturbed 
when  out  of  its  order?  what  sensible  pain  a 
man  feels  if  he  has  but  a  bone  out  of  joint  ? 
what  violence  does  the  element  suffer  which 
is  out  of  its  centre  ?  and  what  sickness  does 
not  follow  when  the  humors  of  our  bodies  are 
out  of  their  due  proportion  and  temperament  ? 
Since,  therefore,  it  is  so  natural  to  a  rational 
creature  to  live  a  a  regular,  orderly  life,  how 
can  its  nature  choose,  but  suffer  and  be  uneasy 
when  life  is  irreg^ilar  and  contrary  to  reason  ? 
Job  had  a  deal  of  reason  to  sa}',  "Was  there 
ever  any  man  that  resisted  God,  and  yet  lived  in 
peace?"  Job  ix.  4.  Upon  which  words,  St. 
Gregory  says  "  that  the  order  in  which  God 
has  disposed  of  all  things  for  the  continuing 
and  preserving  of  them  in  their  being,  is  no 
less  the  matter  of  our  admiration  than  the 
power  with  which  he  has  created  them  ;"  St. 
Greg.  Moral.  L.  9,  c.  12.  Whence  it  follows 
that  no  one  can  disturb  the  order  of  the  Crea- 
tor, without  breaking  that  peace  which  he  has 
intended  should  be  the  effect  of  this  order; 
because  it  is  impossible  for  any  thing  to  be  at 
rest  when  it  is  out  of  the  place  where  God  had 
put  it.  And  thus  we  see,  that  those  things 
which  were  undisturbed,  whilst  they  submitted 
to  the  order  of  God,  no  sooner  break  oflf  from 
this  subjection  than  they  lose    the    peace  they 


enjoyed  before.  We  have  an  example  hereof 
in  our  first  parents  and  the  fallen  angels,  who, 
as  soon  as  ever  they  disobeyed  the  will  of 
God,  to  follow  their  own,  and  went  out  of  the 
order  he  had  put  them  in,  were  deprived  of 
their  former  happiness,  and  lost  that  content 
they  had  before.  And  man,  who,  whilst  he 
continued  obedient,  was  absolute  over  himself, 
when  he  cast  oflf  that  obedience,  found  a  war 
and  rebellion  within  himself. 

This  is  the  torment  the  wicked,  by 
God's  just  judgment  are  perpetually  racked 
with,  and  of  the  greatest  miseries  they 
can  suflfer  in  this  life,  according  to  the  opin- 
ions of  all  the  saints,  amongst  whom  St.  Am- 
brose, in  his  Book  of  Offices,  asks,  "  Is  there 
any  greater  torment  in  the  world  than  the  in- 
ward remorse  of  a  man's  own  conscience?  Is 
it  not  a  misery  we  ought  to  fly  more  than 
death  itself,  or  the  loss  of  our  estates,  our 
health,  or  our  liberty  ?"  L.  iii.  c.  4.  And  St. 
Isidore  tells  us,  "  There  is  nothing  in  nature 
which  man  cannot  fly  from  but  himself;  for 
let  him  run  where  he  will,  he  will  still  carry 
the  sting  of  his  own  wicked  conscience  along 
with  him;"  St.  Isid.  in  St.  L.  ii.  c.  36.  The 
same  saint  says  in  another  place,  "  The  greatest 
punishment  that  can  be  inflicted  is  that  of  an 
evil  conscience  ;  if,  therefore,  you  desire  to  live 
in  peace,  follow  virtue  and  piety  ;"  Idem,  L.  ii. 
Sinom.  c.  36.  This  is  so  undeniable  a  truth, 
that  the  very  heathen  philosophers  themselves 
acknowledged  it,  though  they  neither  knew  nor 
believed  any  thing  of  those  pains,  which  our 
faith  teaches  us  the  wicked  are  to  suffer  ;  and 
therefore,  Seneca  asks,  "What  avails  it  to  fly 
from  the  conversation  of  others  ?  A  good  con- 
science calls  all  the  world  to  witness  for  it, 
whilst  a  bad  one  is  always  tormented,  though 
in  the  midst  of  a  desert.  If  what  you  do  be 
good,  you  need  not  be  ashamed  to  let  the 
whole  world  know  it ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary, 
it  be  bad,  what  matter  is  it  whether  any  body 
knows  it  or  not,  as  long  as  you  know  it  yourself  ? 
Your  condition  will  be  miserable  if  you  take 
no   notice    of   such   an    evidence,    since    every 


35° 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,  THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


man's  own  conscience  is  as  good  as  a  thousand 
witnesses;"  Sen.  Epist.  97.  The  same  author 
tells  us,  in  another  place,  "That  the  severest 
punishment  which  can  be  inflicted  for  any 
crime  is,  the  very  committing  of  it ;"  Epist.  98. 
And  he  repeats  the  same  elsewhere,  saying, 
"  If  you  have  been  guilty  of  any  crime,  you 
ought  not  to  fear  any  witness  that  can  come 
against  you  so  much  as  3'our  own  self,  because 
you  may  find  out  some  means  or  other  to  fly 
from  every  body  else,  but  you  will  never  be 
able  to  fly  from  3'ourself,  for  every  wicked 
action  you  do  is  its  own  executioner;"  Epist. 
45.  Cicero  has  something  to  the  same  pur- 
pose, in  one  of  his  orations,  where  he  says, 
"  There  is  nobody  so  able  as  a  man's  own  con- 
science is,  either  to  cast  or  to  acquit  him  ;  and, 
therefore,  an  innocent  man  is  never  afraid, 
whilst  the  guilty  lives  always  in  apprehen- 
sions;" St.  Isid.  in  St.  L.  ii.  c  36.  This,  there- 
fore, is  one  of  those  torments  which  the  wicked 
are  never  free  from :  it  begins  in  this  life,  and 
will  remain  for  all  eternity  in  the  next:  it  is 
the  never-dying  worm,  as  Isaias  (Ixvi.  24)  calls 
it,  that  shall  never  cease  to  gnaw  the  con- 
sciences of  the  wicked.  And  it  is  in  this  sense 
St.  Isidore  interprets  those  words  of  the  psalm- 
ist (Ps.  xli.  8):  "One  abyss  calls  upon  another; 
that  is,"  says  he,  "  the  wicked  shall  be  carried 
from  the  sentence  which  their  own  consciences 
pass  against  them,  to  that  of  eternal  damna- 
tion;"  St.  Isid.  in  Sent.  L.  ii.  c.  26. 

§  I.  Of  the  Peace  of  Conscience  which  Ihe  Vir- 
tuous enjoy. — Virtuous  men  are  free  from  this 
plague,  because  they  are  never  tormented  with 
the  stings  of  a  bad  conscience,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, enjoy  the  comforts  they  receive  from  the 
sweet  fruits  of  virtue,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has 
planted  in  their  souls,  as  in  an  earthly  paradise 
and  a  private  garden  in  which  he  delights.  So 
St.  Augustine  terms  it  in  his  book  on  Genesis, 
where  he  says,  "  The  joy  a  good  conscience  gplves 
a  virtuous  man  is  a  true  paradise "  (Tom.  iii. 
Lib.  12,  de  Gen.  ad  lit.  c.  34);  and  this  is  the 
reason  why  the  Church  is  called  a  paradise  full 
of  all  kinds  of  graces  and  innocent  pleasures  for 


those  who  live  justly,  piously  and  temperately. 
And  the  same  saint,  in  his  Method  of  instructing 
the  Ignorant,  has  these  words  :  ''  You  who  seek 
after  that  true  peace  which  is  promised  to  Chris- 
tians after  death,  assure  yourself  that  it  is  to  be 
found  amongst  the  bitter  troubles  and  pains  of 
this  life,  if  you  will  but  love  him  that  has  made 
you  this  promise,  and  will  keep  his  command- 
ments ;  for  you  will  soon  find,  by  your  own 
experience,  that  the  fruits  of  justice  are  much 
sweeter  than  those  of  iniquity ;  and  you  will 
meet  with  a  much  more  solid  satisfaction  from  a 
good  conscience,  amidst  all  your  afflictions  and 
tribulations,  than  a  bad  conscience  would  ever 
let  you  take,  though  in  the  very  midst  of  delights 
and  pleasures  ;  "  Lib.  de  Catech.  rud.  Hitherto 
the  words  of  the  saint,  which  gives  us  to  under- 
stand that  this  comfort  is  of  the  nature  of  honey, 
which  is  not  only  sweet  itself,  but  makes  those 
things  so,  though  of  themselves  unsavory,  that 
it  is  mixed  with ;  so  a  good  conscience  brings  so 
much  peace  along  with  it,  that  it  makes  the  most 
painful  life  sweet  and  easy.  And  as  we  have  said 
that  the  foulness  and  enormity  of  sin  are*of  them- 
selves a  torment  to  the  wicked,  so,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  beauty  and  worth  of  virtue,  without 
any  thing  else,  are  comforts  to  the  good  :  it  is 
what  the  holy  prophet  David  expressly  teaches 
us,  when  he  says,  "  The  judgments  of  the  Lord  " 
(that  is, his  holy  commandments)  "  are  true,  justi- 
fied in  themselves.  They  are  more  to  be  desired 
than  gold  and  many  precious  stones,  and  are 
sweeter  than  honey  and  the  honey-comb ; " 
Ps.  xviii.  10,  II.  This  holy  prophet,  who  had 
tasted  how  sweet  they  were,  took  no  greater 
pleasure  in  any  thing  than  in  the  observance  of 
them,  as  he  tells  us  himself  in  another  psalm, 
where  he  says,  "  I  have  taken  pleasure  in  the  way 
of  your  commandments,  as  if  they  had  been  the 
greatest  riches  in  the  world ;  "  Ps.  cxviii.  14. 
His  son  Solomon,  in  his  book  of  Proverbs,  is  of 
the  same  opinion ;  for  he  says,  "  It  is  a  pleasure 
to  a  just  man  to  do  justice"  (Prov.  xxi.  15)  ;  that 
is,  to  act  virtuously,  and  to  do  his  duty.  Though 
there  are  several  causes  for  this  joy,  yet  it  pro- 
ceeds chiefly  from  the  bare  splendor  and  bright- 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


351 


ness  of  virtue,  which,  according  to  Plato,  is  most 
incomparably  fair  and  beautiful.  In  fine,  the 
advantages  and  delights  which  a  good  conscience 
brings  are  such,  that  St.  Ambrose,  in  his  Book 
of  Offices,  makes  the  happiness  of  the  just  in  this 
life  depend  on  it ;  and,  therefore,  he  says,  "  The 
brightness  of  virtue  is  so  great,  that  the  peace  of 
conscience  and  the  assurance  of  our  own  inno- 
cence are  enough  to  make  our  lives  pleasant  and 
happy ;  "  St.  Amb.  L.  ii.  de  Off.  c.  i. 

The  ancient  philosophers  were  no  less  ac- 
quainted, by  the  bare  light  of  nature,  with  the 
comfort  that  proceeds  from  a  good  conscience, 
than  they  were  with  the  disturbances  which 
attended  a  bad  one ;  as  we  may  see  by  Cicero, 
who,  in  his  Tusculan  Questions,  says  thus : 
"  The  life  which  is  spent  in  actions  of  honor  and 
virtue  is  accompanied  with  so  much  satisfaction 
and  pleasure,  that  they  who  pass  away  their  time 
thus,  either  never  feel  any  trouble  at  all,  or,  if 
they  do,  it  is  very  light  and  insignificant;''  L. 
8,  Tuscus.  He  repeats  almost  the  same  thing 
in  another  place,  and  says,  "  That  virtue  can 
find  no  theatre,  either  more  public  or  more 
honorable,  than  the  testimony  of  a  good  con- 
science ; "  Id.  Ibid.  Socrates,  being  asked  who 
could  live  free  from  passion,  immediately  made 
answer,  "  A  virtuous  man."  And  Bias,  another 
famous  philosopher,  being  asked  who,  in  this 
world,  was  free  from  fears  and  apprehensions, 
answered,  "  A  good  conscience."  Seneca,  in  one 
of  his  Epistles,  writes  thus :  "  A  wise  man  is 
always  cheerful,  and  his  cheerfulness  comes 
from  a  good  conscience ;  "  Epist.  23.  So  that 
you  .see  how  these  philosophers  were  of  the  same 
opinion  in  this  matter  with  Solomon,  who  says, 
"  All  the  days  of  the  poor  man  are  evil ;  "  that  is 
to  say,  tedious  and  troublesome;  "but  a  secure 
mind  is  a  perpetual  feast ; "  Prov.  xv.  14.  It  is 
impossible  for  man  to  say  more  in  a  few  words : 
by  which  we  are  to  understand  that,  as  he  who 
is  invited  to  a  feast  is  pleased  with  a  variety  of 
dishes,  and  with  the  company  of  his  friends  that 
are  invited,  so  the  just  man  is  delighted  with  the 
testimony  of  a  good  conscience,  and  with  the 
sweetness  of  the   divine  presence,  having  such 


good  ground  to  believe  that  God  is  in  his  soul. 
But  yet  there  is  this  difference  between  these 
delights,  that  the  pleasure  a  man  has  in  a  feast 
is  but  earthly,  and  transitory  ;  whereas  this  other 
is  heavenly,  eternal  and  noble.  The  one  begins 
with  hunger,  and  ends  with  distaste  and  loathing; 
but  the  other  begins  with  a  virtuous  life,  is  pre- 
served and  continued  by  perseverance,  and  ends ' 
with  eternal  honor  and  glory.  Now,  if  the  philos- 
opher, who  had  no  hopes  of  any  reward  after  his 
life,  had  such  an  esteem  for  the  pleasure  which  a 
good  conscience  gives,  at  what  rate  ought  a  Chris- 
tian to  value  it,  who  knows  very  well  what  re- 
wards God  has  prepared  for  him  in  tbe  next  life, 
and  with  what  favors  he  honors  him  even  in  this  ? 
And  though  this  assurance  ought  not  to  be  quite 
void  of  a  holy  and  religious  fear,  j^etthis  is  such 
a  fear  as  does  not  dismay,  but  rather  strengthens 
him  that  has  it,  after  a  wonderful  manner ; 
because  it  tells  him  inwardly,  that  his  confidence 
is  then  more  secure  and  profitable,  when  it  is 
tempered  with,  and  kept  in  awe  by,  this  whole- 
some fear,  and  that,  if  he  had  no  fear  at  all,  it 
would  no  longer  be  a  confidence,  but  false  secu- 
rity and  presumption. 

You  see  here  another  privilege  which  the  virtu- 
ous enjoy,  and  which  the  Apostle  speaks  of,  when 
he  says.  Our  glory  is  the  teslimony  0/  our  con- 
science, that  we  have  lived  in  simplicity  of  heart, 
and  in  true  sincerity,  not  according  to  the  wis- 
dom of  the  world;  2  Cor.  i.  12. 

This  is  almost  all  that  is  to  be  said  of  the  great- 
ness of  this  privilege ;  but  neither  what  I  have 
said,  nor  what  I  am  able  to  say,  can  discover  its 
excellence  to  him  that  has  never  had  any  experi- 
ence of  it ;  for  how  can  any  one  explain  the  de- 
liciousness  of  a  meat  to  any  one  who  has  never 
tasted  it?  This  joy  is,,  in  effect,  so  great,  that 
often,  when  a  virtuous  man  is  afflicted,  and  can 
find  no  ease  which  way  soever  he  casts  his  eyes, 
yet,  if  he  but  reflect  on  himself,  he  is  immedi- 
ately comforted  with  the  consideration  of  the 
peace  and  quiet  he  finds  in  his  own  conscience. 
For  he  knows,  that  as  for  the  rest,  let  it  go  which 
way  it  will,  it  is  no  matter  to  him ;  this  is  the 
only  thing  he  has  to  look  after.     And  though, 


352 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


as  I  have  said  already,  he  cannot  have  au  evident 
knowledge  of  his  innocence,  nevertheless,  as  the 
sun,  in  a  morning,  enlightens  the  world  before 
we  see  it,  by  its  advance  toward  us,  so  the  testi- 
mony which  a  good  conscience  gives  a  just  man, 
is  a  comfort  to  his  soul,  though  this  knowledge 
is  not  sufficiently  clear  and  evident.     This  is  so 


true,  that  St.  Chrysostom,  speaking  of  the  same 
thing,  says,  "  Let  a  man  be  ever  so  melancholy, 
if  he  have  but  a  good  conscience,  all  his  trouble 
vanishes  like  a  spark  of  fire  that  is  extinguished 
when  it  falls  into  a  great  river;"  Horn.  lo,  in  <?, 
ad  Corinth,  c.  3,  and  Hon.  54,  in  Matt.  c.  16. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OF  THE  SIXTH  PRIVILEGE  OF  VIRTUE.  VIZ.,  THE   HOPES  THE  JUST  HAVE  IN  GOD'S  MERCY.  AND 

OF  THE  VAIN  CONFIDENCE   OF  THE  V/ICKED. 


HEcomfortof  a  good  conscience  is  always 
accompanied  with  that  particular  hope 
virtuous  men  live  in :  of  which  the 
Apostle  saj'S, "  That  they  comfort  them- 
selves up  with  hopes,  and  are  patient  in  their 
tribulations"  (Rom.  xii.  12);  advising  us  to 
make  our  hope  the  subject  of  our  joy,  and,  in 
virtue  of  the  same,  to  sufiFer  with  patience  what- 
ever crosses  may  happen,  assuring  us  that  God 
himself  is  our  assistance,  and  the  reward  of  our 
sufferings.  This  one  of  the  greatest  treasures 
of  a  Christian  life  :  these  are  the  riches,  this  the 
inheritance  of  the  children  of  God  ;  it  is  the  com- 
mon haven  against  all  the  storms  of  this  life,  and 
the  best  remedy  we  have  against  all  our  miseries. 
But  not  to  deceive  ourselves,  we  must  observe 
here,  that,  as  there  are  two  sorts  of  faith,  the  one, 
a  dead  faith,  which  performs  no  actions  of  life, 
and  is  that  which  bad  Christians  have  ;  the  other, 
a  lively  one,  the  effect  of  charity,  by  which  the 
just  perform  the  actions  of  life ;  so  there  are  two 
sorts  of  hope,  the  one  a  dead  hope,  which  neither 
enlivens  the  soul,  nor  assists  her  in  her  operations, 
nor  comforts  her  in  her  troubles ;  such  a  hope 
as  the  wicked  have ;  the  other  is  a  lively  hope^  as 
St.  Peter  calls  it  (i  Pet.  i.  3);  because  it  pro- 
duces the  effects  of  life,  as  those  things  do  which 
have  life  in  them ;  that  is,  because  it  encourages, 
enlivens  and  strengthens  us,  in  our  way  to 
heaven,  and  gives  us  breath  and  confidence  amidst 
all  the  dangers  and  troubles  of  this  world.    Such 


a  hope  as  this  the  chaste  Susanna  had,  of  whom 
we  read  (Dan.  xiii.  42,  43);  that  after  she  was 
condemned  to  die,  and  as  they  were  leading  her 
through  the  streets,  to  be  stoned  to  death,  yet 
her  heart  trusted  and  confided  in  God.  David 
had  such  a  confidence,  when  he  said,  "  Be  mind- 
ful, O  Lord,  of  thy  word  to  thy  servant,  in  which 
thou  hast  given  me  hope.  This  hath  comforted 
me  in  my  humiliation ;  because  thy  word  hath 
enlivened  me;"  Ps.  cxviii.  49,  50. 

This  hope  works  many  and  very  wonderful 
effects  in  the  souls  of  those  who  are  filled  with 
it ;  and  that  in  a  greater  measure,  by  how  much 
the  more  it  partakes  of  charity  and  the  love  of 
God,  which  gives  it  life.  The  first  of  these  effects 
is  to  encourage  man  to  continue  in  the  way  of 
virtue ;  in  hopes  of  the  reward  he  is  to  receive ; 
for  as  all  the  saints  testify,  the  surer  man  is  of 
his  reward,  the  more  willing  he  is  to  run  through 
all  the  miseries  of  this  world.  St.  Gregory  says, 
"  Hope  is  so  strong  as  to  be  able  to  lift  up  our 
hearts  to  the  joys  of  heaven,  and  to  make  us 
quite  insensible  to  the  miseries  of  this  mortal 
life;"  Moral,  i.  xvi.  c.  13.  Origen  says,  "The 
hope  of  future  glory  gives  those  persons  much 
ease,  who  are  toiling  in  this  life  for  obtaining  it : 
as  we  see  the  hopes  of  victory,  and  of  reward,  miti- 
gate the  pains  of  the  wounds  the  soldier  receives 
in  war."  St.  Ambrose  says,  "An  assured  hope  of 
reward  makes  toil  seem  less,  and  lessens  the  appre- 
hensions of  dangers  ;  "    St.  Ambr.  in  Ps.  xii.   St 


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HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


353 


Jerome  says,  "Any  labor  seems  light  and  easy  when 
we  put  a  value  on  the  reward  ;  because  the  hopes 
of  what  we  are  to  receive  make  us  think  there  is 
no  trouble  in  what  we  have  undertaken;"  Epist. 
ad  Demet.  c.  9.  St.  Chrysostom  is  much  fuller 
on  this  matter :  "  If,"  says  he,  "  a  tempestuous  sea 
is  not  able  to  frighten  seamen,  if  the  hard  frosts 
and  violent  rains  of  winter  are  no  discouragements 
to  the  husbandman,  if  neither  wounds  nor  death 
itself  can  daunt  the  soldier,  and  if  neither  falls 
nor  blows  can  dishearten  the  wrestler,  whilst 
they  think  of  the  deceitful  hopes  of  what  they 
propose  to  themselves  for  the  reward  of  their 
toils  and  labors  ;  how  much  less  ought  they,  who 
aspire  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  to  take  any 
notice  of  the  difficulties  they  may  meet  with  in 
their  journey  thither!  Therefore,  O  Christian, 
consider  not  that  the  way  of  virtue  is  rugged  and 
uneven,  but  reflect  on  what  it  will  lead  you  to; 
and  do  not,  on  the  contrary,  falsely  persuade 
yourself,  that  the  path  of  vice  is  smooth  and 
pleasant,  but  think  of  the  precipice  it  will  bring 
you  to ;  "  St.  Chrys.  Hom.  18,  in  Genes.  O,  how 
true  is  every  word  this  great  saint  speaks  !  for 
will  any  man  be  so  mad,  as  willingly  to  follow  a 
path  that  is  strewed  with  flowers,  if  he  is  to  die 
when  he  comes  to  the  end  of  it  ?  And  who  is 
there  that  will  refuse  to  take  another  that  is 
rugged  and  uneasy,  if  it  leads  to  life  and  happi- 
ness ? 

Nor  does  this  hope  serve  only  for  attaining  so 
happy  an  end,  but  assists  us  in  the  means  that 
that  tend  to  it,  and  in  bearing  with  all  the  mise- 
ries and  necessities  of  this  life.  For  it  is  this 
that  supports  a  man  in  tribulation,  that  defends 
him  in  danger,  that  comforts  him  in  afflictions, 
that  assists  him  in  sickness,  and  supplies  all  his 
necessities  and  wants,  because  it  is  by  means  of 
this  virtue  that  he  obtains  mercy  from  God,  who 
helps  us  on  all  occasions.  We  have  evident 
proofs  of  this  throughout  the  Holy  Scripture,  but 
particularly  in  the  Psalms  ;  so  that  there  is  scarce 
any  one  of  them  wherein  the  royal  prophet  does 
not  highly  commend  this  virtue,  and  speak  of  its 
wonderful  effects  and  advantages,  as  being,  with- 
out  doubt,  one   of    the   greatest   treasures   and 

»3 


comforts  the  virtuous  can  possibly  enjoy  in  this 
life.  To  prove  this,  I  will  make  use  of  a  few 
passages  of  the  Scriptures,  but  shall  be  forced  to 
pass  by  many  more  than  I  can  be  able  to  quote. 
The  prophet  Hanani  tells  king  Asa,  "  The  eyes  , 
of  the  Lord  behold  all  the  earth,  and  give  strength 
to  them  that  with  a  pure  heart  trust  in  him  ;  "  2  , 
Paral.  xvi.  9.  The  prophet  Jeremias  says,  "  The 
Lord  is  good  to  those  that  hope  in  him,  and  to 
the  soul  that  seeks  after  him."  And  in  another 
place  it  is  said,  that  "  the  Lord  is  good,  he 
strengthens  his  servants  in  the  day  of  tribulation, 
and  knows  all  those  that  hope  in  him  "  (Nahum 
i.  7);  that  is,  he  takes  care  to  relieve  and  assist 
them.  Isaias  says,  "  If  you  will  return  to  me, 
and  rest  in  me,  you  shall  be  safe ;  your  strength 
shall  be  in  silence  and  hope  ;  "  Isa.  xxx.  15.  By 
silence  is  to  be  understood  here,  the  inward  rest 
which  the  soul  enjoys  amidst  all  her  troubles : 
now  this  rest  is  nothing  else  but  the  particular 
effect  of  this  hope,  which  banishes  all  kind  of 
solicitude  and  immoderate  trouble  by  the  favor  it 
expects  from  the  mercy  of  God.  The  book  of 
Ecclesiasticus  says  (ii.  8,  9,  11),  "You  who  fear 
the  Lord,  put  your  trust  in  him,  and  you  shall 
not  lose  your  reward.  You  who  fear  the  Lord, 
hope  in  him,  and  his  mercy  will  be  your  delight 
and  comfort.  Consider,  O  ye  children,  all  the 
nations  of  the  world,  and  know  that  nobody  ever 
yet  hoped  in  the  Lord  and  has  been  confounded." 
Solomon's  advice  to  us,  in  his  Proverbs,  is  this : 
"  In  all  your  ways  think  of  the  Lord,  and  he  will 
direct  all  your  steps  ;  "  Prov.  iii.  6.  The  prophet 
David  says,  in  one  of  his  psalms,  "  Let  those  who 
know  thy  name,  O  Lord,  hope  in  thee,  because 
thou  hast  never  forsaken  those  that  seek  thee ;  " 
Ps.  ix.  II.  And  in  another  psalm,  he  says,  "I. 
have  put  my  hope,  O  Lord,  in  thee,  and  there- ' 
fore  I  will  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  thy  mercy ;  "  Ps. 
xxx.  7,  8.  And  in  another  place  he  says, 
"  Mercy  shall  surround  him  that  puts  his  trust 
in  the  Lord;  "  Ps.  xxxi.  10.  He  has  much  rea- 
son to  say,  shall  surround,  to  let  us  know  that  he 
shall  be  surrounded  on  all  sides  with  this  mercy 
as  a  king  is  with  his  guards,  for  the  security  of 
his  person.     He  treats  this  subject  more  at  large 


354 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


in  another  psalm,  where  he  says,  "  With  expec- 
tation I  have  waited  for  the  Lord,  and  he  was 
attentive  to  me.  And  he  heard  my  prayers  and 
brought  me  out  of  the  pit  of  misery,  and  out  of 
the  mud  which  I  stuck  in.  And  he  set  my  feet 
upon  a  rock,  and  directed  my  steps.  And  has 
put  a  new  canticle  into  my  mouth,  a  song  to  our 
God.  Many  shall  see  this,  and  shall  fear,  and 
they  shall  hope  in  the  Lord.  Blessed  is  the  man 
whose  trust  is  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  and  who 
has  turned  his  eyes  from  vanities  and  deceitful 
follies."  Ps.  xxxix.  1-7.  From  these  words  we 
may  learn  another  extraordinary  effect  of  this 
virtue,  which  is  to  open  a  man's  mouth  and  eyes, 
that  he  may  be  sensible,  by  his  own  experience, 
of  the  fatherly  tenderness  of  God,  and  may  sing 
a  new  song  with  a  new  delight,  for  the  new  favor 
he  has  received,  to  wit,  the  assistance  he 
hoped  for.  If  we  were  to  cite  all  the  verses  in 
the  Psalms,  nay,  and  all  the  entire  psalms  that 
treat  on  the  subject,  we  should  never  have  done; 
for  the  whole  psalm  which  begins,  "  They  who 
trust  in  the  Lord  are  like  Mount  Sion,"  is  to  this 
purpose ;  Ps.  cxxiv.  Heb.  cxxv.  And  so  is  the 
psalm  which  begins,  "  He  who  dwells  in  the 
secret  place  of  the  Most  High  ;  "  Ps.  xc.  Heb. 
xci.  They  neither  of  them  speak  of  any  thing 
else  but  the  extraordinary  advantages  of  those 
who  put  their  trust  in  God,  and  live  under  his 
protection.  For  this  reason,  St.  Bernard,  writing 
on  these  words  of  the  psalm,  "  O  Lord,  thou  art 
my  refuge,"  speaks  thus  :  "  Whatever  I  am  to 
do,  or  whatever  I  am  to  omit,  whatever  I  am  to 
suffer,  or  whatever  I  am  to  desire,  you,  O  Lord, 
are  my  hope.  It  is  this  hope  that  makes  you 
perform  every  thing  you  have  promised,  and  it  is 
you  that  are  the  chief  cause  of  this  hope  of  mine. 
lyCt  another  allege  the  good  works  he  has  done, 
and  please  himself  with  having  undergone  all  the 
heat  and  burden  of  the  day ;  let  him  say,  with 
the  Pharisee,  that  he  has  fasted  twice  a  week, 
and  that  he  is  not  as  other  men ;  I,  for  my  part, 
will  cry  out  with  the  prophet,  "It  is  good  for  me  to 
cleave  to  the  Lord,  and  to  put  my  trust  in  God  ;" 
Ps.  Ixxii.  28.  If  any  one  promises  me  a  reward, 
it  is  by  your  mercy  alone  that  I  shall  hope  to 


obtain  it ;  if  any  one  should  make  war  against  me, 
my  hopes  of  overcoming  shall  be  in  you.  Should 
the  world  set  on  me,  should  the  devil  roar  at  me, 
should  the  flesh  rebel  against  the  spirit,  I  will 
hope  in  none  but  you.  Since,  therefore,  the 
Lord  is  alone  able  to  assist  us,  why  do  we  not 
banish  immediately  out  of  our  hearts  all  these 
vain  and  deceitful  hopes  ?  And  why  do  not  we, 
with  fervor  and  devotion,  stick  to  so  secure  a 
hope  as  this  is  ?  The  saint,  immediately  after, 
has  these  words :  "  Faith  says,  God  has  laid  up 
inestimable  benefits  for  those  that  serve  him 
faithfully;  but  Hope  says,  it  is  for  me  that  keeps 
them;  and  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  Charity 
cries  out,  I  will  hasten  and  take  possession  of 
them;"  St.  Bern.  Serm.  9.     Ps.  xc.  2. 

Behold  how  advantageous  this  virtue  is,  and 
how  necessary  on  several  occasions.  It  is  like  a 
secure  haven  which  the  just  put  in  at  in  bad 
weather ;  it  is  like  a  strong  shield  to  keep  off 
the  attempts  of  the  world ;  it  is  like  a  magazine 
of  corn  in  time  of  famine,  whither  the  poor  resort 
to  relieve  their  wants ;  it  is  the  tent  and  shade 
which  God  promises  his  elect,  by  the  prophet 
Isaias,  to  shelter  them  from  the  burning  heats  of 
summer,  and  from  the  storms  and  tempests  of 
winter;  that  is,  from  the  prosperity  and  ad- 
versity of  this  world.  To  conclude,  it  is 
a  universal  remedy  for  all  our  evil,  be- 
cause it  is  certain  that  whatsoever  we  hope 
with  justice,  faith  and  prudence  to  receive  from 
God,  we  shall  not  fail  of  obtaining  it,  provided  it 
is  for  our  good.  For  which  reason,  St.  Cyprian 
says,  "  that  God's  mercy  is  a  fountain  of  healing 
waters,  that  hope  is  a  vessel  to  receive  them,  and 
that  the  cure  will  be  proportioned  to  the  large- 
ness of  the  vessel ;  for  if  we  consider  the  foun- 
tain, it  is  impossible  it  should  be  ever  dried  iip." 
So  that  as  God  himself  told  the  children  of  Israel 
(Josu.  i.  3),  that  whatever  place  they  did  but  so 
much  as  set  their  foot  on,  it  should  be  theirs ;  so, 
as  much  mercy  as  man  shall  put  his  confidence 
in,  shall  be  his  own.  So  that,  according  to  this, 
he  who,  inspired  by  God,  shall  hope  for  all  things, 
shall  accordingly  obtain  all  things.  Thus,  this 
hope  seems  to  be  a  resemblance  of  the  divine 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


355 


virtue  and  power  which  redounds  to  the  honor  of 
God.  For,  as  St.  Bernard  very  well  observes, 
"  nothing  so  much  discovers  the  omnipotence  of 
God,  as  that  we  see  he  is  not  only  almighty  him- 
self, but  that  he  in  some  manner  makes  all  those 
so  who  hope  in  him;"  Serm,  85,  in  Cant.  Did 
not  Josue  partake  of  that  omnipotence,  who  from 
the  earth  commanded  the  sun  to  stand  still  in 
the  firmament?  Josu.  x.  13.  Nor  was  his  power 
less,  who  bid  king  Ezechias  choose  which  he 
would,  either  to  have  the  sun  go  back  or  advance 
so  many  degrees  ;  4  Kings  xx.  9, 11 ;  Isa.  xxxviii. 
8.  It  is  his  giving  his  servant  such  power  as  this, 
that  promotes  the  greatness  of  his  glory  in  a 
particular  manner;  for  if  Nebuchodonosor,  the 
great  king  of  the  Assyrians,  valued  himself  on 
having  so  many  princes  to  obey  and  serve  him, 
that  were  kings  as  well  as  he,  how  much  more 
reason  has  Almighty  God  to  glorify  himself,  and 
say  that  those  who  serve  him  are  in  some  meas- 
ure gods,  inasmuch  as  he  communicates  so  much 
of  his  power  to  them. 

§  I.  Of  the  vain  Hopes  of  the  Wicked. — You 
see  here  what  a  vast  treasure  the  virtuous  enjoy, 
whilst  the  wicked  have  no  share  of  it ;  because, 
though  they  have  not  entirely  lost  all  hope,  yet 
what  they  have  is  only  a  dead  one ;  because  it  is 
deprived  of  its  life,  so  that  it  cannot  work  any  of 
those  effects  on  them  which  we  have  spoken  of. 
For  as  nothing  enlivens  hope  so  much  as  a  good 
conscience,  so  nothing  ruins  it  more  than  a  bad 
one,  because  it  generally  walks  in  dread  and  fear, 
as  being  sensible  how  unworthy  it  is  of  the 
Almighty's  grace.  So  that  distrust  and  fear  are 
the  inseparable  companions  of  a  bad  conscience, 
as  the  shadow  is  of  the  body.  By  which  it 
appears,  that  such  as  man's  happiness  is,  such  is 
his  confidence ;  for  as  he  places  his  happiness  in 
worldly  treasures,  so  his  trust  is  in  them,  because 
all  his  glory  is  in  them,  and  it  is  to  them  he  has 
recourse  in  time  of  affliction.  The  book  of  Wis- 
dom takes  notice  of  this  kind  of  hope  ;  where  it  is 
said,  that  "  the  hope  of  the  wicked  is  like  a  flock 
of  wool,  which  is  blown  away  by  the  wind,  and 
like  a  light  foam  which  is  scattered  by  the  waves, 
and  like  a  cloud  of  smoke  which  vanishes  in  the 


air  ;"  ch.  v.  15.    Judge  by  this  how  vain  such  a 
hope  must  be. 

Nor  is  this  all ;  for  it  is  not  only  an  unprofit- 
able but  a  prejudicial  and  deceitful  hope,  as  God 
himself  has  declared  to  us  by  the  prophet  Isaias, 
saying,  "  Woe  to  you,  children,  that  have  for- 
saken your  Father,  who  have  taken  counsel,  but 
not  of  me,  who  have  begun  a  web,  but  not  in  my 
spirit,  that  you  might  add  sin  to  sin.  You  have 
sent  into  Egypt  for  help  without  consulting  me, 
expecting  help  from  Pharao's  forces,  and  putting 
your  trust  in  the  protection  of  Egypt.  But  Pha- 
rao's strength  shall  turn  to  your  confusion,  and 
the  trust  which  you  placed  in  Egypt's  protection 
shall  be  to  your  disgrace.  All  those  that  have 
trusted  in  the  prople  have  been  confounded, 
because  they  could  neither  help  them  nor  do 
them  any  good ;  on  the  contrary,  they  have  put 
them  to  greater  shame  and  confusion ;"  Isa.  xxxi. 
I,  3.  These  are  the  prophet's  own  words,  who, 
not  thinking  that  he  has  said  enough,  yet  con- 
tinues in  the  next  chapter  to  make  the  same 
reproach  to  them,  saying,  "  Woe  to  those  that  go 
down  for  help  into  Egypt,  placing  their  trust  in 
their  horses,  and  confiding  in  their  chariots, 
because  they  are  many,  and  in  their  horses, 
because  they  are  very  strong,  who  have  not  their 
hope  in  the  Holy  of  Israel,  nor  sought  after  the 
Lord.  For  the  Egyptian  is  a  man  and  no  God, 
and  their  horses  are  flesh  and  not  spirit ;  and  the 
Lord  will  stretch  out  his  hand;  and  both  he  that 
assists  and  he  that  assisted  shall  fall,  and  they 
shall  be  all  destroyed  together;"  Isa.  xxxi.  i,  3. 

See  here  the  difference  there  is  between  the 
hope  of  the  just  and  that  of  the  wicked;  for 
the  hope  the  wicked  have  is  that  of  the  flesh; 
but  the  spirit,  that  of  the  just.  Or,  if  this 
does  not  thoroughly  express  it,  man  is  the 
hope  of  the  wicked,  whilst  the  hope  of  the  just 
is  God;  by  which  it  appears  that  there  is  the 
same  difference  between  these  two  hopes,  that 
there  is  between  God  and  man.  It  is  on 
this  account  the  psalmist,  with  a  deal  of  reason, 
advises  us  to  beware  of  the  one,  and  invites 
us  to  the  other,  with  these  words :  "  Put  not 
your  trust  in  princes,  nor  in  the  sons  of  men, 


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HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,  THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


in  whom  there  is  no  salvation.  Their  life 
shall  have  no  end,  and  they  shall  return  to 
the  earth  out  of  which  they  have  been  created, 
and  then  all  their  designs  shall  perish.  Happy 
is  the  man  who  has  the  God  of  Jacob  for  to 
help  him,  and  whose  hope  is  in  the  Lord  his 
God,  who  created  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea, 
and  all  that  is  in  them."  Ps.  clxv.  3,  4,  5. 
Here  we  plainly  see  how  different  these  two 
hopes  are.  The  same  prophet  expresses  it 
again  in  another  psalm,  where  he  says,  "  Our 
enemies  have  relied  upon  their  chariots  and 
their  horses ;  but  as  for  us,  we  will  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God.  They  have 
been  taken  and  are  fallen,  but  we  have  risen 
and  stand  upright ;  "  Ps.  xix.  8,  9.  Consider 
now  how  the  effects  of  their  hopes  are  propor- 
tioned, to  what  they  are  founded  on,  since  ruin 
and  destruction  are  the  consequences  of  the 
one,  and  victory  and  honor  of  the  other. 

For  this  reason,  they  who  rely  on  the  first 
of  these  hopes  are  rightly  compared  to  the 
man  in  the  gospel,  who  built  his  house  on 
the  sand,  which  was  beat  down  by  the  first 
storm  that  arose ;  but  they  who  rely  on  the 
other,  are  like  him  that  built  his  house  on  a 
firm  rock,  so  that  neither  winds  nor  waves, 
nor  any  tempests  whatever,  were  able  to  shake 
it;  Matt.  vii.  24,  25,  26,  27.  The  prophet 
Jeremy  explains  this  same  difference  by  a 
very  proper  comparison:  "Cursed  be  the  man 
that  trusteth  in  man,  and  maketh  flesh  his 
arm,  and  whose  heart  departeth  from  the  Lord. 
For  he  shall  be  like  tamarick  in  the  desert, 
and  he  shall  not  see  when  good  shall  come; 
but  he  shall  dwell  in  dryness  in  the  desert, 
in  a  salt  land  and  not  inhabited  ;"  Jer.  xlii. 
5,  6.  But  speaking  immediately  after  of  the 
just,  he  says,  "  Blessed  be  the  man  that  trust- 
eth in  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  shall  be  his 
confidence.  And  he  shall  be  as  a  tree  that 
is  planted  by  the  waters,  that  spreadeth  out 
its  root  towards  moisture;  and  it  shall  not 
fear  when  the  heat  cometh.  And  the  leaf 
thereof  shall  be  green,  and  in  the  time  of 
drought  it  shall  not  be  solicitous,  neither  shall 


it  cease  at  any  time  to  bring  forth  fruit;" 
Ibid.  ver.  7,  8.  Now  what  more  need  be 
said,  were  men  in  their  right  senses,  to  show 
how  different  the  condition  of  the  virtuous  is 
from  that  of  the  wicked,  and  how  much  more 
happy  they  are  than  these,  on  the  bare 
account  of  hope  itself.  Is  it  possible  for  a 
tree  to  flourish  better  in  any  place,  than 
in  such  a  one  as  the  prophet  has  here 
represented?  it  fares  exactly  after  the  same 
manner  with  a  virtuous  man,  for  there  is 
nothing  imaginable  but  what  goes  well  with 
him,  because  he  is  planted  near  the  streams  of 
the  waters  of  divine  grace.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  impossible  for  a  tree  to  be  in  a 
worse  condition,  than  to  branch  all  out  into 
wood,  and  to  bear  no  fruit,  because  of  its  being 
set  in  a  bad  ground,  and  in  a  place  where  no 
one  can  come  to  prune  it.  This  may  convince 
the  wicked,  that  it  is  their  greatest  misery  to 
turn  away  their  eyes  and  hearts  from  God,  who 
is  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  to  fix  them 
on  creatures,  and  to  rely  on  their  assistance, 
who  are  themselves  so  weak,  and  so  deceitful, 
and  may  be  truly  called,  "  a  dry,  barren  and 
uninhabitable  land."  By  this  we  may  see  how 
much  the  world  deserves  our  tears,  being 
planted  in  so  bad  a  soil,  as  having  placed  its 
hope  in  things  that  are  so  unable  to  assist  it, 
if  that  may  be  called  a  hope,  which  is  in  itself 
so  far  from  being  so,  that  it  is,  on  the  contrary, 
nothing  but  confusion  and  deceit. 

What  misery  is  to  be  compared  with  this  ? 
Can  there  be  any  greater  poverty,  than  to  live 
without  this  hope  ?  For  if  sin  has  reduced  man 
to  such  a  low  condition,  that  he  can  find  no 
relief,  but  from  the  hope  he  has  in  God's  mercy, 
what  will  become  of  him,  if  this  anchor,  which 
is  the  only  support  left  him,  should  fail  ?  We 
see  all  other  creatures  are  in  their  way  perfect 
at  their  birth,  and  provided  with  all  things 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  their  being. 
Man,  on  the  contrary,  by  reason  of  sin,  comes 
in  such  an  imperfect  manner  into  the  world, 
that  he  has  scarce  any  thing  in  himself  that 
he  stands  in   need  of.   but  requires  that  e^ery 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


357 


thing  should  be  brought  to  him,  and  lives  on 
the  alms  which  Almighty  God's  mercy  dis- 
tributes. If,  therefore,  he  were  destitute  of 
this  means,  what  kind  of  life  would  his  be, 
but  an  imperfect  and  defective  one,  subject  to 
a  thousand  miseries  and  wants  ?  What  is  it 
else,  but  to  live  without  hope,  to  live  without 
God  ?  What,  therefore,  has  man  left  of  his 
ancient  patrimony  to  live  on,  if  this  support 
be  taken  from  him  ?  Is  there  any  nation  in 
the  world  so  barbarous  as  not  to  have  some 
knowledge  of  a  God,  as  not  to  pay  some 
kind  of  honor  and  worship  to  him,  or  to  hope 
for  some  favor  from  his  providential  care? 
When  Moses  had  been  absent  but  for  a  little 
while  from  the  children  of  Israel,  they 
imagined  they  were  without  their  God ;  and 
being  as  yet  very  raw  and  ignorant,  they  imme- 
diately cried  out  to  Aaron  to  make  them  a 
God,  because  they  were  afraid  to  go  on  any 
farther  without  one.  By  which  it  appears, 
that  man  is  taught  by  nature  that  there  must 
of  necessity  be  a  God,  though  he  is  not  always 
so  happy  as  to  know  the  true,  and  that  he  is  sen- 
sible of  his  own  weakness,  though  he  is  at  the 
same  time  ignorant  of  the  cause  of  it,  and,  there- 
fore, runs  naturally  to  God  for  a  remedy 
against  it.  So  that,  as  the  ivy  seeks  some 
tree  to  support  it,  that  so  it  may  creep  upward, 
not  being  able  to  support  itself,  and  as  woman  nat- 
urally has  recourse  to  the  assistance  and  protec- 
tion of  man,  her  own  imperfection  telling  her  she 
wants  his  help,  so  human  nature,  being  reduced 
to  the  utmost  extremity,  seeks  after  God  to 
defend  and  protect  her.  And  since  nothing  is 
more  evident  than  this,  what  kind  of  life  must 
those  men  live,  who  are  unhappily  neglected 
and  forsaken  by  God  ? 

I  would  willingly  know  of  those  who  are  in 
such  a  condition,  who  it  is  that  comforts  them  in 
their  afflictions  ;  to  whom  they  have  recourse  in 
dangers ;  who  looks  after  them  when  they  are 
sick  ;  to  whom  they  can  discover  their  ailments ; 
whom  they  consult  in  their  difficult  affairs ;  with 
whom  they  hold  a  correspondence,  with  whom 
they  converse,  and  whom  they  desire  to  assist 


in  all  their  necessities ;  with  whom  they  dis- 
course, lie  down  and  rise.  In  short,  how  can 
they,  who  are  deprived  of  this  help,  get  out  of 
the  confusion  and  disturbances  of  this  life  ?  If 
a  body  cannot  live  without  a  soul,  how  is  it 
possible  for  a  soul  to  live  without  God,  who  is 
as  absolutely  necessary  for  preserving  the  life 
of  a  soul,  as  the  soul  is  for  preserving  that  of 
the  body  ?  And  if,  as  we  have  said  before,  a 
lively  hope  is  the  anchor  of  life,  what  man 
will  be  so  rash  as  to  venture  out  into  the 
stormy  sea  of  this  world,  without  carrying 
this  anchor  along  with  him  ?  If  hope  is 
the  shield  with  which  we  are  to  defend  our- 
selves against  our  enemies,  how  can  men 
dare  to  go  without  that  shield  into  the  very 
midst  of  so  many  foes?  If  hope  is  the  staff 
that  has  supported  human  nature  ever  since 
the  general  distemper  wherewith  our  first  par- 
ents infected  it,  where  will  feeble  and  impotent 
man  be,  if  he  has  not  this  staff  to  keep  him  up? 

We  have  here  sufficiently  explained  the 
difference  there  is  between  the  hope  of  the  good 
and  that  of  the  bad,  and  consequently  between 
the  condition  of  the  one  and  the  other?  for  the 
one  has  God  to  protect  and  defend  him,  whilst 
the  other  puts  his  trust  in  the  staff  of  Egypt^ 
which,  if  he  venture  to  lean  on,  will  break  and 
run  into  his  hand;  because  the  very  sin  man 
commits,  in  placing  his  confidence  there,  is 
enough  to  make  God  let  him  know,  by  his  own 
fall,  how  foolishly  he  has  deceived  himself :  as 
he  has  declared  by  the  prophet  Jeremy,  who^ 
foretelling  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of 
Moab,  and  the  occasion  of  it,  uses  these  words  r 
"  Because  you  have  put  your  trust  in  fortifi- 
cations and  in  your  riches,  you  yourself  shall 
be  taken;  and  Chamos,"  which  is  the  god  in 
which  you  have  trusted,  "  shall  be  carried  into 
captivity,  with  his  priests,  and  with  his  princes  ;'* 
Jer.  xliv.  7.  Consider  now,  what  a  kind  of 
succor  this  must  be,  since  the  very  seeking 
and  trusting  in  it  is  certain  ruin  and  destruc- 
tion. 

This  shall  suffice  to  show  how  great  a  privi- 
lege this  of  hope  is ;  and  though  it  may  seem. 


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HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


to  be  the  same  with  the  particular  providence  we 
have  treated  of  already,  which  God  extends 
towards  those  that  serve  and  love  him,  there  is 
yet  as  much  difference  between  them  as  is 
between  the  effect  and  its  cause.  For  though 
there  are  several  causes  and  beginnings  of  this 
hope,  as   the   goodness  and   truth  of  God,  the 


merits  of  our  Saviour,  and  the  rest ;  however, 
his  paternal  providence,  from  which  this  confi- 
dence proceeds,  is  one  of  the  chief,  because  the 
knowledge  that  God  has  such  particular  care 
over  him  is  the  cause  of  this  confidence  in 
man. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

OF  THE  SEVENTH  PRIVILEGE  OF  VIRTUE,  VIZ.,  THE  TRUE  LIBERTY  WHICH  THE  VIRTUOUS  ENJOY, 
AND   OF   THE   MISERABLE   AND  UNACCOUNTABLE   SLAVERY   THE   WICKED    LIVE  iN. 


ROM  all  the  above-mentioned  privi- 
leges, but  particularly  from  the  second 
and  fourth,  which  are  the  grace  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  divine  consolation, 
there  arises  another  extraordinary  one,  which 
virtuous  men  enjoy,  and  is  the  true  liberty  of  the 
soul;  it  is  what  the  Son  of  God  brought  into 
the  world  with  him;  and  it  is  on  this  account 
that  he  is  called  the  Redeemer  of  ?nan kind ^  for 
having  delivered  it  out  of  that  real  and  miser- 
able bondage  it  had  so  long  lived  under,  and 
having  set  it  in  perfect  liberty.  This  is  one  of 
the  greatest  favors  our  Saviour  has  bestowed 
on  us,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  advantages 
of  the  Gospel,  and  one  of  the  chief  effects  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  "  For,"  as  the  Apostle  says, 
"wheresoever  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  resides, 
there  liberty  is  to  be  found;"  i  Cor.  iii.  17.  It 
is,  in  fine,  one  of  the  noblest  rewards  God 
promises  those  who  serve  him  in  this  life. 
And  it  was  this  our  Saviour  himself  promises 
to  some  persons  who  had  a  mind  to  begin  to 
enter  into  his  service,  when  he  said  to  them, 
"  If  you  continue  in  my  word,  you  shall  be  my 
disciples  indeed.  And  you  shall  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free;"  that 
is  to  say,  shall  give  you  a  true  liberty.  To 
which  they  answered:  "We  are  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  and  we  have  never  been  slaves  to 
any  man  ;  how  sayest  thou.  You  shall  be  free  ? 
Jesus  answered  them,  Amen,  amen,  I  say  unto 


you,  that  whosoever  committeth  sin  is  the  ser- 
vant of  sin.  Now  the  servant  abideth  not  in 
the  house  forever:  but  the  son  abideth  for 
ever.  If,  therefore,  the  son  shall  make  you  free, 
you  shall  be  free  indeed;"  John  viii.  31,  32,  33, 

34,  35,  36. 

Our  Saviour  by  these  words  gives  us  plainly 
to  understand,  that  there  are  two  sorts  of 
liberty;  the  one  false,  which,  though  it  looks 
like  liberty,  is  not  so ;  the  other  true,  which  is 
what  it  appears  to  be.  As  for  the  false  one, 
it  belongs  to  those  persons  who,  though  their 
bodies  are  free,  have  put  their  souls  under  the 
arbitrary  government  of  every  passion ;  like 
Alexander  the  Great,  who,  after  having  made 
himself  master  of  the  whole  world,  was  a  slave 
to  his  own  vices.  But  the  true  liberty  is 
enjoyed  by  them  alone,  whose  souls  are  free 
from  the  yoke  of  such  tyrants,  though  their 
bodies  may  sometimes  perhaps  be  prisoners,  and 
sometimes  at  large,  as  was  St.  Paul's,  who, 
notwithstanding  his  imprisonment,  soared  up 
to  heaven  in  spirit,  and  by  his  preaching  and 
doctrine  set  the  whole  world  free. 

The  reason  why  we  v/ith  so  much  freedom 
call  this  liberty,  and  not  the  other,  is,  because, 
since  of  those  two  principal  parts  which  com- 
pose a  man,  to  wit,  the  body  and  soul,  the  soul 
is  beyond  all  comparison  the  most  noble,  and, 
as  it  were,  man's  all ;  whereas  the  body  is 
nothing  but  the  matter  and  subject,  or  the  case 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


359 


the  soul  is  shut  up  in ;  it  necessarily  follows, 
that  he  who  has  the  best  part  of  him  at  lib- 
erty, may  be  said  to  be  truly  free,  whilst  he 
whose  better  part  is  under  confinement,  enjoys 
but  a  false  liberty,  though  he  has  the  free  dis- 
posal of  his  body,  and  may  carry  it  where  he 
pleases. 

§  I.  Of  the  Slavery  of  the  Wicked. — Should 
you  ask  me.  Whose  slave  is  he,  who  is  under 
such  confinement  ?  I  answer,  he  is  a  slave  to 
the  most  hideous  tyrant  we  can  possibly  rep- 
resent to  ourselves  ;  I  mean,  to  sin.  For  hell's 
torments  being  the  most  abominable  thing,  sin 
must  of  necessity  be  yet  more  abominable,  in- 
asmuch as  these  torments  are  but  the  efiect 
of  it.  It  is  to  this  the  wicked  pay  their  slav- 
ish homage,  as  appears  plainly  from  the  words 
of  our  Saviour  so  lately  cited :  "  Whosoever  is 
guilty  of  sin  is  a  slave  to  sin ;"  John  viii.  34. 
And  can  a  man  possibly  be  oppressed  with  a 
more  deplorable  slavery  than  this  is  ? 

Nor  is  he  a  slave  to  sin  only,  but,  what  is 
still  worse,  to  those  who  incite  him  to  it,  that 
is,  to  the  world,  the  devil,  and  his  own  flesh, 
depraved  by  sin,  and  to  every  disorderly  appe- 
tite the  flesh  is  the  occasion  of ;  for  he  who  is 
a  slave  to  the  son  must  be  a  slave  to  his 
parents.  Now  there  is  none  of  us  but  knows, 
that  these  three  are  the  parents  of  sin,  and  on 
this  account  they  are  styled  "the  enemies  of 
the  soul,"  because  they  are  so  prejudicial  to  it, 
as  to  take  it  prisoner,  and  to  put  it  under  the 
power  of  such  a  cruel  tyrant  as  sin  is. 

But  though  these  three  ^gree  in  this  point, 
yet  there  is  some  kind  of  a  difierence  in  their 
manner  of  proceeding;  for  the  two  first  make  use 
•of  the  third,  which  is  the  flesh,  like  another  Eve, 
for  the  deceiving  of  Adam,  or  like  a  spur  to 
drive  him  on  to  all  manner  of  mischief.  For  this 
reason  the  Apostle  calls  it  sin,  as  it  were  by  excel- 
lence, giving  the  name  of  the  effect  to  the  cause, 
because  there  is  no  manner  of  sin  whatever, 
which  it  does  not  tempt  us  to.  The  divines, 
on  the  same  account,  term  it  fomes  peccati,  that 
is,  the  bait  and  the  nourishment  of  sin,  because  it 
serves,  instead  of  wood  and  oil,  to  keep  in  and 


increase  the  fire  of  sin.  But  the  name  we  gen- 
erally call  it  by  is  sensuality,  flesh  or  concupis- 
cence, which,  to  speak  more  plainly,  is  nothing 
else,  but  our  sensual  appetite,  the  cause  of  all 
our  passions,  as  it  is  spoiled  and  corrupted  by 
sin,  it  being  the  incentive  and  provocative,  nay, 
and  the  very  source  of  all  manner  of  vices. 
This  it  is,  particularly,  that  makes  our  other; 
two  enemies  ernploy  our  sensual  appetite  as 
their  instrument  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  war 
against  us.  It  was  this  that  gave  St.  Basil 
occasion  to  say,  "  that  our  own  desires  are  the 
chief  arms  with  which  the  devil  fights  against 
us ;  because  the  immoderate  afiiection  we  have 
for  whatever  we  desire,  makes  us  endeavor  to 
possess  it  right  or  wrong,  and  break  through 
all  that  lies  in  our  way,  though  forbid  by  the 
law  of  God  ;  and  from  hence  all  sins  take  their 
rise  and  origin;  "  St.  Bas.  Hom.  23,  de  non 
adher.  reb.  ssecularibus. 

This  appetite  is  one  of  the  greatest  tyrants 
the  wicked  are  subject  to,  and  by  which,  the 
Apostle  says,  they  are  made  slaves  ;  and,  though 
he  calls  them  slaves,  he  does  not  mean  that  they 
have  lost  that  free-will  with  which  they  were 
created ;  because  this  never  was  nor  ever  will 
be  lost,  as  to  its  essence,  though  man  commit 
ever  so  many  sins ;  but  that 'sin,  on  the  one  side, 
has  so  weakened  this  free-will,  and  on  the  other 
lent  such  forces  to  the  appetite,  that  the  stronger, 
generally  speaking,  prevails  over  the  weaker. 

Besides,  what  greater  subject  of  grief  can  we 
have  than  to  see  man,  whose  soul  is  created 
according  to  God's  own  image,  who  is  enlight- 
ened from  heaven,  and  has  an  understanding 
so  subtile  as  to  fly  above  all  created  beings, 
and  to  contemplate  God  himself;  it  is,  I  say, 
a  deplorable  thing  to  consider  that  this  soul 
should  take  no  notice  of  all  these  noble  quali- 
ties, but  let  herself  be  governed  by  the  blind 
impulse  of  her  beastly  appetite,  which  has 
been  corrupted  by  sin,  and  hurried  on  by  the 
devil  ?  What  must  a  man  expect  from  such 
a  government,  and  from  such  directions,  but 
dangers,  calamities,  and  all  kinds  of  unparal- 
leled misfortunes? 


360 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


I  will  give  you  a  clear  prospect  of  the  de- 
formity of  this  slavery,  by  an  example  which 
comes  home  to  our  present  business.  Repre- 
sent to  yourself  a  man  married  to  a  woman 
that  is  as  noble,  as  beautiful  and  as  prudent 
as  possibly  woman  can  be ;  and  that  this  for- 
tunate man  should,  at  the  same  time,  have  a 
servant,  a  most  deformed  creature,  and  a  mere 
sorceress,  who,  envying  her  master's  happiness, 
should  give  him  a  potion,  so  to  pervert  all  his 
senses,  that,  despising  his  wife,  and  shutting  her 
tip  in  some  corner  of  the  house,  he  should  give 
himself  over  to  this  lewd  servant  of  his,  make  her 
the  companion  of  his  bed,  and  of  all  his  pleas- 
ures ;  should  consult  her  on  the  management  of 
his  aflfairs  and  family,  and  follow  her  advice  in 
all  things :  nay,  to  please  her,  should,  at  her 
command,  squander  away  his  whole  estate  in 
entertainments,  feasting,  revelling  and  such  kind 
of  delights  ;  and  should,  besides  all  this,  come 
to  such  a  pitch  of  madness  as  to  oblige 
his  wife  to  wait  on  this  wicked  woman,  and  to 
obey  all  her  commands.  Can  any  one  persuade 
himself  a  man  should  ever  be  guilty  of  such 
folly  ?  Who  would  not  be  astonished  at  such 
madness  ?  What  indignation  would  he  be  in 
against  this  wicked  woman,  what  pity  would 
he  take  on  this  poor  injured  lady,  and  how 
would  he  cry  out  against  this  blind  and  senseless 
husband  ?  We  should  look  on  this  action  as 
base  and  infamous,  and  yet  it  is  nothing  in 
comparison  of  what  we  are  now  treating  of;  for 
you  are  to  understand  that  we  ourselves  have 
these  two  different  women,  to  wit,  the  spirit  and 
the  flesh,  within  our  own  souls,  which  the 
divines,  in  other  terms,  call  the  "  superior  "  and 
the  "inferior"  part;  the  superior  part  of  our 
soul  is  that  in  which  reside  the  will  and  reason, 
which  is  that  natural  light  God  bestowed  on 
us  at  our  creation.  This  reason  is  so  beautiful 
and  noble  that  it  makes  man  like  God,  capable 
of  enjoying  him,  and  unites  him  by  a  brotherly 
love  to  the  very  angels.  It  is  the  noble 
woman  to  whom  God  has  married  man, 
that  they  may  live  together,  and  that  he  may 
follow  its  counsel  and  actions  in  all  things ;  that 


is  to  say,  that  he  may  let  himself  be  guided  by 
that  celestial  light,  which  is  reason.  But  as 
for  the  inferior  part  of  the  soul,  it  is  taken  up 
by  the  sensual  appetite,  which  we  have  already 
spoken  of,  and  which  has  been  given  us  for  no 
other  end  but  the  desiring  of  things  necessary 
for  the  support  of  our  lives,  and  for  the  pre- 
servation of  mankind.  But  this  is  to  be  done 
according  to  the  rule  which  reason  prescribes, 
as  a  ^ood  steward  would  do,  who  makes  no 
provision  at  all  but  what  his  master  bids  him. 
This  appetite,  therefore,  is  the  slave  we  have 
all  this  while  been  treating ;  nor  is  it  fit  to  be 
a  guide,  because  it  wants  the  light  of  reason, 
and  on  that  account  must  itself  be  directed  by 
another.  But  man,  on  the  contrary,  has  been 
so  unhappy  as  to  place  such  an  immoderate 
affection  on,  and  to  give  himself  over  entirely 
to,  the  satisfying  of  this  wicked  woman's  lusts, 
that  he  has  taken  no  notice  of  the  suggestions 
of  reason,  by  which  he  should  have  guided 
himself,  but  has  in  all  things  followed  the 
directions  of  his  appetite,  and  made  it  his  whole 
business  to  satisfy  every  irregular  desire.  For 
we  see  there  are  some  men  so  sensual,  so  unruly, 
and  so  abandoned  to  the  desires  of  their  own 
hearts,  that  there  is  scarce  any  thing  they  pro- 
pose but  immediately  they,  like  beasts,  pursue 
it,  without  any  respect  either  to  the  laws  of 
justice  or  of  reason.  And  what  is  this  but 
giving  themselves  up  to  the  flesh,  which  is  the 
deformed,  loathsome  slave,  and  following  all 
those  sensual  pleasures  she  has  an  inclination 
to,  and  despising  the  advice  of  that  noble  and 
lawful  wife,  which  is  our  reason ! 

But,  what  is  still  more  intolerable,  they  are  not 
satisfied  with  using  this  lady  so  basely,  but  will 
force  her  to  serve  this  wretched  slave,  and  to 
make  it  her  whole  business,  day  and  night,  to 
think  of,  and  to  procure  whatever  may  serve 
for  the  satisfying  of  her  base  desires.  For  when 
a  man  employs  all  his  wit  and  senses  about 
nothing  in  the  world  but  inventing  new  fash- 
ions in  his  dress,  in  his  buildings,  and  in  his 
table  and  diet,  for  the  pleasing  of  his  palate,  in 
the  furniture  of  his  house,  and  in  continually 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


361 


thinking  of  new  means  and  devices  for  raising 
up  money  to  compass  these  things ;  what  does 
he  else  but  take  the  soul  off  from  those  spirit- 
ual exercises  which  are  more  suitable  to  the 
excellence  of  her  nature,  and  make  her  a  mere 
drudge  to  that  creature  who  ought  to  have 
done  the  same  offices  for  her?  When  a  man 
that  is  passionately  in  love  with  a  woman, 
uses  all  the  wit  he  has  in  writing  love-letters, 
and  in  composing  songs  and  poems,  and  such 
other  practices  as  are  usual  in  those  cases ; 
what  does  he  in  all  this  but  make  the  mistress 
wait  on  the  maid,  by  employing  this  divine  light 
in  contriving  means  to  satisfy  the  impure  desires 
of  the  flesh  ?  When  king  David  used  so  many 
slights  to  cover  the  sin  he  had  committec 
in  secret  with  Bathsheba;  sending  for  her 
husband  out  of  the  camp,  inviting  him  to 
supper,  making  him  drunk,  and  afterwards 
giving  him  letters  to  the  camp,  with  pri- 
vate orders  to  Joab  to  put  him  in  the  very  heat 
of  the  engagement,  that  so  the  innocent  man 
might  be  taken  out  of  the  way  (2  Kings  xi.); 
who  was  contriver  of  this  chain  of  wickedness 
but  reason  and  the  understanding?  And  who 
was  it  that  tempted  them  to  it  but  the  wicked 
flesh,  to  cloak  her  fault,  and  to  enjoy  her 
delights  with  more  security?  Seneca,  though 
a  heathen  and  a  philosopher,  too,  blushed  at 
these  things ;  and,  therefore,  used  to  say,  "  It 
is  beneath  me,  who  have  been  bom  to  some- 
thing that  is  great,  to  be  a  slave  to  my  own 
flesh  ;  "  Sen.  Epist.  65.  If  we  should  be  aston- 
ished at  the  stupidity  of  that  man  so  bewitched, 
how  much  more  reason  have  we  to  be  concerned 
at  this  disorder,  which  is  the  occasion  pf  our 
being  deprived  of  much  greater  benefits,  and 
of  our  falling  into  more  deplorable  misfortunes  ? 
Now,  though  this  be  so  frequent  and  so 
monstrous  a  disorder,  we  take  little  notice  of 
it,  and  no  one  is  surprised  at  it,  because  the 
world  is  so  disorderly.  "  For,"  as  St.  Bernard 
says,  "  we  are  not  sensible  of  the  stench  of  our 
crimes,  because  the  number  of  them  is  too 
great ; "  Bern.  Ep.  ad  Fratres  de  Monte  Dei. 
For,    as    no   one    is    affronted    to    be   called    a 


Moor  in  those  countries  where  every  one  is 
as  black  as  himself;  and  as  no  one  thinks  it  a 
disgrace  to  be  drunk,  notwithstanding  the  filthi- 
ness  of  the  sin,  where  drunkenness  is  in  fashion ; 
so,  this  disorder  being  general,  there  is  scarce 
any  one  that  looks  on  it  as  he  ought  to  do. 
From  what  has  been  said,  we  may  see  how 
unhappy  a  slavery  this  is ;  and  not  only  that, ! 
but  what  dreadful  torments  man  must  expect 
in  punishment  of  his  sins,  which  have  delivered 
up  so  noble  a  creature  into  the  hands  of  so 
cruel  a  tyrant.  The  author  of  Ecclesiasticus 
looked  on  it  as  such,  when  he  prayed  to  God 
"  that  he  would  deliver  him  from  the  inordi- 
nate desires  of  sensuality,  and  from  the  con- 
cupiscence of  the  flesh  ;  and  that  he  would  not 
give  him  over  to  a  shameless  and  unbridled 
soul  "  (Eccl.  xxiii.  6);  as  if  he  begged  not  to 
be  delivered  up  into  the  hands  of  some  cruel 
tyrant  or  executioner,  looking  on  his  irregular 
appetite  as  such. 

§  II. — If  you  would  now  be  acquainted  with 
the  power  of  this  tyrant,  you  may  easily  gather 
it,  by  observing  what  effects  he  has  wrought 
in  the  world  in  all  ages.  I  will  not,  to  this 
purpose,  represent  to  you  the  fictions  of  the 
poets,  or  set  before  you  the  example  of  their 
famous  Hercules,  who,  after  having  killed  or 
tamed  all  the  monsters  in  the  world,  was  him- 
self at  last  so  subdued  by  the  unchaste  love  of 
a  woman  as  to  lay  down  his  club  for  a  distaff, 
and  to  leave  his  adventures  to  sit  and  spin 
amongst  a  company  of  maids,  in  compliance  to 
his  haughty  mistress'  commands.  It  is  a 
pretty  invention  of  the  poets,  to  show  what 
arbitrary  power  this  passion  exercises 
over  us.  Nor  will  I  allege  the  authority 
of  the  Holy  Scripture  in  proof  of  this 
truth;  nor  bring  the  example  of  Solomon, 
a  man  of  such  extraordinary  wisdom  apd 
sanctity  at  one  time,  whilst  at  another  he 
was  prostrating  himself  before  his  idols,  and 
building  temples  to  them,  in  complaisance  to 
his  concubines;  3  Kings  xi.  It  is  an  exam- 
ple, indeed,  that  comes  very  home  to  our  pres- 
ent  purpose,  but  we  will  only   take  notice  of 


362 


HOW  TO  SHUN    EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


those  instances  that  occur  to  us  daily.  Con- 
sider, therefore,  what  dangers  an  adulteress 
exposes  herself  to,  for  the  satisfying  of  an 
inordinate  appetite.  I  choose  this  passion  be- 
fore any  of  the  rest,  that  by  this  you  may 
discover  the  force  of  the  other.  She  knows 
that,  should  her  husband  surprise  her  in  the 
crime,  she  is  a  dead  woman,  and  that  she 
shall  in  one  moment  lose  her  life,  her  honor, 
her  riches  and  her  soul,  nay,  and  whatever 
else  she  is  capable  of  losing,  either  in  this 
world  or  in  the  next,  which  is  the  greatest 
loss  can  be  sustained.  She  knows  that,  be- 
sides all  this,  she  shall  disgrace  her  children 
and  her  whole  family,  and  that  she  shall  her- 
self find  subject  of  eternal  sorrow;  and  yet, 
such  is  the  force  of  this  passion,  or  rather 
such  is  the  tyrant,  that  it  makes  her  break 
through  all  these  difficulties,  and  swallow  down 
so  many  bitter  draughts  so  easily,  for  the 
executing  all  it  commands  her.  Was  there  ever 
any  master  so  cruel  as  .to  expose  even  his 
slave  to  so  much  danger,  for  the  performance 
of  his  orders  ?  Can  you  think  of  any  slavery 
more  hard  and  miserable  than  this? 

This  is  the  state  the  wicked  generally  live 
in,  according  to  the  royal  prophet's  remark, 
when  he  says,  "  They  are  seated  in  darkness 
and  in  the  shadow  of  death ;  they  suffer 
hunger,  and  are  bound  down  with  chains  of 
iron ; "  Ps.  cvi.  10.  What  can  the  prophet 
mean  by  this  darkness,  but  the  dark  blindness 
the  wicked  live  in,  who  neither  know  them- 
selves nor  God  as  they  ought  to  do,  nor  under- 
stand what  it  is  they  live  for,  or  what  is  the 
end  of  their  creation.  They  are  unacquainted 
with  the  vanity  of  what  they  love,  and  are  not 
sensible  of  the  slavery  with  which  they  are 
oppressed.  And  what  are  the  chains  that  bind 
them  down  but  the  force  of  those  irregular 
aflFections,  by  which  their  hearts  are  so  close 
linked  to  all  things  they  have  such  an  unlaw- 
ful love  for?  And  what  can  this  hunger  sig- 
nify but  the  insatiable  desire  they  have  of  many 
things  which  there  is  no  possibility  of  obtain- 
ing ?  Is  there  any  slavery  so  troublesome  as  this  ? 


Let  us  take  another  example  yet  of  this 
same  passion.  Cast  your  eyes  on  David's 
eldest  son  Ammon,  who,  as  soon  as  ever  he 
beheld  his  sister  Thamar  with  a  wanton  eye, 
was  so  blinded,  so  fettered,  and  so  tormented 
with  this  hunger,  that  he  could  neither  eat, 
drink  nor  take  any  rest ;  and  this  passion  cast 
him  into  such  a  dangerous  sickness,  that  he 
had  like  to  have  lost  his  life.  Judge  now,  how 
strong  those  chains  of  love  and  fear,  with  which 
his  heart  was  tied  down,  must  needs  have  been, 
since  they  made  so  great  an  impression  on  all  the 
parts  of  his  body,  as  to  throw  him  into  so  violent 
a  distemper;  and  that  you  may  not  imagine 
him  to  be  cured  by  the  enjoyment  of  his  de- 
sire, consider  that  he  had  no  sooner  satisfied 
his  wish,  but  his  distemper  grew  more  violent, 
"  so  that,"  as  the  Scripture  says,  "  he  hated 
his  sister  much  worse  than  he  had  ever  loved 
her  before;"  2  Kings  xiii.  15.  Thus  the  ac- 
complishing of  his  wicked  desire  could  not 
free  him  from  his  passion,  but  only  turned 
one  into  another  much  worse.  Now  what  ty- 
rant in  the  world  has  so  many  ways  of  treat- 
ing his  slaves  as  sin  has? 

Such  is  the  condition  of  all  those,  who  are 
under  the  tyrannical  government  of  this  vice ; 
for  we  can  scarcely  say  they  are  their  own 
masters,  since  they  neither  can  eat  nor  drink 
but  when  it  pleases ;  they  discourse  and  think 
of  nothing  else;  it  is  the  subject  of  their 
dreams,  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  neither  the 
fear  of  God,  nor  the  interest  of  their  own 
souls,  nor  heaven,  hell,  death  or  judgment, 
nay,  very  often,  neither  life  itself,  nor  their 
honor,  Vhich  they  have  such  a  tender  concern 
for,  are  able  to  turn  them  out  of  the  road, 
or  to  break  the  chain.  What  shall  I  say  of 
the  jealousies,  suspicions,  fears  and  sudden 
passions  these  unhappy  wretches  are  perpetu- 
ally racked  with  ?  What  dangers  do  they 
expose  themselves  to !  And  what  continual 
hazards  do  they  run  of  losing  both  their 
lives  and  souls,  for  the  enjoying  of  their 
filthy  pleasures!  Can  any  tyrant  exercise  so 
much   cruelty   on  the  bodies  of  his  slaves,  as 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


363 


this  vice  does  on  the  very  hearts  of  those 
that  give  themselves  over  to  it  ?  For  no  slave 
is  so  much  taken  up  with  his  master's  business, 
but  he  has  some  time,  either  in  day  or  night,  to 
take  a  little  ease  or  rest.  But  such  is  the  nature 
of  this  vice,  and  others  like  it,  that,  as  soon 
as  ever  they  take  possession  of  a  heart,  they 
g^ow  so  sovereign  and  arbitrary,  that  man  has 
scarce  either  power,  means,  time  or  wit  to  do 
any  thing  else.  So  that  Ecclesiasticus  had  a 
great  deal  of  reason  to  say,  "That  wine  and 
women  make  even  wise  men  fools ; "  Eccl.  xix. 
2.  Because,  let  a  man  be  ever  so  wise,  he  is 
as  much  besotted  with  this  vice  as  he  is  with 
wine,  and  is  as  little  his  own  master,  so  that 
he  can  do  nothing  that  becomes  a  rational 
creature.  The  prince  of  poets,  to  convince  us 
of  this  truth,  gives  us  a  character  of  the 
famous  queen  Dido,  who,  at  the  very  moment 
that  she  fell  in  love  with  ^neas,  laid  aside  all 
her  public  employments,  and  went  no  further 
in  the  building  of  her  city;  the  walls  and 
fortifications  were  carried  up  no  higher;  there 
was  no  training  up  youth  in  military  discipline, 
no  care  about  securing  the  haven,  or  furnishing 
the  arsenal  for  the  defence  of  their  country; 
Virg.  ^u.  Lib.  4.  And  the  reason  the  poet 
gives  for  it  is  because  this  tyrant  had  seized 
on  all  the  thoughts  of  this  woman,  so  as  to 
leave  her  unfit  for  any  thing  else  but  the 
indulging  of  this  passion,  a  passion  so  uncon- 
trollable, and  so  arbitrary,  that  when  it  has  once 
possession  of  a  heart,  it  takes  the  power  of  doing 
any  thing  else  away  from  it.  O  cruel  and 
barbarous  vice !  the  very  disturber  and  de- 
stroyer of  whole  states  and  kingdoms,  the  ruin 
of  all  that  is  good  and  honorable,  the  plague 
of  virtue,  the  cloud  that  hangs  over  and  dark- 
ens the  wits  of  ingenious  men,  the  enchantress 
of  the  soul,  that  makes  fools  of  wise  men,  and 
makes  sots  and  dotards  of  old  men,  that  inflames 
and  excites  the  boiling  passions  of  youth,  and 
that,  in  fine,  is  the  common  bane  and  destruc- 
tion of  mankind ! 

Nor  is  it  this  vice  alone   that  is  so  tyranni- 
cal; all  the  rest  are,  in  their  different  ways,  as 


cruel  and  as  arbitrary.  Consider  but  the  proud 
and  ambitious  man,  who  aims  at  nothing  but 
respect,  and  walks  blindly  and  darkly  in  the 
smoke  of  honors.  See  how  this  passion  tyran- 
nizes over  him ;  with  what  greediness  he  catches 
at  glory,  what  pains  he  takes  to  acquire  it, 
directing  every  action  of  his  life  to  this  end: 
his  servants,  his  retinue,  his  dress,  his  table, 
his  chamber,  his  furniture,  his  attendants,  his 
posture,  his  gait,  his  mien,  his  discourse,  his 
looks,  in  fine,  all  he  does,  tends  this  way, 
because  it  is  done  so  as  it  may  gain  him  most 
esteem,  and  procure  him  the  empty  puS"  and 
blast  of  honor;  so  that,  if  you  look  narrowly 
into  him,  you  will  find,  that  what  he  does  or 
says  is  a  bait  for  popular  applause  and  com- 
mendation. If  we  wonder  at  the  folly  of  Domi- 
tian  the  emperor,  for  hunting  after  flies  with  a 
bodkin  in  his  hand,  when  he  had  nothing  else 
to  do,  how  much  more  should  we  admire  the 
folly  of  the  wretched  ambitious  man,  who  not 
only  spends  some  spare  time,  but  runs  out  his 
whole  life  in  hunting  after  the  smoke  of 
worldly  vanity?  It  is  this  makes  the  un- 
happy man  do  nothing  he  has  a  mind  to 
do :  he  neither  dresses  himself  according  to  his 
own  fancy,  nor  goes  where  he  himself  would 
go ;  since  he  very  often  neglects  even  going  to 
church,  and  does  not  care  to  converse  with 
virtuous  persons,  for  fear  the  world,  whose 
slave  he  is,  should  reflect  upon  him.  And 
what  is  yet  worse,  this  vice  makes  him  live 
above  what  he  has,  and  by  that  means  reduces 
him  to  a  thousand  necessities,  which  ruin  his 
soul,  and  are  very  often  the  eternal  destruction 
of  his  posterity,  who  have  no  other  inheritance 
left  them  by  him,  but  his  debts  to  discharge, 
and  his  follies  to  imitate.  Can  such  persons  < 
as  these  deserve  any  easier  punishment  than 
that,  they  say,  a  certain  king  used  to  inflict 
on  an  ambitious  man,  which  was,  to  stifle  him 
with  smoke,  saying,  it  was  no  more  than  justice 
that  he  should  be  condemned  to  die  by  smoke, 
for  having  spent  all  his  life  in  seeking  after 
smoke  and  wind  ?  What  misery  can  be  greater 
than  this? 


364 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


What  shall  I  say  of  the  greedy  covetous 
man,  who  is  not  only  a  slave  to,  but  even  an 
idolater  of,  his  money  ?  While  he  serves,  adores 
and  obeys  in  every  thing  it  commands  him ; 
for  this  he  fasts  so  rigorously,  as  scarce  to 
allow  himself  a  morsel  of  bread ;  this  treasure, 
in  fine,  he  loves  more  than  he  loves  God, 
whom  he  makes  no  scruple  to  offend  for  the 
least  profit.  This  is  his  comfort,  his  glory, 
his  hope,  the  continual  subject  of  all  his 
thoughts,  and  the  object  of  his  love  ;  with  it  he 
goes  to  sleep,  with  it  he  rises,  employs  his 
whole  life  about  it,  and  is  continually  finding 
out  new  ways  to  improve  it,  neglecting  at  the 
same  time  and  forgetting  himself  and  every 
thing  else.  Can  we  call  such  a  man  the  mas- 
ter of  his  money,  to  dispose  of  it  as  he  has  a 
mind;  or  ought  we  not  rather  to  say,  that, 
instead  of  his  money  being  a  slave  to  him,  he 
becomes  a  slave  to  his  money,  considering  him- 
self, as  it  were,  made  for  his  money,  and  not 
his  money  for  him  ?  Neglecting  his  belly  and 
his  very  soul,  to  give  himself  entirely  to  it  ? 

Can  there  be  a  harder  slavery  than  this  ? 
For  if  we  call  that  man  a  prisoner  who  is 
clapped  up  into  a  dungeon,  or  loaded  with  chains 
and  irons,  what  better  name  can  we  give  him 
who  has  his  soul  oppressed  and  charged  with 
the  disorderly  affection  of  what  he  loves  ?  For 
when  a  man  is  once  come  to  this  degree,  he  has 
not  any  one  power  of  his  soul  that  enjoys  a 
perfect  liberty ;  he  is  not  his  own  master,  but 
his  slave,  whom  he  has  so  passionate  a  love 
for.  For  wheresoever  his  love  is,  there  his 
heart  will  be,  though  still  he  does  not  lose  his 
free-will.  Nor  does  it  signify  any  thing  what 
chains  you  are  tied  down  with,  if  the  nobler 
part  of  you  is  made  a  prisoner;  nor  does  your 
consenting  to  your  imprisonment  make  your 
confinement  less,  nay,  on  the  contrary,  if  it  be 
a  true  prison,  the  more  voluntary  it  is,  the 
more  dangerous  it  will  be,  as  we  see  in  poison, 
which,  if  pure,  is  no  less  hurtful,  because  it 
is  sweet ;  certainly  there  can  be  no  straiter 
prison  than  that  you  are  thus  confined  to, 
which  makes  you  turn  your   eyes    away  from 


God,  truth,  honesty,  and  the  laws  of  justice, 
and  lords  it  over  you  at  such  a  rate,  that,  as 
a  drunken  man  is  not  his  own  master,  but  a 
slave  to  his  liquor,  so  he  that  is  oppressed 
with  this  slavery  is  no  longer  in  his  own 
power,  but  at  the  command  of  his  passion, 
though  his  free-will  is  yet  remaining.  Now,  if 
imprisonment  be  a  torment,  what  greater  tor- 
ment can  there  be,  than  that  which  one  of 
these  miserable  men  endures,  by  continually 
desiring  what  he  knows  he  can  never  obtain, 
and  yet  he  cannot  forbear  or  curb  his  desires, 
so  that  he  is  reduced  to  such  circumstances, 
that  he  knows  not  which  way  to  turn  himself. 
And,  being  in  this  perplexity  and  trouble,  he  is 
forced  to  make  use  of  the  words  of  a  certain 
poet  to  an  ill  natured  lewd  woman :  "I  love 
you  and  I  hate  you  at  the  same  time ;  and  if 
you  ask  me  the  reason  of  it,  it  is  because  I 
can  neither  live  with  you  nor  without  you." 
But  if  at  any  time  he  endeavors  to  break  these 
chains,  and  to  overcome  his  passions,  he  imme- 
diately finds  such  resistance,  that  he  very  often 
despairs  of  obtaining  the  victory,  and  returns 
to  his  chains  and  slavery  again.  Do  not  you 
think,  after  all  this,  that  we  may  very  well  be 
allowed  to  call  this  state  a  torment  and  cap- 
tivity? 

If  these  prisoners  had  but  one  chain  to  hold 
them,  their  misery  would  be  much  less,  for  there 
were  some  hope  of  breaking  a  single  bond,  or 
overcoming  one  enemy  alone.  But  how  mis- 
erable must  we  imagine  their  condition  to  be, 
when  we  consider  what  a  great  number  of 
passions,  like  so  many  fetters,  keep  down  these 
unhappy  creatures  ?  For  man's  life  lying  open 
to  so  many  necessities,  and  every  necessity 
exciting  some  new  desire,  and  adding,  as  it 
were,  another  link  to  the  chain,  it  follows,  that 
he  who  has  a  great  many  passions  must  have 
but  very  little  command  of  his  own  heart ;  but 
still  this  is  more  in  some  persons  than  in 
others  ;  for  some  men's  apprehension  is  naturally 
so  tenacious  that  they  can  scarce  ever  put  from 
them  any  thing  that  has  once  taken  possession , 
of  their  imagination  ;  others  are  of  a  melancholy 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


365 


temper,  which  makes  them  strong  and  violent 
in  their  desires  ;  and  others  are  mean-spirited, 
who  look  on  all  things,  though  ever  so  incon- 
siderable, as  great  and  worthy  to  be  coveted, 
for  every  little  thing  seems  great  to  a  poor 
soul ;  others  are  naturally  violent  in  whatever 
they  desire,  as  generally  women  are;  "who," 
as  a  philosopher  observes,  "  passionately  love 
or  hate,  because  there  is  no  medium  in  their 
affections."  All  these  passions  exercise  con- 
tinual cruelties  on  those  that  are  subject  to 
them  :  and  now,  if  the  misery  of  being  bound 
with  but  one  chain,  and  of  serving  only  one 
master,  be  so  great,  how  miserable  must  that 
man's  condition  be,  who  is  held  by  so  many 
chains,  and  has  such  a  great  number  of 
masters  to  command  him  as  the  wicked 
man  has  1  for  every  passion  and  vice  he  is  sub- 
ject to,  is  a  distinct  master,  and  requires  his 
obedience  and  submission. 

Can  there  be  any  greater  misery  than  this  ? 
For  if  the  dignity  of  man,  as  man,  depends  on 
two  things,  viz. :  Reason  and  free-will,  what  can 
be  more  opposite,  either  to  the  one  or  the 
other,  than  passion  is,  which,  at  the  same  time, 
blinds  the  reason  and  drags  away  the  free-will 
along  with  it  ?  By  which  you  may  perceive 
what  prejudice  we  are  apt  to  receive  from  the 
least  irregular  affection,  since  it  turns  a  man 
out  of  the  throne  of  his  majesty,  obscures  his 
reason,  and  perverts  his  free-will,  without  which 
too,  man  is  no  longer  a  reasonable  creature, 
but  a  mere  brute.  See,  here,  the  unhappy 
slavery  the  wicked  are  reduced  to,  as  men  that 
will  neither  take  notice  of  the  laws  or  inspira- 
tions of  God,  nor  the  dictates  of  their  own 
reason,  but  are  hurried  away  by  the  impulse  of 
their  own  passions  and  appetites. 

§  III.  Of  the  Liberty  virtuous  Men  enjoy. — 
This  is  the  cruel  slavery  the  Son  of  God 
came  down  from  heaven  to  deliver  us  from; 
and  it  is  this  liberty  and  victory  Isaias  so 
highly  commends,  when  he  says,  "  Those 
whom  thou  hast  redeemed  shall  rejoice 
in  thee,  O  Lord,  as  the  husbandmen  do 
in    time    of     harvest,    and    as    conquerors    do 


after  they  have  taken  a  prey,  and  are 
dividing  the  spoils.  For  thou  hast  taken  away 
the  yoke  which  oppressed  them,  and  the  rod 
which  struck  them,  and  delivered  them  from  the 
sceptre  of  this  tyrant,  who  has  laid  very 
heavy  taxes  upon  them ;"  Isa.  ix.  3,  4.  All 
these  names  of  "  yoke,"  of  "  rod,"  and  "sceptre," 
agree  very  well  with  the  tyrannical  power  of 
our  passions  and  appetites,  because  the  devil, 
who  is  the  prince  of  this  world,  makes  use  of 
them  as  very  proper  instruments  to  work  us 
into  an  allegiance  to  his  tyranny,  and  into  a 
subjection  to  sin.  From  this  tyranny  and  sub- 
jection the  Son  of  God  has  delivered  us  by  the 
superabundance  of  his  grace,  which  the  sacrifice 
he  made  of  himself  on  the  cross  has  purchased 
for  us.  For  which  reason  the  Apostle  says, 
"  that  our  old  man  has  been  crucified  with 
him  ;"  (Rom.  vi.  6);  meaning  here,  by  "  the  old 
man"  our  sensual  appetite,  which  became  dis- 
orderly by  the  sin  of  our  first  parents.  And 
the  reason  why  our  old  man  has  been  crucified 
with  him  is,  because  he,  by  the  merit  of  his 
passion,  has  obtained  grace  for  us,  whereby  we 
may  subdue  this  tyrant,  and  make  him  suffer 
the  same  punishment  he  has  made  us  to  suf- 
fer, thus  crucifying  him  who  before  crucified  us, 
and  bringing  him  into  slavery,  under  whose 
slavery  we  have  been  so  long  groaning.  Thus, 
what  the  prophet  Isaias  foretold  in  another  place, 
has  come  to  pass :  "  They  shall  take  those  who 
took  them  before,  and  shall  bring  those  that 
have  oppressed  them  under  their  subjection ; " 
Isa.  xiv.  2.  For  our  sensual  appetite,  before 
the  reign  of  grace,  tyrannized  over  our  under- 
standing, and  made  it  a  slave  to  all  its  unlawful 
desires ;  but  as  soon  as  ever  grace  came  in  to  its 
succor,  it  grew  so  strong  as  to  prevail  against 
this  tyrant,  and  make  it  submit  to  what  reason 
prescribed. 

This  subduing  of  the  appetite  to  reason  has 
been,  in  a  particular  manner,  represented  to  us, 
by  the  death  of  Adonibezech,  king  of  Jerusalem, 
who  was  put  to  death  by  the  children  of  Israel, 
after  they  had  first  cut  off  his  fingers  and  toes. 
This    unhappy  prince,    seeing    himself   in  this 


366 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,    THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


condition,  and  calling  to  mind  the  cruelties  he 
had  before  exercised  on  others,  was  heard  to 
say,  "  Threescore  and  ten  kings,  whose  fingers 
and  toes  I  have  cut  oflF,  have  picked  up  the 
scraps  that  have  fallen  under  my  table ;  and 
now  I  see  that  God  deals  with  me  just  as  I  have 
dealt  with  them ; "  Jud.  i.  7.  After  which  the 
Scripture  adds,  that  he  was  carried  in  this  con- 
dition to  Jerusalem,  and  died  there.  This  cruel 
tyrant  is  the  figure  of  this  world,  which,  before 
the  Son  of  God  came  do^vn  from  heaven,  cut 
off"  the  hands  and  feet  of  almost  all  men  in 
general,  by  this  means  maiming  and  putting 
them  out  of  the  capacity  of  serving  God,  cutting 
off"  their  hands  to  hinder  them  from  doing  any 
good,  and  their  feet  to  prevent  them  from  so 
much  as  desiring  it ;  and,  besides  all  this,  reduc- 
ing them  to  the  necessity  of  living  on  the  poor 
scraps  that  fell  under  his  table,  that  is,  the 
sensual  pleasures  of  the  world,  wherewith  this 
wicked  prince  maintains  his  servants.  There  is 
much  reason  for  calling  them  scraps,  and  not 
pieces  of  bread,  because  this  tj'rant  is  so  nig- 
gardly in  distributing  these  crumbs  and  frag- 
ments, that  he  never  g^ves  enough  to  satisfy 
their  appetite.  But  after  our  Saviour  came  into 
the  world,  he  made  this  tyrant  undergo  the 
same  torments  he  had  put  others  to  before,  cut- 
ting off"  his  hands  and  feet,  that  is,  defeating 
all  his  forces.  The  Scripture  expressly  declares, 
that  Adonibezech  died  in  Jerusalem,  because 
this  was  the  place  where  our  Saviour,  by  death, 
destroyed  the  prince  of  this  world,  and  where, 
dying  on  ♦■he  cross,  he  crucified  this  t3'rant, 
binding  him  hand  and  foot,  and  taking  all  his 
power  from  him.  And,  therefore,  immediately 
after  his  most  sacred  passion,  men  began  to 
I  triumph  and  insult  over  this  tyrant,  and  so  to 
Lord  it  over  the  world,  the  devil  and  the  flesh, 
with  all  its  concupiscences,  that  neither  all  the 
tortures  they  could  be  threatened  with  on  the 
one  side,  nor  all  the  pleasures  that  could  be 
proposed  to  them  on  the  other,  were  able  to 
make  them  commit  a  mortal   sin. 

§  IV.  Of  the  Causes  whence  this  Liberty  pro- 
ceeds.— You  will  ask,  perhaps,  whence  this  great 


victory  and  liberty  proceeds ;  to  which  I  answer, 
that  next  to  God,  it  proceeds  immediately,  as 
I  have  said  already,  from  his  grace,  which,  by 
the  means  of  those  virtues  it  inspires,  so  mod- 
erates the  heat  of  our  passions,  as  not  to  let 
them  get  the  better  of  reason.  So  that  as  sor- 
cerers can,  by  certain  spells,  enchant  snakes,  that 
they  should  do  no  hurt,  without  killing  them  or 
taking  away  their  venom,  so  the  grace  of  God 
charms  all  the  venomous  serpents  of  our  pas- 
sions ;  and  though  it  still  leaves  them  their 
natural  being  in  perfect  vigor,  yet  they  can  do 
us  no  hurt  with  their  poison,  because  they  are 
not  capable,  as  they  were  before,  to  infect  our 
lives.  This  was  meant  by  the  prophet  Isaias, 
when  he  said,  "The  sucking  child  shall  sport 
himself  over  the  hole  of  an  asp,  and  he  that 
is  weaned  shall  put  his  hand  into  the  basilisk's 
den.  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  kill  any  body  in 
all  my  holy  mountain,  because  the  earth  shall 
be  as  full  of  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  sea 
is  of  the  waters  that  cover  it;"  Isa.  xi.  8,  9.  It 
is  plain  the  prophet  does  not  speak  here  of 
visible  but  of  invisible  serpents,  which  are 
nothing  but  ourown  passions  and  bad  inclinations, 
which,  when  once  they  break  out,  are  euough 
to  corrupt  the  whole  world  ;  nor  does  he  speak  of 
corporal  children,  but  of  the  spiritual ;  and  those 
he  calls  "sucking  children"  are  such  as  are 
but  just  beginning  to  serve  God,  and,  there- 
fore, must  be  fed  with  milk;  but  those  that 
are  weaned  are  such  as  have  made  a  greater 
progress,  and  can  go  alone,  and  eat  bread 
and  stronger  meats.  The  prophet,  therefore, 
speaking  of  both  of  them,  says  of  the  former, 
that  they  shall  be  glad  to  see,  notwithstanding 
they  are  perpetually  in  the  very  midst  of 
these  invisible  serpents,  that  the  grace  of  God 
will  secure  them  from  receiving  any  consider- 
able hurt,  by  not  permitting  them  to  con- 
sent in  any  manner  to  sin.  As  for  the  latter, 
those  I  mean  that  are  already  weaned,  and  have 
advanced  further  in  the  way  of  God,  he  says 
they  shall  put  their  hands  into  the  very  dens 
of  basilisks,  which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  that 
God  will  preserve  them  even  in  their  greatest 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


367 


dangers ;  so  that  we  see  these  words  of  the 
psalmist  verified  in  them  :  "  You  shall  walk  over 
the  asp  and  the  basilisk,  and  you  shall  tread 
upon  the  lion  and  the  dragon ;"  Ps.  xc.  13. 
These  are  they  who  shall  receive  no  harm  at 
all,  though  they  put  their  hands  into  a  basil- 
isk's den,  because  these  serpents  shall  be  so 
charmed  by  the  abundance  of  God's  grace, 
spreading  itself  over  the  whole  face  of  the  earth, 
that  they  should  not  do  any  hurt  to  the  children 
of  God. 

St.  Paul  explains  this  much  more  clearly, 
and  without  any  kind  of  metaphor ;  for  after 
having  discoursed  very  fully  of  the  tyranny  our 
irregular  aifections  and  our  flesh  exercise  over 
us,  he  cries  out  at  last,  "  Unhappy  man  that 
I  am,  who  will  deliver  me  from  the  body  of 
this  death  ? "  Rom.  vii.  24.  But  he  himself 
immediately  answers  his  own  question  briefly, 
and  says,  "  The  grace  of  God,  which  is  given  us 
by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ;  "  ver.  25.  What  he 
means  here,  by  "  the  body  of  death,"  is  not 
this  body  of  ours,  that  is  subject  to  a  natural 
death,  which  we  all  of  us  look  for,  but  what  he 
himself,  in  another  place,  calls  "  the  body  of 
sin  "  (Rom.  vi.  6),  that  is,  our  depraved  appe- 
tite, from  which  proceed  all  inordinate  affections, 
which  are  continually  enticing  to  sin,  just  as  the 
members  do  from  the  body ;  and  this  is  the 
body  the  Apostle  says,  the  grace  that  is  given 
us  through  Jesus  Christ  delivers  us  from,  as 
from  a  cruel  tyrant. 

The  second,  and  that  a  main  cause  of  this  lib- 
erty, is  the  greatness  of  that  joy,  and  of  those 
spiritual  consolations,  which  the  virtuous  enjoy, 
as  we  have  approved  already.  By  these  all  their 
desires  are  so  fully  satisfied,  that  they  easily 
overcome  and  dismiss  all  their  irregular  appe- 
tites ;  and  having  found  out  this  source  of  all 
that  is  good  and  pleasant,  they  covet  no  other 
happiness,  as  our  Saviour  himself  declared  to 
the  Samaritan  woman,  when  he  told  her,  "Who- 
soever shall  drink  of  the  water  which  I  shall  give 
him,"  which  is  the  grace  of  God,  "  shall  never 
thirst  again  ;"  John  iv.  13.  St.  Gregory  assures 
us  of  the  same  thing,  in  one  of  his  Homilies,  in 


these  words :  "  He  who  is  once  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  sweetness  of  a  heavenly  life, 
immediately  bids  adieu  to  all  those  things  he  had 
a  sensual  love  for  before.  He  forsakes  all  he 
is  in  possession  of,  he  distributes  liberally  all 
his  treasures,  his  heart  is  inflamed  with  the 
desire  of  heaven,  there  is  nothing  on  earth  can 
please  him,  and  whatever  he  before  thought  beauti- 
ful and  lovely,  he  now  accounts  deformed  and  hid- 
eous, because  this  precious  jewel  is  the  only 
thing  that  shines  and  glitters  to  the  eyes 
of  his  soul."  For  when  the  vessel  of  our  heat 
is  full  of  this  liquor,  and  the  thirst  of  our  soul  is 
quenched,  with  the  same,  it  has  no  occasion  to 
run  after  the  fleeting  and  vain  pleasures  of 
this  life,  but  lives  free  from  the  slavery  of  all 
those  affections,  which  base  earthly  pleasures 
excited  in  her ;  because  where  there  is  no  love, 
there  can  be  no  slavery :  and  thus  the  heart 
that  has  found  him,  who  is  the  Lord  of  all 
things,  finds  itself  to  be,  in  some  measure.  Lord 
of  all  things,  there  being  no  other  solid  good, 
which  it  does  not  meet  with  in  this  one 
good. 

Add  to  these  two  divine  favors,  which  assist 
us  so  much  in  the  regaining  of  our  liberty, 
the  pains  virtuous  men  take  to  subdue  the 
flesh  to  the  spirit,  and  to  make  the  passions 
submit  to  reason.  By  this  means  they  gradually 
mortify  their  passions,  obtain  a  habit  of  virtue, 
and  lay  aside  that  hate  and  violence  which 
used  to  disturb  them  before.  "  For  if, "  as  St. 
Chrysostom  says,  "the  wildest  beasts  that  are, 
by  living  amongst  men,  come,  in  time,  to  lose 
their  natural  fierceness,  and  to  grow  tame  and 
gentle,  by  observing  the  same  qualities  in  men  ;" 
which  gave  a  poet  occasion  to  say,  that  time 
and  custom  bring  lions  under  obedience ;  what 
wonder  is  it,  that  our  passions,  if  we  but 
accustom  them  to  submit  to  reason,  should,  by 
degrees,  become  tame  and  rational,  that  is, 
should,  in  some  manner,  partake  of  the  quality 
of  the  spirit  and  of  reason,  and  love  nothing 
more  than  to  do  as  they  do  ?  Now,  if  this 
may  be  done  only  by  use  and  custom,  how 
much  sooner  and  more  efficaciously  must  it   of 


368 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


necessity  be  effected,  when  use  and  custom  are 
backed  by  grace  ? 

Hence  it  is,  that  those  who  serve  God  feel  very 
often  a  more  sensible  pleasure  and  satisfaction, 
if  I  may  so  term  it,  in  their  recollection,  silence, 
reading,  prayers,  meditations,  and  in  such  other 
exercises,  than  they  could  find  in  hunting,  gam- 
ing and  conversation,  or  in  any  other  worldly 
recreations  and  diversion,  which  they  look  on  as 
mere  torments,  insomuch  that  the  flesh  itself 
begins  now  to  hate  what  it  loved  before,  and  to 
be  pleased  with  what  it  formerly  loathed.  All 
this  is  so  true,  "  that  the  inferior  part  of  our 
souls,"  as  St.  Bonaventure  observes,  in  the  pre- 
face of  his  Incentive  to  the  Tx)ve  of  God,  "  is 
very  often  so  delighted  in  prayer,  and  in  convers- 
ing with  God,  that  it  is  no  small  torment  to  it, 
when  there  is  any,  though  ever  so  just  a  cause, 
that  it  obliges  it  to  break  off  these  exercises." 
And  this  is  what  the  royal  prophet  meant,  when 
he  said,  "  I  will  praise  the  Lord,  because  he  has 
gfiven  me  understanding,  and  also  because  my 
reins  have  reproved  me"  (Ps.  xv.  7);  or,  as  an- 
other translation  has  it,  "  have  instructed  me  all 
the  night  long."  This  is,  without  doubt,  a 
particular  favor  of  the  Almighty's  grace,  be- 
cause the  expositors  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
understand  in  this  place,  by  the  retns^  all 
the  inward  affections  and  motions  of  man ; 
which,  as  we  have  said  already,  are  the  gen- 
eral incentives  to  sin.  But  yet,  by  virtue  of  this 
grace,  thej'  are  very  often  so  far  from  stirring  us 
up  to  sin,  as  they  used  to  do,  or  from  fighting 
for  the  devil,  whose  service  they  were  engaged 
in  before,  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  forward 
us  in  virtue,  and,  aspiring  to  Jesus  Christ, 
turn  their  arms  against  the  common  enemy : 
though  this  may  be  seen  in  all  the  exercises 
of  a  spiritual  life,  it  appears  much  more  plainly 
in  our  sorrow  and  contrition  for  our  sins, 
wherein  the  inferior  part  of  the  soul  has  its 
share,  afflicting  itself  and  shedding  tears  for 
them.  This  is  the  reason  of  David's  saying, 
"that  his  reins  reproved  him  in  the  night-time ;" 
because  then,  the  day  being  ended,  the  just 
are  used  to  examine    their  consciences,  and   to 


bewail  whatever  they  have  offended  in ;  and 
then  it  was  that  he  himself,  as  he  says  in 
another  place,  swept  his  spirit  by  this  exercise  ; 
Ps.  Ixxxi.  7.  It  was  in  the  night,  I  say,  that 
his  reins  reproved  him,  because  the  sorrow  which 
he  felt  in  this  part  of  his  soul,  for  having 
offended  God,  was  a  continual  correction,  to 
keep  him  from  falling  into  those  sins  again, 
which  had  troubled  him  so  much.  On  which 
account  he,  with  a  great  deal  of  justice,  thanks 
God,  because  not  only  the  superior  part  of  his 
soul,  which  is  the  seat  of  reason,  invited  him 
to  good,  but  even  the  inferior  part  too,  which 
is  used,  for  the  most  part,  to  encourage  us  to 
evil :  though  all  this  be  really  true,  and  one 
of  the  greatest  benefits  we  receive  from  Christ's 
redemption,  who  redeemed  us  most  fully  and 
gave  us  perfect  liberty,  yet  we  ought  not  to 
take  occasion  from  hence  to  be  negligent,  nor 
trust  too  much  to  our  flesh,  be  it  ever  so 
mortified,  during  the  course  of  this  mortal  life. 
These,  therefore,  are  the  chief  causes  of  this 
extraordinary  liberty.  And,  amongst  several 
other  effects  it  produces,  one  is  the  new  knowl- 
edge we  have  of  God,  and  the  confirming  us 
in  the  faith  and  religion  we  profess ;  and,  as 
God  himself  openly  declares  to  us,  by  the  pro- 
phet Ezekiel  (ch.  xxxiv.  27),  saying,  "  All  men 
shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I  shall 
break  the  chains  of  their  yokes,  and  shall  de- 
liver them  from  the  hands  of  those  that  tyran- 
nize over  them."  We  have  said  already  that 
this  yoke  was  our  sensuality,  or  our  inordinate 
affection  for  sin,  which  dwells  within  our  flesh, 
and  which  oppresses  us  and  makes  us  subject 
to  sin.  The  chains  of  this  yoke  are  all  those 
bad  inclinations  by  which  the  devil  catches 
hold  of  us  and  draws  us  after  him ;  now  these 
bad  inclinations  are  so  much  the  more  effica- 
cious, as  they  have  been  fortified  by  a  longer 
habit.  St  Augustine,  in  his  own  confessions, 
had  sufficient  experience  of  this ;  for  he  says, 
"  I  was  bound  not  with  another's  fetters,  but 
those  of  my  own  hard  will  and  iron,  which  the 
enemy  had  in  his  power,  and  of  which  he  made 
a    chain   for  me,  and   tied   me   down  with  the 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


369 


same.  For  my  perverse  will  has  been  the  cause 
of  my  vicious  desires ;  I  contracted  a  vicious 
habit,  which,  for  want  of  being  resisted,  grew 
into  a  necessity;  with  all  which,  as  with  so 
many  links  that  have  gone  towards  the  making 
up  of  the  chain,  I  have  been  tied  down,  and 
reduced  to  the  utmost  hardship."  Conf  L.  8,  c. 
5.  When  a  man  finds  himself,  as  this  saint 
did,  to  have  been  groaning  for  some  time  under 
slavery,  and  after  having  made  several  attempts  to 
get  out  of  it,  perceives  his  escape  so  difficult, 
yet,  when    he  addresses    himself  to  God,   sees 


all  his  chains  broken,  his  passions  mortified, 
himself  at  liberty  and  master  of  his  own  appetites, 
with  the  yoke  that  he  pressed  so  heavily  on 
his  shoulders  lying  now  under  his  feet,  who 
but  God  can  he  imagine  has  broken  his  fet- 
ters, and  eased  him  of  the  weight  that  had  so 
long  galled  his  neck  ?  What  has  he  to  do 
but  to  praise  God  with  the  royal  prophet,  and 
to  cry  out  with  him,  "  O  Lord,  thou  hast 
broken  my  chains  ;  I  will  offer  up  a  sacrifice 
of  praise  to  thee,  and  will  call  upon  thy  holy 
name ;  "  Fs.  cxv.  8. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


OF  THE  EIGHTH  PRIVILEGE  OF  VIRTUE  VIZ.,  THE  INWARD  PEACE  AND  CALM  THE  VIRTUOUS 
ENJOY,  AND  OF  THE  MISERABLE  RESTLESSNESS  AND  DISTURBANCE   THE   WICKED 

FEEL  WITHIN  THEMSELVES. 


l^^gSlROM  this  privilege  just  mentioned, 
1  ^Sk  which  is  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of 
li^Pnl  God,  flows  another,  nothing  inferior 
to  it,  which  is  the  inward  peace  and 
tranquillity  they  enjoy.  For  the  better  un- 
derstanding whereof,  it  is  to  be  observed,  there 
are  three  sorts  of  peace,  one  with  our  neighbor, 
another  with  God,  and  the  third  with  ourselves. 
Peace  with  our  neighbors  consists  in  such  a 
friendly  and  civil  correspondence  with  them, 
as  banishes  all  design  or  desire  of  doing  any 
man  a  prejudice.  This  peace  David  had  when 
he  says,  "  I  was  peaceable  with  those  that  hated 
peace,  and  when  I  spoke  to  them  with  meekness, 
they,  without  any  reason,  rose  up  against  me ;  " 
Ps.  cxix.  7.  St.  Paul  recommends  this  same  peace 
to  us,  when  he  advises  us  to  "  use  our  utmost 
endeavors,  as  far  as  is  possible,  to  live  in  peace 
with  all  men;"  Rom.  xii.  18.  The  second  peace, 
which  is  that  with  God  consists  in  the  friend- 
ship and  favor  of  God  :  it  is  to  be  obtained  by  the 
means  of  justification,  which  reconciles  man  to 
God,  and  makes  them  both  love  one  another 
without  any  disturbance  or  contradiction  on 
24 


either  side.  The  Apostle,  speaking  of  this  peace, 
says,  "  Since  we  are  already  justified  by  faith 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  who  has  pro- 
cured us  this  grace,  let  us  live  in  peace  with 
God;"  Rom.  v.  i.  The  last  peace  is  that  which 
a  man  has  with  himself;  nor  ought  any  one  to 
wonder  at  this  kind  of  peace,  since  we  know 
very  well,  that  there  are  in  the  very  self-same 
man,  two  men  so  opposite  to  one  another,  as 
are  the  outward  and  the  inward,  the  flesh  and 
the  spirit,  the  passions  and  reason.  For  the 
flesh  and  the  passions  are  not  only  always  at 
variance  with  the  spirit,  but  besides  disturb  the 
whole  man  with  their  irregular  appetites,  and 
trouble  his  inward  peace,  which  consists  in 
tranquillity  of  mind. 

§  I.  0/  the  inward  Restlessness  and  Disquiet 
of  the  Wicked. — Wicked  men,  and  such  as 
hearken  to  the  persuasions  of  the  flesh,  are 
never  free  from  such  disturbances  as  these. 
For  being,  on  the  one  hand,  deprived  of  God's 
grace,  which  is  the  curb  to  keep  their  passions 
in  awe,  and  on  the  other,  their  desires  being 
so  active  and  unruly,  that  they  are  scarce  able 


370 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


to  resist  them   in  the    least  thing   imaginable, 
it   necessarily  follows,  that  they  must   be  car- 
ried away  by  an  infinite   number   of  opposite 
desires,  some  by  that  of  honor,  others  of  great 
employments,  others  of  conversation  and  friend- 
ship,   others    of    great    and    honorable    titles, 
others    of  riches,  others,  again,  of   success    in 
marriage,  and  others  of  recreations  and  pleasures. 
For  this  appetite   is  like  a  devouring  fire  that 
consumes  whatever  it  catches  hold  of,  or  like  a 
ravenous  beast  that   is  never  satisfied,  or   like 
the    leech    that    is    perpetually    thirsting  after 
blood ;  and  which,  as  Solomon  says,  "  has  two 
daughters  that  are  always  crying  out.  More  yet, 
more  yet ;"  Prov.  xxx.  15.   This  leech  is  nothing 
but  the  insatiable  desire  of  the  heart,  and  her  two 
children    are  necessity  and  concupisceiice.      The 
first  of  them  seems  to  be  a  true  thirst,  but  the 
last  is  only  a  false  one,  though  they  are  both  of 
them  equally  troublesome,  notwithstanding  our 
supposing  one  to  be  a  real,  the  other  but  a  pretended 
necessit}'.      This  is  the  reason  why  no  wicked 
man,  whether  he   be   rich   or  poor,  can  never 
enjoy  content :  for  if  he  be  poor,  when  want  is 
continually   disturbing   his    heart,   and   crying 
out,  "  More  yet,  more  yet ; "    whilst   concupis- 
cence   never   ceases   to    break   the   rich    man's 
rest  with  the  same  noise.     How  then  can  man 
enjoy  any  ease  that  has  two  such  importunate 
beggars  always  making  a  noise  at  his  door,  and 
craving  many  things   he  is   not   able   to  give 
them  ?      What  trouble  must  a  poor  mother  be 
in,  who  has  ten  or  a  dozen  of  children  around 
her,  continually  crying  for  bread,  if  she  has  not 
a  morsel   to   give  them  ?      This   is  one  of  the 
greatest   miseries   the   wicked   endure :    "  They 
perish,"  says  the  psalmist,  "  with  hunger  and 
thirst,  and   their  souls  fail  within  them;"  Ps. 
xxxvi.  5.     For  self-love,  the  cause  of  all  these 
desires,  having  got  so  much  power  over  them, 
and  they  placing  all  their  happiness  in  earthly 
riches  and  pleasures,  it  is  impossible  they  should 
not,  with   greediness,  hunger   and   thirst   after 
those  things  on  which   they  imagine  all  their 
happiness  depends.     And  because  they  cannot 
always  obtain  what   they  long   for,  being  pre- 


vented by  others  more  covetous  and  powerful, 
they  disturb  themselves  like  a  forward  child 
that  longs  for  every  thing  it  sees,  and  grows 
sullen  if  denied  it.  For  as  the  obtaining  of  our 
wish  is,  according  to  the  wise  man,  "  the  tree  of 
life"  (Ps.  xiii.  12);  so  there  is  nothing  in  the 
world  torments  us  worse,  than  to  be  disappointed 
of  what  we  have  a  mind  for.  It  is  just  like 
being  ready  to  die  for  hunger,  and  having  noth- 
ing to  eat.  But  what  is  worst  of  all,  the  more 
they  are  hindered  from  obtaining  their  desires, 
the  more  they  increase,  and  as  they  find  they 
have  less  hopes  left,  they  are  more  vexed  and 
troubled ;  so  they  are  continually  turned  about 
like  a  wheel  that  is  in  perpetual  motion. 

This  is  the  miserable  condition  our  Saviour 
expresses  so  much  to  the   life,  by  the  parable 
of  the  prodigal  son  (Luke    xv.),  of   whom    he 
says,  that,  leaving  his  father's    house,  he  trav- 
eled  into  a  far  country,  and  there  squandered 
away  his  estate  in  riot    and    debauchery ;    and 
when  he  had  spent  all,  there  happened  to  be  a 
great  famine  in  those  parts,  during    which    he 
was  reduced  to  that  extremity  as  to  be  obliged 
to  look  after  swine;   and,  what   is    still    more, 
he  was  put  to  such  straits  as  to   desire  to  fill 
his  belly  with  what  the  hogs  themselves  lived 
on,  and  yet  nobody  would  give  him  even  that. 
Could  any  one  lay  out  the    whole   course  of  a 
wicked  man's  life,  with    all   the   miseries    that 
attend  it,  in    more    lively    colors    than    these? 
Who  can  this  prodigal  son  be,  that  leaves   his 
father's  house,   but   the   unhappy  sinner,  who 
separates  himself   from    Almighty   God,    gives 
himself  over  to  all  sorts  of  vices    and    abuses 
all  God's  favors  and  mercies  ?     What    is    this 
country,  where  there  is  so  great  a  famine,  but 
this  miserable  world,  where  worldly  men  are  so 
insatiable  in  their  desires  as  never  to  be  satis- 
fied with  what  they  have,  but  are   perpetually 
running   up   and   down   like   ravenous    wolves, 
still  seeking  after  more?      And  what  can  you 
imagine  is  the  employment  of  their  whole  lives, 
but   feeding  of  hogs,  that   is,  laboring   how  to 
content   their  own  swinish  appetites?      If  you 
are  not  convinced  of  this  truth,  observe  a  very^ 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


371 


young  man,  who  is  wholly  intent  on  the  world 
from  morning  till  night,  and  you  will  see  that 
all  his  business  is,  beast-like,  to  find  out  new 
ways  to  please  and  delight  some  one  or  more 
of  his  senses,  as  the  sight,  the  taste,  the  hearing, 
or  the  rest,  as  if  he  were  one  of  Epicurus'  fol- 
lowers, and  not  a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  as 
if  he  had  nothing  else  to  look  after  but  a  body 
like  a  beast,  and  as  if  he  believed  that  sensual 
pleasures  were  his  only  end.  Thus  his  whole 
entertainment  is  to  run  from  place  to  place, 
here  to-day,  and  there  to-morrow,  in  pursuit  of 
fresh  delights  for  the  indulging  of  his  senses. 
What  other  end  can  he  have  in  his  gallantry, 
in  his  feasting  and  banqueting,  in  his  soft  beds, 
in  his  music,  in  his  conversations,  in  his  visits, 
in  his  walks,  but  to  look  after  meat  for  this 
sort  of  swine?  You  may  give  all  this  what 
name  you  please,  call  it  grandeur  or  good 
breeding,  if  you  will,  but  know  that,  in  the 
language  of  God  and  of  the  gospel,  it  is  nothing 
but  feeding  of  swine;  because,  as  hogs  love  to 
be  wallowing  in  the  dirt  and  mire,  so  the 
hearts  of  such  men  love  nothing  but  the  filth 
of  carnal  pleasures. 

But  the  greatest  misery  is,  to  see  that  the  son 
of  such  a  noble  father,  born  to  be  fed  with  the 
bread  of  angels  at  God's  own  table,  cannot  satisfy 
his  hunger  with  such  vile  food,  so  great  is  the 
scarcity  of  it ;  because  there  being  so  many 
buyers  of  this  commodity,  they  hinder  one 
another,  and  so  they  all  go  away  unsatisfied. 
My  meaning  is,  that  whilst  so  many  are  catch- 
ing at  it,  there  must  need  be  much  strife,  as  it 
is  impossible  for  swine  to  feed  under  an  oak 
without  grunting  and  biting  one  another  to  get 
the  better  share  of  the  acorns  that  fall. 

This  is  the  dreadful  hunger  holy  David 
describes,  where  he  says,  "  They  have  wandered 
up  and  down  in  the  wilderness  in  a  dry  place, 
hungering  and  thirsting,  till  they  were  just 
ready  to  drop  down ; "  Ps.  cvi.  45.  What  can 
this  extreme  hunger  and  thirst  be,  but  the 
inordinate  desire  of  the  things  of  this  world 
the  wicked  are  inflamed  with  ?  This  appetite 
of  theirs  is  such,  that  the  more  they   give    it, 


the  greedier  it  gprows,  the  more  it  drinks,  the 
drier  it  is,  and  the  more  wood  they  lay  on,  the 
more  violent  it  burns.  O  unhappy  creatures, 
what  can  be  the  cause  of  your  being  parched 
up  with  such  a  burning  thirst  as  this,  "  but 
your  having  forsaken  the  fountain  of  living 
water,  and  running  to  drink  out  of  broken 
cisterns,  which  can  hold  none  ?"  Jer.  ii.  13. 
You  have  mistaken  the  stream  of  true  happi- 
ness, and  for  this  reason  you  run  up  and 
down,  till  you  lose  yourselves,  through  wild 
and  desert  places,  in  search  of  the  muddy 
pond  and  lakes  of  the  perishable  goods 
of  this  world,  in  hopes  they  will  quench  your 
thirst.  This  was  cruel  Holofernes'  policy,  when 
he  besieged  Bethulia ;  for  as  soon  as  ever  he  sat 
down  before  the  city,  he  commanded  his  men  to 
cut  off  all  the  pipes  and  channels  that  conveyed 
water  to  the  town,  so  that  the  poor  besieged  had 
but  a  few  little  springs  left,  just  by  the  walls, 
where  they  used  to  drink  now  and  then  by 
stealth,  rather  wetting  their  lips  than  quenching 
their  thirst.  Is  not  this  your  case,  you,  who  are 
always  seeking  after  pleasures,  you,  who  are  per- 
petually in  pursuit  of  honor,  and  who  are  such 
friends  to  every  thing  that  pleases  the  appetite, 
for  having  missed  of  the  fountain  of  living  waters? 
What  else  do  you  but  run  to  the  little  springs  of 
creatures,  that  come  in  your  way,  and  rather 
serve  to  wet  your  lips  and  increase  your  thirst 
than  to  quench  it  ?  O  unfortunate  man !  "  Why 
will  you  go  into  Egypt  to  drink  troubled  water?  " 
Jer.  ii.  18,  What  water  can  be  more  troubled 
than  sensual  pleasure,  which  is  not  to  be  drank 
without  perceiving  an  ungrateful  taste  and  smell  ? 
For  what  worse  smell  than  the  stench  of  sin,  and 
what  more  unpalatable  than  the  remorse  of  con- 
science occasioned  by  it,  which,  as  we  are  told, 
even  by  a  philosopher,  are  both  the  inseparable 
companions  of  carnal  pleasures  ? 

Besides,  this  appetite  being  blind,  and  unable 
to  distinguish  between  what  it  can  obtain  and 
what  it  cannot,  and  the  eagerness  of  desire  mak- 
ing that  appear  very  easy  which  is  in  itself  most 
difficult,  those  things  are  often  coveted  that  can- 
not be  obtained ;  for  there  is  nothing  worth  covet* 


37« 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


ing,  but  what  is  much  sought  after  and  defended 
by  many  lovers.  Now  the  appetite  being  de- 
prived of  what  it  longs  for,  being  hungry  and 
wanting  whereon  to  feed,  often  stretching  out  its 
arms,  and  yet  grasping  nothing  but  the  air,  and 
using  all  endeavors  without  any  success,  there- 
fore, it  frets  inwardly,  wastes  and  consumes  to  see 
itself  so  far  from  what  it  desires.  For  those  two 
chief  faculties  of  our  souls,  the  irascible  and  con- 
cupiscible,  being  so  closely  united  together  as 
never  to  be  wanting  to  one  another,  it  is  certain 
that  whatever  the  concupiscible  is  frustrated  of 
its  desire,  the  irascible  comes  in  immediately  to 
relieve  it,  raging  and  exposing  itself  to  all  acci- 
dents and  dangers,  that  it  may  give  the  other 
satisfaction.  From  this  confusion  of  desires  pro- 
ceeds the  inward  disturbance  we  are  now  speak- 
ing of,  which  St.  James  calls  a  war  when  he  says, 
"From  whence  come  wars  and  diflferences  among 
you  ?  Come  they  not  hence  even  of  your  lusts, 
that  war  in  your  members  ?  Ye  lust  and  have 
not."  Jam.  iv.  i,  2.  The  natural  contradiction 
that  is  between  the  flesh  and  spirit,  and  between 
the  desires  of  each,  has  given  the  Apostle  a  great 
deal  of  reason  to  call  it  a  war. 

There  is  still  another  thing  of  this  nature 
much  to  be  lamented,  which  is,  that  very 
often  men  obtain  all  that  seemed  to  sufiBce 
to  put  them  into  the  state  of  satisfaction 
they  aimed  at,  and  when  they  are  in  such  a  con- 
dition that,  if  they  pleased,  they  might  live 
happy,  they  then  conceit  they  ought  to  aspire  to 
some  other  honor,  preferment,  dignity,  or  the 
like,  which  if  they  fail  of,  they  are  more  perplexed 
for  the  miss  of  that  nothing  they  want,  than 
pleased  with  the  enjoyment  of  all  they  possess. 
Thus  they  pass  their  lives  with  this  thorn  per- 
petually pricking,  or  rather  with  this  scourge 
continually  chastising  them,  which  palls  all  their 
happiness,  and  turns  their  pleasure  into  smoke 
and  vapor.  This  is  what  I  call  nailing  up  the 
cannon^  as  enemies  do  in  time  of  war ;  for  a  little 
nail  driven  into  the  biggest  piece  of  artillery  is 
enough  to  make  it  unfit  for  service.  The  cannon 
is  still  as  big  and  as  sound  as  it  was  before,  and 
yet  such  a  little  thing  makes  it  lose  all  its  force. 


God  deals  after  the  same  manner  with  the  wicked. 
They  might  see  plainly,  if  they  would  but  open 
their  eyes,  that  joy  of  heart  is  a  free  gift  of 
Almighty  God,  who  bestows  it  on  whom  he 
pleases  and  when  he  pleases,  without  making 
any  preparation  beforehand  as  we  do,  and  that  he 
can  take  it  away  again  whenever  he  thinks  fit, 
only  by  nailing  up  the  cannon,  that  is,  by  per- 
mitting some  unhappy  turn  or  change  of  their 
prosperity  and  fortune.  And  then  this  single 
misfortune,  though  unknown  to  any  one,  is  suffi- 
cient to  make  them  as  uneasy  and  melancholy  as 
if  they  had  nothing  in  this  world  to  live  on, 
though,  at  the  same  time,  they  may  be  very  rich 
and  happy  in  all  appearance.  God  himself  tells 
us  as  much,  when,  speaking  by  the  prophet 
Isaias,  against  the  pride  and  power  of  the  king 
of  Assyria,  he  says,  "  That  he  will  weaken  his 
greatest  force,  and  put  fire  under  his  glory,  for 
to  burn  it  up"  (Isa.  x.  6),  to  show  us  that  God 
can  sink  a  vessel  when  it  sails  with  the  fairest 
wind,  can  weaken  the  greatest  strength,  and 
make  a  man  miserable  in  the  midst  of  his  pros- 
perity. The  same  is  signified  to  us  again  in  the 
book  of  Job  (xxvi.  5),  where  it  is  said,  "The 
giants  groan  under  the  waters,"  to  let  us  know 
that  God  has  his  deep  places  and  his  punish- 
ments for  the  great  as  well  as  for  the  little  ones, 
though  these  seem  to  lie  more  open  to  the  misfor- 
tunes and  injuries  of  the  world.  But  Solomon 
has  expressed  the  same  thing  much  plainer; 
when  counting  up  all  the  notable  miseries  in  the 
world,  he  reckons  this  one  of  the  greatest  of 
them:  "There  is  another  evil  also,"  says  he, 
"  which  I  have  seen  under  the  sun,  and  which  is 
common  amongst  men  :  a  man  to  whom  God  has 
given  wealth,  riches  and  honor,  so  that  he  wanted 
nothing  for  his  soul  of  all  that  he  desireth,  yet 
God  giveth  him  not  power  to  eat  thereof,  but  a 
stranger  eateth  it;"  Eccl.  vi.  i,  2.  What  does 
he  mean  by  these  words,  "  God  giveth  him  not 
power  to  eat  thereof,"  but  that  he  shall  not  enjoy 
even  what  is  his  own,  nor  take  the  satisfaction 
and  pleasure  which  his  possessions  might  give 
him,  because  God  has  ordained  that  his  hap- 
piness  shall  be    disturbed  and  ruined?     And 


HOW   TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


373 


here  we  are  given  to  understand,  that  as  true  wis- 
dom is  not  to  be  learned  by  dead  letters,  but  that 
it  is  God  who  teaches  it,  so  neither  does  true 
content  depend  on  the  goods  of  this  world,  but 
on  God  alone. 

But  to  come  home  to  our  subject,  how  unhappy 
must  those  poor  creatures  be  who  have  nothing, 
if  even  those  who  enjoy  all  they  can  wish  are  so 
uneasy,  because  they  do  not  enjoy  God !  For 
the  want  of  every  one  of  these  things  is  a  par- 
ticular hunger  and  thirst,  that  torments  them, 
and  a  thorn  that  is  perpetually  pricking  their 
hearts  :  what  peace,  what  quiet  is  it  possible  for 
a  soul  to  have,  when  all  its  thoughts  and  desires 
are  continually  so  importunate  and  rebellious  ? 
The  prophet  says  very  well  of  such  sort  of  peo- 
ple, *'  That  the  heart  of  the  wicked  is  like  a  tem- 
pestuous sea,  which  is  not  to  be  calmed ;"  Isa. 
Ivii.  20.  And,  indeed,  what  sea,  what  waves,  or 
what  winds  can  be  more  boisterous  and  stormy 
than  the  passions  and  desires  of  the  wicked, 
which  very  often  disturb  not  only  the  sea,  but  all 
the  world?  But  there  often  start  up  contrary 
winds  in  this  sea,  which  is  another  most  violent 
sort  of  storm.  For  the  same  desires,  like  oppo- 
site winds,  frequently  resist  one  another,  so  that 
what  pleases  the  flesh  does  not  please  honor,  what 
honor  loves,  riches  do  not  care  for ;  reputati-rn 
does  not  covet  that  which  is  agp-eeable  to  wealth, 
tor  does  sloth  or  luxury  desire  what  reputation 
does.  So  that  by  this  means  it  often  happens,  that 
the  wicked,  whilst  they  desire  all  things,  do  not 
know  what  they  would  have,  and  so  are  ignorant 
what  to  take  and  what  to  leave,  because  their 
desires  contradict  one  another;  just  as  bad 
humors  do  in  distempers  which  proceed  from 
different  causes,  where  the  physicians  are  puz- 
zled what  remedy  to  prescribe,  because  that 
which  is  good  for  the  expelling  of  one  humor 
may  be  apt  to  nourish  another.  Such  was  the 
confusion  of  languages  at  Babel,  and  such  was 
that,  for  the  preventing  of  which  the  royal 
prophet  prayed  to  God,  saying,  "  Destroy,  O 
Lord,  and  divide  their  tongues,  because  I  have 
beheld  iniquity  and  contradiction  in  the  city  ;  " 
Ps.  liv.  10.    What,  therefore,  can  this  division  of 


tongues^  this  iniquity  and  this  contradiction  be, 
but  the  disturbance  which  diflferent  passions 
make  in  the  hearts  of  worldly-minded  men  when 
they  oppose  one  another,  and  one  desires  that 
which  is  against  the  inclination  and  desire  of 
another  ? 

§  II.  Of  the  inward  Peace  and  Satisfaction 
good  Men  enjoy. — Thus  you  see  what  the  condi- 
tion of  the  wicked  is,  whilst  the  just,  on  the  con- 
trary, because  they  know  how  with  prudence  to 
moderate  their  desires,  how  to  mortify  their 
passions,  how  to  make  God,  and  not  the  perish- 
able goods  of  this  life,  the  only  object  of  their 
happiness,  and  the  centre  of  their  repose ;  how 
to  aim  at  nothing  but  the  acquiring  of  those 
eternal  goods,  which  no  one  can  deprive 
them  of,  how  to  be  in  perpetual  war  with 
self-love,  with  their  own  flesh,  and  with  the 
whole  train  of  their  irregular  appetites  ;  and 
because,  in  fine,  they  know  how  to  resign  their 
will  to  God's,  to  conform  theirs  to  his,  and  throw 
themselves  entirely  into  his  arms,  are  never  mo- 
lested by  any  such  cares,  so  as  to  have  their 
inward  peace  lost,  or  so  much  as  interrupted. 

This,  amongst  several  others,  is  one  of  the 
chief  rewards  Almighty  God  promises  to  those 
who  love  him,  as  we  may  see  almost  every  where 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Holy  David  says, 
"  Those  that  love  thy  law,  O  Lord,  enjoy  a  per- 
fect peace,  and  there  is  nothing  that  can  make 
them  fall ;"  Ps.  cxviii.  165.  God  himself  says 
by  the  prophet  Isaias,  "  I  wish  you  had  observed 
my  commandments,  your  peace  should  have  been 
like  a  river,  and  your  justice  like  the  waters  of  the 
sea  ;"  Isa.  xlviii.  18.  The  reason  of  his  calling 
this  peace  a  river.^  is,  because  it  is  able  to  extin- 
guish the  flames  of  our  desires,  to  appease  the 
burning  heat  of  our  lusts,  to  water  the  dry  and 
barren  veins  of  our  hearts,  and  to  comfort  and ' 
refresh  our  souls.  Solomon  assures  us  of  the 
same  truth  in  a  divine  manner,  though  in  a  few 
words,  saying,  "  When  the  ways  of  man  are  ac- 
ceptable to  God,  he  will  force  even  his  enemies  to 
make  peace  with  him  ;"  Prov.  xvi.  7.  What  ene- 
mies are  these,  that  are  at  war  with  man,  but  his 
own  passions,  and  the  evil  inclinations  of  his  flesh, 


374 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


which  are  perpetually  fighting  with  the  spirit  ? 
The  Almighty,  therefore,  says,  that  he  will  make 
the  flesh  and  the  spirit  live  peaceably  together, 
when,  by  virtue  of  this  grace  and  of  good  habits, 
the  flesh,  with  all  its  desires,  shall  accustom 
itself  to  the  works  of  the  spirit,  and  by  that 
means  live  quietly  with  it,  whereas  before  it  was 
in  continual  opposition.  For  though  virtue,  at 
the  beginning,  meets  with  a  great  deal  of  opposi- 
tion from  the  passions,  yet  when  it  comes  to  its 
perfection,  it  acts  with  a  deal  of  sweetness  and 
ease,  and  with  much  less  contradiction.  It  is 
this  peace,  in  fine,  which  holy  David,  by  another 
name,  calls  the  enlarging  of  the  heart,  when  he 
says,  "  Thou  hast  enlarged  my  steps  under  me, 
O  Lord,  and  my  feet  have  not  failed  me ; " 
Ps.  xvii.  37.  The  prophet  by  these  words 
intends  to  show,  how  different  the  way  of  the 
virtuous  is  from  that  of  the  •wncked,  because 
whilst  the  one  walk  with  their  hearts  oppressed 
and  straitened  by  continual  fears,  solicitudes  and 
apprehensions,  like  a  traveler  that  is  going 
through  a  narrow  path,  with  steep  rocks  and 
precipices  on  both  sides  of  him,  the  others,  on 
the  contrary,  walk  with  a  deal  of  security  and 
joy,  like  a  man  in  a  plain  and  open  way,  that  is 
in  no  apprehension  of  falling.  The  just  under- 
stand this  better  by  the  practice  than  by  theory, 
as  being  sensible,  by  their  own  experience,  and 
the  alteration  they  find  in  their  own  hearts,  of  the 
vast  difference  there  is  between  the  time  they  em- 
ployed in  the  service  of  the  world,  and  what  they 
spend  now  in  the  service  of  God  ;  for  whilst  they 
served  in  the  world,  they  were  on  all  occasions 
full  of  troubles,  solicitudes,  jealousies,  fears,  and 
narrowness  of  heart ;  but  now  they  have  forsaken 
the  world,  and  fixed  their  affections  on  eternal 
goods,  and  placed  all  their  happiness  and  confi- 
dence in  God,  they  are  out  of  the  reach  of  all  these 
things,  with  hearts  so  open,  so  free,  and  so  re- 
signed to  the  will  of  God,  that  they  are  so  often 
astonished  at  the  change,  and  cannot  think  them- 
selves the  same  they  were  before,  or  at  least  they 
imagine  they  have  new  hearts,  because  they  find 
such  changes  in  them.  And  we  may  with  truth 
afl&rm,  that  they  are,  and  are  not,  the  same  per- 


sons, for,  though  they  be  the  same  in  nature, 
they  are  not  the  same  as  to  grace,  which  works 
this  change,  though  no  man  can  be  assured  of  it. 

This  is  what  God  himself  promised  by  his 
prophet  Isaias,  when  he  said,  "  When  you  shall  go 
through  the  waters  I  will  be  with  you,  to  save  you 
from  being  drowned  ;  and  if  you  walk  in  the  very 
midst  of  fire,  you  shall  not  be  burned,  nor  shall 
the  flame  so  much  as  scorch  you ;"  Isa.  xliii,  2. 
Now  what  are  these  waters  but  the  rivers  of  tribu- 
lations we  suffer  in  this  life,  and  the  deluge  of 
innumerable  miseries  we  meet  with  here  every 
day  ?  And  what  is  this  fire  but  the  heat  of  our 
flesh,  which  is  the  fiery  furnace  of  Babylon, 
heated  by  Nabuchodonosor's  servants,  that  is,  by 
the  devils,  from  whence  the  flames  of  inordinate 
passions  and  appetites  are  continually  breaking 
out  ?  How  can  any  man  live  in  the  midst  of 
this  fire  and  water,  which  the  whole  world  is  per- 
petually in  danger  of,  without  receiving  hurt,  and 
not  be  sensible,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  was  the 
presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  assistance 
of  God's  grace,  that  preserved  him  ?  This  is  the 
peace  which,  as  the  Apostle  says,  exceeds  all  imagi- 
nation (Philip,  iv.  6) ,  because  it  is  so  noble  and 
so  supernatural  a  g^ft  of  God,  that  it  is  impossible 
for  man's  weak  understanding  to  conceive  of 
it'^elf,  by  what  means  a  heart  of  flesh  should 
come  to  enjoy  such  content,  such  quiet  and  such 
a  calm,  amidst  the  storms  and  tepipests  of  the 
world. 

But  he  who  enjoys  this  favor  acknowledges 
and  praises  the  author  of  these  wonders,  crying 
out  with  the  prophet,  "  Come  and  see  the  works 
of  the  Lord,  and  the  miracles  he  has  wrought 
upon  the  earth,  making  war  cease  to  the  very 
remotest  parts  of  the  earth.  He  has  snapped  the 
bow  and  broken  the  arms,  and  thrown  the  shield 
in  the  fire,  saying,  "  Throw  down  your  arms,  and 
live  in  peace  and  quiet,  that  so  you  may  know, 
that  I  am  the  Lord,  and  will  be  exalted  in  heaven 
and  in  earth ; "  Ps.  xlv.  9,  10, 11.  This  being  so, 
what  can  there  be  in  the  world  more  rich,  more 
delightful,  and  more  desirable,  than  this  rest, 
this  repose,  this  effusion  and  extension  of  heart, 
and  this  most  happy  peace  ? 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


375 


But  if  you  will  go  a  little  further,  and  would 
know  from  what  cause  this  heavenly  gift  pro- 
ceeds, I  answer,  it  proceeds  from  all  those  other 
privileges  and  advantages  of  virtue  we  have 
before  mentioned ;  for  as,  in  the  chain  of  vice, 
the  links  are  all  one  within  another,  so  in  the 
ladder  of  virtue  they  have  all  a  dependence  on, 
and  connection  with,  one  another,  in  such  a 
manner,  that  the  highest,  as  it  produces  most 
fruit,  so  it  has  most  roots  to  spring  from.  And 
thus  this  happy  peace,  which  is  one  of  the  twelve 
fruits  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  takes  its  rise  from 
those  other  privileges  we  have  before  spoken  of, 
but  particularly  from  virtue  itself,  whose  insepar- 
able companion  it  is.  For  as  an  outward  rever- 
ence is  naturally  due  to  virtue,  so  is  an  inward 
tranquillity,  being  at  the  same  time  its  effect  and 
its  reward.  For  since  inward  war,  according  to 
what  we  have  already  said,  is  begun  by  the  pride 
and  disturbance  of  the  passions  ;  as  soon  as  ever 
they  are  weakened  by  those  virtues,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  subdue  them,  the  very  occasions  of  these 
tumults  and  seditions  are  removed.  And  this  is 
one  of  the  three  things,  by  means  whereof  we 
partake  of  the  happiness  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  even  here  on  earth.  The  Apostle,  speak- 
ing of  them,  says,  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not 
meat  and  drink,  but  justice,  and  peace,  and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost;"  (Rom.  xiv,  17);  where,  by 
justice,  according  to  the  Hebrew  way  of  speaking, 
is  to  be  understood  the  very  same  virtue  we  are 
talking  of ;  in  which,  together  with  these  two  admi- 
rable fruits,  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghosi, 
consists  the  felicity  which  virtuous  men  enjoy, 
by  anticipation,  in  this  life.  And  to  prove  that 
this  peace  is  an  effect  of  virtue,  the  Almighty 
himself  says  expressly,  by  Isaias,  "  Peace  shall 
be  the  work  of  justice  and  silence,  and  everlast- 
ing security  the  fruit  of  it ;  my  people  shall  sit  in 
the  beauty  of  peace,  and  in  the  tabernacles  of 
confidence,  and  in  a  plentiful  rest ;  "  Isa.  xxxii. 
17,  18.  What  he  calls  here  silence,  is  nothing 
else  but  this  same  inward  peace  ;  that  is,  the  re- 
pose of  the  passions,  which  disturb  the  silence 
of  the  soul,  by  the  perpetual  clamors  of  their 
irregular  lusts. 


The  second  cause  this  peace  proceeds  from  is, 
the  liberty  of  the  soul,  and  the  dominion  it  has 
over  the  passions  above  spoken  of.  For  just  as 
when  any  country  is  brought  under  a  foreign 
subjection,  as  soon  as  ever  the  inhabitants  sur- 
render themselves,  there  is  a  general  peace 
immediately,  and  every  one  sits  under  his  own 
fig-tree  and  under  his  own  vine,  without  any 
fear  of  the  enemy ;  so  after  the  passions  of  the 
soul,  which  are  the  causes  of  all  its  disquiets,  are 
subjected  to  reason,  there  immediately  follows  in 
the  soul  an  inward  silence  and  peace,  which 
makes  it  live  free  from  all  disturbances  imagina- 
ble. So  that  man  being  now  free  from  their 
tyranny,  and,  what  is  more,  keeping  them  in 
subjection  to  him,  there  is  nothing  left  to  disturb 
the  peace  he  enjoys,  though,  on  the  contrary, 
whilst  the  passions  had  the  rule  and  power,  every 
thing  was  tossed  up  and  down,  and  the  whole 
man  in  general  confusion  and  disorder. 

The  third  cause  of  this  peace  is  the  greatness 
of  these  spiritual  consolations,  that  lull  asleep 
all  the  affections  of  our  appetites,  which,  during 
that  time,  are  content  with  what  the  superior 
part  of  the  soul  is  pleased  to  give  them,  because 
the  concupiscible  appetite,  after  having  tasted 
how  sovereignly  sweet  and  delightful  God  is, 
makes  him  the  object  of  all  its  wishes,  and  the 
irascible  is  quiet,  because  its  companion  is  satis- 
fied ;  and  the  whole  man  enjoys  an  entire  peace 
and  happiness,  on  account  of  his  tasting  the 
sovereign  good. 

In  the  fourth  place,  this  peace  proceeds  from 
the  testimony  and  inward  joy  of  a  good  con- 
science, which  makes  the  soul  of  a  just  man 
easy  and  quiet,  though  it  does  not  give  him  any 
perfect  assurance,  for  fear  of  making  him  negli- 
gent, and  putting  him  in  danger  of  losing  that 
holy  fear  which  puts  him  forward. 

Lastly,  this  peace  proceeds  from  the  confidence 
just  men  have  in  Almighty  God.  It  is  this  par- 
ticularly, that  gives  them  the  greatest  joy  and 
comfort  imaginable,  even  amidst  the  miseries  of 
this  life,  because  it  is  the  very  anchor  they 
trust  to,  that  is  to  say,  because  they  as- 
sure    themselves,    that     they    have     God     for 


376 


HOW   TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


their  Father,  their  Deliverer,  their  Defender, 
and  their  Shield,  under  whose  protection  they 
live  in  peace  and  happiness,  and  have  all 
the  reason  that  can  be  to  sing  with  the  pro- 
phet, "  I  will  lay  me  down  and  sleep  in  peace, 
because    thou,  O  Lord,  hast    secured   me  in  a 


particular  manner,  by  the  hope  which  I  have  in 
thy  mercy ;"  Ps.  iv.  It  is  from  this  hope,  that 
the  peace  of  the  just  springs,  and  in  this  they 
find  a  remedy  for  all  their  evils.  How  then  can 
any  man  be  troubled,  who  has  so  powerful  a 
protector  as  his  God? 


CHAPTER   XX. 

OF   THE   NINTH   PRIVILEGE   OF   VIRTUE,  VIZ.,  THAT  GOD  HEARS    THE   PRAYERS   OF   THE   JUST, 

AND   REJECTS   THOSE   OF   THE   WICKED. 


NOTHER  extraordinary  privilege  vir- 
tuous men  enjoy  is,  that  God  hears 
their  prayers,  which  is  a  sovereign 
remedy  against  all  the  necessities  and 
miseries  of  this  life.  To  make  this  the  plainer, 
we  are  to  understand,  that  there  have  been  two 
universal  deluges  in  the  world,  the  one  mate- 
rial, the  other  spiritual,  but  both  of  them  caused 
by  sin.  The  material  deluge,  which  happened 
in  Noe's  time,  destroyed  every  thing  in  the 
world  but  the  ark  and  what  was  within  it,  for 
every  thing  else  was  consumed  by  the  waters, 
so  that  all  the  labors  and  riches  of  mankind, 
together  with  the  whole  earth  itself,  was  swal- 
lowed up  by  the  sea.  But  the  other  deluge, 
which  was  before  this,  and  which  arose  from 
the  first  sin  that  was  committed,  was  much 
more  terrible  and  much  greater  than  this 
was,  because  it  was  the  ruin  not  only 
of  those  persons  who  were  alive  at  that 
time,  but  even  of  all  ages  past,  present  and 
to  come.  Nor  is  the  hurt  it  does  to  the  body 
to  be  compared  with  what  it  does  to  the  soul, 
which  it  strips  and  robs  of  those  graces  that 
were  bestowed  on  the  whole  world  in  the  per- 
son of  our  first  parent,  as  we  may  see  in  an 
infant  newly  born,  who  comes  into  the  world 
as  bare  of  all  these  goods  as  it  is  of  clothes 
to  cover  it. 

From  this  first  deluge  flowed  all  those  mis- 
eries and  wants  this  mortal  life  is  exposed  to, 
which    are    so    many    and  so  great,    that  they 


have  furnished  a  famous  pope  and  doctor  with 
matter  to  compose  a  book  solely  on  this  sub- 
ject: Innocentius  de  Vilitate  conditionis  humance. 
And  several  eminent  philosophers,  considering 
on  one  side  the  excellence  of  man  above  all 
other  creatures,  and  on  the  other  the  infinite 
number  of  miseries  and  vices  he  is  subject  to, 
could  not  but  wonder  to  see  so  much  disorder 
in  the  world,  though  they  were  not  capable  of 
finding  out  the  cause  of  all  these  miseries, 
which  is  nothing  else  but  sin.  For  they  saw 
that  man  was  the  only  creature  in  the  world 
that  had  such  an  infinite  variety  of  carnal 
delights  and  pleasures ;  that  none  but  he  was 
oppressed  with  avarice,  with  ambition,  an  in- 
satiable desire  of  life,  care  and  solicitude  about 
a  funeral,  but  most  of  all,  with  a  concern  for 
that  which  must  follow.  They  observed,  that  no 
other  creature  had  a  more  frail  and  uncertain 
life  than  man  has ;  that  none  had  a  more  in- 
flamed lust,  none  more  subject  to  fear,  and 
that  without  any  ground,  nor  any  more  cruelly 
angry  or  enraged  than  he.  They  took  notice, 
that  other  creatures  spent  the  greatest  part 
of  their  lives  without  sicknesses,  or  without  being 
troubled  with  the  physicians  and  medicines. 
They  saw  them  provided  with  all  the  neces- 
saries, without  taking  any  pains  or  care.  But 
as  for  unhappy,  miserable  man,  they  saw  him 
exposed  to  a  thousand  sorts  of  infirmities,  ac- 
cidents, necessities,  misfortunes  and  pains,  not 
only  of  the  body,  but  of  the  soul,  and  as  much 


HOW  TO  SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


377 


disturbed  at  the  miseries  of  his  friends  as  at  his 
own.  They  saw  him  sorry  for  what  was  past, 
afflicted  with  the  present,  and  painfully  solicit- 
ous about  what  was  to  come;  nay,  very  often 
toiling  and  sweating  all  his  life-time  for  the 
poor  sustenance  of  a  little   bread  and  water. 

If  we  were  to  count  all  the  miseries  of  human 
life,  we  should  never  have  done.  Holy  Job  says, 
**  The  life  of  man  is  a  perpetual  warfare  upon 
earth,  and  his  days  are  like  the  days  of  a  hired 
servant,  that  labors  from  sunrising  to  sunset ;" 
Job  vii.  I,  2.  Several  of  the  old  philosophers 
had  such  a  lively  sense  of  this  truth,  that  some 
of  them  said,  they  could  not  tell  whether  to 
call  nature  a  mother  or  a  step-mother,  because 
she  has  subjected  us  to  so  many  miseries. 
Others,  again,  used  to  say,  it  were  better 
never  to  be  born,  or  at  least  to  die  as  soon 
as  we  are  born :  nay,  some  of  them  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  say,  there  are  but  few  persons 
that  would  accept  of  life  after  having  made  an 
experiment  of  it,  that  is,  if  it  were  possible  to 
make  a  trial  of  it  beforehand. 

Since,  therefore,  life  has  been  reduced  to  this 
miserable  condition  by  sin,  and  since  we  have 
lost  our  whole  stock  and  substance  in  this  first 
deluge,  what  remedy  can  we  expect  he  has  left 
us,  who  has  punished  us  so  severely  ?  If  a 
man  that  is  sick  and  wounded  were  to  be  at 
sea  in  a  great  storm,  and  there  lose  all  he  is 
worth,  what  could  he  look  for  afterwards,  hav- 
ing lost  both  his  goods  and  his  health,  but 
beggary  and  want?  Every  man  must  make 
this  case  his  own ;  for  since  there  is  no  one 
but  has  lost  all  he  is  worth  in  this  universal 
deluge,  and  is  left  so  poor  and  naked,  how  can 
he  help  himself,  but  by  crying  like  a  poor  beg- 
gar at  the  gates  of  God  for  relief  and  assist- 
ance ?  The  holy  king  Josaphat  taught  us  this 
resource  when  he  said,  "  Since  we  do  not  know 
wkat  we  ought  to  do,  we  have  one  remedy  left 
us  at  least,  which  is  to  lift  up  our  eyes,  O 
L«rd,  towards  thee ; "  2  Paral.  xx.  12.  The 
good  king  Ezechias  has  instructed  us  fully  on 
the  same  point,  when  he  said,  "  In  one  day 
thou  wilt  put  an   end  to  my  life,  O  Lord ;  but 


as  for  me,  I  will  cry  like  the  young  swallow, 
and  moan  like  the  dove;  "  Isa.  xxxviii.  14.  As 
if  he  said,  I  am  so  poor,  O  Lord,  and  have  such 
a  dependence  on  your  mercy  and  providence,  that 
I  cannot  give  myself  any  assurance  of  one  day's 
life,  and,  therefore,  all  I  have  to  trust  in  is,  to  be 
always  moaning  before  you  like  a  dove,  and  to  cry 
out  to  you  as  the  young  swallow  does  to  its  dam. 
Thus  said  this  holy  man,  though  he  was  a  great 
king ;  and  David,  though  much  greater,  made 
use  of  this  same  remedy  in  all  his  necessities; 
and,  therefore,  inspired  by  the  same  spirit,  and 
enlightened  by  the  same  knowledge,  says,  "  I 
have  called  upon  thee  with  my  voice,  O  Lord, 
and  with  my  voice  I  have  addressed  my  prayer 
to  thee,  O  my  God;  I  have  sought  after  God 
in  the  day  of  my  tribulation,  and  I  have 
stretched  out  my  hand  toward  him  in  the  night, 
when  my  soul  refused  to  be  comforted,  and  when 
my  spirit  failed  me"  (Ps.  Ixxvii.  i,  2,  3) ;  that 
is  to  say,  when  I  look  round  about  me,  and  see 
all  the  passages  of  hope  shut  up,  when  nothing 
on  earth  can  give  me  any  ease,  I  immediately 
seek  for  a  remedy  from  heaven  by  the  help  of 
prayer,  which  is  the  sovereign  cure  God  has 
given  me  for  all  my  ills. 

You  will  ask  me,  perhaps,  whether  this  is 
a  certain  and  universal  cure  for  all  the  neces- 
sities of  life  or  not  ?  This  being  a  secret  which 
depends  entirely  on  the  will  of  God,  there  is  no 
one  can  answer  it  but  those  whom  he  has  made 
choice  of  to  discover  his  will,  which  are  the 
Apostles  and  prophets :  one  of  them  says, 
"  There  is  no  nation  in  the  world  so  great, 
which  have  their  gods  so  near  them,  as  our 
God  is  near  us,  when  we  pray  to  him ; " 
Dent.  iv.  7.  They  are  the  words  of  God 
himself,  though  delivered  by  the  mouth  of  a 
man,  and  they  assure  us,  with  all  the  certainty 
imaginable,  that  as  often  as  we  pray,  though 
we  see  no  one,  and  though  no  one  answers  us, 
that  we  do  not  speak  to  the  walls  or  talk  to 
the  air,  but  that  God  is  present  with  us  and 
hears  all  we  say,  that  he  assists  us  in  our 
prayers,  that  he  pities  our  miseries,  and  pre- 
pares the  remedy  we  ask  for,  in  case  it  be  proper 


378 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


for  us.  What  greater  comfort  can  a  man  have 
when  he  is  at  his  prayers  than  such  a  certain 
pledge  of  Almighty  God's  assistance  ?  And  if 
this  alone  is  sufficient  to  encourage  and  com- 
fort us,  how  much  more  will  the  words  of  our 
Saviour,  and  those  assurances  he  has  given  us 
in  his  gospel,  when  he  says,  "  Ask,  and  you 
shall  receive ;  seek,  and  you  shall  find ;  knock, 
and  it  shall  be  opened  to  you;"  Matt.  vi.  7. 
Can  we  have  a  richer  token  than  this  ?  Can  any 
man  doubt  of  the  truth  of  these  words  ?  Who 
is  there  that,  as  often  as  he  goes  to  his 
prayers,  is  not  comforted  with  the  hope  of  this 
sacred  promise  ? 

This,  therefore,  is  one  of  the  greatest  privi- 
leges the  virtuous  enjoy  in  this  life,  to  know 
that  these  promises  are  made  particularly  for 
them.  For  one  of  the  greatest  favors  God 
bestows  on  them,  in  reward  of  their  obedience 
and  piety,  is,  that  he  will  be  near  them  and 
hear  the  prayers  they  address  to  him.  David 
assures  us  of  it,  when  he  says,  "  The  eyes  of  the 
Lord  are  upon  the  just,  and  his  ears  are  open  to 
their  prayers  ;  "  Ps.  xxxvi.  16.  And  God  himself 
promises  us  the  same  by  Isaias,  saying,  "Then," 
that  is  to  say,  when  you  shall  have  kept  my 
commandments,  "  you  shall  call  upon  the  Lord, 
and  he  will  hear  you ;  you  shall  call  out  to 
him,  and  he  will  say,  behold  I  am  here"  (Isa. 
Iviii.  9) ;  that  is,  I  am  ready  to  grant  what- 
ever you  shall  desire.  Nay,  more  than  this, 
he  promises  them  by  the  same  prophet  to  hear 
them,  not  only  when  they  call  on  him,  but 
even  long  before.  And  yet,  after  all,  none  of 
these  promises  come  any  thing  near  that  which 
we  read  in  St.  John,  where  our  Saviour  says, 
"  If  you  shall  remain  in  me  and  let  my  words 
remain  in  you,  you  shall  ask  whatever  you 
shall  have  a  mind  for,  and  it  shall  be  granted 
you ; "  John  xv.  7.  But  for  fear  this  promise, 
as  being  so  great,  should  be  more  than  any  man 
could  believe,  he  repeats  it  a  second  time,  and 
affirms  it  more  positively,  saying,  "Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that  whatsoever  you 
shall  desire  of  my  Father  in  my  name  he  shall 
give    it    you ; "    xvi.    24.     Can    there    be    any 


greater  favor,  any  greater  riches,  or  any  more 
sovereign  command  than  this  is?  You  shall  ask 
me,  says  he,  for  whatever  you  please,  and  it 
shall  be  granted  you.  Could  any  expression 
better  become  the  person  that  promises  than 
this  does  ?  Who  but  God  could  ever  have 
made  such  a  promise?  Is  there  any  one 
besides  God,  that  is  able  to  do  such  great 
things  as  these  are?  Or  is  there  any  one 
but  him,  who  has  so  much  goodness  as  to 
oblige  himself  to  grant  such  favors?  What 
else  is  this  but  to  make  man  in  some  measure 
lord  of  all  things,  and  to  intrust  him  with  the 
keys  of  the  divine  treasuries  ?  All  the  other  favors 
of  God  have  their  bounds  set  them,  but  this, 
above  all  the  rest,  as  being  the  royal  gift  of 
an  infinite  Lord,  carries  some  degree  of  infinity 
along  with  it.  For  our  Saviour  does  not 
determine  either  this  or  that,  or  any  particular 
thing,  but  whatever  you  shall  desire  (provided 
it  be  for  your  eternal  good)  shall  be  granted 
you.  Could  men  but  set  a  just  value  on 
things,  and  give  them  their  true  estimate,  how 
great  a  rate  would  they  esteem  this  at  ?  How 
happy  would  a  man  think  himself  to  have  so 
gpreat  an  interest  with  his  king  as  to  obtain 
his  grant  for  every  thing  he  should  desire? 
Now  if  a  man  would  look  on  it  as  so  great  a 
happiness  to  be  so  much  in  favor  with  an 
earthly  king,  what  must  he  think  it  is  to  have 
so  much  interest  with  the  King  of  heaven? 

And  that  you  may  not  think  these  are  only 
bare  promises  without  performance,  do  but  look 
into  the  lives  of  the  saints,  and  consider  what 
great  things  they  have  done  by  the  virtue  of 
prayer.  What  did  Moses  in  Egypt,  and  during 
all  the  time  of  his  travels  through  the  wilder- 
ness? What  did  not  Elias  and  Eliseus  his 
disciple  ?  What  miracles  were  not  wrought  by 
the  Apostles,  and  all  hy  prayer?  This  was 
the  weapon  the  saints  fought  with;  with  this 
they  overcome  the  devil,  with  this  they  tri- 
umphed over  the  world,  with  this  they  sub- 
dued nature,  with  this  they  turned  the  most 
violent  flames  into  a  gentle  dew,  with  this, 
in  fine,  they  appeased    and    quieted    the  wrath 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


379 


of  God,-  and  obtained  of  him  whatever  they 
asked.  It  is  written  of  the  holy  father  St. 
Dominick,  that  he  told  a  certain  friend  of  his 
he  was  never  in  his  life  denied  any  thing  he 
had  begged  of  the  Almighty ;  his  friend  de- 
sired him  to  pray  that  one  Doctor  Reginald, 
a  man  famous  at  that  time,  might  become  a 
religious  man  of  his  order:  the  holy  man 
spent  the  next  night  in  prayer  for  him,  and 
the  next  day  early  in  the  morning,  as  he  was 
beginning  the  hymn  of  the  first  hour.  Jam 
lucis  orto  sidere^  this  new  morning-star  came 
into  the  choir,  and  there  prostrating  himself 
at  the  saint's  feet,  desired,  with  a  deal  of 
humilit}'-,  that  he  would  give  him  the  habit 
of  his  order.  This,  therefore,  is  the  reward 
that  is  promised  to  the  obedience  of  the  just, 
and  it  is  their  faithful  observing  the  voice  of 
God,  that  makes  him  in  some  manner  obedient 
to  their  prayers  ;  and  because  they  answer  to 
the  call  of  God,  he  pays  them  again,  according 
to  the  proverb,  in  the  same  coin,  by  answering 
them  whenever  they  call  on  him.  And  for 
this  reason  Solomon  says,  "  That  the  obedient 
man  shall  talk  of  victories ; "  Prov.  xxi.  28. 
For  it  is  but  just,  that  God  complies  with  the 
will  of  man,  when  man  complies  with  the 
will  of  God. 

But  it  happens  quite  otherwise  in  the  pray- 
ers of  the  wicked :  for  the  Almighty  tells 
them  by  Isaias,  *'  When  you  shall  stretch 
out  your  hands,  I  will  turn  my  eyes  away 
from  you ;  and  when  you  shall  multiply  your 
prayers,  I  will  not  hear  them ; "  Isa.  i.  15. 
He  threatens  them  in  like  manner  by  his 
prophet  Jeremy,  saying,  "  In  the  time  of  their 
affliction  they  shall  say,  Arise,  O  Lord,  and 
deliver  us."  And  he  will  ask  them,  "  Where 
are  your  gods,  which  you  made  for  yourselves  ? 
Let  them  arise  and  deliver  you  in  the  time  of 
your  affliction."     Jer.  ii.  27.     In   the   book   of 


Job  we  read  these  words :  "  What  hopes  can 
the  wicked  man  have,  if  he  unjustly  takes 
away  his  neighbor's  goods  ?  Can  he  hope  that 
God  will  hear  his  prayer  when  he  shall  be  in 
distress  ?  "  Job  xxvii.  8,  9.  And  St.  John,  in 
his  Epistle,  says,  "  My  beloved  brethren,  if  our 
own  conscience  do  not  reprove  us,  we  have  a 
confidence  in  God,  that  whatsoever  we  shallf 
ask  we  shall  obtain  of  him,  because  we  keep 
his  commandments,  and  do  those  things  which 
are  pleasing  to  his  sight;"  John  iii.  21,  22. 
What  the  holy  psalmist  says  is  to  the  same 
effect :  "If  I  have  beheld  iniquity,  the  Lord 
will  not  hear  me  ;  but  because  I  have  not  done 
wickedly,  therefore  he  has  heard  my  prayer ;  " 
Ps.  Ixxv.  18,  19. 

There  are  numberless  examples  of  this  sort, 
in  holy  writ,  to  show  what  vast  difference 
there  is  between  the  prayers  of  the  just  and 
those  of  the  wicked,  and  consequently  the 
extraordinary  advantages  which  the  one  have 
over  the  other;  because  the  just  are  heard 
and  dealt  with  as  true  children  of  God,  whilst 
the  wicked  are  treated  as  enemies.  And  what 
wonder  is  it  that  their  prayers  should  not  be 
heard,  since  there  are  no  good  works,  no 
devotion,  no  fervor  of  spirit,  no  humility  to  ac- 
company them  ?  For,  according  to  St.  Cyprian, 
"  It  is  impossible  that  a  petition  should  be  effica- 
cious when  prayer  is  barren  ;  "  St.  Cypr.  Orat. 
Dominica.  Though  this  is  generally  true,  the 
Almighty's  goodness  is  yet  so  great,  that  he 
sometimes  vouchsafes  to  hear  the  prayers  of 
the  wicked,  which,  notwithstanding  their  want 
of  merit,  do  not  cease  to  obtain  their  end ; 
because,  as  St.  Thomas  says,  "  Merit  proceeds 
from  charity,  but  the  grant  of  the  petition 
comes  from  the  infinite  goodness  and  mercy 
of  God,  who  sometimes  hears  the  prayers  of 
such  persons ; "  St.  Tho.  2,  2,  q.  83,  art.  15, 
16. 


38o 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

OF  THE  TENTH    PRIVILEGE    OF  VIRTUE,  WHICH   IS,  THE  ASSISTANCE    GOOD    MEN  RECEIVE   FROM 
GOD   IN   THEIR   AFFLICTIONS ;    AND   OF   THE   IMPATIENCE,   ON   THE   CONTRARY,  WITH 

WHICH   THE   WICKED   SUFFER   THEIRS. 


iJNOTHER  extraordinary  privilege  grant- 
ed to  virtue  is,  its  encouraging  its 
followers  to  bear  up  against  the 
tribulations  they  cannot  but  meet 
with  in  this  life.  For  we  know  there  is  no 
sea  so  tempestuous  and  inconstant  as  this  life 
is.  Because  a  man  is  never  so  secure  of  the 
felicity  he  enjoys  as  not  to  be  exposed 
to  an  infinite  number  of  such  accidents  and 
misfortunes  as  he  never  thought  of,  and 
which  he  is,  nevertheless,  every  moment  in 
danger  of  falling  into.  It  is,  therefore  a  mat- 
ter of  g^eat  consequence  to  observe  with  what 
difference  the  wicked  and  the  good  conduct  them- 
selves in  all  these  changes ;  for  the  good,  con- 
sidering they  have  God  for  their  father,  that 
it  is  he  who  sends  them  this  cup  as  a  potion 
prescribed  them  by  a  most  experienced  physi- 
cian for  their  cure,  that  tribulation  is  like  a  file 
which  takes  off  the  rust  of  sin  the  cleaner, 
and  polishes  it  the  brighter  the  rougher  it  is; 
they  consider  it  is  this  affliction  that  makes 
man  more  humble  in  thoughts,  more  devout  in 
his  prayers,  and  gives  him  a  purer  conscience. 
These  considerations  make  them  bow  down 
their  heads  and  humble  themselves  with  cheer- 
fulness, in  the  time  of  their  tribulation ;  they 
put  water  in  the  chalice  of  the  cross,  or,  to 
speak  plainer,  the  Almighty  himself  puts  it  in  ; 
"  For  he,"  as  the  holy  psalmist  says,  "  gives 
them  tears  to  drink  by  measure  ;  "  Ps.  xcvii.  6. 
And  there  is  no  physician  so  careful  in  the 
mixture  of  his  drugs,  according  to  the  consti- 
tution of  his  patient,  as  this  heavenly  Physi- 
cian is,  in  the  tempering  of  tribulations,  which 
be  sends  the  just,  according  to  the  strength 
every  one  has  to  bear  them :  and  if  at  any 
time  the  burden  should  be  increased,  he 
increases  the  assistance  he  gives  them  for  bear- 


ing it,  that  so  the  tribulation  any  man  lies 
under  may  make  him  so  much  the  richer, 
as  it  is  the  more  painful  and  troublesome ; 
nay,  when  his  afflictions  are  tempered  thus, 
he  is  so  far  from  endeavoring  to  get  rid  of 
them  as  things  prejudicial,  that  he,  on  the  con- 
trary, longs  for  them  as  advantageous  and 
profitable.  So  that,  by  the  help  of  all  these 
considerations,  good  men  often  bear  their  neces- 
sities, not  only  with  patience,  but  with  pleasure, 
because  they  look  on  the  reward,  and  not  the 
labor,  on  the  crown,  and  not  the  suffering,  on 
the  health  their  physic  will  restore  them  to, 
and  not  on  the  potion  itself,  not  on  the  smart 
of  the  stroke,  but  on  the  love  of  him  that  lays* 
it  on,  who  has  already  said,  "  that  he  loves  those 
that  he  chastises;  "    Heb.  iii.  19. 

To  all  these  considerations  must  be  added 
the  Almighty's  grace,  which,  as  we  have  shown 
already,  is  never  wanting  to  a  just  man  in' the 
time  of  his  tribulation.  For  God  being  so  true 
a  friend  to  those  who  love  him,  he  is  never 
nearer  to  them  than  when  they  are  in  affliction, 
though  he  seems  then  to  be  furthest  from 
them.  If  you  doubt  of  the  truth  hereof,  do  but 
look  into  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  you  will 
see  nothing  so  frequently  repeated  or  so  often 
promised.  Who  does  the  royal  prophet  mean 
but  God,  when  he  says,  "  that  he  is  their  helper 
in  their  necessities  and  tribulation?"  Ps.  ix, 
lo.  Has  not  he  himself  commanded  all  per- 
sons to  call  on  him  during  the  time  of  their 
affliction,  saying,  "  Call  upon  me  in  the  day 
of  tribulation,  and  I  will  deliver  you,  and  you 
shall  glorify  me?"  Ps.  xlix.  15.  Has  not  the 
prophet  testified  this  on  his  own  experience, 
when  he  says,  "When  I  called,  the  God  of 
my  justice  heard  me,  he  has  enlarged  my 
heart  in   the  day  of  tribulation  ?  "  Ps.  iv.  i.    Is 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


381 


not  this  the  Lord  in  whom  the  prophet  placed 
all  his  trust,  saying,  "  I  expected  him  who  has 
preserved  me  from  weakness  of  spirit  and  from 
the  storm  ?  "  Ps.  liv.  9.  It  is  certain,  that  he 
•does  not  speak  here  of  any  storm  at  sea,  but  of 
that  storm,  which  the  heart  of  a  negligent  and 
weak  man  that  is  in  tribulation  is  tossed  with  ; 
and  the  more  a  man's  heart  is  confined,  the  more 
boisterously  this  storm  rages,  which  the  prophet 
often  repeats,  for  the  greater  confirmation  of  this 
truth,  and  for  the  strengthening  of  our  weak- 
ness. "The  salvation  of  the  just,"  says  he, 
"  comes  from  the  Lord,  and  he  is  their  protector 
in  the  time  of  their  tribulation  :  and  he  will 
assist  them  and  deliver  them,  and  rescue 
them,  from  sinners,  and  save  them,  because 
they  have  put  their  trust  in  him ; "  Ps.  xxxvi. 

39,  40. 

In  another  place  the  same  prophet  speaks  yet 
plainer,  thus :  "How  great,  O  Lord,  and  how 
many  are  the  joys  thou  hast  laid  up  for  those 
that  fear  thee,  and  put  their  trust  in  thee  in  the 
presence  of  the  children  of  men?  Thou  wilt 
hide  them  in  the  secret  of  thy  face  from  the  per- 
secution of  men :  thou  wilt  protect  them  in  the 
tabernacle  from  the  contradiction  of  tongues. 
Blessed  be  the  Lord,  who  has  showed  his 
mercy  towards  me  in  so  wonderful  a  man- 
ner, by  defending  and  securing  me  as  if 
I  had  been  in  a  fortified  town.  But  the 
afflictions,  which  I  have  been  overwhelmed 
with,  have  made  me  cry  out,  O  Lord,  I  am 
turned  out  of  thy  sight;"  Ps.  xxx.  20,  21,  22, 
23.  See  here  how  plainly  this  holy  prophet 
has  taught  us  how  God  assists  the  just  in 
their  most  pressing  necessities.  But  you  must 
here  take  particular  notice  of  these  words, 
"  Thou  wilt  hide  them  in  the  secret  of  thy 
face : "  for  by  this,  according  to  a  certain  inter- 
preter, we  are  given  to  understand,  that  as  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  when  they  have  a  mind  to 
protect  any  person  with  a  more  than  ordinary 
care,  keep  him  within  their  own  palaces,  that 
so  not  only  the  royal  walls  may  secure  him 
from  his  enemies,  but  that  the  king's  continual 
presence,  and  the  watchful  eye  he  has  over  him, 


may  be  his  security,  than  which  none  oan  be 
greater:  in  like  manner,  this  sovereign  King 
uses  the  same  care  for  the  security  of  those  he 
loves.  In  confirmation  of  this,  we  both  see 
and  read,  that  holy  men,  even  in  the  midst  of 
the  greatest  dangers  and  temptations,  still  keep 
the  same  calmness  and  evenness  of  spirit  as 
they  had  before,  without  showing  the  least  con- 
cern of  trouble  in  their  looks,  because  they 
knew  for  certain,  that  he  who  protected  them 
would  be  so  faithful  as  not  to  forsake  them, 
nay,  on  the  contrary,  that  he  would  stand  the 
nearer  to  them  if  he  should  see  them  in  any 
great  danger.  Just  as  he  did  to  the  three 
young  men  whom  Nabuchodonosor  commanded 
to  be  flung  into  the  fiery  furnace  of  Babylon; 
Dan.  iii.  For  the  angel  of  the  Lord  was  seen 
walking  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  changed  the 
violent  flames  into  a  cool,  refreshing  air.  At  which 
the  tyrant,  being  astonished,  began  to  say, 
"  Were  they  not  three  men  that  we  bound  and 
flung  into  the  middle  of  the  fire?  Behold,  I 
see  four  untied  and  walking  together  without 
having  received  any  hurt,  and  the  fourth  of 
them  is  as  beautiful  as  the  Son  of  God;" 
Ibid.  24,  25.  Do  you  not  see  now  by  this  how 
certain  it  is  that  Almighty  God  is  with  the 
just,  whenever  they  are  in  any  tribulation? 
Nor  is  the  care  he  took  of  young  Joseph  after 
his  brethren  had  sold  him,  a  less  argument  of 
this  truth.  For  as  we  may  read  in  the  book 
of  Wisdom,  "  He  went  down  with  him  into  the 
prison,  and  never  left  him  when  he  was  in  his 
fetters,  till  he  gave  him  the  sceptre  of  Egypt, 
and  power  over  those  persons  who  had  oppressed 
him:  and  he  proved  those  to  be  liars  that 
defamed  him,  and  he  gave  him  eternal  glory;" 
Sap.  X.  13,  14.  These  examples  evince  the 
truth  of  God's  promises  made  to  us  by  the 
psalmist,  when  he  says,  "  I  am  with  him  when 
he  is  in  affliction ;  I  will  deliver  him  and  glorify 
him ; "  Ps.  xc.  15.  O  how  truly  happy  must 
affliction  be  that  makes  us  worthy  of  the  com- 
pany of  our  God  !  Let  us  all  cry  out,  with  St. 
Bernard,  "  If  these  are  the  effects  of  tribulations, 
grant,  O  God,  that  I  may  never  be  free  from 


38a 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,  THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


them,  that  so  you  may  be  always  with  me ; " 
Serm.  17,  in  Ps.  xc. 

Add  to  this,  the  relief  and  assistance  of 
all  virtues  which,  upon  such  occasions,  come  in 
ready  armed  to  succor  the  afflicted  heart.  For 
whenever  the  soul  is  straitened,  or  in  any  kind  of 
danger  from  tribulation,  all  the  virtues  imme- 
diately run  into  her,  and  with  what  forces 
they  can  make,  just  as  the  blood  does  towards 
the  heart  whenever  it  is  oppressed.  In  the 
first  place  comes  faith,  with  a  certain  knowl- 
edge of  the  happiness  and  miseries  of  the  next 
life,  compared  to  which,  all  we  can  possibly 
suffer  is  but  a  mere  trifle.  Next  comes  hope, 
which  makes  man  bear  all  his  troubles  with 
patience,  in  expectation  of  the  reward  that  is  to 
follow.  After  her  comes  charity,  which  makes 
them  even  desire  to  be  afflicted  in  this  world,  that 
they  may  thereby  express  their  affection  for 
God.  Then  follows  obedience  and  conformity 
to  the  divine  will,  which  helps  them  to  receive 
whatever  God  sends  them  with  cheerfulness 
and  without  grumbling.  Patience  repairs 
thither,  and  it  is  her  business  to  keep  their 
shoulders  up,  lest  they  should  bend  beneath 
the  weight.  Then  humility  bows  down  their 
hearts,  like  young  trees,  by  the  stormy  wind 
of  affliction,  teaching  them  to  humble  themselves 
under  the  powerful  hand  of  God,  and  to  ac- 
knowledge that  what  they  suffer  is  infinitely 
less  than  their  sins  deserve.  Another  virtue 
that  assists  them  is,  the  consideration  of  what 
Jesus  Christ  suffered  on  the  cross,  and  of  what 
all  the  saints  have  endured,  which  is  far  more 
severe  and  painful  than  what  they  sustain. 

Thus  all  virtues  officiously  assist  us  in  such 
dangerous  encounters ;  nor  do  they  assist  us  in 
their  service  only,  but  with  their  words,  if  I  may 
be  allowed  to  term  it  so.  For,  first  of  all.  Faith 
tells  us,"  That  the  sufferings  of  this  world  are 
not  worthy  of  the  glory  which  will  be  revealed 
to  us  in  the  next ; "  Rom.  viii.  18.  Charity 
comforts  us,  saying.  It  is  but  reasonable  we 
should  suffer  something  for  his  sake  who  had 
so  much  love  for  us.  Gratitude  tells  us,  with 
holy  Job,  "If  we    have  received   good  things 


from  the  hand  of  God,  why  should  we  not 
receive  bad  ones  too  ?  "  Job  ii.  10.  Penance  says, 
It  is  no  more  than  justice  that  he  who  has  done 
so  much  against  God's  will  should  undergo 
something  now  against  his  own.  Loyalty  says, 
that  it  is  requisite  we  should,  once  at  least  in 
our  life,  give  some  token  of  our  fidelity  to  him, 
who  has  been  bestowing  his  favors  on  us  ever 
since  we  were  born.  Patience  tells  us,  "  That 
tribulation  produces  patience,  patience  the  proof 
of  our  faith,  faith  produces  hope,  and  that  hope 
will  not  leave  a  man  in  confusion ;  "  Rom.  v. 
3,  4,  5.  Obedience  says,  The  highest  degree 
of  sanctity  a  man  can  arrive  to,  and  the  most 
pleasing  sacrifice  he  can  offer  to  God,  is  to 
conform  in  all  his  sufferings  to  his  will. 

But  that  which  of  all  these  virtues  helps 
us  most  on  such  occasions,  and  which  makes 
us  most  resolute  in  the  very  midst  of  tribula- 
tion is  a  lively  hope.  It  is  what  St.  Paul 
himself  teaches  us,  for  he  had  no  sooner 
said,  "  rejoicing  in  hope,''  than  he  adds, 
"  being  patient  in  tribulation."  He  knew 
very  well  that  one  is  the  consequence  of 
the  other,  that  is  to  say,  that  the  strength  we 
get  by  patience  proceeds  from  the  joy  hope 
gives  us.  For  which  reason  the  Apostle  very 
elegantly  calls  this  hope  "an  anchor"  (Heb. 
vi.  19),  because  this  lively  hope  being  fastened 
strongly  to  the  promises  of  heaven,  it  keeps  the 
soul  of  the  just  man  firm  and  constant  in  the 
midst  of  the  waves  and  storms  of  this  world,  and 
makes  it  slight  the  violence  of  its  winds  and 
tempests,  just  as  an  anchor,  when  it  is  stuck 
into  the  ground,  makes  the  ship  ride  securely 
on  the  water,  and  keeps  it  steady,  though  the 
winds  and  waves  are  continually  beating  against 
it.  This,  they  say,  was  the  practice  of  a  cer- 
tain saint,  who,  whenever  he  was  in  any  kind 
of  affliction,  used  to  say,  "  The  happiness  I 
hope  for  is  so  great,  that  all  I  can  suffer  is 
delightful  to  me." 

Thus  it  is  that  all  virtues  meet  and  agree 
together  for  fortif3nng  a  just  man's  heart, 
whenever  he  is  in  any  tribulation.  And  if  at 
any  time   he   should   lose  courage,  they  come 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,    THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


383 


Tip  to  him  again  with  mucli  more  vigor,  and 
upbraid  him  after  this  manner :  How  now  ? 
what  is  become  of  that  lively  faith  and  confi- 
dence you  ought  to  have  in  Almighty  God,  if 
you  begin  to  shrink  at  the  very  time  he  is 
going  to  make  a  trial  of  you,  and  to  see  what 
you  are  ?  Where  is  your  charity,  your  courage, 
your  obedience,  your  patience,  your  loyalty,  and 
the  fervor  of  your  hope?  Is  it  for  this  you 
have  so  often  prepared  yourself,  and  made  so 
many  resolutions  ?  Is  this  all  you  have  desired 
so  earnestly  of  God,  and  prayed  so  often  to  him 
for?  Consider  a  little,  that  the  duty  and  perfec- 
tion of  a  good  Christian  does  not  consist  in 
saying  a  few  prayers,  in  fasting,  in  hearing  of 
mass ;  it  is  necessary,  besides  all  this,  that 
God  should  find  you  as  faithful  as  another 
Job,  or  Abraham,  in  the  time  of  tribulation. 
Such  considerations  as  these,  and  the  virtues  a 
just  man  is  endowed  with,  together  with  the 
Almighty  God's  never-failing  gfrace,  make  him 
strong  enough  to  bear  those  burdens  not  only 
with  patience,  but  oftentimes  with  thankfulness 
and  pleasure.  Holy  Tobias'  example  will 
sufBce  at  present  to  prove  this  :  we  read  of 
him,  that  God  having  permitted  that  he  should 
lose  his  sight,  after  having  suffered  many 
other  afflictions,  for  an  example  of  patience 
to  men  in  after  ages,  he  was  not  troubled  at 
all,  nor  did  he  lose  the  least  part  of  that  fidelity 
and  obedience  he  paid  to  God  before  these  misfor- 
tunes happened  to  him.  Whereupon  the 
Scripture  immediately  gives  the  reason  of  it, 
saying,  "  Having  had  the  fear  of  God  before  his 
eyes  from  his  very  infancy,  and  having  kept 
his  commandments,  he  did  not  murmur  against 
him,  because  he  had  struck  him  with  blindness, 
but  remained  immovable  in  the  fear  of  God, 
giving  him  thanks  all  the  days  of  his  life ;" 
Tob.  ii.  13,  14.  You  see  now  by  this,  how 
plainly  the  Holy  Ghost  attributes  the  patience, 
with  which  a  man  suffers  afflictions,  to  virtue 
and  the  fear  of  God,  which,  as  the  Scripture  has 
declared,  this  holy  man  was  so  renowned  for.  I 
could  bring  several  remarkable  instances  of 
holy  men  and   women,  even  in  our  days,  who 


have  undergone  all  the  troubles  God  has  sent 
them  with  a  deal  of  cheerfulness  and  love, 
who  have  found  out  honey  even  in  gall,  who  in  a 
storm  had  a  calm,  and  have  been  refreshed  and 
cooled  in  the  very  midst  of  the  flames  of  Babylon. 

§  I.  Of  the  Impatience  and  Rage  of  the  Wick- 
ed in  their  Afflictions. — But,  on  the  contrary, 
how  dreadful  a  thing  it  is  to  see  the  wicked  in 
any  trouble  I  to  see  them  without  charity,  pa- 
tience, courage,  hope  or  any  such  virtue !  to  see 
how  all  their  miseries  come  on  them,  unarmed 
and  unprepared  !  to  see  how  blind  they  are,  and 
unable  to  behold  that  which  the  just  see  by  a 
steady  faith  I  to  consider  they  have  no  lively  hope 
to  embrace  what  God  sends  them,  nor  have  ever 
had  any  experience  of  his  fatherly  providence 
towards  those  who  serve  him  !  It  is  a  lament- 
able thing  to  see  how  they  are  swallowed  up  in 
this  gulf,  without  finding  an)^  place  to  rest  on 
or  to  lay  hold  of  What  better  hopes  can  a 
man  have  of  them,  than  that  they  should  per- 
ish in  the  storm,  or  be  killed  in  the  battle, 
since  they  have  no  kind  of  assistance  to  trust 
to ;  because  they  sail  without  a  rudder,  and 
fight  without  weapons  ?  What  can  a  man  ex- 
pect, but  that  the  fury  of  the  winds,  and  the 
tempest  of  their  afflictions,  should  dash  them 
against  the  rocks  of  anger,  pride,  dejection,  im- 
patience, blasphemy  and  despair  ? 

Some  there  are  who,  through  the  excess  of  their 
miseries,  have  lost  either  their  senses,  their 
health,  or  their  life,  or  at  least  their  sight,  by 
their  continual  tears.  So  that  the  just  remain 
sound  and  entire  in  the  fire  of  adversity,  like 
fine  silver,  whilst  the  wicked,  like  lead,  melt 
and  are  dissolved  as  soon  as  they  feel  the  heat. 
Thus,  whilst  the  one  cry,  the  others  sing ; 
whilst  the  one  are  sinking,  the  others  pass 
over  dry-shod ;  the  one,  like  frail  earthen 
vessels,  crack  in  the  fire,  whilst  the  others,  like 
pure  gold,  are  the  more  refined.  So  that  "  the 
voice  of  salvation  and  of  joy  is  continually 
sounding  in  the  tabernacles  of  the  just "  (Ps. 
cxvii.  15),  whilst  there  is  nothing  to  be  heard, 
in  the  habitations  of  the  wicked,  but  the  cries 
of  sorrow  and  confusion. 


384 


HOW   TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


If  you  would  more  fully  compreliend  what 
I  say,  do  but  observe  what  extravagances  several 
females  commit  on  the  death  of  their  children 
or  husbands,  and  you  will  find  some  of  them, 
out  of  madness,  and  rage,  and  the  horror  they 
have  of  their  life,  precipitate  their  death : 
others,  that  soon  end  their  days  with  impa- 
:tience  and  fury,  caused  by  their  grief;  and 
thus  a  family  is  ruined  and  destroyed  in  a 
moment.  And,  what  is  worst  of  all,  they  are 
not  only  in  a  passion  with,  and  cruel  to  them- 
selves, but  pour  out  horrible  execrations  against 
Almighty  God,  accusing  his  providence,  con- 
demning his  justice,  blaspheming  his  mercy, 
and  opening  their  sacrilegious  mouths  against 
heaven,  nay,  against  God  himself,  till,  at  length, 
all  their  curses  fall  on  their  own  heads,  with  many 
other  calamities  much  more  dreadful,  wherewith 
Almighty  God  punishes  them  for  such  horrible 
blasphemies.  This  is  the  reward  he  deserves, 
who  is  so  impudent  as  to  spit  at  heaven  itself, 
and  to  kick  against  the  spur.  Sometimes  this 
proves  a  complete  cure,  wrought  by  the  hand 
of  God,  who  thus  diverts  their  hearts  from  some 
extraordinary  afflictions,  by  sending  them  others 
that  are  greater. 

Thus,  these  miserable  creatures,  wanting  the 
rudder  of  virtue  to  steer  their  vessels,  are  cast 
away  in  the  storm ;  for  blaspheming  and  curs- 
ing him,  they  ought  to  praise  and  bless,  for  be- 
ing pufied  up  with  pride  when  they  ought  to 
humble  themselves,  for  being  stubborn  when 
thej'  are  chastised,  and  growing  worse  on  those 
remedies  which  were  applied  to  make  them  bet- 
ter, which  seems  to  be  a  beginning  of  their  hell, 
and  a  resemblance  of  what  they  are  to  endure  in 
*he  next  world.  For  if  hell  be  nothing  but  a 
place  of  sin  and  punishment,  why  should  we 
not  look  on  this  state  as  a  hell,  since  it  has  so 
great  a  share  of  both  ? 

But  what  a  pity  that  still  these  troubles  must 
be  endured,  and  that,  if  they  were  borne  with 
patience,  they  would  become  more  tolerable, 
and  at  the  same  time  more  meritorious  ;  and  yet, 
in  spite  of  all  this,  wretched  man  is  resolved 
to  deprive  himself  of  the   inestimable  fruit  of 


patience,  and  to  increase  the  weight  of  his 
burden,  by  adding  the  burden  of  impatience, 
which  alone  is  much  heavier  than  all  the  rest 
of  the  load.  It  is  a  great  trouble  to  labor  and 
toil,  to  receive  no  reward,  nor  know  whose  ac- 
count to  place  it  to ;  but  it  is  much  worse  to 
lose  all  that  is  got,  and,  after  traveling  all 
night,  to  be  further  from  the  journey's  end  in 
the  morning. 

By  what  has  been  said,  we  may  perceive  the 
difference  there  is  between  the  use  the  good 
and  the  bad  make  of  their  afflictions.  With 
what  peace,  what  joy,  and  what  courage  do  the 
good  bear  theirs,  whilst  the  wicked  are  quite 
overwhelmed  with  grief  and  trouble?  This  was 
represented  to  the  life,  by  the  great  lamenta- 
tions and  complaints  which  were  heard  through- 
out the  land  of  Egypt,  when  God  destroyed 
all  their  first-born  in  one  night  (Ex.  xii.),  for 
there  was  not  a  house  free  from  grief  and 
sorrow;  and  yet  there  was  no  cry  heard  in  the 
land  of  Jessen,  where  the  children  of  Israel 
lived. 

Besides  this  peace,  what  shall  I  say  of  the 
advantages  the  just  make  of  tribulations  which 
are  so  prejudicial  to  the  wicked?  St.  Chrysos- 
tom  says,  "  that  as  gold  is  refined  by  the  saine 
fire  which  consumes  wood,  so  the  just  man,  like 
gold,  becomes  more  pure  in  the  fire  of  tribula- 
tion, whilst  the  wicked,  like  dry  wood,  is  burned 
to  ashes;"  St.  Chrysostom,  14,  in  Matt.  i.  St. 
Cyprian  has  something  to  the  same  purpose  :  he 
saj's,  "  that  as  the  wind  in  harvest  time  blows 
away  the  light  chaff,  but  cleanses  the  corn,  so  the 
wind  of  tribulation  blows  away  the  wicked  like 
light  straw,  but  purges  the  just,  and  gathers  them 
together  like  good  wheat;"  Cypr.  de  unitate 
Ecclesiae.  The  same  is  represented  to  us  by  the 
waters  of  the  Red  Sea,  which  were  so  far  from 
drowning  the  children  of  Israel,  as  they  passed 
through  them,  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  served 
them  for  a  wall  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the 
left :  whereas  they  broke  down  on  and  drowned 
the  Egyptians'  chariots  and  all  Pharao's  army. 
The  waters  of  tribulation,  after  the  same  man- 
ner, are    a    greater    security  to   virtuous    men, 


'''T)^^ 


^fM' 


^ 


% 


« 


L'^^t 


«t 


h,      'V 


THE   HOLY  WAY  OF  THK  CROSS. 

First  station;  Christ  is  sentenced  to  death  by  Pilate.  Second  station,  Christ  takes  the  Cross  on  his  shoulder.  Third  station,  Jesus 
falls  the  first  time  under  the  Cross.  Fourth  station,  Jesus,  carrying  the  Cross,  meets  his  afflicted  mother.  Fifth  station,  Christ  is  assisted 
by  Sitnon  to  carry  the  Cross.  Sixth  station,  Veronica  presents  a  handkerchief  to  Chri,st.  Seventh  station,  Jesus  falls  under  the  Cross  a 
second  time.  Eighth  station,  Christ  consoles  the  women  of  Jerusalem  who  wept  over  Him.  Ninth  station,  Jesus  falls  under  the  Cross  the 
third  time.  Tenth  station,  Jesus  is  stripped  of  his  garments  and  offered  vinegar  and  gall.  Eleventh  station,  Christ  is  nailed  to  the  Cross. 
Twtlftii  station,  Christ  is  exalted  on  the  Cross  and  dies.  Thirteenth  station,  Christ  18  taken  down  from  the  Cross.  Fourteenth  station, 
Cbiiat  is  laid  in  the  Holy  Sepoicbre. 


THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD. 


"  I  am  the  good  shepherd  ;  ihe  good  shepherd  giveth  his  life  for  his  sheep,  but  the  hireling  and  he  that  is  not  the  shepherd,  whose 
own  sheep  they  are  not,  seetb  the  wolf  coming,  and  leaveth  the  sheep  and  flieth,  and  the  wolf  snatcbeth  and  scatteretb  the  sheep." 


HOW   TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


385 


and  serve  as  the  preservatives  and  trial  of  their 
humility  and  patience ;  but  are  like  a  tempest- 
ous  sea  to  the  wicked,  which  drowns  and  buries 
them  iu  the  abyss  of  impatience,  blasphemy 
and  despair. 

This  therefore,  is  another  very  considerable 
advantage  virtue  has  over  vice ;  and  it  was  on 
this  account  that  the  philosophers  extolled  phil- 
osophy so  much,  imagining  that  the  making 
of  a  man  constant  and  resolute  in  all  kind  of 
adversities  belonged  to  it.      But   they  deceived 


themselves  in  this  point,  as  they  did  in  many 
others,  for  neither  true  virtue,  nor  true  reso- 
lution and  constancy,  are  to  be  found  among 
the  philosophers,  but  in  the  school  of  that 
Master,  who,  being  nailed  to  a  cross,  comforted 
us  by  his  example,  and  reigning  now  in 
heaven  strengthens  us  by  his  Spirit,  and  en- 
courages us  with  the  hopes  of  the  glory  he  has 
promised  us;  of  all  which,  human  philosophy 
is  incapable. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  ELEVENTH  PRIVILEGE  OF  VIRTUE,  WHICH   CONSISTS   IN   THE  CARE  GOD  TAKES  TO  SUPPLY 

THE  TEMPORAL  NECESSITIES  OF  THE  JUST. 


vL  we  have  hitherto  treated  of  are  the 
spiritual  favors  which  are  bestowed  on 
the  followers  of  virtue  in  this  life, 
besides  the  everlasting  glory  which  is 
laid  up  for  them  in  the  next.  These  benefits 
were  all  promised  them  at  our  Saviour's  coming 
into  the  world,  as  all  the  prophecies  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures  testify ;  for  which  reason  he  is 
justly  styled  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  because 
it  is  by  him  we  obtain  true  salvation,  which  is, 
grace,  wisdom,  peace,  victory,  and  dominion  over 
our  passions,  the  consolations  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  riches  of  hope,  and,  in  fine,  all  other  bene- 
fits requisite  for  obtaining  this  salvation,  of 
which  the  prophet  has  said,  "Israel  has  been 
saved  by  the  Lord  with  an  eternal  salvation;" 
Isa.  xiv.  17. 

But,  if  there  be  any  person  so  carnal  as  to 
have  a  greater  love  for  the  goods  of  the  flesh, 
than  for  those  of  the  spirit,  as  the  Jews  had, 
we  will  not  differ  on  this  account,  for  he  shall 
herein  find  more  satisfaction,  as  to  this  part, 
than  he  can  possibly  wish.  For  what  else 
could  the  wise  man  mean,  when,  speaking 
of  true  wisdom,  in  which  the  perfection  of 
virtue  consists,  he  says,  "  Length  of  days  is 
at    her    right   hand,  and    riches   and    glory  at 

25 


her  left?"  Prov.  iii.  16.  So  that  she  holds 
these  two  sorts  of  goods  in  her  hands,  inviting 
men  with  one  of  them  to  the  enjoyment  of 
eternal  blessings,  and  with  the  other  to  search 
after  temporal.  Do  not  imagine  that  God  starves' 
those  who  serve  him,  or  that  he  is  so  careless 
as  to  feed  the  very  ant  and  worms  of  the  earth, 
and  sufifer  them  to  want.  If  you  will  not  be- 
lieve me,  read  the  sixth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew, 
and  there  you  will  see  what  earnest  and  secu- 
rity he  has  given  you.  "  Behold  the  fowls  of 
the  air,"  says  our  Saviour,  "  for  they  sow  not, 
neither  do  they  reap,  nor  gather  into  their 
barns,  and  yet  your  heavenly  Father  feedeth 
them.  Of  how  much  more  value  are  you  than 
they  ?  "  Matt.  vi.  26.  A  little  after  he  concludes 
thus  :  "  Do  not,  therefore,  be  solicitous,  saying. 
What  shall  we  eat,  or  what  shall  we  drink,  or 
what  clothes  shall  we  put  on  ?  for  the  heathens 
trouble  themselves  about  all  these  things.  Do 
you,  therefore,  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  these  things  shall  be  given  to  you;"  ver. 
31?  32»  33-  It  is  for  this  reason  particularly 
that  the  holy  psalmist,  observing  that  this 
alone  was  a  sufl&cient  motive  to  make  men 
submit  to  one  another,  invites  us  to  serve  God, 
saying,  "Fear  the  Lord,  all  you  his  saints ;  because 


386 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


those  that  fear  him  want  for  nothing.  The 
rich  have  been  in  want,  and  have  suflfered  hunger; 
but  those  that  seek  the  Lord  shall  not  be  de- 
prived of  any  thing  that  is  good;"  Ps.xxxiii.  lo,  II. 
This  is  so  certain,  that  the  same  prophet  adds 
in  another  psalm,  "  I  have  been  young,  but 
now  I  am  old ;  yet  I  never  saw  the  just  man 
I  forsaken,  nor  his  seed  begging  bread ; "  Ps. 
xxxvi.  25. 

If  you  would  be  better  informed  of  the  share 
the  just  have  in  this  promise,  hear  what  God  him- 
self says,  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy  (ch.  xxviii. 
1-12),  to  those  that  keep  his  commandments  : 
"  If  you  will  hear  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy 
God,  to  do  and  keep  all  his  commandments, 
which  I  command  thee  this  day,  the  Lord  thy 
God  will  make  thee  higher  than  all  the  nations 
that  are  on  the  earth.  And  all  these  blessings 
shall  come  upon  thee  and  overtake  thee ;  yet 
so  if  thou  hear  his  precepts.  Blessed  shalt 
thou  be  in  the  city,  and  blessed  in  the  field. 
Blessed  shall  be  the  fruit  of  thy  womb,  and 
the  fruit  of  thy  ground,  and  the  fruit  of  thy 
cattle,  the  droves  of  thy  herd,  and  the  folds  of 
thy  sheep.  Blessed  shall  be  thy  bams,  and 
blessed  thy  stores.  Blessed  shalt  thou  be  com- 
ing in  and  going  out.  The  Lord  shall  cause 
thy  enemies  that  rise  up  against  thee  to  fall 
down  before  thy  face :  one  way  shall  they  come 
out  against  thee,  and  seven  ways  shall  they 
flee  before  thee.  The  Lord  will  send  forth  a 
blessing  upon  thy  storehouses,  and  upon  all 
the  works  of  thy  hands :  and  will  bless  thee 
in  the  land  that  thou  shalt  receive.  The 
Lord  will  raise  thee  up  to  be  a  holy  peo- 
ple to  himself,  as  he  swore  to  thee :  if  thou 
keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  walk  in  his  ways.  And  all  the  people  of 
the  earth  shall  see  that  the  name  of  the  Lord 
is  invocated  upon  thee,  and  they  shall  fear 
thee.  The  Lord  will  make  thee  abound  with 
all  goods,  with  the  fruit  of  thy  womb,  and  the 
fruit  of  thy  cattle,  with  the  fruit  of  thy  land, 
which  the  Lord  swore  to  thy  fathers  that  he 
would  give  thee.  The  Lord  will  open  his 
excellent    treasure,    the    heaven,    that    it    may 


give  rain  in  due  season:  and  he  will. bless  all 
the  works  of  thy  hands."  These  are  the  words 
of  God  himself,  delivered  by  his  prophet.  Tell 
me  now,  after  all  this,  are  the  treasures  of 
both  the  Indies  to  be  compared  with  such 
infinite  blessings  as  these  are  ? 

But  supposing  the  promise  of  temporal  bless- 
ings was  made  to  the  Jews,  rather  than 
Christians,  because  the  Almighty,  by  Ezekiel 
(ch.  xxxiv.,  xxxvi.),  promises  to  enrich  these 
with  other  kind  of  goods  of  greater  value,  to 
wit,  those  of  grace  and  glory ;  yet  as  God,  in 
the  carnal  law,  did  not  cease  to  give  spiritual 
goods  to  those  Jews  that  were  virtuous,  so 
neither  will  he  refuse  to  give  temporal  bless- 
ings to  good  Christians  in  the  spiritual  law, 
and  that  with  the  addition  of  two  extraordinary 
advantages,  of  which  the  wicked  have  not  the 
least  knowledge.  The  one  is,  that  he  gives 
them  these  sort  of  blessings  like  an  experienced 
physician,  according  to  their  several  necessities, 
that  they  may  serve  to  support  and  not  to  puff 
them  up.  The  wicked  know  nothing  at  all  of 
this,  for  they  heap  up  all  they  can,  without 
considering  that  superfluity  of  temporal  goods 
is  no  less  prejudicial  to  the  welfare  of  our 
soul,  than  superfluity  of  meats  is  to  the  health 
of  the  body.  For,  though  a  man  cannot  natur- 
ally live  without  eating,  yet  to  eat  too  much 
impairs  the  health,  and  though  man's  life  is 
in  his  blood,  yet  too  much  of  it  quite  chokes 
him  up.  The  other  advantage  is,  that  with  less 
noise  he  gives  them  much  more  content  and 
satisfaction,  which  is  the  end  of  men's  seeking 
after  temporal  riches,  than  the  others  can  pur- 
cha.se  with  all  their  labor ;  because  whatsoever 
God  can  do  by  the  means  of  second  causes,  he 
can  do  by  himself  much  more  perfectly.  It  is 
what  he  has  done  to  all  the  saints,  in  whose 
name  St.  Paul  spoke,  when  he  said,  "  As  hav- 
ing nothing,  and  yet  possessing  all  things '' 
(2  Cor.  vi.  10) ;  because  we  are  as  content  with 
the  little  we  have,  as  if  we  were  lords  of  all 
the  world.  Travelers  endeavor  to  carry  what 
money  they  have  in  gold,  because  they  can 
carry  much  more,  and  with  less  burden  ;  so  the 


HOW  TO   SHUN    EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


3^7 


Almighty  provides  for  those  who  love  him,  by 
giving  them  a  lighter  burden,  but  much  more 
of  joy,  ease  and  satisfaction.  Thus  the  just 
travel  in  this  life  naked  and  contented,  poor 
and  rich,  whilst  the  wicked  wallow  in  their 
riches,  and  yet  die  for  hunger.  And  though, 
like  Tantalus,  they  are  up  to  their  very  chin 
in  water,  yet  they  cannot  quench  their  thirst. 

For  this  and  such  like  reasons,  Moses  so 
earnestly  recommended  the  keeping  of  the  law 
of  God,  desiring  it  should  be  our  whole  study 
and  care,  as  well  knowing  that  all  happiness 
consists  in  the  fulfilling  thereof.  "  Lay  up 
these  words  of  mine,"  says  he,  "  in  thy  heart ; 
teach  them  to  thy  children,  and  meditate  upon 
them  as  thou  sittest  in  thy  house,  and  as  thou 
art  upon  journeys,  when  thou  goest  to  bed, 
and  when  thou  risest  again.  And  thou  shalt 
bind  them  as  a  sign  on  thy  hand,  and  keep 
them  always  before  thy  eyes,  and  write  them 
over  thy  porch  and  over  the  doors  of  thy 
house,  that  by  this  means  thy  days  may  be 
multiplied,  and  those  of  thy  posterity,  in  the 
laud-  which  God  shall  give  thee ;  "  vi.  6,  7,  8, 
etc.  What  was  it,  O  holy  prophet,  that  you 
saw,  what  did  you  find  in  the  keeping  of  God's 
commandments,  that  should  make  you  recom- 
mend them  so  earnestly  to  others  ?  You,  with- 
out doubt,  understood  the  inestimable  value  of 
this  good,  as  being  so  great  a  prophet,  and 
privy  to  the  divine  counsels :  you  knew  that 
all  kinds  of  goods  whatever,  present  and  to 
come,  temporal  and  eternal,  spiritual  and 
corporal,  were  contained  in  and  depended  on 
this,  and  that  if  we  complied  with  this  obliga- 
tion, we  should  satisfy  all  the  rest :  you  knew 
very  well  that  he  who  made  it  his  business  to 
do  the  will  of  God,  should  never  lose  his 
labor,  because  the  doing  of  this  was  pruning 
his  vine,  watering  his  garden,  increasing  his 
estate,  and  looking  after  all  his  aflfairs,  much 
better  than  he  could  do  it  himself,  because  it 
laid  an  obligation  on  God  to  do  it  for 
him.  For  the  condition  of  the  treaty,  which 
God  has  made  with  man  is,  that  whilst  man  is 
busy  about  keeping  of  God's  law,  God  should  be 


busy  about  looking  after  man's  concerns.  And 
there  is  no  fear  of  the  contract  being  broken  on 
God's  side.  On  the  contrary,  if  man  prove  a 
faithful  servant,  God  will  still  show  himself  a 
better  master.  This  is  that  one  thing  which  our 
Saviour  said  was  necessary,  to  wit,  the  knowing 
and  the  loving  of  God.  For  he  that  knows  how 
to  please  God,  is  secure  of  all  the  rest.  "  Piety," 
says  St.  Paul,  "  is  profitable  for  all  things,  be- 
cause all  the  promises,  both  of  this  life  and  the 
life  to  come,  are  for  it;"  i  Tim.  iv.  8.  You  see 
here  how  plainly  the  Apostle  promises  to  piety, 
which  is  the  worship  of  God,  not  only  the  goods 
of  the  next,  but  those  of  this  life  too,  as  far  as 
they  contribute  to  the  gaining  of  eternal  happi- 
ness, and  yet  man  is  not  excused  on  this  account 
from  labor,  or  from  complying  with  the  obliga- 
tions of  his  state  or  calling  as  far  as  he  is  able. 

§  I.  Of  the  Poverty  of  the  Wicked. — If  any  one 
desires  to  know  what  poverty,  what  afflictions 
and  calamities  are  laid  up  for  the  wicked,  let  him 
but  read  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Deuter- 
onomy, and  he  will  there  see  such  things  as  will 
astonish  and  aflfright  him  :  where,  amongst  many 
other  dreadful  threats,  Moses  delivers  these  most 
terrifying  words  from  the  mouth  of  God :  "If 
thoix  wilt  not  hear  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God, 
to  keep,  and  to  do  all  his  commandments  and 
ceremonies,  which  I  have  commanded  thee  this 
day,  all  these  curses  shall  come  upon  thee  and 
overtake  thee.  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  in  the  city, 
cursed  in  the  field.  Cursed  shall  be  thy  bam, 
and  cursed  thy  stores.  Cursed  shall  be  the  fruit 
of  thy  womb,  and  the  fruit  of  thy  ground,  the 
herds  of  thy  oxen,  and  the  flocks  of  thy  sheep. 
Cursed  shalt  thou  be  in  coming  in,  and  cursed 
going  out.  The  Lord  shall  send  upon  thee  famine 
and  hunger,  and  a  rebuke  upon  all  the  works 
which  thou  shalt  do;  until  he  consume  and 
destroy  thee  quickly,  for  thy  most  wicked  inven- 
tions, by  which  thou  hast  forsaken  me.  May 
the  Lord  set  the  pestilence  upon  thee,  until  he 
consume  thee  out  of  the  land  which  thou  shalt 
go  in  to  possess.  May  the  Lord  afflict  thee  with 
miserable  want,  with  the  fever  and  with  the  cold, 
with  burning  and  with  heat,  and  with  corrupted 


388 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


air,  and  with  blasting,  and  pursue  thee  till  thou 
perish.  Be  the  heaven  that  is  over  thee  of  brass  ; 
and  the  ground  thou  treadest  on  of  iron.  The 
Lord  give  thee  dust  for  rain  upon  thy  land,  and 
let  ashes  come  down  from  heaven  upon  thee,  till 
thou  be  consumed.  The  Lord  make  thee  to  fall 
down  before  thy  enemies  ;  one  way  mayst  thou 
go  out  against  them,  and  flee  seven  ways,  and  be 
scattered  throughout  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
earth.  And  be  thy  carcass  meat  for  all  the 
fowls  of  the  air,  and  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  and 
be  there  none  to  drive  them  away.  The  Lord 
strike  thee  with  the  ulcer  of  Egypt,  and  the  part 
of  thy  body,  by  which  the  dung  is  cast  out,  with 
the  scab  and  with  the  itch ;  so  that  thou  canst 
not  be  healed.  The  Lord  strike  thee  with  mad- 
ness and  blindness,  and  fury  of  mind,  and  mayst 
thou  grope  at  midday  as  the  blind  is  wont  to 
grope  in  the  dark,  and  not  make  straight  thy 
ways.  And  mayst  thou  at  all  time  sufiFer  wrong, 
and  be  oppressed  with  violence,  and  mayst  thou 
have  no  one  to  deliver  thee.  Mayst  thou  take  a 
wife,  and  another  sleep  with  her.  Mayst  thou 
build  a  house,  and  not  dwell  therein.  Mayst  thou 
plant  a  vineyard,  and  not  gather  the  vintage 
thereof.  May  thy  ox  be  slain  before  thee,  and 
thou  not  eat  thereof.  May  thy  ass  be  taken  away 
in  thy  sight,  and  not  restored  to  thee.  May  thy 
sheep  be  given  to  thy  enemies,  and  may  there  be 
none  to  help  thee.  Maj'  thy  sons  and  thy  daugh- 
ters be  given  to  another  people,  thy  eyes  looking 
on  and  languishing  at  the  sight  of  them  all  the 
day,  and  maj'  there  be  no  strength  in  thy  hand. 
May  a  people,  which  thou  knowest  not,  eat  the 
fruit  of  thy  land,  and  all  thy  labors ;  and  mayst 
thou  always  suffer  oppression,  and  be  crushed  at 
all  times.  And  be  astonished  at  the  terror  of 
those  things  which  thy  eyes  shall  see.  May  the 
Lord  strike  thee  with  a  very  sore  ulcer  in  the 
knees  and  in  the  legs,  and  be  thou  incurable 
from  the  sole  of  the  foot  to  the  top  of  thy  head. 
The  Lord  shall  bring  thee  and  thy  king,  whom 
thou  shalt  have  appointed  over  thee,  into  a  nation 
which  thou  and  thy  fathers  know  not ;  and  there 
thou  shalt  serve  strange  gods,  wood  and  stone. 
And  thou  shalt  be  lost  as  a  proverb  and  a  by- 


word to  all  people  among  whom  the  Lord  shall 
bring  thee  in ;"  Deut.  xxviii.  15-38.  In  fine, 
after  a  great  many  other  curses,  and  those  very 
dreadful  ones,  he  adds  further  :  "  All  these  curses 
shall  come  upon  thee,  and  shall  pursue  and  over- 
take thee  till  thou  perish:  because  thou  heardst 
not  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  didst 
not  keep  his  commandments  and  ceremonies 
which  he  commanded  thee.  And  they  shall  be 
as  signs  and  wonders  on  thee,  and  on  thy  seed 
forever.  Because  thou  didst  not  serve  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  joy  and  gladness  of  heart,  for  the 
abundance  of  all  things.  Thou  shalt  serve  thy 
enemy,  whom  the  Lord  shall  send  upon  thee,  in 
hunger,  and  thirst,  and  nakedness,  and  in  want 
of  all  things  ;  and  he  shall  put  an  iron  yoke 
upon  thy  neck,  till  he  consume  thee.  The  Lord 
will  bring  tipon  thee  a  nation  from  afar,  and  from 
the  uttermost  ends  of  the  earth,  like  an  eagle 
that  flieth  swiftly  ;  whose  tongue  thou  canst  not 
understand  :  a  most  insolent  nation,  that  will 
show  no  regard  to  the  ancient,  nor  have  pity  on 
the  infant,  and  will  devour  the  fruit  of  thy  land, 
until  thou  be  destroyed,  and  will  leave  thee  no 
wheat,  nor  wine,  nor  oil,  nor  herds  of  oxen, 
nor  flocks  of  sheep :  until  he  destroy  thee, 
and  consume  thee  in  all  thy  cities,  and  thy 
strong  and  high  walls  be  brought  down,  where- 
in thou  trustedst  in  all  thy  land.  Thou 
shalt  be  besieged  within  thy  gates,  in  all  thy 
land,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  will  give  thee ; 
and  thou  shalt  eat  the  fruit  of  thy  womb,  and  the 
flesh  of  thy  sons  and  of  thy  daughters,  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  shall  give  thee,  in  the  distress 
and  extremity  wherewith  thy  enemy  shall  op- 
press thee ;  "  Ibid.  ver.  45-54.  These  threats 
and  curses  are  all  taken  out  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, where  you  may  find  many  more  which  I 
here  omit  to  relate  ;  but  whoever  reads  them  with 
attention,  will  meet  with  such  dreadful  things  as 
cannot  but  astonish  him.  Then,  perhaps,  he 
will  open  his  eyes,  and  begin  to  have  some 
knowledge  of  the  rigor  of  God's  justice  and  of 
the  malice  of  sin,  together  with  the  extreme 
hatred  he  bears  it,  as  appears  by  the  terrible 
punishments  he  inflicts  on  it  in  this  life,  by  which 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


3«9 


men  may  conjecture  what  a  sinner  is  to  expect 
in  the  next.  Besides  he  will  pity  the  insensi- 
bility and  misery  of  the  wicked,  who  are  so  blind 
as  not  to  see  the  dreadful  punishments  that  are 
reserved  for  them. 

Do  not  persuade  yourself,  that  these  threats 
are  only  empty  words,  but  consider  that  they  are 
rather  a  prophecy  of  those  misfortunes  which 
have  since  happened  to  that  people :  for  during 
the  reign  of  Acham,  king  of  Israel,  the  king  of 
Syria's  army  having  besieged  them  in  Samaria, 
we  read  that  men  were  forced  to  eat  pigeon's 
dung,  which  was  sold  at  a  great  price.  Nay,  they 
were  reduced  at  last  to  such  extremities,  that 
mothers  devoured  their  own  children;  4  Kings 
vi.  And  Josephus  tells  us  they  were  brought  to 
the  same  misery  again  in  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  ; 
Jos.  L.  7.  There  is  scarce  any  body  but  has 
heard  of  the  captivity  of  this  people,  with  the 
utter  subversion  of  the  whole  kingdom  ;  for  ten 
tribes  of  them  were  carried  away  into  perpetual 
captivity  by  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  never  re- 
turned home  again  ;  and  the  two  which  remained 
were  quite  destroyed  a  great  while  after,  by  the 
Roman  army,  who  took  many  of  them  prisoners  ; 
but  the  number  of  these  that  were  slain  or  died 
during  the  siege  was  far  greater,  according  to 
the  relation  of  the  same  historian. 

Let  no  man  deceive  himself  by  imagining,  that 
all  these  calamities  concerned  none  but  this  peo- 
ple ;  for  they  belonged  to  all  those  in  general, 
who,  professing  to  serve  God,  nevertheless  con- 
temn and  violate  his  law :  it  is  what  he  himself 
assures  us  of  by  his  prophet  Amos,  saying,  "  Was 
it  not  I  that  brought  the  children  of  Israel  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the  Palestines  out  of 


Cappadocia,  and  the  Syrians  out  of  Cyrene  ?  Be- 
hold the  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  over  the  kingdoms, 
which  commit  sin,  for  to  destroy  and  blot  them  out 
of  the  face  of  the  earth."  Amos  ix.  7,  8.  By  this 
he  gives  us  to  understand,  that  all  these  changes 
of  the  kingdoms  and  states,  as  the  destroying  of 
some  and  the  establishing  of  others,  are  the 
eflfects  of  sin.  And  if  any  one  doubts  whether 
this  concerns  us  or  no,  let  him  search  into  the 
histories  of  past  ages,  and  he  will  find  that  God 
Almighty  deals  after  the  same  manner  with  all 
the  wicked,  but  particularly  with  those  who  have 
known  the  true  law  and  yet  have  not  observed  it. 
He  will  there  see  that  a  great  part  of  Europe,  Africa 
and  Asia,  which  was  formerly  full  of  Christian 
Churches,  is  now  in  the  hands  of  heathens  and 
barbarians;  he  will  see  what  calamities  the 
church  has  suffered  from  the  Goths,  the  Huns 
and  the  Vandals,  who,  in  St.  Augustine's  time, 
laid  all  the  countries  of  Africa  waste,  sparing 
neither  man,  woman,  nor  child,  old  or  young. 
And  at  the  same  time,  all  the  country  of  Dal- 
matia  and  the  neighboring  towns  were  so  ruined 
by  those  barbarians,  that,  as  St.  Jerome,  who  was 
himself  of  that  country,  says,  ''  Whosoever  passed 
through  it  could  see  nothing  but  heaven  and 
earth,  so  universal  was  the  desolation ;"  S.  Hier. 
in  c.  I.,  Soph  on.  All  this  serves  to  inform  us, 
that  virtue  and  true  devotion  not  only  assist  us, 
in  order  to  obtain  the  eternal  goods,  but  also  to 
settle  us  in  the  possession  of  the  temporal. 
Wherefore,  let  the  consideration  of  this,  and  all 
those  other  advantages  virtue  has,  serve  to  make 
an  impression  on  our  hearts,  and  excite  them  to 
the  love  of  that  which  delivers  us  from  so  great 
evils,  and  procures  us  such  mighty  benefits. 


390 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


CHAPTER  XXIU. 

THE  TWELFTH  PRIVILEGE  OF  VIRTUE,  WHICH  IS,  THE  QUIET  AND  HAPPY  DEATH  OF  THE  VIRTUOUS  J 
AND,  ON  THE  CONTRARY,  THE  DEPLORABLE  END  OF  THE  WICKED. 


jDD  to  these  privileges,  the  glorious 
death  of  good  men,  to  which  all  the 
others  are  directed.  For  if,  as  we  com- 
monly say,  it  is  the  end  that  crowns  the 
work,  what  can  better  deserve  a  crown,  or  what 
can  be  more  glorious  than  the  end  of  good  men, 
and  what  more  miserable  than  that  of  the 
wicked  ?  "  The  death  of  the  saints,"  says  the 
psalmist,  "  is  precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord, 
but  the  death  of  sinners  is  the  worst"  (Ps.  cxv. 
15;  xxxiii.  22);  because  it  is  the  greatest  of  all 
miseries  either  of  the  body  or  soul.  And,  there- 
fore, St.  Bernard,  writing  upon  these  words,"  The 
death  of  sinners  is  the  worst,"  says,  "  That  first 
of  all  it  is  bad,  because  it  takes  them  away 
from  the  world  :  worse  yet,  because  it  separates 
the  soul  from  the  body  ;  but  worst  of  all,  because 
of  those  two  eternal  torments,  fire  everlasting, 
and  the  worm  that  never  dies,  which  immedi- 
ately follow  it ; "  S.  Bern.  Serm.  inter  parvos. 
It  cannot  but  be  a  great  affliction  to  such 
persons  to  leave  the  world,  a  much  greater  to 
forsake  their  own  flesh,  but  the  greatest  of  all, 
will  be  hell  torments,  which  they  are  to  be 
forever  condemned  to.  These,  therefcfre,  and 
several  other  miseries  put  together,  will  disturb 
the  wicked  at  this  time  ;  because  then  they  will 
first  be  sensible  of  the  symptoms  and  ac- 
cidents of  their  distemper,  the  racking  pains 
they  endure  all  over  their  bodies,  the  frights  and 
terrors  of  their  souls,  the  anguish  their  present 
condition  causes,  their  apprehensions  of  what 
must  follow,  the  remembrance  of  what  is  past, 
the  reflection  on  the  accounts  they  are  going 
to  give  in,  the  dread  they  have  of  the  sentence 
to  be  passed  against  them,  the  horror  of  the 
grave,  their  being  separated  from  all  they  had 
an  inordinate  affection  for,  that  is,  from  their 
riches,  their  friends,  their  wives,  their  children, 
nay,    from    the   very    light   and    common    air. 


which  they  enjoy,  and  even  from  life  itself. 
The  greater  love  they  have  had  for  any  of 
these  things,  the  more  unwilling  will  they  be 
to  leave  it:  for,  according  to  the  great  St. 
Augustine,  "  What  we  possess  with  love,  we 
can  never  lose  without  grief;"  De  Civit.  Dei. 
Conformable  to  which  was  this  saying  of  a 
philosopher :  "  The  fewer  pleasures  a  man  has 
enjoyed,  the  less  he  is  afraid  of  death." 

But  the  greatest  torment  they  suffer  at  this 
time,  is  that  of  an  evil  conscience,  with  the 
consideration  and  dread  of  those  pains  which 
are  prepared  for  them ;  because  man,  being 
then  alarmed  at  the  approach  of  death,  begins 
to  open  his  eyes,  and  to  consider  what  he 
never  thought  of  in  all  his  life  before.  Euse- 
bius  Emissenus  gives  us  a  very  good  reason 
for  this  in  one  of  his  Homilies,  where  he 
says,  "  Because  at  this  time  man  lays  aside 
all  the  solicitude  with  which  he  used  to  seek 
for  and  procure  all  that  is  necessary  for  life, 
and  does  not  trouble  his  head  any  more,  either 
about  working  or  fighting,  or  any  other  employ 
whatever ;  it  follows  from  hence,  that  the  soul, 
being  free  from  every  thing  else,  thinks  of 
nothing  but  the  account  she  must  make,  and 
all  her  powers  are  overcharged  with  the  weight 
of  the  divine  justice  and  of  God  Almighty's 
judgments.  Man,  therefore,  lying  in  this  mis- 
erable condition,  with  life  behind  his  back 
and  death  before  his  eyes,  he  easily  forgets 
the  present,  which  he  is  going  to  leave,  and 
begins  to  think  of  the  future,  which  he  is 
in  continual  expectation  of.  There  he  sees 
that  his  pleasures  and  delights  are  now  at  an 
end,  and  that  he  has  nothing  left  him  but 
his  sins  to  appear  against  him,  before  the 
tribunal  of  God ; "  S.  Euseb.  Homil.  i,  2d 
Monachos.  The  same  doctor,  discoursing 
again    upon    this    subject   in    another   homily, 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


391 


says,  "  Let  us  consider  what  complaints  a  negli- 
gent soul  will  make  at  its  departure  out  of 
this  life  ;  what  tribulation  and  anguish  will  she 
be  filled  with  !  V/hat  clouds  and  darkness  will 
she  lie  under,  when  among  those  enemies  that 
surround  her,  she  shall  see  her  own  conscience, 
attended  by  a  multitude  of  sins,  the  forwardest 
to  appear  against  her!  For  she  alone,  without 
any  other  witness,  will  appear  before  us,  to 
convince  us  by  her  evidence,  and  confound  us 
by  her  knowledge.  It  will  be  impossible  to 
hide  any  thing  from  her,  or  to  deny  any  thing 
she  shall  charge  us  with,  since  there  will  be  no 
need  of  going  any  further  than  ourselves  for  a 
witness." 

Peter  Damianus  handles  this  matter  much 
better  and  more  at  large  (Pet.  Damian.  c.  6, 
in  Institut.  Moniol.  ad  Blancam  Commitissan): 
"  Let  us  consider,"  says  he,  "  with  attention, 
what  dreadful  fears  and  apprehensions  the  soul 
of  a  sinner  will  be  oppressed  with,  when  she 
is  on  the  point  of  leaving  the  prison  of  the 
flesh,  and  how  the  stings  of  a  guilty  conscience 
will  prick  and  torment  her.  Then  she  calls  to 
mind  the  sins  she  has  committed,  and  sees  how 
she  has  despised  and  broken  the  commandments 
of  God ;  then  she  is  troubled  to  have  lost  so 
much  time,  in  which  she  might  have  done 
penance,  and  with  affliction  sees  that  the  ac- 
counts she  must  unavoidably  give,  and  the  time 
of  divine  vengeance,  is  just  at  hand.  She  would 
willingly  stay,  but  is  forced  to  go  ;  she  would  fain 
recover  what  she  has  lost,  but  cannot  obtain  leave 
to  do  it.  If  she  casts  her  eyes  behind  her,  and 
considers  the  whole  course  of  her  life,  it  seems 
no  more  to  her  than  a  short  moment :  if  she 
looks  forward,  she  sees  there  the  space  of  an 
infinite  eternity,  that  expects  her.  She  weeps 
when  she  considers  the  everlasting  happiness 
she  has  lost,  which  she  might  have  gained  in 
the  short  time  of  this  life ;  and  to  be  deprived 
of  this  unspeakable  sweetness  of  eternal  delight 
for  a  fleeting  carnal  satisfaction,  is  a  great 
affliction  to  her.  She  is  filled  with  confusion 
to  consider,  that,  for  the  pleasing  of  this  mis- 
erable body,  which  must  be  the  food  of  worms, 


she  has  neglected  herself,  who  ought  to  have 
taken  her  place  amongst  the  choirs  of  angels. 
When  she  reflects  upon  the  brightness  and 
glory  of  immortal  riches,  she  is  ashamed  to 
see  herself  deprived  of  them,  for  having  sought 
after  such  as  were  base  and  perishable.  But 
when  she  has  done  looking  upward,  and  cast 
her  eyes  down  upon  the  dark  and  frightful 
valley  of  this  world,  and  at  the  same  time 
sees  the  glory  of  the  eternal  light  above  her, 
she  is  fully  convinced,  that  all  she  loved  in 
this  world  was  nothing  but  night  and  dark- 
ness. O !  if  she  could  but  then  obtain  a  little 
time  to  do  penance  in,  what  austerities  and 
mortifications  would  she  not  undergo  ?  What 
is  it  she  would  not  do?  What  vows  would 
she  not  make,  and  what  prayers  would  she 
not  be  continually  ofiering  up  ?  But  whilst 
man  is  revolving  these  things  in  his  mind, 
behold  the  messenger  and  forerunners  of  death 
are  just  at  hand,  his  eyes  become  dark  and 
hollow,  his  breast  heaves,  his  voice  grows 
hoarse,  he  rattles  in  his  throat,  his  limbs 
wax  cold,  his  teeth  turn  black,  he  foams  at 
the  mouth,  and  his  face  grows  wan  and  pale; 
whilst  these  things,  which  serve  as  so  many 
preparatives  to  approaching  death,  orderly  fall 
out,  the  miserable  soul  sees  before  her  all  the 
works,  words  and  thoughts  of  her  late  wicked 
life,  which  give  a  lamentable  testimony  against 
her,  as  being  the  author  of  them  all :  and 
though  she  would  willingly  iurn  her  eyes  away 
from  them,  she  cannot,  but  is  forced  to  see 
them.  Let  us  add  to  all  this,  the  horrible  pres- 
ence of  the  devils  on  one  side,  and  that  of 
virtue  and  of  the  blessed  angels  on  the  other: 
and  we  may  soon  guess  which  of  the  two 
parties  this  prey  is  like  to  fall  to;  because, 
if  the  dying  man  carries  any  works  of  piety 
and  virtue  with  him,  he  is  immediately  com- 
forted by  the  invitations  and  caresses  of  the 
angels ;  but  if  the  foulness  of  his  sins,  and  of 
his  wicked  life  past,  require  that  he  should  be 
treated  in  another  manner,  immediately  he 
trembles  every  joint  of  him;  from  fear  he  falls 
into  despair; — and  in  this  condition  is  snatched. 


393 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


rent  and  torn  away  from  his  miserable  flesh, 
and  thrown  headlong  into  everlasting  torments." 
Thus  far  Peter  Damianus. 

If  all  this  be  true,  and  must  happen  accord- 
ingly, what  need  any  more,  if  a  man  has 
not  lost  his  senses,  to  make  him  see  how 
miserable  the  condition  of  the  wicked  is,  and 
how  carefully  to  be  avoided,  since  their  end  is 
like  to  be  so  wretched  and  deplorable? 

If  the  goods  of  this  world  could  do  any  ser- 
vice at  that  time,  as  they  do  all  the  other  part 
of  life,  their  misery  would  be  much  easier,  but 
there  is  none  of  them  that  give  the  least  assist- 
ance. For  neither  can  honors  profit  a  man,  nor 
friends  help  him ;  he  can  have  no  servants  to 
attend  him ;  he  must  expect  no  favor,  because  of 
his  quality,  no  succor  from  his  estate,  nor  any 
service  from  any  thing  whatever,  but  from  virtue 
and  innocence  of  life.  For,  as  the  wise  man 
says,  "  Riches  cannot  profit  us  in  the  day  of 
vengeance,  but  justice  alone,"  that  is  virtue  will 
deliver  from  death;  Prov.  xi.  How,  therefore, 
can  the  wicked  man,  finding  himself  so  poor  and 
destitute  of  all  kind  of  help,  forbear  trembling 
to  see  himself  thus  forsaken  and  neglected  at 
the  judgment-seat  of  Almighty  God? 

^  1.  Of  the  Death  of  the  Just. — But,  on  the 
contrary,  how  secure  are  the  just  against  all 
these  miseries  when  they  come  to  die !  For  as 
the  wicked  at  this  time  receive  the  punishment  of 
their  sins,  the  just  receive  the  reward  of  their 
deserts,  according  to  Ecclesiasticus,  who  says, 
"  He  that  fears  the  Lord  shall  be  happy  in  the 
last  daj'^s,  and  in  the  day  of  his  death  he  shall 
be  blessed "  (Ecclus.  i.  19)  ;  that  is,  he  shall 
have  the  rich  reward  of  his  labors.  St.  John,  in 
his  Revelation,  declares  the  same  thing  to  us 
more  expressly,  when  he  tells  us,  "  That  he 
heard  a  voice  from  heaven  which  commanded 
him  to  write,  and  the  words  which  it  dictated  were 
these  :  Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord, 
because  the  Holy  Ghost  tells  them  the  time  is  come 
that  they  shall  rest  from  their  labors,  for  their 
works  follow  them;"  Apoc.  xiv.  13.  How  is  it 
possible  then  for  a  just  man,  that  has  received 
such  a  promise    as    this    from    Almighty   God 


himself,  to  be  frightened  at  the  hour  of  his 
death,  when  he  sees  himself  just  on  the  point 
of  receiving  what  he  has  been  laboring  for  all 
his  life-time  ?  For  this  reason,  one  of  holy 
Job's  pretended  friends  tells  him,  "  That  if 
there  be  no  iniquity  nor  injustice  found  in  him, 
he  shall  be  as  bright  in  the  evening  as  the 
sun  at  noon-day,  and  when  he  shall  imagine 
himself  to  be  quite  spent,  he  shall  arise  like 
the  morning  star;"  Job  xi.  14,  17.  St.  Gregory, 
writing  upon  these  words,  says,  that  "  The 
reason  why  this  morning  brightness  shines 
upon  the  just  in  the  evening  is,  because  he 
perceives  some  glimmerings,  at  the  hour  of  his 
death,  of  that  glory  which  God  has  prepared 
for  him  ;  and,  therefore,  when  others  are  the 
most  dejected,  he  is  then  most  cheerful ;  "  St. 
Greg.  10,  Moral,  c.  i.  Solomon,  in  his  Proverbs, 
testifies  the  same,  when  he  says,  "  The  wicked 
man  shall  be  rejected  because  of  his  sins,  but 
the  just  is  in  hopes  at  the  hour  of  his  death;  " 
Prov.  xiv.  32. 

To  prove  this  by  an  example;  could  any 
man  have  better  hopes  or  more  courage 
than  the  glorious  St.  Martin  had  on 
his  death-bed,  who,  seeing  the  devil  by 
him,  asked  him,  "  What  dost  thou  do  here, 
cruel  beast?  thou  shalt  find  no  mortal  sin  in 
me  to  glut  thyself  with,  and  therefore  I  shall 
be  received  into  Abraham's  bosom  in  peace." 
Again,  what  greater  confidence  can  be,  than  that 
St.  Dominick  had,  when  he  was  in  the  same  cir- 
cumstances ?  for  seeing  the  religious  brothers 
all  about  him,  bemoaning  themselves  for  his 
departure,  and  the  want  they  should  find  in  the 
loss  of  him,  he  comforted  them  with  these 
words  :  "  Let  nothing  trouble  or  afflict  you,  chil- 
dren, for  I  shall  do  you  much  more  service 
where  I  am  going,  than  I  should  be  able  to  do 
you  here."  How  can  a  man  lose  courage  in 
this  combat,  or  be  afraid  of  death,  who  looked 
on  eternal  glory  to  be  so  much  his  own,  as  to  be 
in  hopes  of  obtaining  it,  not  only  for  himself,  but 
for  his  children  too  ? 

It  is  on  this  account  the  just  have  so  little  rea- 
son to  be  afraid  of  death,  that  they  praise  God 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


393 


when  they  are  dying,  and  thank  him  for  having 
brought  them  to  their  end,  looking  on  death  as 
a  cessation  from  their  labors,  and  the  beginning 
of  their  happiness  and  glory.  Whereon  St. 
Augustine,  on  St.  John's  Epistle,  says,  "  It  is 
not  to  be  said  of  him  that  dies  in  peace,  but  of 
him  that  lives  in  peace,  and  dies  with  joy,  that 
he  desires  to  be  dissolved  and  be  with  Christ ;  " 
St.  Aug.  9,  in  Ep.  Joan.  Thus  we  see  the 
just  man  has  no  reason  to  be  troubled  at 
death  ;  but  we  may  with  justice  say  of  him,  that 
like  the  swan,  he  goes  singing  out  of  the 
world,  praising  and  glorifying  God  for  calling 
him  to  himself.  He  is  not  afraid  of  death, 
because  he  has  feared  God,  and  whosoever 
has  done  that,  has  nothing  else  to  be  afraid  of. 
He  is  not  afraid  of  death,  because  he  has  been 
afraid  of  life ;  the  fear  a  man  has  of  death, 
being  only  the  eflfects  of  a  bad  life.  He  is  not 
afraid  of  death,  because  he  has  spent  all  his 
life  in  learning  how  to  die,  and  in  preparing 
himself  against  death ;  and  he  that  stands 
always  on  his  guard  has  no  need  to  fear  his 
enemies.  He  is  not  afraid  of  death,  because 
the  whole  employment  of  his  life  has  been  to 
seek  after  those  that  might  assist  and  stand 
by  him  at  this  hour,  that  is,  virtue  and  good 
works.  He  is  not  afraid  of  death,  because  the 
many  services  he  has  done  his  Judge  will  make 
him  kind  and  favorable  at  that  time.  He  is  not, 
in  iine,  afraid  of  death,  because  death  is  no 
death,  but  only  a  slumber  to  a  just  man ;  it 
is  no  death,  it  is  but  a  change;  it  is  no  death, 
it  is  but  the  last  day  of  his  toils  and  labors ; 
it  is  no  death,  but  only  the  way  that  leads  to 
life,  and  the  step  by  which  he  must  mount  to 
immortality ;  for  he  knows  that  when  death 
has  passed  through  the  veins  of  life,  it  loses 
the  bitterness  it  had  before,  and  takes  up  the 
sweetness  of  life. 

Nor  can  any  other  of  those  accidents  which 
usually  happen  at  this  time  terrify  him ;  for 
he  knows  they  are  nothing  but  child-bed  pangs, 
which  gave  him  birth  to  that  eternity,  that 
love  of  which  has  made  him  continually  long 
for  death,  and  suffer  life  with  patience.     He  is 


not  frightened  with  the  remembrance  of  his  sins, 
because  he  has  Jesus  Christ  for  his  Redeemer, 
whom  he  has  always  been  acceptable  to ;  nor 
does  the  rigor  of  God's  judgments  dishearten 
him,  because  his  Redeemer  is  his  advocate ; 
neither  does  he  shrink  at  the  sight  of  the 
devils,  because  Jesus  Christ  is  his  Captain  ;  nor 
can  the  hprror  of  the  grave  make  any  impres- 
sion upon  him,  because  he  knows  "  that  he 
must  sow  a  fleshly  and  corruptible  body  in  the 
earth,  that  it  may  afterwards  spring  up  incor- 
ruptible and  spiritual  ;"  I  Cor.  xiii.  44.  If  it  be 
true  that  the  end  crowns  the  work  ;  and  if,  as 
Seneca  says,  "  we  must  judge  of  all  the  rest 
by  the  last  day,  and,  accordingly,  pass  sen- 
tence on  the  whole  life  past,  because  all  that 
is  past  is  condemned  or  justified  by  it"  (Senec. 
Ep.  12);  and  if  the  death  of  good  men  be  so 
peaceable  and  quiet,  and  that  of  the  wicked,  on 
the  contrary,  so  disturbed  and  painful,  what 
need  have  we  of  any  other  motive,  than  barely 
this  difference,  which  is  between  the  death  of 
the  one  and  of  the  other,  make  us  resolve 
against  a  bad  life,  and  to  commence  a  good 
one  ? 

Where  is  the  benefit  of  all  these  pleasures, 
all  this  prosperity,  and  all  these  riches,  all  the 
titles  and  honors  in  the  world,  if,  after  all,  I 
should  be  plunged  headlong,  into  hell-fire  ?  And, 
on  the  other  side,  what  hurt  can  all  the  miseries 
of  this  life  do  me,  if,  by  means  of  them,  I  can  make 
a  happy  end,  and  bring  with  me  the  pledges 
of  eternal  glory  ?  Let  the  wicked  man  manage 
his  point  in  the  world  with  as  much  cunning 
as  he  pleases,  what  will  he  p  -t  by  all  his  craft, 
but  just  to  know  how  to  a  |uire  such  things 
as  will  serve  to  make  him  more  proud,  more 
vain,  more  sensual,  more  able  to  sin,  more 
unable  to  do  good,  and  to  make  death  so  much 
the  more  bitter  and  unwelcome,  as  life  was  the 
more  pleasant  and  delightful  ?  If  there  is  any 
sense  and  wit  in  the  world,  certainly  there  is 
none  greater  than  to  know  how  to  order  life 
well  against  this  last  hour,  since  a  wise  man's 
chief  business  is  to  understand  what  means  are 
th«  most  proper   for    him  to  use,  in    order  to 


394 


HOW  TO  SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


arrive  at  his  end.  If,  therefore,  we  look  on 
him  as  a  skilful  physician,  who  knows  what 
remedies  to  prescribe  for  the  recovery  of  health, 
which  is  the  end  of  his  science,  we  must 
of  necessity  think  him  truly  wise  who  knows 
how  to  govern  his  life,  in  order  to  death ;  that  is, 
in  order  to  the  making  up  of  his  accounts  well, 
when  death,  to  which  he  is  to  direct  .all  his  life, 
shall  come. 

§  II.  The  foregoing  Section  proved  by  some 
Examples. — For  the  better  explaining  and  con- 
firming of  what  I  have  said,  and  to  give  the 
reader  a  little  spiritual  recreation,  I  think  fit 
to  add  here  a  few  famous  examples  of  the 
glorious  deaths  of  some  saints,  taken  out  of 
the  holy  pope  Gregory's  Book  of  Dialogues, 
(Greg.  L.  4.  Dial.  c.  13),  by  which  we  may 
plainly  perceive  how  pleasant  and  how  happy 
a  thing  death  is  to  the  just.  If  I  enlarge  a 
little  on  this  point,  I  shall  not  think  my  time 
ill  spent,  because  the  saint,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  relates  these  passages,  gives  a  great 
deal  of  wholesome  advice  and  instruction. 

"  He  tells  us,  that,  during  the  time  the  Goths 
were  in  Italy,  there  was  a  certain  lady  called 
Gala,  of  very  considerable  quality,  in  Rome, 
daughter  of  one  Symmachus,  a  consul.  She 
was  married  very  young,  and  became  both  wife 
and  widow  in  one  year.  She  had  all  the  in- 
vitations imaginable  from  the  world,  her  youth, 
and  her  fortune,  to  the  taking  of  a  second 
husband,  but  she  chose  to  be  the  spouse  of 
Christ,  and  to  celebrate  a  marriage  with  him, 
that  begins  with  sorrow,  but  ends  with  joy, 
rather  than  with  the  world,  where  it  begins 
with  joy,  but  end  with  sorrow,  because  one  of 
the  two  must  una  oidably  see  the  death  of  the 
other.  This  lady  \vas  of  a  warm  constitution, 
and,  therefore,  the  physicians  told  her  chat  if 
she  did  not  marry  again,  she  would  certainly 
have  a  beard  like  a  man,  which  accordingly 
happened.  Yet  the  holy  woman,  charmed  with 
the  inward  beauty  of  her  new  bridegroom,  was 
not  troubled  at  her  outward  deformity,  well  know- 
ing it  would  not  be  oflFensive  to  her  heavenly 
spouse.    Therefore,  laying  aside  her  worldly  dress, 


she  gave  herself  entirely  up  to  the  service  of  God, 
and  entered  into  a  monastery  near  St.  Peter's 
Church,  where  she  lived  for  several  years  in 
great  simplicity  of  heart,  and  in  the  frequent 
exercise  of  prayer  and  charity  to  the  poor.  The 
Almighty  being  resolved,  at  length,  to  reward 
the  labors  of  his  servant  with  eternal  glory, 
she  was  troubled  with  a  cancer  in  the  breast, 
which  grew  to  such  a  height  that  she  was 
forced  to  keep  her  bed,  where,  as  she  lay,  she  had 
always  two  lamps  burning  by  her,  being  so  great 
a  lover  of  light,  as  to  have  a  horror,  not  only  of 
spiritual  but  also  corporal  darkness.  Finding 
herself  one  night  very  much  out  of  order,  she 
saw  the  blessed  Apostle  St.  Peter  standing 
between  the  two  lamps ;  not  at  all  disturbed  at 
the  vision,  nay,  her  love  on  the  contrary 
emboldening  and  encouraging  her,  she,  with  a 
deal  of  cheerfulness  and  joy,  asked  him, — Great 
Apostle,  are  my  sins  pardoned  me  yet  ?  To 
which  he  answered,  with  a  smiling  counten- 
ance, bowing  down  his  head.  Yes,  they  are  par- 
doned you — come  along  with  me.  But  the 
holy  woman,  having  contracted  a  strict  tie  of 
friendship  with  another  religious  woman  of 
the  same  monastciy,  called  Benedicta,  replied 
immediately,  I  beg  that  sister  Benedicta  may 
go  along  with  me ;  the  Apostle  told  her  she 
was  not  to  come  yet,  but  that  another  sister, 
whom  he  named,  should  bear  her  company,  and 
that  sister  Benedicta  should  follow  her  within 
thirty  days.  After  which  he  vanished,  and 
the  sick  lady,  sending  for  the  prioress,  gave 
her  an  account  of  all  that  happened,  and 
both  she  and  the  other,  whom  St.  Peter 
named,  died  within  three  days  after,  and 
at  the  end  of  thirty  days,  the  other  she  had 
asked  for.  The  memory  of  this  passage  is  still 
preserved  in  that  monastery,  and  the  younger 
religious  women,  who  received  it  from  their 
mothers,  recount  it  with  as  much  fervor  and 
devotion  as  if  they  themselves  had  been  eye- 
witness to  it."  This  is  St.  Gregory's  own 
relation ;  the  reader  may  observe  how  glorious 
an  end  this  was. 

After    this    the  saint  g^ves    us    an    account 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


395 


of  another  example,  no  less  wonderful  (chap. 
14) :  "  There  was  a  certain  man,  says  he,  at 
Rome,  called  Servulus,  very  poor  as  to  the 
world,  but  very  rich  in  merits.  His  usual  sta- 
tion was  under  a  porch  before  St.  Clement's 
Church,  where  he  begged,  being  so  crippled  by 
the  palsy  that  he  could  not  rise,  nor  sit  in  his 
bed,  nor  so  much  as  lift  his  hand  to  his 
mouth,  or  turn  from  one  side  to  the  other. 
His  mother  and  brother  always  kept  him  com- 
pany and  assisted  him,  and  all  the  alms  he 
could  conveniently  spare  he  desired  his  mother 
or  his  brother  to  distribute  among  the  poor. 
He  could  not  read,  yet  he  bought  some  books 
of  Scripture,  and  when  any  devout  persons  came 
to  see  him,  would  desire  them  to  read  to  him; 
by  this  means  he  got  some  insight  into  holy 
writ.  Besides,  he  always  used  to  bless 
God  in  the  midst  of  his  torments,  and  to 
employ  himself  day  and  night  in  sing- 
ing of  hymns.  But  the  time  drawing 
nigh  when  the  Lord  intended  to  reward  his 
great  patience,  the  holy  man  fell  extreme  sick, 
and  when  he  perceived  he  was  just  going  out 
of  the  world,  he  called  together  all  the  strang- 
ers thereabout,  desiring  them  to  join  with  him 
in  praising  God  for  the  hopes  he  had  given 
him  of  his  being  at  the  end  of  his  labors. 

"  But  as  he  was  singing  amongst  the  rest, 
he  interrupted  them  on  a  sudden,  crying  out 
with  a  loud  voice.  Silence !  do  you  not  hear 
the  songs  and  hymns  of  praises  and  thanks- 
giving which  fill  the  heavens  ?  And  listening 
thus  with  the  ear  of  his  heart  to  the  voices 
he  heard  within  himself,  he  died.  As  soon  as 
he  had  given  up  the  ghost,  such  an  extra- 
ordinary fragrancy  was  smelt  all  over  the  place, 
that  all  those  present  were  delighted  with  its 
sweetness,  by  which  they  understood  he  really 
heard  the  songs  of  praise  and  joy  with  which 
he  was  received  into  heaven.  A  religious  man 
of  our  convent,  who  is  still  living,  and  who 
was  present  when  this  happened,  often,  with 
tears,  tells  me,  that  those  who  were  there  when 
he  died  never  lost  the  sweet  smell  till  the 
body  was  buried." 


I  will  add  another  memorable  example  out 
of  the  same  saint,  where  he  gives  a  faithful 
testimony,  as  being  himself  nearly  concerned 
in  it  (chap.  16):  "My  father  (says  he)  had 
three  sisters,  who  all  consecrated  their  vir- 
ginity to  God;  the  eldest  was  called  Tar- 
silla,  the  second  Gordiana,  the  youngest 
Emiliana.  The}?-  all  three  offered  themselves 
to  God  at  the  same  time,  with  an  equal  fervor, 
devotion  and  resignation,  living  together  in 
their  own  house  under  the  religious  observance 
of  a  very  rigorous  rule.  After  they  had  lived 
thus  for  a  very  considerable  time,  Tarsilla  and 
Emiliana  began  to  increase  every  day  more  and 
more  in  the  love  of  their  Creator,  and  arrived 
to  such  a  degree,  that,  though  their  bodies 
remained  on  earth,  their  souls  were  continually 
conversant  in  heaven.  But  Gordiana,  on  the 
contrary,  growing  every  day  more  and  more 
cold  in  her  affection  for  God,  was  proportion- 
ably  inflamed  with  the  love  of  the  world.  All 
this  while  Tarsilla  used  frequently  to  tell  her 
sister  Emiliana,  with  a  deal  of  sorrow,  I  see 
that  our  sister  Gordiana  is  not  well  pleased 
with  our  way  of  living ;  I  perceive  she  is  wholly 
bent  upon  outward  things,  and  that  she  observes 
not  in  her  heart  her  religious  vows.  Where- 
upon the  other  two  sisters  made  it  their  whole 
business  to  advise  her,  with  all  the  sweetness 
and  tenderness  they  could,  to  lay  aside  her 
light  behavior,  and  be  modest  and  grave  as 
became  her  habit.  She  received  this  admoni- 
tion with  a  very  serious  countenance,  but  as 
soon  as  it  was  over,  laid  aside  that  counterfeit 
gravity.  Thus  she  spent  her  time  in  idle  dis- 
course, delighting  in  the  company  of  worldly 
women,  nor  could  she  endure  to  converse 
with  any  other.  One  night,  my  great  grand- 1 
father,  Felix,  who  had  been  pope,  ap- 
peared to  Tarsilla,  who  had  made  a  much 
greater  progress  than  her  sisters  in  continual 
prayer,  corporal  austerities,  and  fasting,  in 
modesty,  in  gravity,  and  in  all  kinds  of  piety, 
and,  showing  her  a  habitation  of  eternal  bright- 
ness, said  to  her,  *  Come  hither  to  me,  for  I 
am  to  receive  you  into  this  habitation  of  light.' 


396 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,    THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


Within  a  few  days  after,  Tarsilla  fell  sick  of  a 
burning  fever,  and  was  past  all  recovery ;  and 
as  it  is  customary  for  much  company  to  visit  a 
person  of  quality  that  lies  a  dying,  to  comfort 
the  kindred  of  the  party  that  is  expiring,  so 
that  several  persons  of  note  were  there,  and 
amongst  the  rest  my  mother.  Then  the  sick 
lady,  lifting  up  her  eyes  towards  heaven,  saw 
her  Saviour  coming  to  her;  and,  struck  with 
admiration,  began  to  cry  out,  'Stand  aside,  for 
Jesus  Christ  is  coming.'  And  having  fixed  her 
eyes  steadfastly  on  her  Saviour,  whom  she  saw, 
she  soon  after  breathed  out  her  blessed  soul ; 
and  immediately  such  a  fragrancy  was  smelt  by 
all  there  present,  as  sufficiently  evinced  that 
the  Author  of  all  sweetness  had  really  been 
among  them.  When  they  uncovered  her  to 
wash  her  body,  as  is  usually  done  with  the 
dead,  they  found  her  knees  and  elbows  as  hard 
as  a  camel's,  with  continual  prostrating  at  her 
prayers ;  so  her  dead  flesh  gave  a  testi- 
mony of  the  employment  of  her  spirit  dur- 
ing life.  All  this  happened  before  Christ- 
mas, and  as  soon  as  Christmas-day  was  over, 
Tarsilla  appeared  to  her  sister  Emiliana  in  the 
night-time,  and  said  to  her,  '  Come,  my  dear 
sister,  let  us  keep  the  feast  of  the  Epiphany 
together,  since  I  have  kept  that  of  Christmas 
without  you.'  But  Emiliana,  being  concerned 
at  the  danger  her  sister  Gordiana  would  be 
exposed  to  if  she  were  left  alone,  answered, 
'If  I  go  along  w4th  you,  to  whose  care  shall 
I  recommend  our  sister  Gordiana  ?  '  Tarsilla, 
with  a  heavy  countenance,  replied,  '  Do  you 
come  with  me ;  as  for  Gordiana,  she  is  reckoned 
amongst  the  people  of  the  world.'  Immediatel}^ 
after  this  vision,  Emiliana  fell  sick,  and  grow- 
ing every  hour  worse  and  worse,  died  before 
the  day  her  sister  had  named.  Gordiana  seeing 
herself  now  left  alone,  became  more  and  more 
wicked  every  day,  and  by  degrees  quite  losing 
the  fear  of  God,  and  neglecting  her  modesty, 
her  devotion,  and  the  vows  by  which  she  had 
consecrated  herself  to  God,  went  and  married  a 
man  that  had  farmed  her  estate  of  her."  This 
is  all  taken  out    of   St.  Gregory,  who,  by  the 


examples  of  those  of  his  own  family  and  blood,, 
shows  us  how  happy  and  prosperous  the  end 
of  virtue  is,  and  how  sorrowful  and  mean  that 
of  light  and  inconstant  persons.  I  will  conclude 
with  one  example  more  on  this  subject,  out  of 
the  same  saint,  which  happened  in  his  time, 
and  which  he  delivers  in  this  manner : — 

"  About  the  time  when  I  entered  into  a 
monastery,  there  was  an  ancient  woman  at  Rome, 
called  Redempta,  who  wore  a  religious  habit, 
and  lived  just  by  our  blessed  Lady's.  She  had 
been  formerly  under  the  care  of  a  certain  holy 
virgin  called  Hirundina,  who,  they  say,  was  in 
great  esteem  for  her  virtue,  having  led  a  soli- 
tary life  on  the  Prenestin  mountains.  This 
same  Redempta  had  two  other  young  virgins, 
that  came  to  her  to  be  her  disciples ;  the  name 
of  one  of  them  was  Romula ;  as  for  the  other, 
who  is  still  living,  I  know  her  by  sight,  but 
cannot  tell  her  name.  These  three  virgins  lived 
a  very  poor  but  holy  life,  all  in  the  same  house 
But  Romula  outstripped  her  other  companion 
in  all  kinds  of  virtues  and  graces,  as  being  a 
woman  of  wonderful  patience,  of  most  perfect 
obedience,  of  an  extraordinary  recollection,  a 
very  strict  observer  of  silence,  and  very  much 
given  to  prayer  and  contemplation.  But  some- 
times those  who  appear  perfect  in  the  eyes  of 
men  are  not  without  some  imperfections  before- 
God,  as  we  often  see  unskilful  persons  commend 
a  statue,  before  it  is  finished,  as  a  complete  work,. 
and  yet  the  master,  who  knows  there  is  much 
more  to  be  done  to  it,  does  not  lay  it  aside, 
because  of  their  extolling  it,  nor  neglect  to  fin- 
ish it,  because  of  their  commendation.  Almighty 
God  dealt  after  the  same  manner  with  Romula, 
whom  he  thought  fit  to  refine  and  perfect,  by 
afflicting  her  severely  with  the  palsy,  which 
obliged  her  to  keep  her  bed  for  several  years  with- 
out any  use  of  her  limbs.  All  her  pains  and  suffer- 
ings could  never  move  her  to  the  least  impatience 
nay,  on  the  contrary,  the  want  of  the  use  of  her 
limbs  made  her  increase  more  and  more  in 
virtue ;  so  that,  the  less  able  she  was  to  do- 
any  thing  else,  the  more  she  exercised  herself 
in  her  devotions   and   prayers.     At  length  she 


HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


397 


called  her  mother  Redempta  to  her,  who  had 
brought  up  these  two  disciples  of  hers  as  if  they 
had  been  her  own  children,  and  said  to  her, 
'  Come  hither,  my  dear  mother,  come  hither.' 
Redempta  immediately  went  to  her  with  her 
other  disciple,  according  to  the  relation,  which 
they  have  both  of  them  since  made  to  several 
persons,  so  that  the  thing  is  now  become  public, 
and  I  myself  had  an  account  of  it  at  the  time 
it  happened.  As  they  were  sitting,  about  mid- 
night, by  her  bedside,  there  appeared  a  light 
from  heaven  on  a  sudden,  which  filled  the 
whole  chamber.  The  brightness  of  it  was  so 
^reat,  that  they  were  astonished  at  it.  After- 
wards they  heard  a  noise,  as  if  a  great  many 
persons  were  coming  into  the  cell,  so  that  the 
door  cracked  as  if  it  was  pressed  by  the  throng. 
Then  they  heard  many  come  in,  but,  through 
fear  and  the  extraordinary  brightness,  could 
see  nothing,  for  their  hearts  were  no  less  damped 
with  fear  than  their  eyes  were  dazzled  by  the 
light.  After  this  there  followed  a  sweet  smell, 
which  comforted  and  refreshed  them  as  much 
as  the  light  had  frightened  them  before.  They 
being  no  longer  able  to  bear  with  the  extraordi- 
nary brightness  of  that  light,  the  sick  woman 
began  to  comfort  her  mistress,  who  sat  there 
trembling  and  shaking,  and  said,  *  Be  not 
afraid,  my  dear  mother,  for  I  am  not  dying 
yet.'  And  as  she  often  repeated  these  words, 
the  light  lessened  by  degrees,  till  it  was 
■quite  gone ;  but  the  sweet  smell  continued 
still  for  the  space  of  three  days  as  fresh 
as  when  they  first  smelled  it.  The  third  day 
being  over,  she  called  her  mistress  again,  and 
desired  the  viaticum,  that  is,  the  blessed  sacra- 
ment ;  which,  after  she  had  received,  Redempta 
and  her  other  companion  were  no  sooner  gone 
from  her  bed-side,  than  they  began  to  hear  two 
choirs  of  musicians  at  the  entrance  of  the  door, 
■which,  as  near  as  they  could  judge  by  their 
voices,  consisted  of  men  and  women.  The  men 
sung  psalms,  and  the  women  answered  them. 
And  whilst  they  were  thus  performing  the  rites 
of  this  celestial  funeral,  this  holy  soul,  leaving 
the   prison    of    her  body,    began   her  journey 


heavenward,  the  divine  music  and  fragrancy 
going  away  with  her,  so  that  the  higher  she 
mounted,  the  less  they  were  perceived  here  below, 
till  such  time  as  they  were  both  quite  lost." 
Hitherto  the  words  of  St.  Gregory. 

Many  more  examples  might  be  brought  to 
this  purpose,  but  these  will  suffice  to  show  us 
how  quiet,  how  sweet,  and  how  easy  the! 
death  of  the  just  generally  is.  For  though 
such  evident  tokens  as  these  are  do  not 
always  appear,  yet,  inasmuch  as  they  are  all 
the  children  of  God,  and  since  death  is  the  end 
of  all  their  miseries,  and  the  beginning  of  that 
happiness  they  expect  to  be  rewarded  with^ 
they  are  always,  in  this  extremity,  strengthened 
and  encouraged  by  the  help  of  the  Almighty's 
grace,  and  by  the  evidence  their  own  good 
consciences  give  in  favor  of  them.  Thus  the 
glorious  St.  Ambrose  comforted  himself  on  his 
deathbed,  saying,  "  I  have  not  lived  so  as  to 
have  any  reason  to  be  sorry  that  I  was  ever  born  ; 
nor  am  I  afraid  to  die,  because  I  know  I  have 
a  favorable  Master ;"  In  vita  D.  Ambrosi.  But 
if  any  man  imagines  these  favors  and  graces  are 
incredible,  let  him  reflect  on  the  incomprehen- 
sible immensity  of  God's  goodness,  the  effect  of 
which  is  to  love,  honor  and  favor  the  good, 
and  he  will  acknowledge,  that  all  I  have  here 
asserted  is  but  little  in  comparison  with  what 
the  thing  itself  is.  For  if  the  infinite  good- 
ness has  stooped  so  low  as  to  take  our  flesh, 
and  to  die  on  a  cross  for  the  salvation  of  man ; 
what  great  matter  is  it  to  comfort  and  honor 
the  good  when  they  are  dying,  since  their 
redemption  has  cost  him  so  dear  ?  And  what 
wonder  is  it,  that  he  should  bestow  such  graces 
on  those  persons  when  they  are  dying,  whom 
he  is  to  receive  into  his  own  house,  and  to  make 
partakers  of  his  glory  when  they  are  dead. 

§  III.  The  Conclusion  of  the  Second  Part. — 
Those  we  have  mentioned  are  the  twelve 
privileges  granted  to  virtue  in  this  life,  and 
and  are  like  the  twelve  fruits  of  that  most 
beautiful  tree  St.  John,  in  his  Apocalypse, 
s?w  planted  by  a  river-side,  which  brought  forth 
twelve  fruits  every  year,  according  to  the  number 


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HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIL;  OR,   THE  SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


of  the  months.  For,  next  to  the  Son  of  God, 
what  other  tree  could  bear  such  fruit  but  virtue, 
which  is  the  tree  that  brings  forth  fruits  of 
life  and  holiness  ?  And  what  fruits  can  be 
more  precious  than  those  we  have  here  given 
an  account  of?  What  more  delicious  fruit 
than  the  fatherly  care  and  providence  which 
God  has  over  those  who  serve  him  ?  What 
more  pleasant  than  his  divine  grace,  than  the 
light  of  wisdom,  the  consolation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  joy  of  a  good  conscience,  the  help 
of  a  secure  confidence  in  him,  the  true  liberty 
of  the  soul,  the  inward  peace  of  the  heart,  the 
being  heard  by  him  in  our  prayers,  the  being 
consoled  by  him  in  our  tribulations,  the  having 
of  our  temporal  necessities  supplied,  and,  in 
fine,  the  comfort  of  a  sweet  and  quiet  death  at 
last  ?  Any  one  of  these  privileges  is  doubtless 
so  great  in  itself,  that,  were  a  man  but  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  it,  he  would  need  no  other  motive 
to  embrace  virtue  and  make  a  change  of  life. 
This  alone  would  sufl&ciently  convince  him  of 
the  truth  of  that  saying  of  our  Saviour,  "  That 
whosoever  should  leave  the  world  for  the 
love  of  him,  should  receive  even  in  this  life 
a  hundred  fold,  and  hereafter  life  everlasting  " 
(Mark  x.  29),  as  has  been  shown  above. 

Consider  what  good  this  is  we  invite  you  to. 
Think  whether  you  would  have  any  cause  to 
repent,  should  you  quit  all  the  things  of  the 
world  for  it.  The  only  reason  why  it  is  not 
valued  by  the  wicked  is  because  they  know  not 
its  value.  Therefore,  the  Saviour  of  the  world 
said,  "  That  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  like 
a  hidden  treasure "  (Matt.  xiii.  44);  for  it  is  a 
real  treasure,  but  hidden  from  others,  not  from 
the  owner.  The  prophet  understood  the  value 
of  this  treasure,  when  he  said,  "  My  secret  is 
for  myself,  my  secret  is  for  myself; "  Isa. 
xxiv.  He  did  not  much  care  whether 
others  knew  of  his  happiness.  For  this  is 
not  like  other  goods,  which  are  not  goods 
unless  they  are  known ;  because,  being  in 
themselves  no  longer  goods  than  whilst  the 
opinion  of  the  world  makes  them  such,  it  is 
requisite  the  world  should  knov/  them,  oir  else 


they  will  never  have  so  much  as  the  name  of 
goods.  But  this  good,  on  the  contrary,  makes 
him  good  and  happy  that  possesses  it ;  and 
though  none  but  himself  know  of  it,  yet  he  has 
as  much  true  comfort  and  satisfaction  with  it, 
as  if  all  the  world  knew  it. 

But  neither  my  tongue,  nor  all  that  has 
hitherto  been  said,  is  suflScient  to  unfold  this 
secret ;  because  all  that  the  tongue  of  man  is 
able  to  express  falls  far  short  of  what  it  truly  is. 
The  only  key,  therefore,  to  explain  it,  is  the 
divine  light,  and  the  long  experience  and  use 
of  virtue.  Beg  this  light  of  our  Lord,  and  you 
will  soon  find  this  treasure  and  God  himself,  in 
whom  you  will  find  all  things  ;  and  you  will  see 
with  how  much  reason  the  prophet  said,  "  Blessed 
is  the  people  that  have  God  for  their  Lord " 
(Ps.  cxliii.);  for  what  can  he  want,  that  is  in 
possession  of  this  good  ?  We  read  in  the  first 
book  of  Kings,  that  Halcanah,  Samuel's  father, 
seeing  his  v/ife  Anne  troubled,  because  she  had 
no  children,  said  to  her,  "  Anne,  what  makes 
you  weep  ?  Why  is  your  heart  troubled  ?  Am  I 
not  worth  more  to  you  than  ten  children  ?" 
I  Kings  i.  Now  if  a  loving  husband,  who  to- 
day is,  and  to-morrow  is  not,  be  worth  more  to  his 
wife  than  ten  children,  how  much  more  must 
God  be  worth,  do  you  think,  to  the  soul  that 
really  possesses  him  ?  Blind  and  senseless 
men !  what  is  it  you  do  ?  What  is  it  you  are 
about?  What  is  it  you  seek  after?  Why  do 
you  leave  the  fountain  of  paradise  for  the  muddy 
lakes  of  this  world  ?  Why  do  you  not  take 
the  advice  of  the  prophet  along  with  you,  when 
he  says,  "  Taste  and  see  how  sweet  the  Lord 
is?  "  Ps.  xxxiii.  8.  Why  will  you  not  once  at 
least  try  this  food  ?  Why  will  you  not  taste 
this  meat?  Do  but  believe  what  God  has  said, 
do  but  once  begin,  and  you  will  find  yourselves 
undeceived  of  all  your  errors  as  soon  as  ever 
you  enter  into  this  path,  as  soon  as  ever  you 
take  this  business  in  hand.  The  serpent,. 
Moses'  rod  was  turned  into,  looked  frightful  at 
a  distance,  but  as  soon  as  he  touched  it  with  his 
hand,  became  a  harmless  rod  again ;  Ex. 
vii.     It  was  not  without  reason,  that  Solomon. 


HOW  TO   SHUN   EVIIv;  OR,   THE   SINNER'S  GUIDE. 


399 


said,  "It  is  dear,  it  is  dear,  says  the  buyer; 
but  when  he  has  got  the  goods  into  his  own 
hands,  he  is  glad  of  the  bargain;"  Prov.  xx. 
This  happens  every  day  to  men  in  this  sort  of 
purchase,  for  they,  through  their  want  of  skill 
in  spiritual  affairs,  are  at  first  ignorant  of  the 
value  of  this  commodity,  and,  therefore,  think 
it  is  set  at  too  great  a  price,  because  they  are 
carnal.  But  when  once  they  have  tasted  how 
sweet  the  Lord  is,  they  are  immediately  pleased 
with  their  purchase,  and  confess  a  man  can  never 
give  too  much  for  so  great  a  treasure.  How 
glad  was  the  man  in  the  gospel,  that  he  sold 
all  his  estate  to  purchase  that  piece  of  ground 
in  which  he  found  a  treasure!  Matt.  xiii.  24. 
Can  the  Christian,  then,  who  has  heard  of  the 
name  of  this  good,  not  so  much  as  try  what  it 
is?  It  is  strange,  that  if  a  merry  companion 
should  affirm  to  you,  that  a  great  treasure  was 
hid  in  some  part  of  your  house,  you  would  not 
fail  to  dig  there  to  discover  the  truth,  and  yet, 
when  you  are  assured  by  the  infallible  word  of 
Almighty  God  himself,  that  you  may  find  an 
inestimable  treasure  within  your  own  breast, 
you  have  not  the  courage  or  will  not  take  the 
pains  to  look  for  it.  O  that  you  did  but  know 
how  much  truer  this  news  is,  and  how  much 
greater  this  treasure  I  O  that  you  did  but  know 
with  how  little  trouble  you  might  find  it!     O 


that  you  did  but  see,  "  How  near  the  Lord  is  to 
those  that  call  upon  him,  if  they  call  upon  him 
in  truth!"  Ps.  cxliv.  19.  How  many  men  have 
there  been  in  the  world,  who,  by  a  true  sorrow 
for  their  sins  and  begging  pardon  for  them,  have, 
in  less  than  a  week's  time,  discovered  land,  or 
rather  have  found  out  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth,  and  have  begun  to  perceive  the  kingdom 
of  God  within  themselves  !  And  what  wonder  is 
it,  that  the  Lord,  who  has  said,  "  In  whatsoever 
hour  the  sinner  shall  be  sorry  for  his  sin,  I  will 
remember  it  no  longer"  (Luke  xv.),  should 
work  such  an  effect  as  this  is  ?  What  wonder  is 
it  to  see  him  do  this,  who  scarce  gave  the  prodigal 
son  leave  to  make  an  end  of  the  short  prayer  he 
had  studied,  before  he  fell  about  his  neck,  em- 
braced, and  received  him  with  so  much  joy  and 
welcome  return?  Return,  therefore,  to  this  tender 
father  :  rise  a  little  in  the  morning,  and  continue 
for  some  days  to  beg  and  cry  at  the  gates  of  his 
mercy,  and  assure  yourself,  that  if  you  persevere 
with  humility,  he  will  answer  you  at  last,  and 
discover  the  hidden  treasure  of  his  love  to  you  ; 
and  after  having  had  some  proof  of  it,  you  will 
immediately  cry  out,  with  the  spouse  in  the 
Canticles,  "  If  a  man  should  give  all  that  he  is 
worth  for  love  alone,  he  would  think  what  he 
has  g^ven  as  worth  nothing ;"  Cant.  viii. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AGAINST  THE   FIRST   EXCUSE  OF   THOSE  WHO  DEFER  CHANGING  THEIR  LIVES,  AND 

ADVANCING  IN  VIRTUE,  TILL  ANOTHER  TIME. 


HERE  is  no  doubt,  that  what  we  have 
hitherto  said  should  be  more  than 
enough  for  the  obtaining  the  chief  end 
we  have  proposed  to  ourselves,  which  is 
to  excite  men  to  a  sincere  love  of  virtue,  Almighty 
God's  assisting  grace  cooperating;  but  though  all 
this  be  true,  yet  the  malice  of  man  is  not  without 
its  excuses  and  apparent  reasons,  either  to  defend 
or  comfort  itself  when  it  does  amiss.     As  Ecclesi- 


asticus  affirms  in  these  words  :  "  The  sinner  will 
avoid  correction,  and  will  find  out  some  excuse, 
according  to  his  own  will ;"  Eccl.  xxxii.  21.  And 
Solomon  says  to  the  same  purpose,  "  That  he 
who  has  a  mind  to  forsake  his  friend,  is  seeking 
out  for  occasions  to  do  it  "  (Prov.  xviii.  i)  ;  so 
the  wicked  that  desire  to  separate  themselves 
from  God  have  always  some  excuse  or  other 
ready.     For  some  there  are  we  see,  that  defer 


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HOW   TO   SHUN   EVIL;   OR,   THE   SINNER'S   GUIDE. 


this  business  of  salvation  to  another  time ;  others, 
again,  defer  it  till  their  death  ;  others  say  they 
are  afraid  of  setting  on  an  undertaking  so  hard 
and  laborious ;  some  again  there  are,  that  comfort 
themselves  with  the  hope  of  God's  mercy,  whilst 
they  persuade  themselves,  that  without  charity 
they  may  be  saved  by  faith  and  hope ;  and 
others,  in  fine,  enamored  with  the  world,  cannot 
'quit  the  happiness  they  have  in  it,  even  for 
obtaining  of  that  which  God  has  promised  them. 
These  are  the  most  frequent  deceits  and  amuse- 
ments the  enemy  of  mankind  makes  use  of  to 
infatuate  men,  that  he  may  keep  them  all  their 
life-time  under  the  slavery  of  sin,  that  death  may 
surprise  them  in  that  miserable  state.  We  shall 
now  expose  those  frauds  in  this  last  part  of  the 
book,  and  first  answer  those  who  put  off  this 
grand  concern  till  another  time,  which  is  their 
most  frequent  practice. 

Some,  therefore,  there  are,  who  own  all  that 
has  been  said  to  be  true,  and  that  there  is  no  way 
so  secure  as  that  of  virtue,  which  they  design  to 
follow,  though  they  cannot  do  it  at  present,  but 
they  shall  have  time  enough  hereafter,  to  do  it 
better,  and  with  more  ease.  St.  Augustine  tells 
us,  it  was  thus  he  answered  God  before  his  con- 
version :  "  Stay  but  a  little  longer,  O  Lord ;  just 
now,  just  now,  I  will  leave  the  world  ;"  St.  Aug. 
L.  8,  Conf  c.  5.  Thus  the  wicked  deal  contin- 
ually with  God,  first  appointing  one  day,  and  then 
another,  still  shifting  the  time  of  their  conver- 
sion. 

It  will  be  no  hard  matter  to  prove,  that  this  is 
a  manifest  artifice  of  the  old  serpent,  who  has 
been  very  well  used  to  lying  and  deceiving  of 
men ;  and  this  once  made  out  and  granted,  all 
the  controversy  ceases.  For  we  are  already  con- 
vinced there  is  nothing  in  this  world  which  every 
Christian  ought  to  desire  more  than  his  salva- 
tion, and  that  for  the  obtaining  it,  a  sincere  con- 
version and  a  perfect  amendment  of  life  is  abso- 
lutely necessary ;  for  without  these  there  is  not 
salvation  to  be  expected.  What  we  have,  there- 
fore, to  do  is,  to  see  when  this  conversion  ought 
to  be.  All  the  business  at  present  is  the  appoint- 
ing of  the  time ;  as  to  the  rest,  it  is  what   every 


body  is  agreed  on.  You  say  you  will  begin  your 
conversion  very  shortly  ;  I  saj?-  you  are  to  begin 
it  at  this  very  moment.  You  say  it  will  be  easier 
to  do  it  hereafter  ;  I  say,  it  will  be  easier  to  do  it 
now.  Let  us  see  which  of  the  two  is  in  the 
right. 

But  before  we  speak  of  the  easiness  of  conver- 
sion, I  desire  you  will  tell  me,  who  is  it  that  has 
given  you  security  for  an  after  conversion?  How 
many  do  you  think  have  been  deceived  by  this 
hope  ?  St.  Gregory  tells  us,  "  that  God  who  has 
promised  to  pardon  a  sinner  if  he  does  penance, 
has  not  promised  that  he  shall  live  till  to-mor- 
row;" Homil.  12,  in  Evang.  St.  Caesarius  has 
something  to  the  same  purpose :  "  Somebody 
perhaps  will  saj',  When  I  come  to  be  old,  then  I 
will  make  use  of  the  physic  of  penance.  How 
can  human  weakness  have  the  impudence  to  pre- 
sume so  far  of  itself,  when  it  has  not  so  much  as 
the  promise  of  one  day?"  St.  Caesar.  Homil.  13. 
Tom.  2.  Biblioth.  Patr.  As  for  my  part,  I  can- 
not but  think  that  the  number  of  those  souls  that 
have  been  lost  by  this  means  is  infinite.  It  was 
thus  the  rich  man  in  the  gospel  was  damned  for- 
ever. St.  Luke  says  of  him,  that  seeing  he  had 
as  good  a  crop  one  year  as  he  could  have 
desired,  he  began  to  consider  with  hiihself,  and 
to  say,  "  What  shall  I  do  because  I  have  no 
room  where  to  bestow  my  fruits  ?  And  he  said, 
this  will  I  do ;  I  will  pull  down  my  barns,  and 
will  build  greater:  and  into  them  I  will  gather 
all  things  that  are  grown  to  me,  and  my  goods. 
And  I  will  say  to  my  soul :  Soul,  thou  hast  much 
goods  laid  up  for  many  years,  take  thy  rest,  eat, 
drink,  make  good  cheer;"  Luke  xii,  17,  18,  19, 
20. 


THE  HOLY  FAMILY. 

The  holy  family  of  Nazareth  should  be  the  model  of  every  Christiau  home.    In  that  family  we  behold  the  Saviour  of  the  world  obedient 
ta  Hit  ■nrgin  mother  and  St  Joseph,  thus  setting  an  example  to  aU  children  to  love,  honor  and  ebey  their  parsnts. 


POPE  LEO  xin. 

Pope  Leo  XIII,  the  grandest  luminary  that  has  occupied  the  Chair  of  Peter  during  the  past  nineteen  hundred  years,  he  who  has  dazzled 
the  world  by  the  force  and  brilliancy  of  his  encyclical  letters,  will  soon  pass  to  his  heavenly  reward,  but  the  Church  which  he  represents, 
bnilt  on  Peter,  will  endure  till  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.  . 


^ a 02 c&  JU  Jj  lTj  Hi  somiii 
WW  rj^  ri^  >i^  V  tr  cc  CD 


■^    -^   Life  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.  ^^    -^ 


■AND 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS  DURING  HIS  PONTIFICATE. 


«fi&  CD  CD  aU  iXd  ^^  C(^  CQ  a&  OD 
^  w  w  rj^  ^J^  ^T^  W  rZ3  C0  W 


(401) 


h(J^  o;  pofe  Lco  Xlll. 


...and... 


inPORTANT   EVENTS   DURING   HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


••••••^•••••* 


OPE  LEO  XIII.  was 
born  iu  Carpineto,  a 
town  in  the  diocese 
of  Anagni  in  the 
Papal  States ;  and 
the  date  of  his  en- 
trance into  the 
world  in  which  he 
has  achieved  such 
honors  was  the 
second  day  of 
March  in  the  year 
1810.  His  parents 
were  noble,  his 
father  being  Count  Louis  Pecci,  and  his  mother 
Anna  Prosperi,  the  daughter  of  a  nobleman 
whose  seat  is  at  Cori,  in  the  near  neighborhood 
of  Carpineto.  His  baptismal  name  was  Vincent 
Joachim.  He  was  the  youngest  of  four  brothers, 
two  of  whom  are  laymen,  the  other  a  cardinal 
priest,  modest  with  all  his  learning,  which  was 
conspicuously  displayed  in  the  preparatory  com- 
missions of  the  Vatican  Council,  at  which  he  was 
one  of  the  theologians  of  the  Holy  Father,  and 
also  at  the  Seminary  of  Perugia,  where  he  taught 
the  doctrine  of  St.  Thomas.  The  Pope  has  two 
sisters,  both  of  whom  are  happily  married,  and 
are  the  mothers  of  large  families,  noted  for  their 


(403) 


piety.  The  Pecci  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  respectable  of  the  Sienna  nobility,  and  traces 
its  origin  back  through  centuries.  The  room  in 
which  the  Pope  was  born  is  on  the  second  floor 
of  the  Pecci  palace  ;  and,  while  it  is  furnished  in  a 
manner  becoming  the  apartments  of  a  noble  fam- 
ily, it  does  not  savor  of  extravagance,  and  there 
is  very  little  of  what  Americans  would  consider 
necessary  to  comfort.  The  floor  is  of  stone  and 
uncarpeted ;  the  bedstead  is  of  iron,  surrounded 
with  plainest  drapery  ;  and  a  silver  crucifix,  apart 
from  the  family  portraits,  is  about  the  only  orna- 
mentation of  the  room.  The  room  itself  leads 
into  the  family  chapel,  at  the  altar  of  which  the 
Holy  Father  and  his  priestly  brother  have  often 
officiated.  The  palace  itself  is  far  from  being  a 
grand  one ;  and,  in  fact,  the  whole  town  of  Car- 
pineto has  little  to  boast  of,  aside  from  being  the 
birthplace  of  the  Pope,  as  it  is  composed  mainly 
of  miserable  houses,  all  of  which  are  built  of 
stone,  and  appear  to  be  hanging  to  the  rocks- 
which  serve  them  as  foundations. 

Young  Pecci's  childhood  was  spent  in  a  home 
not  less  pious  and  happy  than  noble  and  refined.. 
Sweetness  of  temper,  readiness  to  oblige,  and, 
withal,  a  quiet  and  serious  temperament,  marked, 
his  early  and  later  life.  When  sufficiently  old,, 
he  was  sent  to  the  Roman  College,  conducted  by 


404 


LIFE  OF   POPE   LEO   XIII. 


the  Jesuits,  who  had  recentl}'  been  brought  back 
to  Rome  and  the  world,  to  the  joy  of  all  sincere 
Catholics. 

From  the  Jesuit  College  he  proceeded  to  the 
Academy  of  Noble  Ecclesiastics,  where  he  studied 
law  and  diplomacy.  While  here  his  brilliant 
talents  won  him  the  recognition  he  received  later 
on  from  Gregory  XVI.,  who,  recognizing  in 
young  Pecci  a  student  of  remarkable  abilities,  as 
well  as  an  ecclesiastic  of  great  piety,  modesty 
and  true  priestly  spirit,  attached  him  to  himself, 
and  appointed  him  a  household  prelate  on  March 
14,  1837,  at  the  same  time  appointing  him  Ref- 
erendary of  the  Segnatura,  at  a  period  when  he 
was  scarcely'  twenty-six  3'ears  of  age,  a  time  when 
-very  few  ecclesiastics  have  ever  succeeded  in 
reaching  such  distinction.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  same  year,  1837,  ^^  ^^^^  ordained  to  the  snb- 
diaconate  and  diaconate  by  Charles,  Cardinal 
Odescalchi,  in  the  Chapel  of  S.  Stanislaus,  in  the 
Church  of  Sant'  Andrea,  which  stands  on  the 
Quirinal.  At  the  ember  daN's  of  December,  the 
same  year,  the  same  cardinal  conferred  upon 
him  the  order  of  the  priesthood ;  and  his  first 
Mass  was  celebrated  in  the  same  Chapel  of  S. 
Stanislaus,  being  assisted  at  it  by  his  eldest 
brother  Joseph,  who  had  previously  joined  the 
Jesuits  and  been  ordained  a  priest.  It  was  thus 
that  young  Pecci  entered  into  the  sacred  ministry 
in  which  he  has  won  so  many  and  such  re- 
nowned honors ;  and,  in  selecting  hira  to  be  one 
of  his  own  household,  Gregory  XVI.  probablj' 
had  little  idea  that  the  3'outhful  monsignor  would 
one  day  rise  to  the  eminence  he  himself  then  so 
worthily  occupied.  Such,  however,  was  young 
Pecci's  destiny. 

At  Benevento  and  Perugia. 

Monsignor  Pecci,  however,  did  not  remain  long 
a  member  of  Pope  Gregory's  household.  On  the 
15th  of  February,  1838,  that  Pontiff  appointed 
him  his  delegate  to  the  province  of  Benevento, 
■where,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  brigandage,  it 
■was  necessary  for  some  firm  hand  to  take  the 
reins  of  government  and  restore  order.  This 
was  the  first  step  that  young  Pecci  made  on  that 


ladder  of  eminence,  the  topmost  round  of  which 
he  now  holds :  and  the  Pope  assigned  him  no 
light  task  when  he  sent  him  to  Benevento  as  his 
delegate.  Brigands  and  smugglers  had  occupied 
the  province  to  such  an  extent  that  the  authorities 
were  rendered  powerless,  and  even  the  noble 
families  were  obliged  to  ingratiate  themselves 
with  them  in  order  to  save  their  lives  and  proper- 
ties. The  common  people  were  completely  over- 
whelmed with  terror,  and  the  authorities  found  it 
impossible  to  execute  the  laws.  Monsignor  Pecci, 
not  to  be  discouraged,  however,  set  himself  reso- 
lutely at  work  to  accomplish  the  difficult  task  be- 
fore him.  He  first  secured  the  hearty  co-opera- 
tion of  the  King  of  Naples,  whom  he  induced  to 
reorganize  the  public  forces,  reforming  the  cus- 
tom officers,  several  of  whom  were  suspected  of 
being  in  league  with  the  smugglers,  and  enlarg- 
ing the  powers  of  the  authorities.  These  pre- 
liminarj'  matters  having  been  satisfactorily  ad- 
justed, he  went  to  work  determinedly,  and  attacked 
the  brigands  and  robbers  so  vigorously,  assailing 
them  in  their  very  strongholds,  and  arresting  all 
who  were  known  to  harbor  or  aid  them,  that  he 
succeeded,  in  a  fairly  brief  time,  in  ridding  the 
province  of  their  presence.  Within  fourteen 
months  from  the  date  of  his  arrival  in  Benevento, 
vested  with  Pope  Gregory's  authority  to  restore 
order,  he  had  rid  the  district  of  its  many  male- 
factors, restored  peace  to  its  inhabitants,  and  ob- 
tained for  the  law  and  authorities  that  respect  and 
confidence  which  before  had  been  missing. 

Such  decision  and  prompt  action  won  for  young 
Pecci  the  admiration  of  the  people  of  Benevento, 
who  had  suffered  so  long  from  the  works  of  the 
brigands  ;  and  it  also  obtained  for  him  the  thanks 
and  good-will  of  Pope  Gregory,  who  lost  no  time 
in  congratulating  his  representative  on  the  good 
work  he  had  accomplished,  as  well  as  the  esteem 
of  the  King  of  Naples,  Ferdinand  11.,  who  pub- 
licly extolled  him  on  the  excellent  results  of  his 
labors.  Benevento  held  him  in  great  love  and 
gratitude,  and  at  a  later  date,  when  the  monsig- 
nor was  stricken  with  fever,  which  threatened  to 
end  fatally,  the  people  of  the  place  marched  in 
public  procession  to  the  church  to  implore  Heaven. 


IMPORTANT   EVENTS   DURING   HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


405 


to  spare  his  life ;  going  bareheaded  and  barefooted 
through  the  streets  to  ask  this  favor  for  the  ecclesi- 
astic whom  they  all  considered  their  deliverer. 

The  outcome  of  his  first  mission  naturally  in- 
clined Pope  Gregory  to  bestow  additional  honors 
on  young  Pecci ;  and  wlieu,  three  years  later,  in 
1 84 1,  there  was  need  of  sending  a  Papal  delegate 
to  Spoleto,  he  was  selected  for  the  post.  Some- 
thing delayed  his  commission,  however,  and  be- 
fore he  could  start  from  Rome  a  still  more  im- 
portant trust  was  given  to  him.  Perugia,  a  place 
of  some  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  presented 
some  difl&cult  questions  of  government;  and,  not 
forgetting  the  skilful  way  in  which  he  had  put 
an  end  to  brigandage  at  Beneveuto,  the  Pope  ap- 
pointed Mgr.  Pecci  to  the  place,  intrusting  him 
with  full  power  to  execute  whatever  designs  he 
might  see  fit  to  undertake.  The  story  of  Bene- 
veuto was  repeated.  Going  intelligently  and 
resolutely  to  work,  the  monsignor  succeeded  in 
restoring  perfect  peace,  brought  back  into  respect 
the  law,  and  emptied  the  prisons,  which,  on  his 
arrival,  were  filled  with  criminals,  either  compell- 
ing these  to  enter  into  an  honest  way  of  living, 
or  to  quit  the  place  altogether.  It  goes  without 
saying,  that  Pope  Gregory  was  prouder  than  ever 
of  his  young  delegate,  of  whose  abilities  and 
piety  he  formed  even  a  higher  opinion  than  he 
had  previously  held,  though  what  regard  he  had 
for  him  was  abundantly  proven  by  his  honoring 
him  with  the  trusts  he  had  already  conferred 
upon  him. 

Pope  Gregory  was  so  impressed  with  the  ad- 
mirable qualities  of  young  Pecci  that  he  decided 
to  honor  him  still  more  than  he  had  yet  done ; 
and  although  the  monsignor  was  only  in  his 
thirty-third  year,  after  he  had  spent  eighteen 
months  at  Perugia  he  preconized  him  Archbishop 
of  Damietta  in  partibus  infidelium,  and  sent  him, 
in  the  quality  of  apostolic  nuncio,  to  the  court  at 
Brussels,  over  which  Leopold  I.  then  presided. 
The  monsignor  was  consecrated  in  the  Church  of 
St.  Lawrence,  Rome,  by  Cardinal  Lambruschini, 
assisted  by  Bishops  Asquini  and  Castellani,  on 
Sunday,  Feb.  10,  1843;  and  immediately  after  his 
consecration  he  proceeded  to    Belgium   to   take 


upon  himself  the  duties  which  the  Pope  had  as- 
signed him. 

When  the  nunico  departed  from  Brussels  he 
proceeded  to  Liege  to  visit  his  old  college-mate, 
Mgr.  Montpellier,  the  archbishop  of  that  place ; 
and,  after  spending  a  short  time  with  him,  he 
went  to  see  some  of  the  famous  cathedral  towns 
of  the  Continent,  returning  to  Brussels  for  a 
brief  period  of  rest.  Later  on,  he  paid  a  visit  to 
England,  spending  a  few  days  at  London,  and 
from  there  he  again  returned  to  Brussels  for  the 
final  leave-taking.  Just  as  he  was  leaving  that 
city  for  the  last  time  the  King  handed  him  a  des- 
patch for  the  Pope,  in  which  he  probably  recom- 
mended his  elevation  to  the  cardiualate ;  but,  as 
the  death  of  Gregory  XVI.  occurred  before  the 
nunico  reached  Rome,  the  contents  of  the  des- 
patch were  not  learned,  though  the  Pope,  before 
his  death,  in  appointing  him  to  the  vacant  arch- 
bishopric of  Perugia,  at  the  request  of  the  people 
of  that  place,  had  also  preconized  him  a  cardinal, 
reserving  his  nomination  in  petto — a  nomination 
which  his  death  afterwards  delayed  from  receiving 
confirmation  for  some  time. 

Archbishop  Pecci  at  Perugia. 

It  was  on  Sunday,  the  20th  of  July,  1846,  that 
Archbishop  Pecci  took  formal  possession  of  his 
see  of  Perugia.  His  entrance  into  the  city,  as 
may  readily  be  imagined,  was  a  grand  triumph. 
The  people  remembered  him  as  the  civil  governor 
who,  a  few  years  previously,  had  given  them  such 
an  excellent  administration ;  and  now  they  were 
overjoyed  to  welcome  him  as  their  spiritual  guide 
and  father.  The  whole  populace  turned  out  to 
greet  him,  and  the  town  arrayed  itself  in  holiday 
attire  to  welcome  him  again  to  its  precincts.  The 
archbishop  found  that  the  good  works  which  he 
had  inaugurated  three  years  beforehand  were 
still  bearing  fruit;  but  he  lost  no  time  in  plan- 
ning and  executing  other  tasks  for  the  ameliora- 
tion of  his  people.  He  began  by  instituting,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  clergy,  the  Academy  of  St. 
Thomas,  in  which  he  took  especial  delight  in  at- 
tending all  the  meetings;  giving  these,  by  his 
presence,  an  additional  charm  that  did  not  fail  to 


4o6 


LIFE  OF  POPE   LEO  XIIL 


attract  to  the  man  increased  attendance  on  the  part 
of  the  clergy,  who  were  only  too  glad  to  enjoy 
the  familiar  intercourse  with  their  archbishop 
whicli  these  reunions  afforded. 

Archbishop  Pecci  led  a  very  simple  life  at 
Perugia,  and  to-day,  when  he  reigns  over  the  en- 
tire Church,  his  habits  are  almost  the  same.  He 
was  alwaj's  an  early  riser  and  a  hard  worker. 
Though  not  robust,  he  performed  more  actual  la- 
bor than  stronger  men  are  capable  of  doing,  and 
fatigue  seemed  unknown  to  him.  He  invariably 
rose  at  daybreak  and  prepared  for  the  holy  sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass.  When  he  celebrated  this,  he 
commenced  work  in  his  study,  occupying  him- 
self with  history  and  literature,  for  which 
branches,  after  the  studies  of  his  sacred  calling, 
he  always  had  a  great  fondness.  He  composed 
poetry  himself,  and  some  of  his  verses  have  won 
him  high  praise;  while  a  collection  of  them, 
which  has  been  translated  into  different  tongues 
from  the  original  Latin  and  Italian,  has  recently 
been  published. 

His  meals  were  verj'  plain.  As  is  customary 
with  Italians,  the  archbishop  at  Perugia  took  but 
one  meal  a  day,  and  that  of  the  simplest  sort. 
He  continues  the  same  habit  in  the  Vatican.  In 
personal  appearance  the  archbishop  is  spoken  of 
by  those  who  remember  him  at  Perugia  as  of 
majestic  mien.  His  stature  is  tall,  his  coun- 
tenance mobile  and  amiable;  while  his  eyes, 
though  kindly  in  their  glances,  have  a  way  of 
looking  at  you  in  a  penetrating  manner,  as  if 
their  owner  were  capable  of  reading  your  inner- 
most thoughts.  He  is  gifted  in  the  art  of  conver- 
sation, and  speaks  both  the  German  and  French 
tongues  with  ease.  At  the  Vatican  Council  of 
1870  he  impressed  all  who  met  him  with  his  wis- 
dom, piety  and  amiabilitj'.  During  the  thirty-two 
years  he  was  in  Perugia  he  proved  himself  at  all 
times  the  model  prelate  and  the  affectionate  father. 
He  exercised  excellent  judgment  in  austerity 
and  benevolence — when  to  be  firm  and  when 
to  yield — and  he  gave  evidence  even  then  of 
those  remarkable  qualities  which  have  won  for 
liim  such  great  renown  since  he  became  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  of  the  Universal  Church. 


Archbishop  PeccI  Becomes  Cardinal  Camerllngo. 

Pope  Pius  IX.,  too,  evinced  great  interest 
in  the  great  piety  and  remarkable  accomplish- 
ments of  the  Archbishop  of  Perugia,  and  in 
the  consistory  of  Sept.  21,  1877,  summoned 
him  to  Rome,  and  made  him  successor  of  the 
Camerlingo  Cardinal  de  Angelis,  who  had  died 
the  preceding  July.  Cardinal  Pecci  was  then 
obliged  to  take  up  his  residence  in  Rome,  near 
the  Pope ;  and  he  accordingly  occupied  the 
palace  of  Falconieri.  His  duties  were  numerous 
and  trying.  He  was  a  member  of  a  number  of 
the  sacred  congregations,  at  all  of  whose  meet- 
ings and  conferences  he  was  an  assiduous  attend- 
ant ;  and  he  had  many  other  calls  upon  his 
time  and  attention,  besides.  Pope  Pius  did  not, 
however,  enjoy  long  the  aid  and  assistance  of 
his  new  Cardinal  Camerlingo.  He  called  Cardi- 
nal Pecci  to  Rome  in  July,  1877 ;  and  on  the 
following  February  the  latter,  by  virtue  of  his 
post  as  head  aud  president  of  the  apostolic  cham- 
ber, found  himself  charged  with  the  funeral  ser- 
vices of  the  Pope,  who  died  on  the  7th  of  that 
month.  The  Cardinal  Camerlingo  has  great 
jurisdiction.  He  has  charge,  in  a  certain  sense, 
of  all  the  temporalities  of  the  Papacy,  and  may 
almost  be  said  to  be  intrusted  with  the  Papal 
authority  itself  during  a  vacancy  in  the  Holy 
See.  Hence  he  is  naturally  regarded  as  a  pos- 
sible successor;  and  in  Cardinal  Pecci's  case 
this  was  the  order  of  things.  When  he  had  closed 
the  eyes  of  the  great  Pius  IX.,  verified  his  death 
in  accordance  with  the  duties  of  his  office,  and 
received  from  the  cardinal  dean  the  Fisherman's 
ring  to  be  handed  over  to  the  newly  elected  Pope, 
he  little  thought  he  would  be  that  individual 
himself.  We  will  not  here  go  into  detail  regard- 
ing the  events  of  Pope  Pius'  funeral,  which  was 
conducted  with  all  the  pomp  and  ceremony  the 
Church  employs  on  such  occasions ;  the  Cardi- 
nal Camerlingo  taking  pains  to  see  that  the 
highest  honors  were  paid  to  the  great  Pontiff 
who  had  decreed  the  dogmas  of  the  immaculate 
conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  of  the 
infallibility  of  the  Pope.  When  the  last  sad  rites 
had  been  performed,  and  the  body  of  Pope  Pius 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


407 


had  been  consigned  to  the  tomb,  it  was  incum- 
bent on  Cardinal  Pecci  to  get  things  in  readiness 
for  the  election  of  his  successor ;  and  he  at  once 
set  about  making  arrangements,  little  imagining, 
doubtless,  that  he  would  be  selected  by  the  sa- 
cred college  for  the  dignity  of  Vicar  of  Christ 
upon  earth. 

Cardinal  PeccI  Is  Elected  Pope. 

The  conclave  convened  on  the  morning  of 
Feb.  18,  1878.  The  cardinals  went  first  to  the 
Pauline  Chapel  in  the  Vatican,  where  the  Mass 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  said  b}'  Cardinal  Schwarz- 
enberg,  the  Archbishop  of  Prague.  The  full 
diplomatic  corps,  in  rich  uniform,  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  all  the  Roman  nobility,  were  present. 
An  address  explanatory  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  conclave  would  proceed  to  the  task  before  it, 
of  electing  a  new  Pope,  was  made  by  an  eminent 
ecclesiastic,  who  declared  that  the  canons  of  the 
Church  regarding  the  matter  would  be  scrupu- 
lously regarded,  so  that  there  would  be  no  reason 
to  doubt  the  validity  of  the  conclave's  choice. 
After  the  services  were  over,  and  the  cardinals 
had  rested  a  while,  the  conclave  was  called  to 
meet  at  four  in  the  afternoon  in  the  Sistine 
Chapel.  Their  Eminences  repaired  first  to  the 
chapel  in  which  Mass  had  been  sung  in  the 
morning ;  whence  they  proceeded,  between  lines 
of  the  Noble  and  Palatine  Guards,  to  the  Sistine 
Chapel,  where,  after  the  hymn  "  Veni  Creator " 
had  been  sung,  each  cardinal  took  the  oath  re- 
quired of  him  by  the  canons,  after  which  cere- 
mony the  marshal  of  the  conclave,  who  was 
Prince  Chigi  of  the  Roman  nobility,  bound  him- 
self by  oath  to  see  that  the  regulations  of  the 
Church  in  reference  to  the  holding  of  the  con- 
clave were  faithfully  executed,  each  cardinal  also 
taking  the  same  pledge. 

These  were  but  the  preliminaries,  however,  to 
the  holding  of  the  conclave.  When  they  were 
over,  each  cardinal,  accompanied  by  a  noble 
guard,  retired  to  the  cell  assigned  to  him  in  the 
Cortile  di  San  Damasco,  a  part  of  the  Vatican, 
where  he  passed  the  night.  At  eight  o'clock  of 
that   evening   all   who  did  not  have  a  right  to 


enter  the  conclave  were  excluded  from  that  part 
of  the  Vatican,  the  keys  to  the  outer  door  of 
which  were  handed  to  the  marshal,  all  the  other 
entrances  having  been  closed  up ;  while,  of  the 
two  doors  that  barred  the  one  remaining  entrance, 
the  marshal  held  the  key  of  one,  and  the  Car- 
dinal Camerlingo  that  of  the  other.  At  nine 
o'clock  the  closing-in  of  the  conclave  had  been 
•  completed,  and  all  was  in  readiness  for  the 
sessions   of  the  morrow. 

On  the  morning  of  Feb.  19th,  the  cardinals 
repaired  at  nine  o'clock  to  the  Sistine  Chapel, 
where  Mass  was  said  by  the  dean  of  the  college, 
his  Eminence  Cardinal  Luigi  Amat,  who  gave 
communion  to  all  of  his  colleagues.  Mass  ended, 
the  cardinals  retired  to  their  cells  for  breakfast ; 
and  the  first  balloting  did  not  take  place  until 
noon,  when  it  proceeded  with  sealed  ballots. 
The  first  ballot  was  void,  because  one  of  the 
voters,  contrary  to  the  regulations,  had  affixed 
to  his  paper  his  cardinalitial  mark  of  dignity. 
Towards  evening  of  the  second  day,  the  second 
ballot  was  taken  ;  and  out  of  sixty-one  votes  cast. 
Cardinal  Pecci  received  thirty-eight,  or  seven 
more  than  a  majority.  A  two-thirds  vote,  how- 
ever, is  necessary  to  elect,  so  another  ballot  was 
taken.  After  which,  the  number  of  cardinals  in 
the  conclave  was  increased  by  the  arrival  of  Car- 
dinal Cardoso,  Patriarch  of  Lisbon,  and  next  day, 
Feb.  20th,  the  third  and  last  ballot  was  taken  ;  and 
Cardinal  Pecci  was  elected  by  a  vote  of  more 
than  two-thirds.  The  dean  of  the  Sacred  Col- 
lege at  once  asked  the  choice  of  the  conclave  if 
he  would  accept  the  supreme  pontificate ;  and 
Cardinal  Pecci  replied,  that  he  was  all  unworthy 
of  the  honor,  but  as  the  conclave  had  selected 
him,  depending  on  God's  help,  and  submitting 
to  His  will,  he  would  do  so.  He  decided  that  he 
would  take  the  name  of  Leo  XHI.,  in  memory  of 
Leo  XH.,  whom  he  had  always  held  in  great 
veneration.  After  his  acceptance  and  election 
had  been  duly  drawn  up  and  certified,  the  newly 
elected  Pontiff  retired  immediately  to  the  sacristy, 
vested  himself  in  the  Papal  robes,  and,  returning, 
gave  his  Pontifical  blessing  to  the  assembled 
cardinals,  who  congratulated  him  on  his  eleva- 


4o8 


LIFE  OF   POPE  LEO  XIIL 


tion  to  the  Fisherman's  throne.  After  some 
little  delay,  the  dean  of  the  Sacred  College,  Car- 
dinal Caterini,  announced  to  the  people  below 
the  election  of  the  Pope  by  saying,  "  I  announce 
to  you  great  joy !  We  have  as  Pope  his  Emi- 
nence the  most  reverend  lord  Joachim  Pecci,  who 
takes  the  name  of  Leo  XIII."  As  soon  as  the 
announcement  was  made,  there  rose  loud  shouts 
of  joy  and  thanksgiving;  the  bells  of  St.  Peter's 
rang  out  their  most  joyous  chimes,  and  all  over 
the  city  were  heard  shouts  of  "Viva  Papa  Pecci, 
Leone  XIIL!"  Later  on  still,  the  gates  of  the 
loggia  were  again  thrown  open,  and  the  newly 
chosen  Pope  made  his  appearance.  The  crowds 
below  had  been  swelled  by  the  accession  of  thou- 
sands who  were  not  there  when  the  cardinal 
dean  announced  the  election ;  and  their  cheers 
rolled  up  like  thundering  waves  to  the  loggia 
where  the  new  Pope  stood,  ready  to  impart  to 
them  his  first  apostolic  blessing.  When  the 
excitement  had  somewhat  subsided,  the  Pope, 
turning  to  the  high  altar,  intoned  the  adjuto- 
rium ;  and,  after  a  choir  of  myriad  voices  had 
answered  with  the  antiphon,  he  raised  his  hand, — 
now  decked  with  the  Fisherman's  ring — and 
blessed  the  multitudes  below  him,  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.     Amen. 

The  Holy  Father  then  retired  amid  the  ac- 
clamations of  the  populace ;  and,  after  the  mar- 
shal had  thrown  open  the  closed  doors  of  the 
conclave,  he  proceeded  through  the  Sistine 
Chapel  to  the  Hall  of  the  Paramenti,  where  he 
received  the  persons  who  had  been  engaged  in 
the  exterior  service  of  the  conclave.  Afterwards, 
vested  in  his  pontifical  robes,  and  accompanied 
by  the  officers  of  the  conclave,  he  went  to  the 
Sistine  Chapel  to  receive  the  homage  of  the  car- 
dinals. Then,  the  apostolic  blessing  having 
been  again  given,  he  retired  to  the  Hall  of  the 
Paramenti,  was  disrobed  of  his  vestments,  and 
retired  to  his  apartments.  In  the  evening  his 
election  was  officially  announced. 

The  Coronation. 

Cardinal  Pecci  was  elected  Pope  on  the  20th  of 


February,  1878 ;  and  the  date  of  his  coronation 
occurred  the  3d  of  March.  His  Holiness  spent 
the  intervening  time,  as  much  as  he  possibly 
could,  in  prayer  and  retirement,  in  order  to  pre- 
pare himself  for  the  great  event  of  his  life.  The 
Pope  spent  the  brief  time  given  him  in  silence 
and  meditation.  The  coronation  was  naturally 
to  take  place  in  the  grand  Basilica  of  St.  Peter ; 
but  Leo  XIII.  decided  to  have  it  elsewhere,  and 
accordingly  the  Sistine  Chapel  was  the  site 
chosen.  The  change  of  location,  however,  de- 
tracted nothing  from  the  pomp  and  magnificence 
of  the  coronation,  which  was  carried  out  with  all 
that  solemnity  with  which  the  Catholic  Church 
invests  an  event  of  such  grfeat  importance. 

On  the  morning  of  the  3d,  the  Pope,  sur- 
rounded by  all  the  cardinals  and  accompanied 
by  the  entire  pontifical  court,  left  his  apartments, 
entered  the  sedes  gestatoria^  and,  followed  by  a 
numerous  cortege  of  Swiss  Guards,  Noble  Guards, 
and  Roman  nobility,  proceeded  to  the  Hall  of 
Tapestries,  where  he  was  vested  by  the  first  two 
cardinal  deacons,  who  placed  on  his  head  a  golden 
mitre.  These  preliminaries  over,  preceded  by 
the  penitentiaries  of  the  Vatican  Basilica  and  a 
numerous  body  of  other  ecclesiastical  dignities, 
he  went  to  the  Ducal  Hall,  which  had  been  fitted 
up  as  a  chapel.  After  a  brief  prayer,  he  took  his 
seat  on  the  throne  at  the  gospel  side  of  the  altar; 
and  to  him  in  order  then  came  the  cardinals,  who 
tendered  him  their  obedience.  They  approached 
the  throne  one  by  one,  kissed  the  right  hand  of 
the  Pope,  and  retired.  Then  came  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops,  who  kissed  his  foot ;  and 
then,  chanting  the  apostolic  benediction,  the  Holy 
Father  intoned  the  office  of  tierce,  which  the 
pontifical  choir  continued  to  its  end.  Afterwards 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff  was  robed  in  the  pontifical 
vestments,  the  ring  was  placed  on  his  finger,  and 
the  route  of  the  procession  was  again  taken  up ; 
the  Pope,  as  before,  being  borne  in  the  sedes  ges- 
tatoria^  covered  with  a  canopy  of  gold,  and  car- 
ried by  eight  dignitaries.  Into  the  Sistine 
Chapel,  where  a  throne  was  raised  on  a  marble 
dais  on  the  gospel  side  of  the  altar,  the  proces- 
sion moved ;  but  as  it  was  on  the  point  of  start- 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING  HIS  PONTIFICATE. 


409 


ing,  an  oflBcial  brouglit  the  Pope  a  handful  of  flax 
attached  to  a  gilded  rod,  which  was  lit  in  his 
presence  and  consumed,  while  a  clerk  said  in 
Latin,  "  Holy  Father,  thus  passes  away  the  glory 
of  the  world,"  as  a  reminder  that,  despite  his  high 
position,  and  the  honors  which  were  being  shown 
him,  death  was  in  store  for  him  as  for  the  rest  of 
mortals,  and  the  accounting  after  death  would  be 
all  the  more  rigorous  for  him  who  had  received 
such  signal  favors  from  Heaven. 

We  will  not  attempt  to  describe  the  scenes  in 
the  Sistine  Chapel  during  Leo  XHI.'s  corona- 
tion. One  had  to  see  that  sight  to  realize  its 
magnificence.  The  cardinals  in  their  rich  attire ; 
the  archbishops  and  bishops  iu  the  showy  copes 
and  mitres  ;  the  various  garbs  of  the  clergy,  reg- 
ular and  secular ;  the  gleaming  helmets  and 
jewels  of  the  Papal  Guard ;  the  long  rows  of 
ambassadors,  nobles,  and  other  lay  dignitaries ; 
the  immense  concourse  of  the  people,  filling 
every  available  space  ;  the  impressive  ceremonies, 
inspiring  music,  and  the  seraphic  singing  of  un- 
seen choirs — all  those  things  form  a  picture 
which  cannot  be  justly  described  by  words.  The 
Pope,  arriving  before  the  grand  altar,  descended 
from  the  sedile  chair,  and  began  the  introit  of 
the  Mass ;  during  which  the  pallium,  indicative 
of  the  fulness  of  the  Papal  ofl&ce,  was  given  him, 
and  immediately  he  received  the  obedience  of  all 
the  cardinals,  archbishops  and  bishops  who  were 
present.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Mass,  he  again 
ascended  tlie  throne ;  and,  after  the  prescribed 
prayers  had  been  said,  the  tiara,  or  triple  crown, 
was  placed  upon  his  head.  The  choirs  saluted 
him  with  joyful  acclamations ;  and  rising,  with 
the  tiara  on  his  brow,  he  pronounced  the  triple 
benediction,  announced  the  accorded  indulgences, 
and  entering  the  chair,  still  wearing  the  triple 
crown,  was  borne  back  to  the  Hall  of  Tapestries 
to  be  disrobed. 

One  of  the  earliest  acts  of  Pope  Leo  was  the 
restoration  of  the  Scotch  hierarchy,  a  task  that 
had  been  commenced  by  Pope  Pius  IX.,  and 
which  Pope  Leo,  knowing  how  dear  the  object 
was  to  the  heart  of  his  beloved  predecessor,  re- 
solved to  complete  without  delay. 


Conferring  the  red  hat  on  the  first  American 
cardinal,  the  late  lamented  John,  Cardinal  Mc- 
Closkey,  the  learned  and  pious  Archbishop  of 
New  York,  who  had  been  created  a  cardinal  by 
Pius  IX.  on  March  15,  1875,  but  who  now  came 
to  Rome  for  the  first  time  since  that  date,  was  a 
ceremony  in  which  Americans  were  greatly  inter- 
ested. As  the  cardinal's  hat  can  only  be  given 
by  the  Pope  himself  in  person,  the  final  ceremony 
had  never  yet  been  performed.  Cardinal  McClos- 
key  was  not  in  Rome  in  time  to  participate  in 
Pope  Leo's  election  ;  but  he  hurried  thither,  and 
paid  homage  to  Leo  XIII.  The  ceremony  of 
conferring  the  cardinal's  hat  is  a  very  impressive 
one.  The  new  cardinal  is  led  into  the  Pope's 
presence  by  two  of  the  cardinal  deacons ;  and  he 
immediately  makes  a  triple  profound  reverence  to 
the  Head  of  the  Church — one  at  the  threshold 
of  the  hall,  one  in  the  middle,  and  still  another 
at  the  feet  of  the  throne.  The  Pope  then  bestows 
upon  him  the  kiss  of  peace,  and  he  is  embraced 
by  all  his  cardinalitial  colleagues  in  turn.  The 
Te  Deum  is  chanted ;  and,  after  encircling  the 
altar  with  his  colleagues,  the  new  cardinal  pros- 
trates himself,  and  remains  in  that  position  while 
the  canticle  is  being  finished,  and  the  proper 
prayers  said  by  the  cardinal  dean.  Arising,  his 
hood  is  thrown  back ;  the  cardinal  dean  receives 
his  oath  of  ofl&ce,  and  leads  him  before  the  Pope, 
who  confers  upon  him  the  red  hat,  with  due  pray- 
ers. After  the  Pope  retires,  the  new  cardinal  re- 
ceives the  congratulations  of  his  brethren.  The 
cardinalitial  ring  and  title  are  not  conferred  until 
the  second  consistory ;  only  the  hat  is  given  at 
the  first. 

The  cardinal's  hat  is  of  red  cloth,  with  a  very 
small  crown  and  broad  brim.  Two  ties,  each 
ending  in  five  rows  of  red  silk  acorns  or  tassels, 
three  in  each  row,  are  fastened  to  the  crown,  and 
faltl  on  either  side,  being  long  enough  to  meet 
under  the  wearer's  chin.  Originally,  instead  of 
this  fringe,  each  tie  had  but  a  single  tassel,  be- 
cause the  hat  was  then  used  on  all  solemn  occa- 
sions. At  present  the  hat  is  not  worn,  and 
therefore  the  fringing  may  be  more  elaborate. 
Indeed,  after  the  hat  has  been  conferred,  it  is  not 


4IO 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIIL 


again  seen  till  the  cardinal's  death,  when  it  is 
placed  upon  his  bier,  and,  as  a  rule,  suspended  in 
the  church  above  his  tomb.  The  red  hat  of  the 
cardinals  is  of  felt,  of  the  same  shape  as  those 
of  simple  ecclesiastics.  On  ordinary  occasions 
they  wear  a  black  hat  with  a  red  ribbon  gold- 
embroidered.  The  cardinal's  ring  is  a  sapphire 
set  in  gold. 

Encyclical  on  Socialism  and  CommunUm. 

In  the  first  year  of  his  pontificate,  Leo  XIII. 
issued  an  enc3'clical  of  more  than  ordinar}'  im- 
portance and  interest,  owing  to  the  subjects  which 
it  treats,  and  which,  unhappily,  have  attained  a 
special  prominence  in  our  own  day  and  in  our 
own  country,  though  not,  of  course,  to  such  an 
extent  as  in  European  countries  at  the  time  that 
the  Holy  Father  denounced  them. 

Here  is  the  full  text  of  this  all-important  en- 
cyclical letter  of  the  Holy  Father : 

"  From  the  commencement  of  our  pontificate, 
and  in  fulfilment  of  the  duty  of  our  office,  we  ad- 
dressed 3'ou  in  an  enc3'^clical  letter  to  point  out 
that  deadly  poison  which  is  creeping  into  human 
society,  and  is  leading  it  to  ruin.  We  then  also 
indicated  the  efficacious  remedies  b}'  means  of 
which  societ}^  may  be  restored,  and  escape  the 
serious  dangers  that  threaten  it.  But  the  evils 
we  then  deplored  have  increased  so  rapidly  that 
we  are  compelled  once  more  to  address  you,  as 
though  the  words  of  the  prophet  were  ringing  in 
our  ear :  '  Cry,  cease  not ;  lift  up  th}'  voice  like  a 
trumpet' 

"You  understand,  venerable  brethren,  that  we 
allude  to  that  sect  of  men  who  call  themselves 
by  various  and  almost  barbarous  titles — Social- 
ists, Communists  and  Nihilists ;  and  who,  scat- 
tered all  over  the  world,  closely  bound  together 
in  an  unholy  league,  are  no  longer  satisfied  with 
lurking  in  secret,  but  boldly  come  forth  into  the 
light  with  the  determination  to  uproot  the  foun- 
dation of  society.  It  is  surely  these  men  that  are 
signified  by  the  words  of  Holy  Writ,  '  who  defile 
the  flesh,  and  despise  authority,  and  blaspheme 
majesty.'     They  will  not  leave  any  thing  intact 


that  has  been  wisely  decreed  by  divine  and  hu- 
man laws  for  the  security  and  honor  of  life. 
They  refuse  obedience  to  the  higher  powers, 
who  hold  from  God  the  right  to  command,  and 
to  whom,  according  to  the  apostle,  every  soul 
ought  to  be  subject ;  and  they  preach  the  perfect 
equality  of  all  men  in  every  thing  that  con- 
cerns their  rights  and  duties.  They  dishonor 
the  natural  union  of  man  and  woman,  sa- 
cred even  among  barbarians,  and  endeavor  to 
relax  or  even  to  break  asunder  that  bond 
which  chiefly  cements  domestic  society.  Se- 
duced by  the  lust  of  earthly  goods,  which  is 
'  the  root  of  all  evil,'  and  through  the  coveting  of 
which  '  many  have  erred  from  the  faith,'  they 
assail  the  right  of  property  sanctioned  by  the 
natural  law ;  and  under  the  pretence  of  supplying 
the  wants  of  men,  and  satisfying  their  lawful 
desires,  thej'  aim  at  making  a  common  spoil  of 
whatever  has  been  legitimately  acquired  by  in- 
heritance, by  skill,  industry,  or  economy.  They 
publish  these  monstrous  doctrines  at  their  meet- 
ings ;  the}-  urge  them  in  pamphlets,  and  spread 
them  far  and  wide  bj'  means  of  the  press.  The 
result  of  this  is,  that,  within  a  short  time,  the 
majesty  and  authority  of  kings,  which  should  be 
revered  b}'^  all,  has  been  rendered  so  odious  to  a 
seditious  rabble,  that  traitors,  breaking  loose  from 
all  restraint,  have  more  than  once  lifted  their 
hands  against  the  rulers  of  kingdoms. 

"  These  attempts  of  perfidious  men,  who 
threaten  to  undermine  civil  life,  and  fill  all  think- 
ing minds  with  alarm,  had  their  origin  in  the 
poisoned  doctrines .  broached  long  ago,  like  seeds 
of  corruption,  which  are  now  producing  their 
destructive  fruit.  You  are  aware,  venerable  breth- 
ren, that  the  warfare  raised  against  the  Church 
b}^  the  reformers  in  the  sixteenth  century  still 
continues,  and  tends  to  this  end,  that,  by  the  de- 
nial of  all  revelation  and  the  suppression  of  the 
supernatural  order,  the  reason  of  man  may  run 
riot  in  its  own  conceits.  This  error,  which  un- 
justly derives  its  name  from  reason,  flatters  the 
pride  of  man,  loosens  the  reins  to  all  his  passions, 
and  thus  it  has  deceived  many  minds,  whilst  it 
has  made  deep  ravages  on  civil  society.     Hence 


IMPORTANT   EVENTS   DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


411 


it  comes  that,  by  a  new  sort  of  impiety,  un- 
known to  the  pagans,  states  constitute  them- 
selves independently  of  God,  or  of  the  order 
which  He  has  established.  Public  authority  is 
declared  to  derive  neither  its  principle  nor  its 
power  from  God,  but  from  the  multitude,  which, 
believing  itself  free  from  all  Divine  sanction, 
obeys  no  laws  but  such  as  its  own  caprice  has 
dictated.  Supernatural  truth  being  rejected  as 
contrary  to  reason,  the  Creator  and  Redeemer  of 
the  human  race  is  ignored,  and  banished  from 
the  universities,  the  lyceums  and  schools,  as  also 
from  the  whole  economj'  of  human  life.  The  re- 
wards and  punishments  of  a  future  and  eternal 
life  are  forgotten  in  the  pursuit  of  present  pleas- 
ure. With  these  doctrines  widely  spread,  and 
this  extreme  license  of  thought  and  action  ex- 
tended everywhere,  it  is  not  surprising  that  men 
of  the  lowest  order,  weary  of  the  poverty  of  their 
home  or  of  their  little  workshop,  should  yearn  to 
seize  upon  the  dwellings  and  possessions  of  the 
rich ;  that  there  remains  neither  peace  nor  tran- 
quillity in  private  or  public  life,  and  that  society 
is  brought  to  the  brink  of  destruction. 

"  The  Supreme  Pastors  of  the  Church,  on 
whom  the  duty  rests  of  preserving  the  flock  of 
the  Lord  from  the  snares  of  their  enemies,  have 
not  neglected  to  point  out  the  danger,  and  to  pro- 
vide for  the  safety  of  the  faithful.  Indeed,  from 
the  moment  that  secret  societies  began  to  be 
formed,  and  to  cause  the  evils  of  which  we  have 
just  spoken,  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  Clement  XII. 
and  Benedict  XIV.,  unveiled  the  iniquitous  de- 
signs of  these  sects,  and  warned  the  faithful  of 
the  whole  world  of  the  serious  evils  which  would 
result  from  them.  When  men  who  gloried  in 
the  name  of  philosophers  had  asserted  for  man 
an  unlimited  independence,  and  had  devised  what 
they  called  a  new  code  of  right  in  opposition  to 
the  natural  and  the  Divine  law.  Pope  Pius  VI. 
immediately  raised  his  voice  against  these  false 
and  wicked  doctrines,  and  with  apostolic  fore- 
sight predicted  the  calamities  which  would  flow 
from  them.  And  when,  in  spite  of  this  warning, 
these  principles  were  still  maintained,  and  even 
made  the  basis  of  public  legislation,  Pius  VII. 


and  Leo  XII.  solemnly  condemned  secret  socie- 
ties, and  again  gave  warning  of  the  perils  that 
menaced  the  nations.  Lastly,  every  one  remem- 
bers with  what  authority  and  firmness  our  glo- 
rious predecessor,  Pius  IX.,  in  his  allocutions  and 
encyclicals,  combated  the  projects  of  these  asso- 
ciations, especially  of  the  socialists,  who  were 
just  then  beginning  to  appear. 

"  But,  to  our  great  grief,  those  who  are  charged 
with  the  care  of  the  public  welfare  have  allowed 
themselves  to  be  blinded  by  the  arts  of  the 
wicked,  or  intimidated  by  their  threats,  whilst 
they  have  always  treated  the  Church  with  sus- 
picion and  injustice,  forgetting  that  the  efforts  of 
the  sects  would  have  been  powerless  if  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  authority  of 
the  Roman  Pontiffs  had  always  been  duly  re- 
spected by  princes  and  people ;  for  it  is  '  the 
Church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground 
of  truth,'  which  teaches  the  doctrines  and  princi- 
ples on  which  society  can  rest  secure,  without 
fear  of  the  fatal  effects  of  socialism.  For  although 
the  socialists  pervert  the  gospel  to  deceive  the 
unwary,  and  wrest  it  to  their  own  sense,  yet  in 
truth  there  cannot  be  two  things  more  at  variance 
with  one  another  than  their  depraved  ideas  and 
the  beautiful  teachings  of  Christ.  '  For  what 
participation  hath  justice  with  injustice,  or  what 
fellowship  hath  light  with  darkness  ? '  They 
never  cease  proclaiming  that  all  men  are  equal 
in  all  things,  and  hence  kings  have  no  right  to 
command  them,  nor  laws  any  power  to  bind  un- 
less made  by  themselves  and  according  to  their 
own  inclinations.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
gospel  teaches  that  all  men  are  indeed  equal,  in- 
asmuch as  all  have  the  same  nature ;  all  are 
called  to  the  sublime  dignity  of  children  of  God, 
are  destined  to  the  same  end,  and  will  be  judged 
by  the  same  law  which  will  decree  the  punish- 
ment or  the  reward  deserved  by  each  one.  But 
an  inequality  of  rights  and  powers  emanates  from 
the  Author  of  nature  Himself,  '  of  whom  all  pa- 
ternity is  named  in  heaven  and  on  earth.'  Ac- 
cording to  the  Catholic  doctrine,  princes  and  peo- 
ple are  bound  together  by  a  mutual  relation  of 
rights  and  duties  in  such  a  manner  that  a  check 


412 


LIFE  OF   POPE  LEO  XIIL 


is  laid  on  the  excess  of  power,  and  obedience  is 
rendered  easy,  constant  and  noble.  To  the  sub- 
jects the  Church  constantly  repeats  the  apostle's 
precept :  '  There  is  no  power  but  from  God  ;  and 
the  powers  that  are,  are  ordained  of  God.  There- 
fore he  who  resisteth  the  power  resisteth  the  or- 
dinance of  God ;  and  they  that  resist  purchase  to 
themselves  damnation.'  And,  again,  she  bids 
them  '  be  subject  of  necessity,  not  only  for  wrath, 
but  also  for  conscience'  sake ; '  and  to  render  '  to 
all  men  their  dues :  to  whom  tribute,  tribute ;  to 
whom  custom,  custom ;  to  whom  fear,  fear ;  to 
whom  honor,  honor.'  For  He  who  has  created 
and  who  governs  all  things  has  wisely  ordained 
that  the  lowest  should  depend  on  the  middle,  and 
the  middle  on  the  highest,  that  all  may  reach 
their  end.  And  as  even  in  heaven  He  has  de- 
creed a  distinction  among  the  angels,  so  that 
some  are  inferior  to  others,  and  as  in  the  Church 
He  has  instituted  a  diversity  of  degrees  and 
oflSces,  so  that  not  all  are  apostles,  not  all  are  doc- 
tors, nor  all  pastors ;  so,  too.  He  has  established 
in  civil  society  different  orders  in  dignity,  in  right 
and  power,  so  that  the  State,  like  the  Church, 
might  form  one  body  composed  of  many  mem- 
bers, some  more  noble  than  others,  but  all  neces- 
sary to  one  another,  and  all  laboring  for  the  com- 
mon good. 

"  But  that  princes  may  use  the  power  vested  in 
them  '  unto  edification  and  not  unto  destruction,' 
the  Church  appropriately  warns  them  that  they, 
too,  are  responsible  to  the  Supreme  Judge ;  and 
she  addresses  to  them  the  words  of  Divine  wis- 
dom :  '  Give  ear,  ye  that  rule  the  people,  and  that 
please  yourselves  in  multitudes  of  nations ;  for 
power  is  given  you  by  the  Lord,  and  strength  by 
the  Most  High,  who  will  examine  your  works 
and  search  out  your  thoughts  ;  for  a  most  severe 
judgment  shall  be  for  them  that  bear  rule.  For 
God  will  not  accept  any  man's  person,  neither 
will  He  stand  in  awe  of  any  man's  greatness ; 
for  He  hath  made  the  little  and  the  great,  and 
He  hath  equally  care  of  all.  But  a  greater  pun- 
ishment is  ready  for  the  more  mighty.'  If,  how- 
ever, at  times  it  happens  that  public  power  is 
exercised  by  princes  rashly  and  beyond  bound, 


the  Catholic  doctrine  does  not  allow  subjects  to 
rebel  against  a  ruler  by  private  authority,  lest 
the  peaceful  order  be  more  and  more  disturbed, 
and  society  suffer  greater  detriment.  And  when 
things  have  come  to  such  a  pass  that  no  other 
hope  of  safety  appears,  it  teaches  that  a  speedy 
remedy  is  to  be  sought  from  God  by  the  merit 
of  Christian  forbearance  and  by  fervent  supplica- 
tions. But  if  the  ordinances  of  legislators  and 
princes  sanction  or  command  what  is  contrary  to 
the  Divine  or  the  natural  law,  theu  the  dignity 
of  the  Christian  name,  our  duty,  and  the  apos- 
tolic precept,  proclaim  that  '  we  must  obey  God 
rather  than  men.' 

"  This  salutary  influence  which  the  Church 
exercises  over  civil  society  for  the  maintenance 
of  order  in  it,  and  for  its  preservation,  is  felt  also 
in  domestic  society,  which  is  the  foundation  of 
the  State.  You  know,  venerable  brethren,  that 
the  constitution  of  this  society  has,  by  virtue  of 
the  natural  law,  its  foundation  in  the  indissoluble 
union  of  the  husband  and  wife,  and  its  comple- 
ment in  the  mutual  rights  and  duties  of  parents 
and  children,  of  masters  and  servants.  You 
know  also  that  this  society  is  totally  annihilated 
by  the  theories  of  socialism  ;  for  when  the  firm 
bond  is  broken  which  the  religious  marriage 
throws  around  it,  the  authority  of  the  parent 
over  his  offspring,  and  the  duties  of  children 
towards  their  parents,  must  necessarily  be  re- 
laxed. On  the  contrary,  the  marriage  '  honor- 
able in  all,'  which  God  Himself  instituted  from 
the  beginning  for  the  propagation  and  perpetuity 
of  the  race,  and  which  he  made  indissoluble,  has 
become,  in  the  teaching  of  the  Church,  more  firm 
and  more  holy  through  Christ,  who  conferred  on 
it  the  dignity  of  a  sacrament — an  image  of  His 
own  union  with  the  Church.  Hence,  according 
to  the  apostle,  '  the  husband  is  the  head  of  the 
wife,  as  Christ  is  the  Head  of  the  Church  ; '  and 
as  the  Church  is  subject  to  Christ,  who  honors 
her  with  a  chaste  and  perpetual  love,  so  wives 
should  be  subject  to  their  husbands,  who  in  re- 
turn are  bound  to  love  their  wives  with  a  faithful 
and  constant  affection. 

"  The  Church  likewise  regulates  the  powers 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING   HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


413 


of  the  parent  and  master  in  such  a  way  as  to 
keep  children  and  servants  in  their  duty,  and 
yet  not  allow  those  powers  to  be  abused :  for, 
according  to  Catholic  teaching,  the  authority  of 
parents  and  masters  comes  to  them  from  the  au- 
thority of  our  heavenly  Father  and  Master  ;  and 
therefore  it  not  only  derives  from  Him  its  origin 
and  its  force,  but  it  should  also  be  imbued  with 
the  nature  and  character  of  that  Divine  author- 
ity. Hence  the  apostle  exhorts  children  '  to  obey 
their  parents  in  the  Lord,'  and  '  to  honor  their 
father  and  their  mother,  which  precept  is  the 
first  that  hath  a  promise.'  And  to  parents  he 
rsays,  'And  j^ou,  fathers,  provoke  not  your  chil- 
•dren  to  anger,  but  bring  them  up  in  the  disci- 
pline and  correction  of  the  Lord.'  In  like  man- 
ner, the  Divine  commandment  is  given  by  the 
rapostle  to  servants  and  masters  :  the  former  being 
told  '  to  be  obedient  to  their  masters  according  to 
the  flesh,  as  to  Christ ;  serving  with  a  good  will, 
.as  to  the  Lord;'  whilst  the  latter  are  'to  forbear 
threatenings,  knowing  that  the  Lord  of  all  is  in 
heaven,  and  that  there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with 
Him.'  Now,  if  all  these  precepts  were  observed 
hy  each  of  those  whom  they  concern,  according 
to  the  disposition  of  God's  will,  surely  each  fam- 
ily would  be  an  image  of  heaven ;  and  the  bene- 
fits arising  from  this  would  not  be  confined  within 
the  family  circle,  but  would  spread  abroad  over 
the  nations  themselves. 

"  But  Catholic  wisdom,  resting  on  the  princi- 
ples of  natural  and  Divine  law,  has  provided  for 
public  and  private  tranquillity  bj'  those  doctrines 
also  which  it  maintains  in  regard  to  the  owner- 
ship and  distribution  of  property  held  for  the 
necessities  and  conveniences  of  life.  The  social- 
ists denounce  the  right  of  property  as  a  human 
invention,  repugnant  to  the  natural  equality  of 
men.  They  claim  a  community  of  goods ;  and 
preach  that  poverty  is  not  to  be  endured  with 
patience,  and  that  the  possessions  and  rights  of 
the  rich  can  be  lawfully  disregarded.  But  the 
Church  more  wisely  recognizes  an  inequality 
among  men  of  different  degrees  in  strength  of 
body  and  of  mind,  also  in  the  possession  of 
^oods ;  and  ordains  that  the  right  of  proprietor- 


ship and  of  dominion,  which  comes  from  nature 
itself,  is  to  remain  intact  and  inviolable  to  each 
one.  For  she  knows  that  God,  the  author  and 
asserter  of  all  right,  has  forbidden  theft  and 
rapine  in  such  a  manner,  that  it  is  not  allowed 
even  to  covet  another's  goods ;  and  that  thieves 
and  robbers,  as  well  as  adulterers  and  idolaters, 
are  excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But 
the  Church,  like  a  good  mother,  does  not  there- 
fore neglect  the  care  of  the  poor,  or  the  relief  of 
their  wants.  On  the  contrary,  embracing  them 
with  maternal  tenderness,  and  remembering  that 
they  bear  the  person  of  Christ  Himself,  who 
esteems  as  done  to  Himself  whatever  is  done  to 
one  of  His  little  ones,  she  holds  them  in  high 
honor ;  comforts  them  in  every  way ;  raises  up 
for  them,  protects  and  defends,  asylums  and 
hospitals  to  receive  them,  to  nourish  and  heal 
them.  She  urges  the  rich,  by  the  most  pressing 
commandment,  to  distribute  their  superfluity 
among  the  poor ;  and  threatens  them  with  the 
judgment  of  God,  by  which  they  shall  be 
doomed  to  eternal  punishment,  if  they  refuse 
to  relieve  their  afflicted  brethren.  Finally,  she 
consoles  and  rejoices  the  hearts  of  the  poor — 
now  by  presenting  to  them  the  example  of  Jesus 
Christ,  'who,  being  rich,  became  poor  for  our 
sakes ; '  and  again  by  recalling  His  words  by 
which  He  declares  the  poor  blessed,  and  bids 
them  hope  for  the  happiness  of  eternal  life. 
Who  does  not  see  that  this  is  the  best  means 
of  appeasing  the  long  quarrel  between  the  poor 
and  the  rich  ?  For  the  very  evidence  of  circum- 
stances and  facts  shows  that,  if  this  means  is 
rejected,  one  of  two  alternatives  must  follow : 
either  the  greatest  portion  of  mankind  will  be 
reduced  to  the  ignominious  condition  of  slaves, 
as  they  were  long  ago  among  the  pagans ;  or 
human  society  will  be  agitated  by  continual 
troubles,  and  desolated  by  robbery  and  pillage, 
as  we  have  seen  even  in  our  own  days. 

"  This  being  the  case,  venerable  brethren,  we 
on  whom  the  government  of  the  Church  has 
now  devolved,  after  having  shown,  from  the  first 
days  of  our  pontificate,  to  princes  and  peoples 
tossed  about  by  the  violence  of  the  tempest,  the 


414 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIIL 


only  harbor  where  they  can  find  a  safe  refuge, 
moved  to-day  by  the  extreme  peril  which  threat- 
ens, we  again  raise  our  apostolic  voice,  and  we 
conj  ure  them,  by  their  desire  for  their  own  secur- 
ity and  that  of  the  common  weal,  that  the}'  would 
listen  to  the  teaching  of  the  Church,  which  has 
done  so  much  for  the  welfare  of  States,  and 
would  remember  that  the  interests  of  the  State 
and  of  religion  are  so  united,  that  every  loss 
inflicted  on  the  latter  diminishes  by  so  much  the 
submission  of  subjects  and  the  majesty  of  the 
ruler.  And  since  they  know  that  for  the  repres- 
sion of  socialism  the  Church  possesses  a  power 
which  is  not  to  be  found  either  in  human  laws 
or  in  the  restraints  of  magistrates  or  the  arms 
of  soldiery,  let  them  restore  to  the  Church  that 
freedom  which  will  enable  her  to  wield  her  power 
for  the  common  good  of  human  society. 

"  And  do  you,  venerable  brethren,  who  know 
the  origin  and  the  nature  of  the  threateniug 
evils,  labor  with  all  the  energy  of  your  souls  to 
impress  the  Catholic  doctrine  deeply  on  the 
minds  of  all.  Let  it  be  3'our  endeavor,  that  all 
may  accustom  themselves,  even  from  their  ten- 
derest  years,  to  cherish  a  filial  love  for  God  and 
reverence  for  His  name ;  to  yield  obedience  to 
the  majesty  of  princes  and  of  the  laws;  to  curb 
their  passions,  and  to  observe  the  order  which 
God  has  established  in  civil  and  domestic  so- 
ciety. Do  all  that  you  can  to  prevent  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Church  from  uniting  themselves 
with  that  abominable  sect,  or  favoring  it  in  any 
manner.  I^et  them,  on  the  contrary,  by  noble 
deeds  and  by  their  honorable  conduct  in  all 
things,  show  to  the  world  how  happy  society 
would  be  if  it  were  entirely  composed  of  members 
like  them.  Lastly,  as  socialism  seeks  its  dis- 
ciples chiefly  in  that  class  of  men  who  follow 
trades  or  hire  their  labor,  and  whose  weariness 
of  work  more  easily  tempts  them  with  the  desire 
of  wealth  and  the  hope  of  possessing  it,  it  will 
be  of  great  use  to  encourage  those  associations 
of  artisans  and  laborers  which,  founded  under 
the  patronage  of  religion,  teach  their  members 
to  be  content  with  their  lot,  to  endure  their  toils, 
and  to  lead  a  calm  and  tranquil  life. 


"  May  our  endeavors  and  yours,  venerable 
brethreu,  be  prospered  by  Him  to  whom  we  are 
in  duty  bound  to  refer  the  beginning  and  the 
end  of  every  good  undertaking !  The  hope  of  a 
speedy  help  is  raised  within  us  by  these  very 
days  in  which  we  celebrate  the  birth  of  our  Lord, 
who  gives  us  also  the  hope  of  that  salutary 
restoration  which  he,  at  his  birth,  brought  to  a 
world  grown  old  in  evils  and  fallen  almost  to  the, 
abyss  of  misfortune,  and  promises  us  the  peace 
which  he  then  announced  to  men  by  the  voice  of 
his  angels.  The  arm  of  the  Lord  is  not  short- 
ened so  as  not  to  be  able  to  save  us,  nor  is  his 
ear  become  heavy  so  as  not  to  hear.  In  these 
sacred  days,  therefore,  we  wish  you,  venerable 
brethren,  and  the  faithful  of  your  churches,  all 
happiness  and  joy  ;  and  we  fervently  implore  of 
Him  who  gives  all  good  gifts  to  men,  that  there 
may  appear  anew  to  us  the  goodness  and  hu- 
manity of  God  our  Saviour,  who  snatches  us  from 
the  power  of  our  enemy,  and  lifts  us  up  to  the 
dignity  of  his  children.  And  that  we  may  more 
speedily  and  more  fully  enjoy  these  blessings, 
join  your  prayers  to  ours,  and  add  to  them  the 
intercession  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  im- 
maculate in  her  origin,  of  St.  Joseph  her  spouse, 
and  of  the  holy  Apostles  Peter  and  Paiil,  in 
whose  assistance  we  confidently  trust.  Mean- 
while, as  a  pledge  of  the  Divine  gifts,  we  impart 
from  the  depths  of  our  heart  the  apostolic  bene- 
diction to  you,  venerable  brethren,  to  your  clergy, 
and  to  all  the  faithful  people. 

"Given  at    St.  Peter's,  Rome,  28th  December, 
1878,  the  first  year  of  our  pontificate. 

"Leo  PP.  XIH." 


On  the  7th  of  February,  1879,  in  commemora- 
tion of  the  death  of  Pius  IX.,  anniversary 
requiems  were  celebrated  in  the  Sistine  Chapel, 
the  Basilicas  of  St.  Peter,  St.  John  Lateran,  and 
St.  Mary  Major.  These  services  were  attended 
by  immense  throngs  of  the  faithful,  a  number 
of  the  cardinals,  and  other  dignitaries  of  the 
Church  and  State,  all  of  whom  testified  by  their 
deep  devotion    the   esteem  in  which    the  gentle 


IMPORTANT   EVENTS   DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


415 


Pius  was  held.     On  the  15th  of  February,  1879, 
the  Pope  proclaimed  a  general  jubilee. 

Pope  Leo's  Homage  to  St.  Thomas. 

An  important  act  of  Leo  XIII.  was  his  issu- 
ance, on  Aug.  4,  1879,  of  a  bull  beginning  ^terni 
Pain's  Filius^  in  which  he  declared  that  in  all 
Catholic  schools  the  study  of  philosophy  and 
theology  should  be  based  on  the  system  adopted 
by  St.  Thomas.  American  prelates  favored  this 
utterance  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  on  the  20th  of 
February,  1880,  Cardinal  McClosky,  of  New 
York,  Archbishops  Williams,  of  Boston,  Wood,  of 
Philadelphia,  together  with  their  fourteen  suflfra- 
gan  bishops,  united  in  writing  Pope  Leo  a  letter, 
in  which  they  expressed  their  joy,  and  promised 
to  second  his  desires  to  the  best  of  their  power. 

Encyclical  on  Marriage  and  Divorce. 

"Venerable  brethren,  that  these  teachings  and 
precepts  concerning  Christian  marriage,  which 
we  have  thought  it  our  duty  to  communicate  to 
you  by  the  present  letter,  apply  as  much  to  the 
preservation  of  civil  society  as  to  the  eternal  sal- 
vation of  men.  God  grant  that,  the  more  valu- 
able these  teachings  are,  the  greater  may  be  the 
docility  with  which  they  are  received,  and  the 
more  prompt  the  submission  they  will  meet  with 
in  the  minds  of  men!  To  this  end  let  all  ar- 
dently and  humbly  pray  for  the  aid  of  the  Blessed 
and  Immaculate  Virgin,  in  order  that,  having 
inspired  submission  to  the  faith,  she  may  aid 
mankind  as  mother  and  guide.  And  let  us  with 
the  same  fervor  beseech  Peter  and  Paul,  the 
princes  of  the  Apostles,  the  conquerors  of  super- 
stition, the  sowers  of  truth,  that  the  human  race 
may  be  saved  by  their  protection  from  the  out- 
burst of  human  errors. 

"Marriage,"  continues  His  Holiness,  "at  least 
in  all  that  concerns  the  substance  and  sanctity  of 
the  conjugal  tie,  is  an  essentially  sacred  and  re- 
ligious act  which  naturally  ought  to  be  regulated 
by  the  spiritual  power,  which  holds  this  power 
not  as  delegated  to  it  by  the  State  or  by  the  con- 
sent of  princes,  but  in  the  order  established  by 
the    Divine    Founder   of    Christianity   and   the 


Author  of  the  Sacraments."  Modern  progress 
wishes  to  separate  the  contract  from  the  Sacra- 
ment, subjecting  the  contract  to  the  authority  of 
the  State,  and  leaving  the  part  of  the  Church  to 
be  nothing  but  a  simple  rite,  a  ceremony  external 
to  it.  Here  there  is  a  doctrine  which  overturns 
the  essential  idea  of  Christian  marriage,  in  which 
the  conjugal  tie,  sanctified  by  religion,  identifies 
itself  with  the  Sacrameut,  and  these  two  things 
unite  inseparably  to  constitute  only  one  act,  one 
single  reality.  ...  In  vain  they  may  cite  the  ex- 
ample of  those  Catholic  nations  which,  after  hav- 
ing deeply  suffered  from  revolutionary  struggles 
and  social  perturbations,  have  found  themselves 
constrained  to  submit  to  a  like  reform,  which  was 
either  inspired  by  heterodox  influences  and  doc- 
trines, or  established  by  the  strength  of  those  in 
power.  For  the  rest,  while  for  these  peoples  it 
was  fruitful  in  bitterness,  this  reform  has  never 
possessed  a  pacific  sway,  being  always  disap- 
proved by  the  conscience  of  sincere  Catholics 
and  by  the  legitimate  authority  of  the  Church." 

His  Success  with  European  Qovernments. 

Pope  Leo  was  especially  fortunate  in  dealing 
with  European  governments.  Already  the  Ger- 
man Emperor  and  chancellor  showed  a  disposition 
to  soften  the  rigors  of  the  Kulturkampf,  and  to 
treat  the  German  Catholics  with  more  fairness 
and  justice ;  Russia  evinced  more  friendly  rela- 
tions with  the  Holy  See  than  formerly ;  China 
and  Japan  were  courteous,  and  even  England 
showed  a  disposition  to  secure  the  influence  of 
the  Papacy  in  settling  the  disputes  into  which 
she  had  been  dragged  by  her  refusal  to  treat  the 
Irish  people  fairly. 

His  Appointments  In  America. 

During  the  third  year  of  his  pontificate,  the 
Holy  Father  made  some  notable  appointments  in 
the  American  hierarchy.  The  first  of  these 
were,  the  nomination  of  Right  Rev.  Bishop 
Heiss,  of  La  Crosse,  to  the  co-adj  utorship  of  the 
archdiocese  of  Milwaukee ;  of  Rev.  John  A. 
Watterson  to  the  vacant  see  of  Columbus,  and 
of  Rev.  Patrick  Manogue  to  the  diocese  of  Grass 
Valley,  since  altered  to  that  of  Sacramento. 


4i6 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIII. 


At  a  later  date  His  Holiness  appointed  Right 
Rev.  Michael  A.  Corrigan,  then  bishop  of  the 
diocese  of  Newark,  co-adjutor,  with  the  right  of 
succession,  to  Cardinal  McCloskey  of  New  York. 
Dr.  Corrigan  was  born  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  on  Aug. 
13,  1839. 

At  the  same  consistory  at  which  Archbishop 
Corrigan  was  made  co-adjutor  of  the  late  Cardi- 
nal McCloskey,  the  Pope  transferred  Bishop  P.  A. 
Feehan  from  Nashville  to  Chicago ;  making  the 
latter  see,  at  the  same  time  an  archdiocese. 

On  the  19th  of  February,  Pope  Leo  XHI.  ap- 
pointed Vicar-General  F.  Janssens  of  the  Diocese 
of  Richmond  to  the  vacant  see  of  Natchez,  from 
which  Bishop  Elder  was  transferred  to  the  Cin- 
cinati  archdiocese.  Bishop  Janssens  is  a  Hol- 
lander by  birth,  having  first  seen  the  light  in 
the  old  town  of  Tilburg,  in  Nord,  Brabant,  Oct. 

17.  1843- 

While  on  the  subject  of  American  appoint- 
ments, it  may  be  stated  that  the  Pope,  by  a  brief 
dated  June  16,  1880,  appointed  Rev.  Kilian  C. 
Flasch,  then  president  of  the  Seminary  of  St. 
Francis  de  Sales,  Milwaukee,  to  the  vacant  see 
of  La  Crosse,  Wis.,  from  which  Bishop  Heiss 
had  been  transferred  to  Milwaukee.  Bishop 
Flasch  was  born  at  Retzstadt,  diocese  of  Wurz- 
burg,  Bavaria,  July  9,  183 1. 

On  the  same  day  that  his  Holiness  named  Dr. 
Flasch  for  the  Natchez  diocese,  he  appointed 
Rev.  Dr.  John  McMullen,  since  deceased,  to 
the  newly  created  see  of  Davenport,  Iowa.  Dr. 
McMullen  was  born  March  8,  1833,  in  the  town 
of  Ballynahinch,  in  the  county  of  Down,  in  the 
North  of  Ireland. 

Still  later  on,  his  Holiness  named  Dr.  Winand 
M.  Wigger,  parish  priest  of  Madison,  N.  J.,  to 
the  see  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  and  appointed  Rev. 
Michael  J.  O'Farrell,  pastor  of  St.  Peter's  Church, 
Barclay  street.  New  York,  to  that  of  Trenton  in 
the  same  state.  Bishop  Wigger  was  bom  in 
New  York,  Dec.  12,  1841. 

Letters  of  Condolence. 

On  June  29,  the  Holy  Father  issued  an  en- 
cyclical on  the  duty  of  subjection  to  constituted 


authorities.  This  letter  came  at  a  most  oppor- 
tune time,  and  it  produced  excellent  results  ;  for 
society  was  scarcely  recovering  from  the  shock 
of  the  assassination  of  Alexander  II.,  when  with 
startling  eflfect  came  the  information  that  Presi- 
dent Garfield  was  the  victim  of  a  dastardly  as- 
sault, which,  unfortunately,  ended  fatally.  As 
soon  as  the  news  reached  Rome,  the  Holy  Father 
hastened  to  send  the  following  cablegram  to 
Washington :  — 

Rome,  Aug,  15,  1881. 

Hon.  James     G.    Blaine,    Secretary   of  State, 
IVashingtoti. 

As  the  Holy  Father  learned  with  painful  sur- 
prise and  profound  sorrow  of  the  horrid  attempt 
of  which  the  President  of  the  Republic  was  the 
victim,  so  now  he  is  happy  to  felicitate  His  Ex- 
cellency upon  the  news  that  his  precious  life  is 
now  out  of  danger,  and  will  ever  pray  that  God 
may  grant  him  speedy  and  complete  recovery  of 
his  health,  and  long  spare  him  to  the  benefit  of 
the  United  States.  The  undersigned  has  the 
honor  to  join  in  these  sentiments  of  sincere  con- 
gratulations, wishes  for  complete  recovery. 

L.  CARDINAL  JACOBINL 

To  which  Secretary  Blaine  sent  the  following 
answer :  — 

Washington,  Aug.  22. 

To  His  Eminence  L.  Cardinal  J  acobini,  Rome. 

Please  convey  to  His  Holiness  the  sincere 
thanks  with  which  this  Government  receives  the 
kind  expression  of  his  prayerful  interest  in  be- 
half of  our  stricken  President.  Since  your  mes- 
sage was  sent,  the  President's  condition  has  been 
changed,  and  we  are  now  filled  with  anxiety, 
but  not  without  hope.  The  President  has  been 
very  deeply  touched  by  the  pious  interest  for 
his  recovery  shown  by  all  churches,  but  by  none 
more  widely  or  more  devoutly  than  by  those  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  communion. 

JAMES  G.  BLAINE,  Secretary  of  State. 

When,  later  on,  it  became  known  in  Rome 
that  President  Garfield  had  died,  the  following 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


417 


correspondence  passed  between  Rome  and  Wash- 
ington : 

Rome,  Sept.  22,  1881. 

To  His  Excellency  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  Washington. 

The  loss  of  the  illustrious  President  of  the 
United  States,  James  A.  Garfield,  caused  deep 
sorrow  to  the  Holy  Father.  His  Holiness  di- 
rects me  to  present  his  condolence  to  your  Ex- 
cellency and  to  the  Government,  and  his  best 
wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  the  Republic. 

E.  CARDINAL  JACOBINI. 

Department  of  State,  Washington, 
Sept.  22,  1S81. 

To  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Jacobini,  Rome. 

The  considerate  and  comprehensive  expres- 
sion of  sympathy  from  His  Holiness  is  very 
grateful  to  the  bereaved  family  of  the  late  Presi- 
dent ;  and  in  their  name  and  in  behalf  of  this 
Government  I  return  profound  thanks. 

m^^rn^,  Secretary  of  State. 

And  here  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  the  ink 
was  scarcely  dry  on  the  letter  the  Pope  wrote 
earlier  in  the  year,  exhorting  the  faithful  to  do 
penance  for  the  crimes  of  the  world,  and  ask 
Divine  forgiveness,  when  the  whole  universe  was 
startled  by  the  news  of  the  assassination  of 
Alexander  II.,  Emperor  of  Russia.  Truly 
prophetic  were  the  utterances  of  the  Holy 
Father,  that  "  human  authority  has  no  checks 
left  sufl&cient  to  restrain  the  untamed  spirits  of 
the  rebellious."  Immediately  on  hearing  of  the 
assassination,  His  Holiness  sent  the  Cardinal 
Secretary  of  State  to  the  two  Russian  princes 
then  in  Rome  to  assure  them  of  his  unfeigned 
regret  at  the  sad  occurrence.  He  also  despatched 
a  telegram  to  the  Emperor  Alexander  III.,  ex- 
pressing his  sorrow,  and  manifesting  his  good 
wishes  for  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the 
new  occupant  of  the  throne  of  Russia.  An 
answer  was  shortly  afterwards  received,  con- 
veying the  grateful  acknowledgment  of  Alex- 
ander III.  for  the  solicitude  of  His  Holiness. 

The  Holy  Father's  Love  for  Ireland. 

The  Holy  Father  had  several  audiences  with 


the  Irish  prelates  during  their  stay  in  Rome. 
He  expressed  to  them  his  kindly  feeling  and  good 
wishes  toward  his  children  of  the  Emerald  Isle, 
and  gave  assurance  of  his  appreciation  of  their 
fidelity  to  their  faith  and  the  Apostolic  See.  Later 
on  the  Pope  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Dublin: 

"  To  our  Vetterable  Brother,  Edward  McCabe, 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Primate  of  Ireland. 

"  Venerable  Brother: — Health  and  apostolic 
benediction.  We  read  with  pleasure  your  letter  re- 
recently  addressed  to  the  clergy  and  people  of  the 
diocese  of  Dublin,  and  presented  to  us  by  you 
when  you  were  in  Rome  ;  for  in  it  we  recognized 
your  prudence  and  moderation,  since,  while  Ire- 
land is  now  deeply  moved,  partly  by  a  desire  of 
better  things,  partly  by  a  fear  of  an  uncertain 
future,  you  offer  counsel  admirably  suited  to  the 
occasion. 

The  unhappy  condition  of  Catholics  in  Ireland 
disquiets  and  afflicts  us ;  and  we  highly  esteem 
their  virtue,  sorely  tried  by  adversity,  not  for  a 
brief  period  only,  but  for  many  centuries.  For, 
with  the  greatest  fortitude  and  constancy,  they 
preferred  to  endure  every  misfortune  rather  than 
forsake  the  religion  of  their  fathers,  or  deviate  in 
the  slightest  degree  from  their  ancient  fidelity  to 
the  Apostolic  See.  Moreover,  it  is  their  singular 
glory,  extending  down  to  the  present  time,  that 
most  noble  proofs  of  all  the  other  virtues  were 
never  wanting  amongst  them.  These  reasons 
force  us  to  love  them  with  paternal  benevolence, 
and  fervently  to  wish  that  the  evils  by  which 
they  are  afflicted  may  quickly  be  brought  to  an 
end. 

"  At  the  same  time  we  unhesitatingly  declare 
that  it  is  their  duty  to  be  carefully  on  their  guard 
not  to  allow  the  fame  of  their  sterling  and  hered- 
itary probity  to  be  lessened,  and  not  to  commit 
any  rash  act  whereby  they  may  seem  to  have 
cast  aside  the  obedience  due  to  their  lawful  rulers  ; 
and  for  this  reason,  whenever  Ireland  was  greatly 
excited  in  guarding  and  defending  her  own  inter- 
ests, the  Roman  Pontiffs  constantly  endeavored, 
by  admonition  and  exhortation,  to  allay  the  ex- 


4i8 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIIL 


cited  feelings,  lest,  by  a  disregard  of  moderation, 
justice  might  be  violated,  or  the  cause,  however 
right  in  itself,  might  be  forced  by  the  influ- 
ence of  passions  into  the  flame  of  sedition. 
These  counsels  were  also  directed  to  the  end  that 
the  Catholics  of  Ireland  should  in  all  things  fol- 
low the  Church  as  a  guide  and  teacher;  and,- 
thoroughly  conforming  themselves  to  her  pre- 
cepts, they  should  reject  the  allurements  of  per- 
nicious doctrines.  Thus  the  Supreme  Pontiff, 
Gregory  XVI.,  on  the  12th  of  March,  1839, 
and  on  the  15th  of  October,  1844,  through  the 
Sacred  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda,  admon- 
ished the  Archbishop  of  Armagh  to  do  nothing 
except  with  justice  and  moderation.  And  we, 
following  the  example  of  our  predecessors,  took 
care  on  the  ist  of  June  last  year,  as  you  are 
aware,  to  give  to  all  the  bishops  of  Ireland  the 
salutary  admonitions  which  the  occasion  de- 
manded ;  namely,  that  the  Irish  people  should 
obey  the  bishops,  and  in  no  particular  deviate 
from  the  sacredness  of  duty.  And  a  little  later, 
in  the  month  of  November,  we  testified  to  some 
Irish  bishops  who  had  come  to  visit  the  tombs  of 
the  Apostles,  that  we  ardently  desired  every  good 
gift  for  the  people  of  Ireland ;  but  we  also  added 
that  order  should  not  be  disturbed. 

"This  manner  of  thinking  and  acting  is  en- 
tirely conformable  to  the  ordinances  and  laws  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  we  have  no  doubt  that 
it  will  conduce  to  the  interests  of  Ireland.  For  we 
have  confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  men  who  are 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  state,  and  who  certainly, 
for  the  most  part,  have  great  practical  experience, 
combined  with  prudence,  in  civil  affairs.  Ireland 
may  obtain  what  she  wants  much  more  safely  and 
readily  if  only  she  adopts  a  course  which  the 
laws  allow,  and  avoids  giving  causes  of  offence. 

"Therefore,  venerable  brother,  let  you  and 
your  colleagues  in  the  episcopate  direct  your 
efforts  to  the  end  that  the  people  of  Ireland,  in 
this  anxious  condition  of  affairs,  do  not  trans- 
gress the  bounds  of  equity  and  justice.  We  have 
assuredly  received  from  the  bishops,  the  clergy 
and  the  people  of  Ireland  many  proofs  of  rever- 
ence and  affection  ;  and  if  now,  in  a  willing  spirit, 


they  obey  these  counsels  and  our  authority,  as 
we  are  certain  they  will,  they  may  feel  assured 
that  they  have  fulfilled  their  own  duty  and  have 
completely  satisfied  us. 

"  Finally,  from  our  heart  we  implore  God  to 
look  down  propitiously  on  Ireland;  and  in  the 
meantime,  as  a  pledge  of  heavenly  gifts,  we  affec- 
tionately impart  in  the  Lord  the  apostolic  bene- 
diction to  you,  venerable  brother,  to  the  other 
bishops  of  Ireland  and  to  the  entire  clergy  and 
people. 

"  Given  at  St.  Peter's,  Rome,  on  the  3d  day  of 
January,  1881,  in  the  third  year  of  our  Pontifi- 
cate. 

"LEO  PP.  XIIL" 

At  a  meeting  of  the  clergy  of  the  archdiocese 
of  Boston,  held  January  25th,  at  which  His  Grace 
Archbishop  Williams  presided,  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  convey  to  the  clergy  and  people  of 
Ireland  an  expression  of  their  brotherly  love  and 
sympathy,  and  an  assurance  of  more  support  and 
all  possible  assistance  in  their  present  movement 
to  obtain  redress  of  their  grievances. 

In  fulfilment  of  this  intention,  the  committee 
sent  the  following  address  : — 

To  THE  Clergy  and  People  of  Ireland: 

Many  causes  combine  to  make  it  becoming  in 
us  to  address  you  words  of  fraternal  sympathy 
at  the  present  time. 

We  behold  you  ardently  engaged  in  the  pur- 
suit of  a  noble  end,  the  attainment  of  which  will 
release  a  whole  people  from  a  host  of  evils  ;  and 
regard  you,  therefore,  as  eminently  worthy  of  our 
warmest  sympathy  and  most  outspoken  encour- 
agement. 

That  sympathy  for  suffering  and  indignation 
at  injustice  which  are  natural  to  the  human 
beart  are  in  this  case  intensified  by  feelings  that 
spring  from  community  of  race  and  nationality. 
You  are  our  kindred  in  blood,  and,  for  the  most 
part,  of  the  same  household  of  the  faith ;  and 
thus  natural  affection  and  divine  charity,  as  well 
as  the  claims  of  justice,  engage  us  in  your 
cause. 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS  DURING  HIS  PONTIFICATE. 


419 


Citizens  as  we  are  of  a  flourishing  republic, 
living  among  a  self-governing  people,  and  wit- 
nessing and  enjoying  the  blessings  of  civil 
liberty  and  legislative  independence,  we  cannot 
withhold  our  enthusiastic  approval  of  your  well- 
conceived  and  well-conducted  eflforts  to  secure  the 
same  blessings  for  yourselves  and  future  genera- 
tions of  Irishmen  on  their  own  soil. 

The  truths  of  religion  and  the  dictates  of 
patriotism  being  in  perfect  accord,  it  is  the  ofl&ce 
of  the  priest  to  bless  the  labors  of  the  statesmen 
who  seek  to  frame  laws  for  the  benefit  of  their 
country. 

Ireland,  after  centuries  of  suffering  from  the 
effects  of  unjust  conquest,  ruthless  spoliation,  and 
an  almost  total  alienation  of  the  soil  and  its 
consequent  evil  of  an  intruded  and  rapacious 
landlord  class,  is  now  making  a  supreme  effort 
to  rid  herself  of  these  crying  evils ;  and  we 
joyfully  seize  the  occasion  to  tender  to  her  our 
deep  concern  for  her  welfare,  our  best  wishes  for 
her  success,  and  all  the  solace  and  help  in  our 
power. 

Your  efforts  to  eradicate  from  your  native  land 
the  evil  effects  of  alien  domination  and  usurpa- 
tion of  the  soil,  twin  relics  of  conquest  and 
feudalism,  deserve  the  full  approval  and  hearty 
supp'ort  of  all  friends  of  human  happiness  in 
every  land. 

The  worthiness  of  the  end  proposed,  the  prac- 
tical and  thorough  character  of  the  reforms 
demanded,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  methods 
adopted,  amply  justify  this  declaration. 

The  gravity  of  the  crisis  through  which 
Ireland  is  now  passing,  the  magnitude  of  the 
interest  involved,  and  the  probable  results  of  this 
great  social  and  political  movement,  have  arrested 
the  attention  of  the  civilized  world,  and  engaged 
the  serious  consideration  of  statesmen  at  home 
and  abroad. 

Moreover,  the  system  of  land  tenure  which 
impoverishes  Ireland  affects  us  injuriously  here 
in  iVmerica,  inasmuch  as  it  creates  an  additional 
object  of  charity,  whose  pressing  claims  have 
often  to  be  met  to  the  detriment  of  the  poor  at 
our  own  doors  and  the  orphans  of  our  diocese. 


We,  therefore,  feel  it  our  duty  to  aid  aud 
encourage  any  movement  that  by  legitimate 
means  seeks  to  rescue  Ireland  from  the  slough 
of  misery  and  enforced  poverty  in  which  she 
has  so  long  lain,  and  make  her  self-supporting, 
so  that  famine  shall  no  more  stalk  over  the  land, 
nor  the  tale  of  Ireland's  woe  continue  to  wring 
our  hearts  with  grief  for  our  suffering  brethren. 

While  we  applaud  your  efforts  to  shake  off  the 
evils  that  oppress  you,  we  admire  your  patience 
in  times  of  sore  aflB.iction,  your  splendid  con- 
stancy in  the  faith,  your  self-control  in  the  pres- 
ence of  great  provocation,  and  your  persistent 
pursuit  of  your  rights  in  spite  of  unreasoning 
and  brutal  opposition,  repeated  failure,  or  only 
partial  success. 

We  are  filled  with  wonder  at  the  efficacy  you 
have  known  how  to  infuse  into  an  orderly,  peace- 
ful and  constiti:tional  agitation  for  the  revision 
of  the  iniquitous  land  laws  imposed  upon  your 
country  by  an  alien  legislature ;  and  we  hope 
and  pray  that  no  resort  to  arbitrary  power,  or 
the  substitution  of  the  methods  of  tyrants  for 
the  peaceful  process  of  civil  law,  will  be  able  to 
stifle  your  voice,  or  paralyze  your  action. 

We  are  friendly  to  any  movement  that  is 
founded  on  correct  principles,  tending  to  redress 
the  grievances  of  the  people  of  Ireland ;  and 
feeling,  in  this  crisis  in  the  history  of  land-law 
reform,  that  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  plat- 
form of  the  Land  League  Convention  at  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  are  justified  by  religion  and  morality,  we 
extend  our  earnest  and  heartfelt  sympathy  and 
co-operation  to  all  those  who  are  laboring  in  such 
a  just  and  righteous  cause,  as  long  as  they  are 
guided  by  these  principles. 

We  solemnly  declare  that  if  the  British  Parlia- 
ment is  unwilling  or  unable  to  apply  an  eflBcient 
remedy  "  to  the  cancer  that  is  eating  away  the 
life  of  the  nation,"  it  is  the  duty  of  England  to 
remit  the  cure  of  the  evil  to  the  people  of  Ireland 
themselves. 

Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  do  we  hesitate  to  de- 
nounce as  pernicious  and  infamous  the  conduct 
of  certain  supposed  emissaries  of  secret  societies, 
who  seek  to  infuse  into  this  movement  a  spirit  of 


420 


UFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIII. 


injustice,  and  a  disregard  for  the  laws  of  morality 
as  expounded  by  the  Catholic  Church. 

Following  in  the  footsteps  of  our  Holy  Father, 
Pope  Leo  XIIL,  who  has  recently  manifested  his 
defep  concern  for  the  temporal  as  well  as  the  eter- 
nal welfare  of  the  faithful  people  of  Ireland,  by 
addressing  them  words  of  paternal  sympathy  and 
apostolic  counsel,  we  declare  that  we  are  advo- 
cates of  peace  and  civic  order,  and  hold  with  St. 
Thomas  and  other  Catholic  doctors  that  the  only 
laudable  and  stable  order  is  that  which  is  founded 
on  justice  to  all  men,  effective  redress  of  wrong, 
and  an  equitable  adjustment  of  conflicting  in- 
terest. 

All  civilized  governments  are  more  or  less 
influenced  by  the  public  opinion  of  the  world; 
and  we  will  rejoice  with  you,  should  this  declara- 
tion of  ours  serve,  even  in  the  slightest  degree, 
to  give  more  force  and  eflScacy  to  the  desire  of  the 
nations,  that  the  condition  of  Ireland  should  cease 
to  be  the  reproach  of  modern  statesmanship,  a 
blot  upon  the  civilization  of  the  age,  and  a  de- 
plorable and  needless  exception  to  the  general 
prosperity  of  the  people  of  Europe. 

Our  confidence  in  ultimate  success  is  much 
increased  when  we  see  the  clergy  and  people  of 
Ireland,  without  regard  to  differences  of  creed  or 
party  affiliations,  tending  to  unite  in  the  work  of 
redressing  the  wrongs  under  which  she  has  so 
long  groaned ;  and  we  hope  that  the  bonds  of  this 
growing  union  may  be  drawn  closer  day  by  day, 
till  the  united  voice  of  the  children  of  Ireland,  at 
home  and  abroad,  demanding  justice,  not  alms, 
shall  at  length  be  heard  and  heeded. 

We  pray  the  Giver  of  all  good  gifts  that  he  may 
reward  Ireland's  centuries  of  suffering,  and  fidel- 
ity to  religion,  with  the  fullest  civil  liberty,  peace 
and  prosperity,  so  that  she  may  be  once  again  the 
home  of  learning  and  science,  and  a  source  of 
blessings  to  other  nations. 

tJOHN  J.  WILLIAMS, 
^■■-  Archbishop  of  Boston. 

WILLIAM  BYRNE,  V.  G. 
W.  A.  BLENKINSOP,  Chairman, 
Pastor  SS.  Peter  and  Paul 's  Church,  Boston. 


M.  J.  FLATLEY,  Secretary, 
Pastor  St.  Joseph's,  Wakefield. 

THOMAS  H.  SHAHAN, 
Pastor  St.  yames's  Church.^  Boston 

THOMAS  MAGENNIS, 
Pastor  St.  Thomas  s  Churchy  Boston. 

MICHAEL  J.  MASTERSON, 
Pastor  St.  Johns  Churchy  Peabody^  Mass. 

Pope  Leo's  Private  Hass. 

We  reproduce  an  account  which  an  American 
priest,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bernard  O'Reilly,  recently 
gave  of  a  visit  to  the  Vatican,  where  he  was  per- 
mitted to  attend  the  private  Mass  of  His  Holi- 
ness : 

"  It  is  in  one  sense,"  wrote  Dr.  O'Reilly,  "  for- 
tunate that  Leo  XIIL  is  debarred,  by  the  present 
political  circumstances  of  the  Holy  See,  from  per- 
forming the  splendid  functions  in  St.  Peter's  and 
some  of  the  other  great  churches  of  Rome,  which 
fell  to  the  lot  of  his  predecessors.  The  unceasing 
energy  required  by  the  writing  of  his  encyclicals 
and  other  important  official  documents — and  he 
writes  and  corrects  them  all  himself — together 
with  the  extraordinary  and  difficult  diplomatic 
affairs  which  he  has  to  deal  with,  and  the  vast 
extension  he  has  given  to  missions  everywhere, 
would  absorb  the  time,  and  tax  to  the  utmost  the 
strength  of  young,  experienced  and  robust  man- 
hood. But  Leo  XIIL,  in  his  seventy-seventh 
year,  is  manifestly  unequal  to  the  long  and  fa- 
tiguing ceremonies  of  the  solemn  Pontifical  offices 
in  St.  Peter's.  At  least,  so  I  thought,  after  hav- 
ing carefully  observed  him  this  morning  in  the 
Vatican.  I  shall  relate  my  experience,  and  allow 
your  readers  to  j  udge  of  the  wonderful  power  of 
endurance  of  one  apparently  so  weak,  and  whose 
every  day,  from  early  morning  till  late  into  the 
night,  is  one  unbroken  round  of  most  wearying 
occupations. 

"  During  the  Lenten  season,  and  especially  in 
Holy  Week  and  Easter  Week,  the  number  of 
Catholic  visitors  from  all  countries  is  very  great 
in  Rome;  and  great,  too,  is  the  eagerness  to  ob- 
tain an  audience  of  the  Holy  Father.    Very,  very 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


421 


many,  however,  have  to  leave  Rome  without 
seeing  him.  It  is  still  more  diflB.cult  to  obtain 
the  privilege  of  assisting  at  the  Pope's  private 
Mass,  and  receiving  Holy  Communion  from  his 
hand.  An  exception,  nevertheless,  is  made  on  a 
very  few  days  during  the  two  weeks  I  have  men- 
tioned. From  what  I  am  going  to  relate,  it  will 
be  seen  what  fatigue  it  must  be  for  one  so  old, 
feeble  and  overworked,  to  give  Communion  to  a 
large  number  of  persons. 

"  Well,  we  were  in  the  private  chapel  precisely 
at  the  hour  appointed  this  morning,  half-past 
seven.  When  I  say  private  chapel,  I  must  ex- 
plain. The  chapel  proper  is  a  small  oratory, 
with  folding  doors  opening  out  directly  in  front 
of  the  altar,  into  an  apartment  hung  in  crimson 
damask,  and  capable  of  seating  about  a  hundred 
persons.  We  found  it  nearly  filled.  The  folding 
doors  were  open,  the  candles  were  lighted  on  the 
altar;  most  of  the  distinguished  persons  present 
were  seated,  a  few  kneeling,  all  apparently  ab- 
sorbed in  their  devotions.  As  the  folding  doors 
were  narrow,  you  could  see  only  the  altar,  with 
its  fronting  of  cloth  of  gold,  and  its  lights.  The 
priestly  vestments  were  laid  upon  it  in  front  of 
the  tabernacle.  One  of  the  chaplains  was  ar- 
ranging the  signets  in  the  missal. 

"  Suddenly  there  was  a  commotion.  All  pres- 
ent had  dropped  on  their  knees ;  and  a  slender 
form,  wearing  a  white  cassock  and  cape,  with  a 
pectoral  cross  of  gold,  stood  for  a  moment  like 
an  apparition  in  front  of  the  altar,  and  turned 
towards  us.  He  sprinkled  the  worshippers  with 
holy  water,  uttering  in  low  tones  the  words  of 
the  benediction,  and  then,  turning  towards  the 
altar,  genuflected  and  retired  to  ^prie-dieu  at  the 
Gospel  side  to  recite  the  psalms  and  prayers  pre- 
scribed before  the  Mass. 

"To  those  who  had  never  until  then  set  eyes 
on  Leo  Xin.  this  sudden  apparition  must  have 
been  startling.  The  pure  white  cassock,  the  face, 
itself  of  almost  transparent  whiteness,  the  hair 
and  skull-cap  of  the  same  color,  the  radiant  coun- 
tenance and  the  benediction  waved  over  our 
heads,  seemed  like  a  vision. 

"We  heard  the  deep  tones  of  the  Pope  reciting 


alternately  with  his  two  chaplains  the  verses  of 
the  preparatory  psalms,  and  there  was  silence. 
Then  the  slender  white  form  of  His  Holiness  re- 
appeared at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  and  his  two 
chaplains  robed  him  in  the  sacred  vestments.  He 
seemed  utterly  unconscious  of  everything  but 
the  Presence  in  which  he  stood  and  the  rite  for 
which  he  was  preparing.  At  length  he  is  fully 
vested,  and,  genuflecting,  begins  Mass. 

"  As  he  stood  there,  slightly  stooping,  I  could 
not  help  being  much  impressed.  It  was  the  great 
high  priest  of  my  faith,  bending  before  the 
tabernacle  of  the  New  Law,  in  which  was  the  re- 
ality prefigured  by  the  manna ;  and  Leo  XIII. 
seemed  to  pierce  the  veil,  to  see  and  to  address 
Him  who  sat  throned  invisibly  there. 

"  I  have  never  heard  the  divine  words  of  the 
liturgy  uttered  with  so  fervent  and  solemn  a  sig- 
nificance as  Christ's  Vicar  on  earth  gives  to  them. 
When  he  bent  down  to  recite  the  confession  you 
could  see  his  whole  frame  moved  by  the  deep 
feeling  with  which  every  word  was  pronounced  : 
mea  ailpa^  mea  adpa^  mea  maxima  culpa — '  Be- 
cause I  have  sinned  exceedingly,  through  my 
fault,  through  my  fault,  through  my  exceeding 
great  fault.' 

"All  through  the  introit,  the  prayers,  Kyrie^ 
Gloria  in  Excelsts,  Epistle  and  Gospel,  every 
word,  without  being  loud,  was  distinctly  audible. 
The  words  of  the  Gloria  especially  seemed  to 
move  that  white,  feeble  frame  with  unwonted 
emotion.  At  every  sentence  one  would  fancy 
there  was  some  force  lifting  tip  that  bent  head 
and  shoulders.  There  was  unspeakable  pathos 
in  the  tone  with  which  he  uttered  the  last  por- 
tions of  this  angelic  hymn :  '  We  give  Thee 
thanks.  For  Thou  alone  art  holy.  Thou  alone 
art  Lord.  Thou  alone  art  most  high,  O  Christ 
Jesus ! ' 

"  I  cannot  describe  the  succeeding  parts  of  the 
Mass  after  the  offertory.  Deeply  as  I  felt,  I  believe 
every  one  present  felt  more  than  I  did.  A  layman 
— a  young  man,  too — who  knelt  by  my  side,  could 
scarcely  contain  himself.  At  the  elevation,  and 
afterward  in  the  interval  before  the  communion, 
I  could  not  help  thinking,  as  if  I  saw  it,  that  it 


422 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIIL 


was  as  if  Moses  on  the  mount  stood  face  to  face 
with  God  and  pleaded  with  all  the  people. 

"What  a  burden  of  care  and  sorrow  and  har- 
rowing anxiety  has  Leo  XIII.  to  bring  daily  into 
that  Presence,  and  lay  there  at  the  foot  of  the 
mercy-seat !  The  troubles  of  Germany  are  now 
well-nigh  ended ;  but  how,  since  the  20th  of 
Februar}',  1878,  till  this  day,  Leo  XIII.  must 
have  prayed  there  for  the  end  of  that  fearful 
persecution  !  And  it  is  far  worse  in  France  than 
it  ever  was  in  Germany.  This  very  day  Arch- 
bishop Richard,  co-adjutor  to  Cardinal  Guibert, 
of  Paris,  is  in  Rome,  devising  with  the  Holy 
Father  some  means  of  preventing  the  rupture 
now  daily  expected  between  France  and  the 
Vatican.  And  in  Russia  they  are  still  crushing, 
butchering,  exiling  the  Catholic  populations; 
while  in  Tonquin  and  Cochin  China  they  are 
massacring  them.  There  is  not  one  spot,  far  or 
near,  in  the  Christian  world,  with  which  yonder 
venerable  man  is  not  acquainted ;  not  a  want  or 
a  danger  of  all  these  churches  and  missions  of 
which  he  is  not  informed — wonderfully  well  in- 
formed— and  which  he  does  not  bring  to  that 
altar  daily  in  his  fatherly  heart,  there  to  plead 
for  it  with  the  Father  of  all.  Do  we  wonder  that 
these  shoulders  are  bent  far  more  with  all  these 
cares  than  with  the  weight  of  seventy-seven 
years  of  earthly  labors  ? 

"  To  look  at  the  priestly  form  at  the  altar,  as 
it  swayed  to  and  fro  with  some  strong  emotion, 
you  would  think  that  the  two  assistants  were 
only  by  its  side  to  prevent  it  "from  suddenly  fall- 
ing by  sheer  weakness.  But  is  the  Pope  going 
to  give  Holy  Communion  to  that  chapel-full  ?  I 
waited  and  watched  with  wonder,  fearful  lest  his 
strength  should  utterly  fail  him.  But  the  seventy 
or  eighty  persons  there,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  all 
approached  and  knelt  in  their  turn,  receiving  the 
Divine  gift  from  what  might  be  deemed  a  hand 
unsteady  and  uncertain,  but  which  was  under  the 
control  of  an  iron  will. 

"  It  was  for  me  a  sight  never  to  be  forgotten, 
to  behold  the  unaffected  and  concentrated  piety 
of  all  these  persons,  as  if  they  were  in  the  upper 
chamber  with   Christ,   and    received    from    His 


hand  the  sacramental  bread.  One  white-haired 
man  wore  stars  and  orders  ;  but  it  was  only  to 
do  honor  to  the  King  of  kings,  whom  he  had 
come  to  receive.  Another,  a  venerable  Pole, 
was  quite  blind. 

"  At  length  the  Mass  was  over ;  the  last  bless- 
ing had  been  given,  oh,  so  solemnly !  and  the 
Holy  Father  stood  there  in  front  of  the  altar 
while  they  disrobed  him.  Everything  was  done 
so  quietly,  so  gently,  so  silently  ;  and  you  could 
hear  almost  the  beating  of  your  own  pulse  in 
that  chapel,  where  all  these  worshippers  were 
kneeling,  wrapped  in  the  Divine  Presence,  and 
praying  for  the  dear  ones  at  home,  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  for  they  had  come  from 
every  land. 

"  The  Pope  knelt  in  thanksgiving  a  little  to 
the  left  of  the  altar,  while  one  of  his  chaplains 
celebrated  Mass  after  him.  This  is  always  the 
rule.  The  second  Mass  over,  an  arm-chair  was 
brought  to  the  Epistle  side,  below  the  platform  ; 
and  the  Holy  Father  seated  himself,  in  order 
that  each  of  those  present  should  come  in  turn 
and  get  his  blessing,  and  have  a  kind  word  from 
the  common  parent  of  Christendom. 

"  I  watched  with  a  keen  attention  all  these 
families  and  groups  of  persons  as  they  ap- 
proached in  succession,  and  were  presented  by 
Mousignor  Macchi.  How  the  sweet  face  —  so 
unearthly  in  its  spiritualized  pallor  and  trans- 
parency —  beamed  with  the  light  of  true  fatherly 
affection  on  these  representatives  of  the  great 
Catholic  family !  Every  one  was  questioned, 
consoled,  blessed,  and  sent  away  with  kind  mes- 
sages and  blessings  to  the  absent  ones.  There 
was  a  whole  family  in  a  circle  around  the  Pope's 
chair,  among  them  a  little  girl  to  whom  he  had 
just  given  her  first  communion.  Then  two 
ladies,  one  of  whom  was  in  deep  affliction,  for  she 
sobbed  bitterly ;  and  the  fatherly  heart  went  out 
to  her  in  sweet  words  of  comfort.  And  so  group 
after  group  knelt,  uttered  their  petitions,  which 
were  kindly  answered ;  and  the  saintly  face 
beamed  on  all,  as  one  might  fancy  that  of  the 
Saviour  did  in  some  sylvan  spot  in  Galilee,  when 
He  had  taught  the  multitude  and  fed  them,  and 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING   HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


423 


allowed  them  to  come  to  Him,  to  kiss  His  feet, 
His  hands,  the  very  hem  of  His  garments.  And 
is  not  that  venerable  figure  the  Vicar  of  Christ 
to  us  ? 

"  Our  turn  came.  We  were  not  strangers  to 
Leo  XIII.  He  had  much  to  say,  many  blessings 
to  give  to  my  companion.  I  was  questioned 
about  the  progress  of  my  work.  Again  and 
again  I  kissed  that  dear  hand,  which  is  never 
raised  but  to  bless.  And  we  went  away  feeling 
as  if  we  had  been  near  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret 
in  the  time  of  our  Lord. 

"  Such  is  Leo  XIII.,  a  parent  to  whom  all  come, 
as  of  old  children  came  to  Christ,  to  be  blessed 
and  prayed  for.  It  is  something,  in  these  days 
of  doubt,  to  have  on  earth  one  who  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  God's  authority  and  the  living  image 
of  His  fatherly  kindness. 

The  Holy  Father's  Faith  in  Ireland. 

During  Pope  Leo's  fourth  year  he  addressed 
another  enclyclical  letter  to  Cardinal  McCabe,  as 
the  head  of  the  Irish  episcopate.  The  Holy 
Father  evidently  was  deeply  concerned  over  the 
Irish  question  ;  and  he  seems  to  have  feared  that, 
as  the  agitation  grew  intenser  in  Ireland,  there 
might  be  some  grounds  for  dread  lest  harm  should 
come  to  his  faithful  Irish  Catholics.  His  faith 
in  them  never  for  an  instant  wavered,  neither  did 
his  good  will  towards  them  and  the  patriotic 
hopes  which  he  knew  they  entertained  for  their 
country.  He  afterwards  proved  the  sincerity  of 
his  sympathy  in  a  striking  manner,  by  appoint- 
ing Archbishop  Walsh  to  the  see  of  Dublin,  after 
the  death  of  Cardinal  McCabe.  Prior  to  the  con- 
vocation of  the  Irish  prelates  in  Rome  in  1883, 
His  Holiness  appears  to  have  been  somewhat  agi- 
tated over  the  Irish  situation,  as  the  following 
letter,  sent  to  Cardinal  McCabe  on  the  5th  of 
August,  1882,  would  seem  to  indicate: 

"  Beloved  Son,  Venerable  Brethren  : — 
Health  and  apostolic  benediction.  The  loving 
good  will  with  which  we  embrace  the  Irish  peo- 
ple, and  of  which  the  intensity  seems  only  to 
increase  with  the  present  difl&culties,  leads  us  to 


follow  with  singular  care  and  paternal  feeling  the 
course  of  events  occurring  among  you.  But  this 
consideration  gives  us  more  of  anxiety  than  of 
comfort,  because  we  do  not  yet  see  the  public 
affairs  of  your  country  in  that  condition  of  peace 
and  prosperity  which  we  desire.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  pressure  is  still  felt  of  grievous  hard- 
ships :  on  the  other,  perplexing  agitation  hurries 
many  into  turbulent  courses  ;  and  men  have  not 
been  wanting  who  stained  themselves  with  atro- 
cious murders,  as  if  it  were  possible  to  find  hope 
for  national  happiness  in  public  disgrace  and 
crime. 

"  We  already  knew,  and  have  again  recently 
seen  from  what  you  decreed  in  your  last  meeting 
in  Dublin,  that,  from  the  same  causes,  you,  be- 
loved son,  venerable  brethren,  are  no  less  anxious 
than  ourselves.  Trembling  for  the  common  wel- 
fare, you  very  properly  laid  down  what  every  one 
must  avoid  in  so  difficult  a  crisis  and  in  the 
midst  of  conflict.  So  doing,  you  certainly  acted 
both  according  to  your  duty  as  bishops  and  for 
the  public  interest.  For  men  need  the  advice  of 
their  bishops  most  of  all  when,  under  the  impulse 
of  some  violent  craving,  they  mistake  their  true 
interests  by  false  judgments ;  and  if  ever  they 
are  impetuously  driven,  as  it  were,  to  relinquish 
the  right  course,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  bishops  to 
moderate  the  excited  feeling  of  the  people,  and, 
by  timely  exhortations,  to  bring  them  back  to  the 
justice  and  moderation  necessary  in  all  things. 
You  seasonably  recalled  the  Divine  precept,  to 
seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  justice^  by 
which  Christians  are  commanded  in  every  action 
of  life,  and  consequently  in  their  actions  also  as 
citizens,  to  keep  in  view  their  eternal  salvation, 
and  place  religious  fidelity  to  duty  before  every 
temporal  consideration.  So  long  as  these  rules 
are  observed,  it  is  lawful  for  the  Irish  to  seek  re- 
lief in  their  misfortunes ;  it  is  lawful  for  them  to 
contend  for  their  rights  :  for  it  cannot  be  thought 
that  what  is  permitted  to  every  other  country  is 
forbidden  to  Ireland.  Nevertheless,  interest  must 
be  directed  by  justice;  and  it  must  be  seriously 
considered,  that  it  is  base  to  defend  by  unjust 
means  any  cause,  however  just.     And  justice  is 


4«4 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIII. 


not  to  be  found  in  violence,  and  especially  not  in 
those  secret  societies  which,  under  pretext  of  vin- 
dicating a  right,  generally  end  in  violent  disturb- 
ance of  the  public  peace.  As  our  predecessors 
more  than  once,  and  we  ourselves  have  done,  so 
you,  in  your  Dublin  meeting,  have  now  given  a 
timely  warning  with  how  much  caution  every 
good  man  should  keep  aloof  from  such  societies. 
Still,  so  long  as  the  danger  lasts,  it  is  for  you,  in 
your  watchfulness,  often  to  repeat  authoritatively 
the  warning,  exhorting  all  Irishmen,  by  the  holi- 
ness of  the  Catholic  name,  and  by  the  very  love 
of  their  country,  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  so- 
cieties of  this  sort,  which  are  powerless  to  obtain 
what  the  people  rightfully  ask,  and  which  too 
often  impel  to  crime  those  who  have  been  fired 
by  their  allurements.  Since  the  Irish  are  proud, 
and  deservedly,  to  be  called  Catholics — which  is, 
as  St.  Augustine  explains,  guardians  of  integrity^ 
and  followers  of  wJiat  is  right — let  them  bear  out 
to  the  full  their  name ;  and,  even  when  they  are 
asserting  their  rights,  let  them  strive  to  be  what 
they  are  called.  Let  them  remember  that  the 
first  of  all  liberties  is  to  be  free  from  crime;  and 
let  them  so  conduct  themselves  through  life,  that 
none  of  them  may  suffer  the  penalties  of  the  law 
as  a  murderer^  or  a  thief  or  a  railer^  or  a  coveter 
of  other  metis  things. 

"  But  it  is  fitting  that  your  episcopal  solicitude 
in  governing  the  people  should  be  assisted  by 
the  virtue,  the  labor,  and  the  industry  of  all  the 
clergy.  With  reference  to  this  subject,  all  that 
you  thought  proper  to  decree  concerning  priests, ' 
especially  the  younger  clergy,  we  judge  right, 
and  suited  to  the  circumstances.  For  priests, 
if  at  any  time,  certainly  in  these  popular  storms, 
must  be  watchful  and  laborious  co-operators  in 
the  preservation  of  order.  And  as  in  proportion 
to  the  high  estimation  in  which  one  is  held  is  his 
influence  on  the  minds  of  others,  they  must  en- 
deavor to  gain  the  approbation  of  the  people  by 
their  gravity,  constancy  and  moderation  in  word 
and  deed,  and  never  take  any  step  that  may  appear 
wanting  in  prudence  or  in  the  spirit  of  concilia- 
tion. It  is  easily  understood  that  the  clergy 
will   be   such   as   the   circumstances   require,  if 


early  trained  by  wise  discipline  and  sound 
direction.  For,  as  the  Fathers  of  Trent  admon- 
ished, the  age  of  youth^  unless  it  be  formed 
from  its  tender  years  unto  piety  and  religion^  will 
never  perfectly^  and  without  the  greatest^  and  well- 
nigh  special^  help  of  Almighty  God,  persevere  in 
ecclesiastical  discipline. 

"  In  this  way  and  by  these  means  we  believe 
that  Ireland  will,  without  any  violence,  attain 
that  prosperity  which  she  desires.  For,  as  we 
signified  to  you  on  another  occasion,  we  are 
confident  that  the  statesmen  who  preside  over 
the  adminstration  of  public  affairs  will  give 
satisfaction  to  the  Irish  when  they  demand  what 
is  just.  This  not  only  reason  advises,  but  also 
their  well-known  political  prudence ;  since  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  the  well-being  of  Ireland 
is  connected  with  the  tranquillity  of  the  whole 
empire. 

"We,  meanwhile,  with  this  hope,  do  not  cease 
to  help  the  Irish  people  with  the  authority  of 
our  advice,  and  to  offer  to  God  our  prayers,  in- 
spired by  solicitude  and  love,  that  He  would  graci- 
ously look  down  upon  a  people  so  distinguished 
by  many  noble  virtues,  and,  calming  the  storm, 
bless  it  with  the  longed-for  peace  and  prosperity. 
In  pledge  of  these  heavenly  blessings,  and  in 
token  of  our  great  affection,  we  lovingly  impart 
in  our  Lord  to  you,  beloved  son,  and  venerable 
brethren,  to  the  clergy,  and  to  the  whole  people,, 
the  apostolic  benediction." 

The  Plenary  Council  at  Baltimore  (1884). 

We  now  refer  to  the  Baltimore  Council,  which 
was  held  in  the  year  1884,  and  which,  of  course, 
forms  a  part  of  the  history  of  Pope  Leo's  Pontifi- 
cate, inasmuch  as  he  was  the  one  who  especially 
ordered  its  convocation.  Every  American  is 
familiar  with  the  calling  of  the  American  pre- 
lates to  Rome  by  the  Pope,  who  wished  to  advise 
with  them  on  the  condition  of  the  American 
Church.  The  American  dignitaries  remained 
in  Rome  for  months,  during  which  time  they 
held  many  interviews  with  the  cardinals  of  the 
Propaganda,  and  the  Holy  Father  himself,  who 
showed  a   great  desire   to  inform  himself  about. 


IMPORTANT   EVENTS   DURING  HIS  PONTIFICATE. 


425 


the  minutice  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  this  coun- 
try. He  evinced  the  same  interest  when  the 
Irish  prelates  were  in  Rome.  As  a  result  of  the 
conferences  of  the  Propaganda  and  the  American 
hierarchs,  a  plenary  council  of  the  Catholic 
Church  of  the  United  States  was  ordered ;  and 
as  the  Baltimore  Council,  whose  acts  have  since 
been  approved  by  the  Holy  See,  and  are  now 
being  enforced  in  the  various  dioceses  of  this 
country,  is  of  utmost  importance  to  American 
Catholics,  hence  we  give  here  a  short  account  of 
its  session. 

With  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance,  the  form 
and  ceremony,  which  have  been  associated  with 
the  Catholic  Church  for  centuries,  its  third 
plenary  council  in  the  United  States  opened  on 
the  9th  of  November,  in  the  Baltimore  Cathe- 
dral. The  minor  clergy  and  the  laity,  who  were 
to  participate  in  the  procession,  assembled  at 
St.  Alphonsus'  Hall,  about  two  squares  distant, 
and  then  marched  to  the  archbishop's  residence. 
The  streets  through  which  the  pageant  was  to 
pass  to  the  cathedral  were  crowded.  As  the 
cross-bearer,  carrying  the  processional  cross, 
came  leading  the  procession,  the  faithful  un- 
covered, or  made  a  genuflection.  Then  came 
the  secular  and  regular  clergy,  seminarians, 
theologians,  mitred  abbots,  bishops,  and  arch- 
bishops— all  in  the  full  panoply  of  their  sacred 
office.  Slowly  swinging  his  censer,  and  spread- 
ing around  an  odor  of  frankincense,  came  the 
censer-bearer;  and  then,  bringing  up  the  rear, 
the  apostolic  delegate.  Archbishop  Gibbons.  Pre- 
ceding him,  walked  with  feeble  steps  the  vener- 
able vicar-general  of  the  diocese.  Father  McCol- 
gan  ;  and  then  came  the  archbishop,  attended  by 
his  deacons  of  honor,  the  Rev.  Fathers  Curtis 
and  Devine,  with  thousands  of  devotees  bowing 
their  heads.  The  church  was  reached,  and  up 
the  long  aisles  came  the  steady  movement.  On 
reaching  the  sanctuary,  the  archbishops  took 
seats  to  the  right  of  the  altar,  and  the  abbots  and 
provincials  to  the  left.  The  bishops  occupied  the 
recess  of  the  altar  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  ;  while 
the  seminarians  occupied  the  recess  of  the  altar 
of  St.  Joseph.     The  priests  occupied  chairs  in 


the  aisles  and  in  front  of  the  sanctuary.  Arch- 
bishop Gibbons  occupied  the  throne ;  and  near 
him  was  the  Very  Rev.  Edward  McColgan,  vicar- 
general  of  the  archiepiscopal  see.  The  main 
altar  was  beautifully  decorated  with  evergreens 
and  white  flowers.  The  Most  Rev.  Archbishop 
Kenrick,  of  St.  Louis,  then  celebrated  the  grand 
high  Mass,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Dwight  Lyman 
as  deacon,  and  the  Rev.  J.  A.  McCallen,  S.S.,  as 
master  of  ceremonies.  The  music  was  of 
highest  order.  The  choir,  composed  of  over  fifty 
voices,  was  directed  by  the  Rev.  Father  Graf. 
Besides  the  choir,  the  seminarians  acted  as  choris- 
ters, and,  with  the  reverend  clergy  and  higher 
dignitaries,  chanted  the  litanies.  After  the  Mass 
the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Ryan,  of  Philadelphia, 
preached  on  "  The  Church  and  her  Councils." 
He  selected  for  his  text  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  18,  19, 
20.  He  said  that  it  was  not  without  emotion 
and  some  embarrassment  that  he  attempted  to 
make  an  address  on  this  august  occasion.  He 
was  to  speak  of  the  Church  which  Christ  had  es- 
tablished on  the  earth  and  of  its  head.  The 
Church  recognized  its  head  because  God  had 
placed  him  at  the  head  of  his  flock  on  earth. 
The  Church  had  been  exposed  to  rains  and  wind, 
but  it  fell  not,  because  it  was  founded  on  a  rock, 
and  Christ  said  it  should  continue  to  the  con- 
summation of  the  world.  It  was  not  deputed 
with  ordinary  power,  but  the  Holy  Ghost  had  en- 
dowed it  with  extraordinary  power.  Addressing 
himself  to  the  priesthood,  who  were  brought  more 
into  contact  with  the  people,  he  said  they  were 
present  at  the  council  to  aid  its  acts  by  their  ex- 
perience and  counsel.  He  said  he  was  present 
eighteen  years  ago  at  the  second  plenary  council^ 
when  there  were  forty-six  bishops,  and  now  there 
are  over  seventy.  Of  the  forty-six  then,  forty 
had  passed  to  the  Bishop  of  their  souls,  and  their 
nearness  to  God  makes  them  more  zealous  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  the  people. 
The  Church  was  fighting  the  battle  for  the  right 
against  the  wrong.  There  are  men  of  different 
religious  denominations,  and  men  of  no  religion 
at  all,  who  depend  upon  this  council  to  lay  the 
basis   of  a  sounder  morality ;  and   the  Church 


426 


LIFE  OF   POPE   LEO  XIII. 


knows  it  is  fatal  to  trust  to  human  honor  and 
honesty  without  supernatural  aid.  Men  say  they 
admire  the  Preacher  of  the  sermon  on  the  mount, 
but  do  not  connect  themselves  with  an  institution 
founded  by  that  Preacher.  He  said,  "  I  will 
build  my  Church  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  it.  Who  hears  you,  hears  me ; 
who  despises  you,  despises  me,  and  despises  the 
Father  who  sent  me."  He  promised  to  send  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  abide  with  His  people  forever. 
Saul  persecuted  not  Christ  personally,  but  His 
Church,  when  the  voice  said  to  him,  "  Saul,  Saul, 
why  persecutest  thou  me  ? "  The  Divine  law 
endowed  the  Church  with  a  mission  of  verification 
and  sanctification,  and  it  has  come  down  through 
all  the  centuries  wthout  a  break,  or  we  should 
not  know  that  it  was  the  true  Church  of  Christ. 
He  spoke  of  the  life  of  Christ  and  of  His  cruci- 
fixion and  ascension,  and  the  Church  can  say 
that  it  stood  with  Mary  and  John  at  the  foot  of 
the  cross  and  for  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years 
it  has  sung  His  praise.  Where  was  the  magnifi- 
cent Church  of  God  of  which  the  prophets  spoke? 
Behold  it  in  its  representative  in  this  young  re- 
public, beautiful  with  the  beauty  of  God. 

CBcumenical  councils  had  resulted  in  a  stronger 
adherence  to  the  faith.  Without  the  Church  the 
world  would  be  in  chaos.  The  Church  passes 
such  salutary  laws  as  will  protect  the  consciences 
of  the  people.  All  the  people  in  the  Church 
might  not  be  good,  for  there  was  a  Judas  and  a 
Peter ;  but  abuses  have  been  corrected,  and  will 
be,  for  Christ  said  :  "I  am  with  you  alwaj'^s,  even 
to  the  consummation  of  the  world."  The  arch- 
bishop spoke  against  modern  errors,  and  said  the 
teaching  of  the  Church  should  be  accepted. 
Among  the  disciples  there  was  one  reprobate,  and 
he  went  out  and  sold  Jesus  Christ  for  thirt}'' 
pieces  of  silver.  Without  the  Church  the  world 
would  go  back  to  worse  than  pagan  darkness. 
She  has  brought  back  the  most  abandoned,  and 
in  this  young  Republic  she  will  bring  back  the 
people  by  instruction,  teaching  submission  to  the 
will  of  God,  by  her  love  for  the  pure,  by  her  or- 
ders who  prefer  poverty  that  they  may  the  better 
serve  God.     She  will  call  all  the  people  into  her 


embrace.  She,  in  8i6,  abolished  slaverjj^  in  Eng- 
land, and  in  1 103  liberated  all  the  English  slaves 
in  Ireland.  Because  Christ  was  the  great  re- 
generator of  humanity,  the  Church  has  followed 
him  in  aiding  the  poor,  and  aiding  humanity. 

When  Archbishop  Ryan  left  the  sanctuary 
Archbishop  Gibbons  descended  from  his  throne, 
and,  with  Fathers  Devine  and  Curtis,  his  aids, 
knelt  at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  while  the  antiphon 
and  psalm  were  sung  by  the  choir.  All  of  the  pre- 
lates also  knelt,  and  the  scene  attending  this 
ceremony  was  very  impressive.  The  apostolic 
delegate  then  recited  a  short  prayer,  after  which 
the  Litany  of  the  Saints  was  chanted.  Escorted 
by  his  two  aids  Archbishop  Gibbons  then  took 
the  seat  elevated  before  the  altar,  and  assumed 
the  duties  of  his  office.  The  ceremony  attending 
the  opening  of  the  council  was  then  formally 
proceeded  with.  Father  Lyman  repeated  the 
Gospel  of  the  day  and  the  choir  sang  the  "  Veiii 
Creator!'''  The  apostolic  delegate  then  addressed 
the  prelates  and  theologians  in  Latin,  in  which 
he  declared  the  synod  opened. 

■  All  of  the  business  was  transacted  in  the  Latin 
tongue.  The  officers  who  were  elected  at  the  se- 
cret session  held  on  Saturday  were  then  installed. 
Bishops  J.  J.  Kain,  D.D.,  of  Wheeling,  and 
Francis  Janssens,  D.D.,  of  Natchez,  Miss.,  took 
their  seats  on  either  side  of  the  apostolic  delegate. 
The  other  officers  were  as  follows :  Chancellors, 
Rev.  George  Devine,  Rev.  John  S.  Foley,  D.D., 
Baltimore.  Secretaries,  Right  Rev.  James  Cor- 
coran, D.D.,  Philadelphia  ;  Rev.  Henry  Gabriels, 
D.D.,  Troy,  N.  Y.;  Rev.  Sebastian  Messmer, 
Newark,  N.  J.;  Rev.  Dennis  J.  O'Connell,  D.D., 
Richmond.  Prothonotary  apostolic.  Right  Rev. 
Robert  Seton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Newark,  N.  J.  No- 
taries, Very  Rev.  John  Sullivan,  V.G. ;  Rev.  John 
M.  Fariey,  Rev.  P.  A.  Stanton,  O.S.A.;  Rev. 
Frederick  Wayrich,  C,  SS.  R.;  Rev.  P.  L.  Chap- 
pelle,  D.D.;  Rev.  J.  L.  Andreis,  Rev.  Sebastian 
B.  Smith,  D.D. ;  Rev.  Matthew  Harkins,  Rev.  P. 
M.  Abbelen,  Rev.  Henry  Moeller,  D.D.  Masters 
of  ceremonies.  Revs.  James  McCallan,  SS.,  Mi- 
chael Kelly,  Thomas  Broderick.  Monsignor  Cor- 
coran read  the  preliminary  decrees  with  regard 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING   HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


427 


to  the  rules  to  be  observed  in  the  council,  which 
was  followed  by  the  calling  of  the  roll  by  Dr. 
D.  J.  O'Connell.  This  lasted  some  time,  the  list 
being  very  long.  The  most  interesting  ceremony 
of  all,  however,  was  the  profession  of  faith  made 
in  turn  by  each  of  the  prelates.  The  archbish- 
ops came  first.  Archbishops  Alemany,  of  San 
Francisco,  and  Kenrick,  of  St.  Louis,  the  two 
oldest  of  the  assembled  prelates,  came  first,  closely 
followed  by  the  others  according  to  seniority. 
Then  came  the  bishops,  and  after  them  the  heads 
of  seminaries  and  orders.  Among  the  dignitaries 
were  several  of  the  various  orders,  who  differed 
in  appearance  from  their  colleagues  in  that  they 
wore  beards. 

The  opening  ceremonies  were  very  impressive ; 
there  being  Pontifical  high  Mass  in  the  morning, 
and  Pontifical  vespers  in  the  evening,  with  a  ser- 
mon on  "  The  Unity  of  the  Church,"  by  Bishop 
Shanahan,  of  Harrisburg,  Pa.  The  sessions  of 
the  council  were  necessarily  secret.  On  Tuesday 
evening.  Bishop  Becker,  of  Wilmington  then, 
now  of  Savannah,  delivered  a  public  discourse  on 
"The  Church  and  Science."  On  the  13th  there 
was  no  legislative  session  ;  but  the  Fathers  of  the 
Council  attended  a  Pontifical  Mass  of  requiem 
sung  by  the  venerable  Archbishop  Alemany,  then 
of  San  Francisco,  since  resigned  and  living  in  a 
convent  of  the  Dominicans,  of  which  order  he  is 
a  member,  in  Spain.  On  the  i4tli,  after  the 
legislative  session,  Archbishop  Seghers,  then  of 
Oregon,  now  of  Vancouver's  Island,  preached  on 
the  great  work  the  Church  had  accomplished  on 
the  Indian  missions.  A  large  temperance  meet- 
ing was  also  held  in  St.  Alphonsus  Hall,  at 
which  addresses  were  made  by  several  well- 
known  advocates  of  the  temperance  cause.  On 
the  15th,  nothing  besides  holding  a  legislative 
session  was  done.  On  the  i6th,  Sunday,  the 
second  open  session  was  held  in  the  Cathedral, 
the  Pontifical  Mass  being  sung  by  Archbishop 
Williams,  of  Boston.  Archbishop  Elder,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, was  the  preacher,  and  his  subject  was 
"  The  Priesthood."  After  the  singing  of  the 
Litany  of  the  Saints,  the  council  was  opened  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Foley.     Upon  permission  of  the 


apostolic  delegate,  he  put  to  the  assembled  high 
clergy  the  preliminary  question  whether  they 
were  prepared  to  give  their  final  opinion  on  the 
decrees,  the  formulation  of  which  had  been 
completed  through  the  grace  of  God  and  their 
own  chastity  in  discussion.  The  answer  given 
from  each  side  of  the  sanctuary  was  afi&rmative. 
Dr.  O'Connell,  a  secretary  of  the  council,  and 
now  Rector  of  the  American  College,  Rome,  then 
called  the  roll.  Mgr.  Corcoran,  then  rising,  asked 
again  whether  the  clergy  were  pleased  to  delib- 
erate ;  and,  receiving  an  aflBrmative  answer,  read 
the  decrees  as  formulated  as  follows  : 

"  Decree  No.  i. — Concerning  the  Catholic 
faith.  A  solemn  and  detailed  profession  of  faith 
will  hereafter  be  required  of  all  who  enter  upon 
the  sacred  ministration  of  the  Church. 

"  Decree  No.  2. — Concerning  Christian  mis- 
sionaries. They  are  to  be  subordinate,  in  a 
greater  degree  than  has  hitherto  been  the  case, 
to  their  natural  superiors,  the  members  of  the 
episcopacy. 

"  Decree  No.  3. — Concerning  our  apostolic 
vicars.  The  decree  embraced  the  conduct  of  these 
functionaries  in  whatsoever  relates  to  the  spread 
of  the  faith  as  their  chief  office. " 

These  decrees  were  all  unanimously  adopted. 

A  further  chapter  of  resolutions  specified  the 
requirements  that  are  henceforward  to  be  made 
of  those  intending  to  enter  the  ministry  of  the 
Church.  The  title  of  this  chapter  is  "  Concern- 
ing the  Examination  of  the  Clergy."  Greater 
age,  longer  time  of  theological  study,  and  greater 
actual  learning,  will  be  necessary  for  admission 
to  the  priesthood. 

Certain  restrictions  not  hitherto  strictly  ob- 
served in  relation  to  the  celebration  of  the  Mass 
will  be  enforced,  full  force  being  given  the  coun- 
cil's decision  under  a  pertinent  statute  of  Pope 
Innocent  III.  These  resolutions  were  also  unani- 
mously adopted.  The  services  ended  with  the 
papal  benediction. 

In  the  evening  Bishop  Spalding,  of  Peoria,  111., 
preached  an  eloquent  sermon  on  "  The  Higher 
Education  of  the  Priesthood." 


428 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIII. 


On  the  17th,  after  the  legislative  sessiou,  a 
sermon  on  "  Faith  and  Reason  "  was  delivered  by 
Bishop  Watterson,  of  Columbus ;  and  in  the 
evening  many  of  the  fathers  attended  a  meeting 
of  the  directors  of  the  Catholic  Colonization  As- 
sociation, and  expressed  their  pleasure  at  the 
good  work  accomplished  by  it.  On  the  iSth, 
after  the  legislative  session,  Bishop  O'Farrell,  of 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  delivered  a  public  sermon  on 
"  Christian  Marriage."  The  Fathers  of  the  Coun- 
cil were  this  day  photographed  in  a  group,  and 
one  of  the  pictures  was  forwarded  to  the  Pope. 
The  next  day,  the  evening  public  discourses  were 
two  in  number — one  in  English  by  Bishop  Ryan, 
of  BuflFalo,  on  "  The  Observation  of  Feasts,"  and 
one  in  German  by  Bishop  Krautbauer,  of  Green 
Baj^,  since  deceased,  who  took  for  his  subject 
"  The  Church  in  America."  On  the  20th,  public 
services  were  held  in  the  cathedral ;  Archbishop 
Heiss,  of  Milwaukee,  being  the  celebrant  of  the 
Mass,  and  a  sermon  in  Latin,  on  "  The  Priest- 
hood," being  delivered  by  Archbishop  Aleman3\ 
In  the  evening  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  at- 
tended a  reception  given  them  by  the  Catholics 
of  Baltimore,  at  which  were  present  a  large  num- 
ber of  distinguished  laymen.  Judge  Merrick 
made  an  eloquent  address  of  welcome,  to  which 
Archbishop  Williams  made  a  suitable  repl}'.  At 
the  banquet  which  followed,  fully  five  hundred 
persons  sat  at  the  tables.  On  the  2 2d,  a  private 
sessiou  was  held  at  St.  Mary's  Seminar}',  and  in 
the  evening  Bishop  Hennessy,  of  Dubuque,  de- 
livered a  magnificent  address  on  "  The  Sanctity 
of  the  Church."  The  23d,  Sunday,  witnessed 
the  third  public  session  of  the  council ;  the  cele- 
brant of  the  Mass  being  Archbishop  Feehan,  of 
Chicago,  and  the  preacher.  Bishop  Fitzgerald,  of 
Little  Rock,  whose  theme  was  "  The  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass."  On  the  24th,  at  the  private  ses- 
sion, the  erection  of  several  new  sees  was  advo- 
cated ;  and  in  the  evening  the  Catholic  Total  Ab- 
stinence Union  of  Maryland  gave  the  Fathers  of 
the  Council  a  brilliant  reception  at  Ford's  Opera 
House.  The  next  session  was  held  on  the  26th ; 
and,  the  following  day  being  Thanksgiving,  a 
solemn  public  session  was  held  in  the  cathedral. 


Archbishop  Lamy,  of  Santa  Fe,  was  the  celebrant 
of  the  Pontifical  Mass  ;  and  an  appropriate  sermon 
was  delivered  by  the  eloquent  bishop  of  Peoria, 
Right  Rev.  John  Lancaster  Spalding.  In  the 
evening  the  Catholic  Benevolent  Union  gave  the 
Fathers  a  reception.  At  the  session  of  the  28th, 
Archbishop  Seghers  tendered  his  resignation  as 
Archbishop  of  Oregon,  to  return  to  the  see  of 
Vancouver's  Island.  In  the  evening  he  preached 
at  St.  Joseph's  Church  on  "  The  Alaskan  Mis- 
sions." On  Sunda}?^,  the  30th,  Bishop  Loughliu, 
of  Brooklyn,  was  the  celebrant  of  the  high  Mass, 
and  Bishop  Hennessy,  of  Dubuque,  the  preacher. 
In  the  afternoon  Bishop  Ireland,  of  St.  Paul,  the 
Father  Mathew  of  the  Northwest,  preached  an 
interesting  sermon  before  a  large  audience,  com- 
posed chiefly  of  members  of  the  various  temper- 
ance societies  of  Baltimore  and  vicinity. 

The  closing  session  of  the  council  was  held  in 
the  cathedral  on  Sunday ;  when  Bishop  Spalding, 
of  Peoria,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  who  were 
in  attendance  at  the  high  Mass,  thus  reviewed 
its  work : 

"  The  questions  which  were  discussed  by  the 
council  had  a  direct  bearitig  on  the  social,  moral, 
religious  and  intellectual  welfare  of  the  people 
and  of  the  country  at  large.  It  was  through  the 
Church  in  Europe  that  woman  was  raised  up, 
that  childhood  was  cared  for  and  the  poor  aided ; 
and  here  in  this  country,  where  womanhood  is 
honored,  where  childhood  is  watched  over  and 
where  the  poor  are  aided,  the  prelates  of  the 
Church  sought  to  remove  all  difiiculties  which 
might  prevent  the  spread  of  the  truth,  and  have 
come  in  a  spirit  of  universal  charity  and  world- 
wide benevolence  to  frame  decrees  which  shall 
inspire  greater  reverence  for  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Christ  Jesus.  They  have  been  consecrated, 
chosen,  ordained  and  set  apart  for  the  work,  and 
have  bound  the  members  of  the  Church  in  a 
sweet  and  loving  charity.  The  priest  as  well  as 
the  people,  they  believe,  should  be  raised  up  to 
the  highest  ideal ;  and  they  have  sought  to  direct 
the  steps  of  the  priesthood,  that  in  it  may  be  seen 
the  sweetness,  the  meekness  and  the  gentleness 
of  Christ.     They  have  begun  by  advocating  more 


IMPORTANT   EVENTS  DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


429 


advanced  studies,  and  have  laid  the  foundations 
of  what  will  be  a  great  American  Catholic  Col- 
lege, thus  inspiring  all  with  a  love  for  intellectual 
progress.  They  have  treated  of  education  in 
general,  of  k  system  which  will  combine  in  it  the 
rights  of  religion  and  of  government.  They 
have  dealt  also  with  questions  affecting  the  family, 
which  is  the  basis  of  the  Church.  They  want 
to  inspire  a  holier  reverence  for  the  sacrament  of 
marriage.  Marriage  must  be  a  perpetual  union, 
lasting  as  long  as  life  lasts,  and  with  no  cause  for 
divorce  but  death.  They  have  pleaded  for  the 
cause  of  sobriety  and  temperance.  They  ap- 
prove good  laws  and  customs,  and  wish  to  make 
the  world  so  that  men  may  be  truly  free  and 
grow  in  moral  purity  and  intellectual  worth. 
They  have  tried  to  stimulate  the  Catholic  press 
and  Catholic  literature,  so  that  men  may  be  led 
to  take  greater  interest  in  matters  aflfecting  them 
as  Catholic  and  American  citizens.  They  have 
laid  down  laws  for  the  guidance  of  societies  which 
co-operate  with  the  Church,  and  have  sought  to 
know  what  is  for  good  and  what  for  harm  in  the 
Church.  Their  deliberations  have  been  con- 
ducted with  dignity,  and  the  full  thought  has 
been  spoken  without  restriction.  It  is  not  possi- 
ble to  realize  what  has  been  done  for  the  Church 
in  this  country  during  the  last  one  hundred  years ; 
but  a  thousand  years  from  now  men  can  look  back 
on  the  triumphs  which  have  been  achieved, 
through  all  eclipses  and  shadows  and  doubts  and 
storms  and  uncertainties  and  inimical  tradition 
and  unfavorable  public  opinion.  They  have  laid 
low  all  disorder,  rebellion  and  schism  ;  they  have 
gathered  together  many  forces  and  many  tongues, 
and  while  banishing  their  defects  have  preserved 
their  virtues  ;  and  throughout  all  the  Church  has 
shown  that  her  forces,  like  those  of  Nature,  are 
indestructible  and  bring  life  from  death,  and 
beauty  and  harmony  from  chaos." 

After  the  sermon  the  vestments  of  the  prelates 
and  priests  were  changed  from  white  to  those  of 
a  red  color,  being  symbolical  of  the  tongues  of  fire 
which  descended  on  the  apostles  on  Pentecost 
Sunday.  The  apostolic  delegate,  attended  by  his 
deacons  of  honor,  took  a  seat  at  the  entrance  of 


the  sanctuary  when  the  change  was  made,  and  a 
number  of  hymns  and  psalms  were  sung  and 
prayers  intoned. 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  the  apostolic  dele- 
gate took  his  seat  at  the  altar  steps,  with  Bishop 
Kane,  of  Wheeling,  at  his  right  and  Bishop 
Jaussens,  of  Natchez,  at  his  left,  and  the  last  ses- 
sion of  the  council  was  opened.  Monsignor  Cor- 
coran read  the  chapters  of  the  decrees  passed 
during  the  past  week,  and  they  were  formally 
adopted.  When  this  was  over  the  pens  and  ink 
with  which  the  bishops  and  ofl&cers  were  to  sign 
their  names  in  testimony  of  the  genuineness  of 
the  decrees  were  placed  on  the  altar.  The  apos- 
tolic delegate  was  the  first  to  sign  his  name,  fol- 
lowed by  Archbishops  Kenrick  and  Alemany  and 
all  the  other  archbishops  except  Archbishop 
Riordan,  who  was  absent.  Then  came  the  bishops 
and  abbots,  and  lastly  the  officers  of  the  council, 
the  Rev.  George  W.  Devine  being  the  last  to 
sign.  After  all  the  prelates  were  again  seated 
Archbishop  Kenrick  went  up  to  the  apostolic 
delegate,  and  they  exchanged  the  kiss  of  peace. 
The  archbishop  then  stood  to  one  side,  and  Arch- 
bishop Alemany  similarly  saluted  the  apostolic 
delegate,  and,  after  exchanging  the  kiss  with 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  took  his  place  at  his  side. 
Thus  each  prelate  saluted  the  apostolic  delegate, 
and,  passing  along  the  line,  saluted  each  of  the 
prelates  as  he  passed,  and  then  took  his  place  at 
the  end  of  the  line,  which  extended  through  the 
sanctuary,  down  a  part  of  the  centre  aisle,  and 
back  again  into  the  sanctuary  before  the  cere- 
mony was  completed.  The  kiss  of  peace  is 
given  simply  by  the  two  prelates  placing  their 
heads  close  together,  and  whispering  the  Latin 
words  Pax  tecum  to  each  other.  When  the 
parties  had  all  been  seated  at  the  end  of  this  cere- 
mony, Archbishop  Kenrick,  of  St.  lyouis,  ad- 
vanced to  the  front  of  the  altar,  and,  in  a  broken 
voice,  said :  "  It  has  fallen  to  my  lot  to  be  the  oldest 
bishop  in  this  council,  the  arrangements  and  pre- 
parations for  which,  it  is  needless  to  say,  caused 
great  anxiety,  care  and  labor  for  the  apostolic  dele- 
gate who  presided  over  its  deliberations.  Therefore 
I  return  him  thanks  on  behalf  of  its  members.    It 


430 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIIL 


is  many  years  since  I  stood  in  tliis  edifice  as  a 
spectator  at  the  opening  of  the  first  plenary 
council.  What  impressed  me  most  then  was, 
that,  in  the  comparatively  small  number  of 
ecclesiastics  present  thirteen  different  nationali- 
ties were  represented,  all  united  together  for  one 
purpose."  He  then,  in  contrasting  that  council 
with  the  one  just  closed,  spoke  at  length  of  the 
progress  of  the  Church  in  the  past,  and  her 
bright  prospects  for  the  future.  Then  turning 
to  the  apostolic  delegate  he  said  :  "  At  the  next 
plenary  council,  should  God  prolong  your  days, 
you  will  miss  many  of  those  who  are  with  you  now ; 
and  you  will  think  of  them  as  we  now  think  of  those 
who  have  passed  away  since  the  second  plenary 
council."  The  feeble  old  man  was  obliged  to 
stop  frequently  in  the  delivery  of  his  short  ad- 
dress, through  the  infirmities  of  age,  and  at  its 
close  went  with  uncertain  steps  back  to  his  seat 
among  the  archbishops.  The  Te  Deum  was  sung 
by  the  choir,  closing  prayer  recited,  the  papal  bene- 
diction pronounced  by  the  most  reverend  apostolic 
delegate,  and  the  third  plenary  council  ended. 

The  work  of  the  Baltimore  council  reflects  the 
greatest  credit  on  Pope  Leo's  Pontificate,  under 
whose  auspices  it  was  begun  and  happily  con- 
cluded, and  who  bestowed  his  apostolic  benedic- 
tion on  the  prelates  who  participated  in  it,  and  on 
the  labors  which  they  so  successfully  accom- 
plished. The  decrees  of  the  council  are  now  be- 
ing enforced  with  excellent  results  throughout 
the  whole  country,  the  several  dioceses  holding 
synods  to  adopt  them  and  to  comply  with  the 
regulations  which  they  exact  from  the  bishops 
and  priests  of  every  see.  The  archbishop,  who 
so  worthily  presided  over  the  council,  has  since 
been  raised  to  the  cardinalitial  dignity,  and  there 
is  no  question  but  what  higher  honors  are  in  store 
for  more  than  one  of  the  prelates  who  took  part  in 
its  deliberations. 

Important  Events. 

The  year  1885  opened  with  the  conferring  of 
the  pallium,  January  4th,  on  Archbishop  Ryan, 
and  January  25th,  on  Archbishop  Leary,  the  for- 
mer of  Philadelphia  and  the  latter  of  New  Or- 
leans.    On  the  nth  of  February,  the  death  of 


Edward  Cardinal  McCabe,  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
occurred,  and  gave  rise  to  that  period  of  uncer- 
tainty which  ended  by  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
Dr.  William  Walsh,  of  IMaynooth,  as  his  succes- 
sor— an  act  which,  all  circumstances  surround- 
ing it  considered,  proved  more  than  anything 
else  how  warmly  Pope  Leo  sympathized  with  the 
national  aspirations  of  the  Irish  people. 

The  most  memorable  event  of  this  year  for 
American  Catholics  was  the  death,  on  Oct.  loth, 
of  John  Cardinal  McCloskey,  the  beloved  Arch- 
bishop of  New  York,  and  the  first  American  car- 
dinal. His  funeral,  which  took  place  in  St. 
Patrick's  Cathedral,  New  York,  was  the  grandest 
event  of  its  kind  ever  witnessed  in  this  country. 
From  all  parts  of  the  country,  prelates  and 
priests,  together  with  distinguished  laymen,, 
flocked  to  attend  the  ceremonies ;  and  the  civic 
authorities  vied  with  each  other  to  do  honor  to 
the  dead  prelate.  President  Cleveland  sent  his 
regrets,  as  also  did  the  Governor  of  New  York 
State  ;  while  Leo  XIII.  cabled  his  apostolic  bene- 
diction to  the  dying  cardinal,  and  that  grace  was 
imparted  to  him  before  his  demise.  Requiem 
Masses  for  the  prelate's  repose  were  sung  all  over 
the  country  ;  in  Rome,  particularly  in  his  titular 
Church  of  Sancta  Maria  Supra  Minervam ;  and 
one  was  also  sung  on  the  30th  of  October  in  the 
Church  of  the  Madeleine  at  Paris.  By  virtue  of 
his  appointment,  which  carried  with  it  the  right 
of  succession,  Archbishop  Corrigan  succeeded  to 
the  achdiocese  over  which  the  cardinal  had  so 
ably  presided  so  many  years. 

Pope  Leo  XIII.  Hediates  Between  Qermany  and  Spain. 

Germany  had  taken  possession  of  certain  of 
tne  Caroline  Islands  in  the  South  Pacific  which 
Spain  claimed  as  her  possession.  This  action  on 
the  part  of  Germany  caused  great  indignation  in 
Spain  and  promised  to  become  dangerous.  To 
the  surprise  of  the  whole  world,  Berlin's  Cabinet 
sueeested  that  the  matter  of  arbitrament  be  re- 
ferred  to  Pope  Leo  XIIL,  and  accordingly  the 
Emperor  addressed  a  letter  to  His  Holiness  and 
offered  him  the  position  of  arbitrator.  The  Pope, 
however,  declined  to  arbitrate,  but  expressed  his 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING  HIS  PONTIFICATE. 


431 


willingness  to  act  as  mediator  between  Germany 
and  Spain.  He  was  accepted  as  mediator  by  both 
countries,  and  after  grave  deliberation  Pope  Leo 
XIII.  submitted  a  course  of  settlement.  By  liis 
proposed  agreement  the  prior  right  of  Spain  was 
recosfnized,  at  the  same  time  there  was  secured 
to  the  German  subjects  certain  commercial  con- 
cessions which  they  claimed.  The  act  of  agree- 
ment was  signed  on  December  13,  1885,  in  the 
Vatican. 

Immediately  following  the  signature  of  the 
protocol  concerning  the  question  of  the  Caroline 
Islands,  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  through  the 
intermediary  of  M.  Schloezer,  Prussian  Minister 
to  the  Holy  See,  conveyed  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff 
the  expression  of  his  gratitude.  The  Prussian 
Minister  said  in  effect  that  his  Sovereign  pre- 
sented his  thanks  to  the  Holy  Father  for  the 
benevolent  promptitude  and  for  the  impartiality 
with  which  His  Holiness  had  brought  the  media- 
tion to  a  conclusion.  He  added,  furthermore, 
that  thanks  to  this  mediation  the  Holy  Father 
knew  how  to  re-establish  and  fortify  between 
Germany  and  Spain  the  good  relations  which 
misunderstandings  had  for  the  moment  disturbed. 

A  like  message  from  the  Queen  Regent  of 
Spain  was  also  received  at  the  Vatican.  In  com- 
menting on  the  mediation  the  Moniteur  de  Rome 
observes  :  "  Pope  Leo  XIII.  has  avoided  a  war, 
unravelled  the  most  complicated  skein  of  diplo- 
macy, pacified  two  nations,  saved  a  throne  in  the 
indescribable  confusion  of  a  sudden  death,  and 
surrounded  the  Papacy  and  the  name  of  Leo 
XIII.  with  unequalled  prestige.  This  act  re- 
places at  one  stroke  the'  Papacy  in  the  heart  of 
the  political  and  moral  civilization  of  the  modern 
world.  What  imagination  would  have  been  capa- 
ble of  such  boldness  as  to  unite,  in  this  startling 
visioii  of  the  unrivalled  grandeur  of  the  Holy 
See,  the  names  of  the  Holy  See  and  Bismarck ! 
What  renders  this  work  still  more  important  is 
that  the  cause  was  submitted  by  the  chief  Protest- 
ant nation  in  Europe,  to  the  impartiality  of  a  re- 
ligious adversary. 

Pope   Leo  and  Italy. 

On  March  2,  1886,  Pope  Leo  XIII.  celebrated 


the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  his  birth  and  the 
eighth  anniversary  of  his  coronation,  which  fell 
on  March  3d,  by  an  address  to  the  members  of 
the  Sacred  College.  In  this  address  His  Holi- 
ness eulogized  the  union  existing  between  the 
Cardinals  and  urged  concord  among  Catholics 
against  those  seeking  to  corrupt  and  weaken  the 
authority  of  the  Church.  He  deplored  the  op- 
pressed condition  of  the  Holy  See  as  unworthy 
the  head  of  the  Church  and  incompatible  with  his 
independence. 

His  Holiness  spoke  with  much  severity  con- 
cerning the  attempt  to  connect  the  ecclesiastical 
authority  with  the  crime  of  furnishing  foreign 
enemies  of  Italy  secret  information  about  its 
military  defences,  as  had  been  done  a  short  time 
back,  in  the  case  of  a  man  on  trial  at  Rome  on 
the  charge  of  having  sold  such  information  to  a 
foreign  power.  During  this  trial  the  prosecution 
read  what  purported  to  be  a  letter  from  Vienna, 
in  which  the  writer,  whose  name  was  withheld, 
imputed  the  prisoner's  act  to  inspiration  received 
from  the  Vatican,  which  was  accused  of  having 
a  purpose  to  undermine  and  destroy  the  present 
kingdom  of  Italy  by  obtaining  for  foreign  powers 
secret  information  concerning  Italy's  coast  de- 
fences. His  Holiness  repelled  this  imputation 
with  indignation,  and  condemned  the  impunity 
with  which  vulgar  malignity  of  this  kind  had  been 
employed   to  excite  the  multitude  against  him. 

The  touching  address  -which  the  Pope  delivered 
at  the  reception  of  the  Italian  pilgrimage  pro- 
duced a  marked  impression  on  those  who  listened 
to  it,  all  being  deeply  moved.  His  Holiness  re- 
futed the  stupid  charges  of  Signor  Crispi  against 
the  Papacy,  and  showed  that  the  Holy  See  was 
and  had  always  been  the  best  friend  of  Italy. 

On  Nov.  10,  1888,  the  following  address  from 
the  English  Bishops  was  sent  to  Rome,  expressing 
their  sorrow  and  indignation  that  new  laws  had 
been  proposed  and  carried  in  the  Italian  Parlia- 
ment against  the  Bishops,  the  clergy  and  the| 
faithful  of  Italy  under  the  pretext  of  repressing" 
attacks  against  authority,  whether  by  word  or  by 
writing.  The  English  Bishops  deplored  the  fact 
that  the  venerable  and  sovereign  person  of  His 


432 


LIFE  OF   POPE  LEO   XIIL 


J  • 


Holiness,  whose  absolute  liberty  in  the  exercise 
of  his  Primacy  over  the  Catholic  world  was  said 
to  be  guaranteed,  was  not  exempted  from  those 
penal  laws.  In  concluding  their  address  the  Bish- 
ops added  their  protest  to  that  of  the  civilized 
world,  declaring,  together  with  all  Catholics,  their 
detestation  of  so  great  an  injustice. 

The  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  occupation 
of  Rome  by  the  troops  of  King  Victor  Emanuel 
was  celebrated  in  the  early  autumn  of  1895,  with 
immense  display  of  national  exultation.  The 
display  was  made  especially  manifest  in  Rome 
itself  It  was  a  military  pageant,  and  undoubt- 
edly, to  a  great  extent,  a  national  pageant  as  well. 
No  one  can  question  the  fact  that  a  great  majority 
of  the  Italian  people  are  in  favor  of  Italian  unity 
and  of  an  Italian  State,  with  Rome  for  its  capital. 
It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  Pope  should 
have  issued  something  in  the  nature  of  a  protest 
against  the  commemoration.  It  was  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  deposition  of  the  Pope  as  a  Sovereign 
Prince,  and  it  could  not  quite  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected Pope  Leo  should  take  a  pride  in  the 
rejoicings  over  his  own  fall  from  temporal  power. 
The  question  in  Italy  does  not  admit  of  argu- 
ment. Either  a  man  is  in  favor  of  the  Pope's 
temporal  rule,  or  he  is  against  it.  So  far  as  the 
countries  outside  Italy  are  concerned,  the  question 
is  determined  just  as  easily.  The  Catholic  popu- 
lations, speaking  generally,  are  for  the  temporal 
rule  of  the  Pope,  the  Protestant  populations  are 
against  it.  There  is  something  that  might  appeal 
to  any  mind  in  one  of  the  opening  passages  of 
what  may  be  called  the  Pope's  manifesto,  concern- 
ing those  demonstrations  of  the  20th  September : 


*'  The  sentiment  of  humanity,"  he  says,  "which 
is  preserved  even  in  minds  dominated  by  passion, 
seemed  to  permit  of  the  hope  that  some  considera- 
tion would  be  shown  for  Our  old  age  ;  but  this 
sentiment  has  been  brutally  ignored.  We  have 
been  reduced  to  becoming  almost  the  immediate 
witness  of  the  apotheosis  of  the  Italian  Revolu- 
tion, and  the  spoliation  of  the  Holy  See.  What 
pained  Us  most  of  all  was  the  intention  to  per- 
petuate rather  than  terminate  a  conflict  whose 


disastrous  results  none  can  measure.  Moreover, 
an  essentially  anti-religious  ideal  has  been  pur- 
sued, for  the  ultimate  aim  of  the  occupation  of 
Rome,  if  not  in  the  miuds  of  those  who  took  part 
in  it,  at  least  in  the  minds  of  the  sectaries  who 
promoted  it,  was  not  to  complete  political  unity, 
but  by  battering  down  the  walls  of  the  Papal 
metropolis  to  secure  a  better  position  for  attack- 
ing the  spiritual  power  of  the  Popes.  The  aim 
was  to  change  the  destinies  of  Rome,  to  transform 
her,  to  make  her  once  again  Pagan,  and  to  give 
birth  to  a  third  Rome — to  a  third  era  of  civiliza- 
tion. This  is  what  was  recently  celebrated  by  the 
sanction  of  a  new  law,  by  noisy  demonstrations 
led  by  a  sect  who  are  the  enemies  of  God.  The 
nation  suffers,  for  not  only  has  the  promise  given 
to  her  that  her  material  welfare  would  be  assured, 
not  been  kept,  but  Italy  is  morally  divided,  and 
the  parties  of  subversion,  who  menace  all  civil 
and  social  institutions,  are  increasing  in  numbers 
and  in  strength.  Nothing  can  ever  confer  true 
independence  on  the  Papacy  so  long  as  it  has  no 
temporal  jurisdiction.  That  condition,  -which  it 
is  affirmed  has  been  guaranteed  to  us,  is  subor- 
dinated to  the  caprice  of  others,  and  latterly  we 
have  been  confronted  with  a  veiled  threat  to  abro- 
gate existing  Papal  guarantees." 

The  man  who  can  find  in  himself  no  sympathy 
whatever  with  the  Pope's  protest  must  carry 
religious  or  political  partizanship  to  its  utterest 
extreme.  The  protest  itself  has  much  dignity  in 
it,  and  will  thrill  the  hearts  of  some  men  as  long 
as  the  world  lasts. 

Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  His  Priesthood. 

In  December,  1887,  and  overshadowing  the 
Christmas  and  New  Year  solemnities,  the  Golden 
Jubilee  celebration  of  Pope  Leo's  ordination  to 
the  priesthood  engaged  the  attention  of  the  whole 
world.  Upon  this  occasion  the  Pope  was  the 
recipient  of  magnificent  gifts  from  all  nations, 
and  among  the  features  of  the  celebration  was  an 
exhibition  of  these  gifts. 

It  is  worthy  of  mention  here,  too,  that  the  stole 
used    by   the   Holy    Father   in   celebrating   his 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


433 


Jubilee  Mass  was  the  gift  of  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph  of  the  United  States.  The  gift  of  Presi- 
dent Cleveland  was  a  magnificently  bound  volume 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

No  pilgrims  to  the  Vatican  to  congratulate  His 
Holiness  on  his  Jubilee  were  so  welcomed  or  re- 
ceived so  much  attention  as  the  peasant  group 
from  Carpineto.  The  Holy  Father  loves  with 
the  strongest  aflfection  that  humble  district  amid 
the  Lepini  Mountains,  where  he  was  born. 

The  ceremonies  of  the  Jubilee  were  held  in  the 
large  hall  over  the  entrance  to  St.  Peter's.  It 
was  in  this  same  hall  that  the  Washing  of  the 
Feet  formerly  took  place  in  Holy  Week. 

The  aolden  Rose. 

For  the  second  time  the  Golden  Rose,  which 
the  Pope  annually  blesses  on  "  Laetare"  Sunday, 
came  to  America,  and  its  recipient  was  Miss  Mary 
Gwendolen  Caldwell,  whose  munificent  benefac- 
tion of  $300,000  toward  the  Catholic  University 
at  Washington  won  for  her  this  special  mark  of 
Pontifical  favor.  The  only  other  American  upon 
whom  the  Golden  Rose  has  ever  been  bestowed 
was  Mrs.  Ellen  E.  Sherman,  the  worthy  wife  of 
Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  whose  staunch  Catholicity 
and  zeal  was  manifested  in  promoting  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Catholic  Indian  Missions.  The  Vati- 
can recognized  this  by  conferring  upon  her  the 
gift  of  the  Golden  Rose,  which  had  never  before 
been  sent  across  the  Atlantic. 

Pope  Leo  and  the  French  Republic. 

The  situation  in  France  brought  up  a  question 
as  grave  as  any  that  had  arisen  during  the  Ponti- 
ficate of  Leo  XIII.  Once  again  the  Pope  dis- 
played his  great  wisdom. 

Great  numbers  of  French  Catholics,  especially 
those  of  rank,  persisted  in  identifying  monarchy 
with  religion ;  their  argument  being  that  there 
could  be  nothing  to  protect  the  Catholic  faith  in 
France  without  monarchy.  They  would  consider 
no  relation  with  the  Republic,  and  decided,  if  nec- 
essary, to  refrain  from  voting  on  either  side  of 
any  question  in  politics  arising  from  the  Republic. 
We  can  thus  readily  perceive  that  Pope  Leo  found 


himself  in  a  trying  position.  After  long  and  grave 
deliberation  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Republican  form  of  government  should  be  recog- 
nized in  France,  but  he  did  not  express  his  ap- 
proval thereof.  In  acting  thus.  His  Holiness  acted 
precisely  as  the  head  of  any  civilized  state  would 
have  done ;  for  while  we  all  know  that  the  Em- 
peror of  Germany,  for  instance,  has  no  great 
admiration  for  Republican  institutions,  yet  he 
recognizes  the  Republic  of  the  United  States. 
The  same  applies  to  the  recognition  of  the  Im- 
perial system  of  England  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

About  this  time  Cardinal  Lavigerie  issued  a  cir- 
cular in  which  he  said  that  it  was  the  plain  duty 
of  all  Catholics  to  defend  their  faith  by  taking  a 
firm  stand  on  the  ground  of  public  right,  justice 
and  liberty  of  souls.  He  continued,  saying,  "  For 
the  present  moment  it  is  above  all  things  of  im- 
portance that  the  Catholics  should  not  make  a 
mistake  by  sowing  amongst  themselves  the  germs 
of  discord,  or  by  allowing  themselves  to  be  drawn 
into  actions  which  might  have  even  in  their  mere 
form  alone  the  appearance  of  useless  and  profit- 
less provocations  like  to  rouse  up  against  them 
new  attacks  from  their  enemies." 

In  November,  1890,  Cardinal  Lavigerie  made  a 
speech  in  Algiers,  at  which  the  officers  of  the 
French  squadron  were  present.  He  dwelt  upon 
the  necessity  of  union  amongst  French  soldiers, 
and  said : 

"Such  union  is  the  first  wish  of  the  Church, 
and  of  all  its  pastors  in  all  the  degrees  of  its 
hierarchy.  Of  course,  it  does  not  ask  us  to  re- 
nounce either  the  memories  of  the  glories  of  the 
past,  or  of  the  sentiments  of  fidelity  and  of  grati- 
tude which  do  honor  to  all  men.  But  when  the 
will  of  a  people  is  clearly  affirmed,  when  the  form 
of  a  government  has  nothing  in  itself  in  contra- 
diction, as  Leo  the  Thirteenth  lately  proclaimed, 
to  the  principles  which  alone  can  keep  life  in  na- 
tions, Christian  and  civilized,  when,  in  order  to 
rescue  it  from  the  abyss  which  threatens  it,  ad- 
hesion without  concealed  thought  is  necessary 
for  that  form  of  government,  the  moment  has 
come  to  declare  at  last  that  the  trial  has  been 


434 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIIL 


made,  and,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  our  divisions, 
to  sacrifice  all  that  conscience  and  honor  permit 
and  ordain  that  each  of  us  shall  sacrifice  for  the 
welfare  of  his  country.  Without  such  a  resigna- 
tion and  such  an  acceptance  nothing  is  possible, 
in  fact,  either  to  preserve  order  and  peace,  or  to 
save  the  world  from  social  peril,  or  even  to  save 
the  very  religion  of  which  we  are  the  ministers. 
It  would  be  madness  to  hope  to  sustain  the  pillars 
of  an  edifice  without  entering  into  the  edifice 
itself,  were  it  only  to  prevent  those  who  destroy 
everything  from  accomplishing  their  insane  work. 

"  It  belongs  to  the  duty  and  the  honor  of  Cath- 
olics not  to  allow  the  present  situation  of  the 
Church  in  France  to  be  prolonged,  and  for  that 
they  have  but  one  practical  means — that  which 
the  Sovereign  PontifiF  has  lately  explicitly  ad- 
vised them  to  employ ;  that  is,  to  take  a  resolute 
part  in  public  affairs,  not  as  adversaries  of  the 
established  form  of  government,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, by  claiming  their  rights  of  citizenship  in 
the  Republic  which  governs  us.  That  adhesion 
ought  to  be  a  work  of  resignation,  of  reason,  and 
for  us  Catholics,  after  the  formal  words  which  I 
have  just  quoted,  a  work  of  conscience." 

Pope  Leo  gave  to  the  world  the  expression  of 
his  feelings  toward  the  condition  of  France  in  an 
interview  with  the  correspondent  of  the  Petit 
Journal^  of  Paris,  in  which  he  said : 

"My  desire  is  that  France  should  be  happy 
and  prosperous,  and,  for  that  reason,  that  divisions 
should  cease  as  far  as  possible,  and  that  there  no 
longer  be  amongst  Frenchmen  the  merely  sterile 
quarrels  which  tend  but  to  weaken  France.  My 
conviction  is  that  all  French  citizens  ought  to 
re-unite  on  constitutional  grounds.  Each  one, 
of  course,  can  keep  up  his  personal  preferences, 
but  when  it  comes  to  political  action  there  is  only 
the  government  which  France  has  given  to  her- 
self. The  republic  is  a  form  of  government  as 
legitimate  as  any  other.  I  have  just  received 
the  President  of  the  Committee  of  Organization 
for  the  Chicago  Exhibition,  who  has  come  to  ask 
of  the  Holy  See  its  sympathy  and  its  participa- 
tion in  that  great  American  enterprise.  The 
United  States,  in  their  republican  form  of  govern- 


ment, despite  the  possible  dangers  of  a  liberty 
almost  boundless,  grow  greater  and  greater  every 
day,  and  the  Catholic  Church  has  developed  itself 
there  without  having  any  struggles  to  sustain 
against  the  State.  The  two  powers  agree  there 
perfectly  well,  as  they  ought  to  agree  everywhere, 
on  the  condition  that  the  one  does  not  infringe 
the  rights  of  the  other.  That  which  is  suitable 
to  the  United  States  is  suitable  also,  and  even 
more  so,  to  Republican  France.  I  hold  to  all 
Frenchmen,  who  come  to  see  me,  the  same  lan- 
guage, I  wish  that  it  may  be  known  of  all.  It 
is  by  a  constitution  solid  in  the  interior  that 
France,  in  spite  of  whatever  enemies,  can  recover 
herself  completely.  I  am  happy  to  learn  that 
France  is  resolute  in  her  wish  for  peace,  despite 
the  abundance  of  her  military  resources  and  the 
bravery  of  her  sons.  If  she  keeps  without  fail 
that  wisdom  and  that  patience ;  if  she  knows  how 
to  avoid  those  divisions  which  check  her  develop- 
ment and  paralyze  her  influence;  if  she  is  deter- 
mined to  abstain  from  vain  enterprises  and  from 
persecutions,  she  will  soon  regain  the  important 
rank  and  the  glorious  place  which  belonged  to  her 
in  the  world." 

By  all  this  it  will  be  seen  that  His  Holiness 
was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  situation  in 
France  and  the  feeling  of  the  French  people ;  he 
could  readily  discern  the  consequences  should 
the  policy  of  the  French  Catholics  be  conducted 
on  principles  opposing  to  Republican  form  of 
government.  He  therefore  gave  recognition  to 
the  French  Republic  as  the  established  form  of 
government  in  France. 

Death  of  Cardinal  Peccl. 

In  the  early  days  of  1890,  the  Pope  had  to  bear 
a  heavy  loss  in  the  death  of  his  brother,  Cardinal 
Pecci.  After  the  entrance  of  the  Italian  troops 
into  Rome,  Joseph  Pecci  refused  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance  exacted  by  the  Royal  Government 
from  men  holding  such  a  position  as  his,  and  he 
quietly  gave  in  his  resignation  of  the  post  he  held. 
The  Cardinal  was  the  elder  of  the  two  brothers, 
having  been  born  some  three  years  previous  to 
the  Pope.    Joachim,  by  virtue  of  his  position, 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


435 


stood  at  the  head  of  the  house,  and  Joseph  looked 
up  to  him  with  veneration  as  well  as  with  aflfec- 
tion. 

Encyclical  on  Labor. 

On  May  15,  1 891,  the  Pope  issued  his  famous 
Encyclical  on  the  condition  of  the  working  classes, 
in  which  he  says: 

"It  is  not  easy  to  define  the  relative  rights  and 
the  mutual  duties  of  the  wealthy  and  of  the  poor, 
of  capital  and  of  labor.  And  the  danger  lies  in 
this,  that  crafty  agitators  constantly  make  use  of 
these  disputes  to  pervert  men's  judgments  and  to 
stir  up  the  people  to  sedition. 

But  all  agree,  and  there  can  be  no  question 
whatever,  that  some  remedy  must  be  found,  and 
quickly  found,  for  the  misery  and  wretchedness 
which  press  so  heavily  at  this  moment  on  the 

large  majority  of  the  very  poor The 

custom  of  working  by  contract,  and  the  concen- 
tration of  so  many  branches  of  trade  in  the  hands 
of  a  few  individuals,  so  that  a  small  number  of 
very  rich  men  have  been  able  to  lay  upon  the 
masses  of  the  poor  a  yoke  little  better  than 
slavery  itself.  ....  When  a  man  engages 
in  remunerative  labor,  the  very  reason  and  motive 
of  his  work  is  to  obtain  property,  and  to  hold  it 
as  his  own  private  possession.  If  one  man  hires 
out  to  another  his  strength  or  his  industry,  he 
does  this  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  in  return 
what  is  necessary  for  food  and  living;  he  thereby 
expressly  proposes  to  acquire  a  full  and  real 
right,  not  only  to  the  remuneration,  but  also 
to  the  disposal  of  that  remuneration  as  he  pleases. 
Thus,  if  he  lives  sparingly,  saves  money,  and  in- 
vests his  savings,  for  greater  security,  in  land, 
the  land  in  such  a  case  is  only  his  wages  in 
another  form ;  and,  consequently,  a  workingman's 
little  estate  thus  purchased  should  be  as  com- 
pletely at   his    own    disposal    as    the  wages    he 

receives  for  his  labor When    man 

spends  the  industry  of  his  mind  and  the  strength 
of  his  body  in  procuring  the  fruits  of  nature,  by 
that  act  he  makes  his  own  that  portion  of  nature's 
field  which  he  cultivates — that  portion  on  which 
he  leaves,  as  it  were,  the  impress  of  his  own  per- 
sonality;  and  it  cannot  but  be  just  that  he  should 


possess  that  portion  as  his  own,  and  should  have 

a  right  to  keep  it  without  molestation 

For  the  soil  which  is  tilled  and  cultivated  with 
toil  and  skill  utterly  changes  its  condition  ;  it  was 
wild  before,  it  is  now  fruitful ;  it  was  barren,  and 
now  it  brings  forth  in  abundance.  That  wliick 
has  thus  altered  and  improved  it  becomes  so  truly 
part  of  itself  as  to  be  in  great  measure  indistin- 
guishable and  inseparable  from  it.  Is  it  just  that 
the  fruit  of  a  man's  sweat  and  labor  should  be 
enjoyed  by  another?  As  effects  follow  their 
cause,  so  it  is  just  and  right  that  the  results  of 
labor  should  belong  to  him  who  has  labored.  .  .  . 
When  work-people  have  recourse  to  a  strike,  it 
is  frequently  because  the  hours  of  labor  are  too 
long,  or  the  work  too  hard,  or  because  they  con- 
sider their  wages  insufi&cient.  The  grave  incon- 
venience of  this  not  uncommon  occurrence  should 
be  obviated  by  public  remedial  measures ;  for 
such  paralysis  of  labor  not  only  affects  the  mas- 
ters and  their  work-people,  but  is  extremely  in- 
jurious to  trade,  and  to  the  general  interests  of 
the  public;  moreover,  on  such  occasions,  violence 
and  disorder  are  generally  not  far  off",  and  thus  it 
frequently  happens  that  the  public  peace  is  threat- 
ened. The  laws  should  be  beforehand,  and  pre- 
vent these  troubles  from  arising;  they  should  lend 
their  influence  and  authority  to  the  removal  in 
good  time  of  the  causes  which  lead  to  conflicts 
between  masters  and  those  whom  they  employ. 
.  .  .  We  now  approach  a  subject  of  very  great 
importance,  and  one  on  which,  if  extremes  are  to 
be  avoided,  right  ideas  are  absolutely  necessary. 
Wages,  we  are  told,  are  fixed  by  free  consent;  and 
therefore  the  employer,  when  he  pays  what  was 
agreed  upon,  has  done  his  part,  and  is  not  called 
upon  for  anything  further.  The  only  way,  it  is 
said,  in  which  injustice  could  happen  would  be  if 
the  master  refused  to  pay  the  whole  of  the  wages^ 
or  the  workman  would  not  complete  the  work: 
undertaken ;  when  this  happens  the  State  should 
intervene,  to  see  that  each  obtains  his  own — but 
not  under  any  other  circumstances. 

This  mode  of  reasoning  is  by  no  means  con- 
vincing to  a  fair-minded  man,  for  there  are  impor- 
tant considerations  which  it  leaves  out  of  view 


435 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO   XIII. 


altogetlier.  To  labor  is  to  exert  one's  self  for  the 
sake  of  procuring  what  is  necessary  for  the  pur- 
poses of  life,  and  most  of  all  for  self-preservation. 
In  the  siveat  of  thy  brow  thou  shalt  eat  bread* 
Therefore  a  man's  labor  has  two  notes  or  char- 
acters. First  of  all,  it  is  persona/;  for  the  exer- 
tion of  individual  power  belongs  to  the  individual 
who  puts  it  forth,  emplo\'ing  this  power  for  that 
personal  profit  for  which  it  was  given.  Secondly, 
man's  labor  is  necessary  ;  for  without  the  results 
of  labor  a  man  cannot  live  ;  and  self-conservation 
is  a  law  of  Nature,  which  it  is  wrong  to  disobey. 
Now,  if  we  were  to  consider  labor  merely  so  far 
as  it  \s  personal,  doubtless  it  would  be  within  the 
workman's  right  to  accept  any  rate  of  wages 
whatever ;  for  in  the  same  wav  as  he  is  free  to 
work  or  not,  so  he  is  free  to  accept  a  small  re- 
muueratiou,  or  even  none  at  all.  But  this  is  a 
mere  abstract  supposition  ;  the  labor  of  the  work- 
ingman  is  not  only  his  personal  attribute,  but  it 
is  necessary ;  and  tliis  makes  all  the  difference. 
The  preservation  of  life  is  the  bonnden  duty  of 
each  and  all,  and  to  fail  therein  is  a  crime.  It 
follows  that  each  one  has  a  right  to  procure  what 
is  required  in  order  to  live  ;  and  the  poor  can  pro- 
cure it  in  no  other  waj'^  than  by  work  and  wages. 
Let  it  be  granted,  then,  that,  as  a  rule,  work- 
man and  employer  should  make  free  agpreements, 
and  in  particular  should  freely  agree  as  to  wages  ; 
nevertheless,  there  is  a  dictate  of  nature  more 
imperious  and  more  ancient  than  any  bargain 
between  man  and  man,  that  the  remuneration 
must  be  enough  to  support  the  wage  earner  in 
reasonable  and  frugal  comfort.  If  through  ne- 
cessity or  fear  of  a  worse  evil  the  workman  accepts 
harder  conditions  because  an  employer  or  a  con- 
tractor will  give  him  no  better,  he  is  the  victim 

of  force   and   injustice If    a   workman's 

wages  be  suflScient  to  enable  him  to  maintain 
himself,  his  wife  and  his  children  in  reasonable 
comfort,  he  will  not  find  it  difficult,  if  he  is  a  sen- 
sible man,  to  study  economy ;  and  he  will  not 
fail,  by  cutting  down  expenses,  to  put  by  a  little 
property  :  nature  and  reason  would  urge  him  to 
do  this.  .  .  . 

Those  Catholics  are  worthj'  of  all  praise — and 


there  are  not  a  few — who,  understanding  what  the 
times  require,  have,  by  various  enterprises  and 
experiments,  endeavored  to  better  the  condition 
of  the  working  people  without  any  sacrifice  of 
principle.  They  have  taken  up  the  cause  of  the 
workingman,  and  have  striven  to  make  both  fami- 
lies and  individuals  better  off;  to  infuse  the  spirit 
of  justice  iuto  the  mutual  relations  of  em- 
ployer and  employed  ;  to  keep  before  the  eyes  of 
both  classes  the  precepts  of  duty  and  the  laws  of  the 
Gospel — that  Gospel  which,  by  inculcating  self- 
restraint,  keeps  men  within  the  bounds  of  modera- 
tion, and  tends  to  establish  harmony  among  the 
divergent   interests  and   various    classes  which 

compose   the   State And   there    are    not 

wanting  Catholics  possessed  of  affluence  who 
have,  as  it  were,  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  wage- 
earners,  and  who  have  spent  large  sums  in  found- 
ing and  widely  spreading  Benefit  and  Insurance 
Societies,  \iy  means  of  which  the  workingman 
may  without  difficiilty  acquire  by  his  labor  not 
only  many  present  advantages,  but  also  the  cer- 
tainty of  honorable  support  in  time  to  come." 

The  Pope's  Qolden  Jubilee— Sixty  Thousand  Persons  Crowd 
the  Great  Cathedral. 

In  the  middle  of  February,  1893,  Leo  XIII. 
celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  episco- 
pate. Thousands  of  pilgrims,  travelers  and  citi- 
zens crowded  before  the  door  of  St.  Peter's  on 
Sunday  morning  long  before  daybreak,  and  when 
the  bells  rang  out  the  announcement  of  the  formal 
opening  of  the  ceremonies,  there  was  cheering 
and  manifestations  of  the  greatest  joy. 

At  six  o'clock  the  Cathedral  doors  were  thrown 
open  and  the  foremost  of  the  crowd  swept  in. 
Within  half  an  hour  the  great  building  was 
packed  to  the  steps.  Thirty  thousand  pilgrims 
and  twenty-five  or  thirty  thousand  Catholics 
gained  admission,  and  not  less  than  forty  thou- 
sand were  turned  away  by  the  military,  who 
cleared  the  spaces  around  the  building  so  as  to 
prevent  disorder  when  the  service  concluded. 

The  Pope  entered  the  Cathedral  at  9.45,  pale 
but  smiling,  and  apparently  in  better  health  than 
usual.     The    Cathedral    rang   with  tumultuous 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS  DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


437 


cheering  as  tlie  Pope  was  borne  toward  the  altar. 
He  ofl&ciated  at  the  special  Jubilee  Mass,  intoning 
the  opening  words  of  Te  Deum,  and  giving  his 
blessing  in  a  clear  and  penetrating  voice.  The 
mass  lasted  until  10.45,  ^^^  ^^  apparently  did  not 
fatigue  the  Pope.  He  remained  in  the  Cathedral 
forty-five  minutes  after  the  celebration,  and  then 
proceeded  to  his  apartments.  The  crowd  dis- 
persed slowly,  and  by  noon  most  of  them  had 

gone. 

Ireland's  Congratulations. 

Cardinal  Logue  on  Tuesday  introduced  the 
Irish  Pilgrims  to  His  Holiness,  who  received 
them  graciously.  An  address  from  the  Irish 
Catholics  to  the  Pope,  congratulating  His  Holi- 
ness on  having  attained  a  venerable  age  and  ex- 
pressing a  wish  that  he  might  be  spared  for  many 
years  to  rule  over  the  Church  was  read. 

The  Pope's  reply  expressed  the  pleasure  which 
he  felt  at  seeing  the  faithful  sons  of  St.  Patrick, 
and  he  thanked  them  in  gracious  terms.  He  said 
that  Irish  faith,  piety  and  devotion  were  always 
the  same  in  good  or  evil  days.  He  extended  his 
benediction  to  the  pilgrims  and  to  all  other  Cath- 
olics. 

England's   Congratulations. 

The  Queen  of  England  sent  the  following  tele- 
gram to  the  Holy  Father :  "I  congratulate  you 
upon  the  completion  of  fifty  years  of  your  episco- 
pate, and  sincerely  wish  you  health  and  happiness." 

America  to  the  Pope. 

At  the  Cathedral  in  Balimore,  His  Eminence 
Cardinal  Gibbons  preached  in  honor  of  the  Pope's 
Jubilee.  The  Te  Deum  was  sung  in  all  the 
churches  in  the  different  cities  on  Sunday  at  the 
late  Mass. 

The  Catholic  Club  of  New  York  City  assem- 
bled to  celebrate  the  Golden  Jubilee  of  His  Holi- 
ness, and  forwarded  a  lengthy  message  of  con- 
gratulation, concluding  with  a  request  for  the 
Apostolic  Benediction,  to  which  was  received  the 
following  cable  message  from  Rome  :  "His  Holi- 
ness is  delighted  with  the  kind  expressions  and 
congratulations  of  the  Catholic  Club  and  grants 
his  Apostolic  Benediction. 

"  CARDINAL  RAMPOLLO." 


Pope  Leo  on  "  Americanism." 

Subjoined  is  the  full  letter  of  the  Holy  Father 
on  "  Americanism,"  which  has  been  forwarded 
by  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Rampolla. 

Pope  Leo's  letter  is  as  follows : 

To  Our  Beloved  Son^  James^  Cardinal  Gibbons.^ 
Cardinal  Priest  of  the  Title  Sancta  Maria, 
Beyond  the  Tiber,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore: 

LEO  XIII.,  Pope— Beloved  Son,  Health  and 
Apostolic  Blessing. — We  send  to  you  by  this 
letter  a  renewed  expression  of  that  good  will 
which  we  have  not  failed  during  the  course  of 
our  pontificate  to  manifest  frequently  to  you 
and  to  your  colleagues  in  the  episcopate  and 
to  the  whole  American  people,  availing  our- 
selves of  every  opportunity  offered  us  by  the 
progress  of  your  Church  or  whatever  you  have 
done  for  safeguarding  and  promoting  Catholic 
interests.  Moreover,  we  have  often  considered 
and  admired  the  noble  gifts  of  your  nation 
which  enable  the  American  people  to  be  alive 
to  every  good  work  which  promotes  the  good  of 
humanity  and  the  splendor  of  civilization. 
Although  this  letter  be  not  intended,  as  pre- 
ceding ones,  to  repeat  the  words  of  praise  so 
often  spoken,  but  rather  to  call  attention  to 
some  things  to  be  avoided  and  corrected  ;  still 
because  it  is  conceived  in  that  same  spirit  of 
apostolic  charity  which  has  inspired  all  our 
letters,  we  shall  expect  that  you  will  take  it  as 
another  proof  of  our  love ;  the  more  so  because 
it  is  intended  to  suppress  certain  contentions 
which  have  arisen  lately  among  you  to  the  det- 
riment of  the  peace  of  many  souls. 

It  is  known  to  you,  beloved  son,  that  the 
life  of  Isaac  Thomas  Hecker,  especially  as 
interpreted  and  translated  in  a  foreign  lan- 
guage, has  excited  not  a  little  controversy, 
because  therein  have  been  voiced  certain  opin- 
ions concerning  the  way  of  leading  Christian 
life. 

We,  therefore,  on  account  of  our  apostolic 
office,  having    to    guard    the   integrity  of    the 


438 


POPE  LEO  ON   "AMERICANISM." 


faith  and  the  security  of  the  faithful,  are  desir- 
ous of  writing  to  you  more  at  length  concern- 
ing the  whole  matter. 

"The  Underlying  Principle." 

The  underlying  principle  of  these  new  opin- 
ions is  that,  in  order  to  more  easily  attract 
those  who  differ  from  her,  the  Church  should 
shape  her  teachings  more  in  accord  with  the 
spirit  of  the  age  and  relax  some  of  her  ancient 
severity  and  make  some  concessions  to  new 
opinions.  Many  think  that  these  concessions 
should  be  made  not  only  in  regard  to  ways  of 
living,  but  even  in  regard  to  doctrines  which 
belong  to  the  deposit  of  the  faith.  They  con- 
tend that  it  would  be  opportune,  in  order  to 
gain  those  who  differ  from  us,  to  omit  certain 
points  of  her  teaching  which  are  of  lesser 
importance,  and  to  tone  down  the  meaning 
which  the  Church  has  always  attached  to 
them.  It  does  not  need  many  words,  beloved 
son,  to  prove  the  falsity  of  these  ideas  if  the 
nature  and  origin  of  the  doctrine  which  the 
Church  proposes  are  recalled  to  mind.  The 
Vatican  Council  says  concerning  this  point ; 
*'  For  the  doctrine  of  faith  which  God  has 
revealed  has  not  been  proposed,  like  a  philo- 
sophical invention,  to  be  perfected  by  human 
ingenuity,  but  has  been  delivered  as  a  divine 
deposit  to  the  Spouse  of  Christ  to  be  faithfully 
kept  and  infallibly  declared.  Hence  that  mean- 
ing of  the  sacred  dogmas  is  perpetuall}'  to  be 
retained  which  our  Holy  Mother,  the  Church, 
has  once  declared,  nor  is  that  meaning  ever  to 
he  departed  from  under  the  pretence  or  pretext 
of  a  deeper  comprehension  of  them ;  "Consti- 
tutio  de  Fide  Catholica,  chapter  iv. 

All  Things  to  AH  Men." 

We  cannot  consider  as  altogether  blameless 
the  silence  which  purposely  leads  to  the  omis- 
sion or  neglect  of  some  of  the  principles  of 
Christian  doctrine,  for  all  the  principles  come 
from  the  same  Author  and  Master,  "the  Only 
Begotten    Son,  Who    is  in   the    bosom    of   the 


Father;"  John  i.  i8.  They  are  adapted  to  all 
times  and  all  nations,  as  is  clearly  seen  from 
the  words  of  our  Lord  to  his  Apostles : 
"  Going,  therefore,  teach  all  nations  ;  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you,  and  behold,  I  am  with  you  all 
days,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world ; "  Matt. 
xxviii.  19.  Concerning  this  point  the  Vatican 
Council  says :  "  All  those  things  are  to  be 
believed  with  divine  and  Catholic  faith  which 
are  contained  in  the  Word  of  God,  written  or 
handed  down,  and  which  the  Church,  either  by 
a  solemn  judgment  or  by  her  ordinary  and 
universal  magisterium,  proposes  for  belief  as 
having  been  divinely  revealed;"  Const,  de  Fide, 
chapter  iii. 

Let  it  be  far  from  any  one's  mind  to  sup- 
press for  any  reason  any  doctrine  that  has 
been  handed  down.  Such  a  policy  would  tend 
rather  to  separate  Catholics  from  the  Church 
than  to  bring  in  those  who  differ.  There  is 
nothing  closer  to  our  heart  than  to  have  those 
who  are  separated  from  the  fold  of  Christ  re- 
turn to  it,  but  in  no  other  way  than  the  way 
pointed  out  by  Christ. 

The  rule  of  life  laid  down  for  Catholics  is 
not  of  such  a  nature  that  it  cannot  accommo- 
date itself  to  the  exigencies  of  various  times 
and  places.  The  Church  has,  guided  by  her 
Divine  Master,  a  kind  and  merciful  spirit,  for 
which  reason  from  the  very  beginning  she  has 
been  what  St.  Paul  said  of  himself:  "  I  became 
all  things  to  all  men   that  I  might  save  all." 

"  Teaching  and  Governing." 

History  proves  clearly  that  the  Apostolic 
See,  to  which  has  been  intrusted  the  mission 
not  only  of  teaching,  but  of  governing  the 
whole  Church,  has  continued  "  in  one  and  the 
same  doctrine,  one  and  the  same  sense,  and 
one  and  the  same  judgment ;  "  Const,  de  Fide, 
chapter  iv. 

But  in  regard  to  ways  of  living  she  has  been 
accustomed  to  so  yield  that  the  divine  principle 
of  morals    being    kept    intact,   she    has    never 


POPE   LEO   ON    "AMERICANISM. 


439 


neglected  to  accommodate  herself  to  the  char- 
acter and  genius  of  the  nations  which  she 
embraces. 

Who  can  doubt  that  she  will  act  in  this 
same  spirit  again  if  the  salvation  of  souls  re- 
quires it  ?  In  this  matter  the  Church  must 
be  the  judge,  not  private  men  who  are  often 
deceived  by  the  appearance  of  right.  In  this, 
all  who  wish  to  escape  the  blame  of  our  pre- 
decessor, Pius  the  Sixth,  must  concur.  He 
condemned  as  injurious  to  the  Church  and  the 
spirit  of  God  who  guides  her  the  doctrine  con- 
tained in  proposition  Ixxviii.  of  the  Synod  of 
Pistoia,  "  that  the  discipline  made  and  approved 
by  the  Church  should  be  submitted  to  exami- 
nation, as  if  the  Church  could  frame  a  code  of 
laws  useless  or  heavier  than  human  liberty  can 
bear." 

Differences  Pointed  Out. 

But,  beloved  son,  in  this  present  matter  of 
which  we  are  speaking,  there  is  even  a  greater 
danger  and  a  more  manifest  opposition  to 
Catholic  doctrine  and  discipline  in  that  opinion 
of  the  lovers  of  novelty,  according  to  which 
they  hold  such  liberty  should  be  allowed  in 
the  Church,  that  her  supervision  and  watch- 
fulness being  in  some  sense  lessened,  allow- 
ance be  granted  the  faithful,  each  one  to  follow 
out  more  freely  the  leading  of  his  own  mind 
and  the  trend  of  his  own  proper  activit)'.  They 
are  of  opinion  that  such  liberty  has  its  coun- 
terpart in  the  newly  given  civil  freedom  which 
is  now  the  right  and  the  foundation  of  almost 
every  secular  state. 

In  the  apostolic  letters  concerning  the  con- 
stitution of  states,  addressed  by  us  to  the  bishops 
of  the  whole  Church,  we  discussed  this  point 
at  length  ;  and  there  set  forth  the  diflference  ex- 
isting between  the  Church,  which  is  a  divine 
society,  and  all  other  social  human  organizations 
which  depend  simply  on  the  free  will  and  choice 
of  men. 

It  is  well,  then,  to  particlularly  direct  attention 
to  the  opinion  which  serves  as  the  argument  in 


behalf  of  this   greater   liberty  sought  for   and 
recommended  to  Catholics. 

Liberty  Not   License. 

It  is  alleged  that  now  the  Vatican  decree 
concerning  the  infallible  teaching  authority  of 
the  Roman  PontiflF  having  been  proclaimed  that 
nothing  further  on  that  score  can  give  any 
solicitude,  and  accordingly,  since  that  has  been 
safeguarded,  and  put  beyond  question,  a  wider 
and  freer  field  both  for  thought  and  action  lies 
open  to  each  one.  But  such  reasoning  is  evi- 
dently faulty,  since  if  we  are  to  come  to  any 
conclusion  from  the  infallible  teaching  authority 
of  the  Church,  it  should  rather  be  that  no  one 
should  wish  to  depart  from  it,  and  moreover 
that  the  minds  of  all  being  leavened  and  di- 
rected thereby,  greater  security  from  private 
error  would  be  enjoyed  by  all.  And  further, 
those  who  avail  themselves  of  such  a  way  of 
reasoning  seem  to  depart  seriously  from  the 
overruling  wisdom  of  the  Most  High — which 
wisdom,  since  it  was  pleased  to  set  forth  by  most 
solemn  decision  the  authority  and  supreme 
teaching  rights  of  this  Apostolic  See — willed 
that  decision  precisely  in  order  to  safeguard 
the  minds  of  the  Church's  children  from  the 
dangers  of  these  present  times. 

These  dangers,  viz.,  the  confounding  of  license 
with  liberty,  the  passion  for  discussing  and  pour- 
ing contempt  upon  any  possible  subject,  the  as- 
sumed right  to  hold  whatever  opinions  one 
pleases  upon  any  subject  and  to  set  them  forth 
in  print  to  the  world,  have  so  wrapped  minds 
in  darkness  that  there  is  now  a  greater  need 
of  the  Church's  teaching  office  than  ever  be- 
fore, lest  people  become  unmindful  both  of 
conscience  and  of  duty. 

We,  indeed,  have  no  thought  of  rejecting 
everything  that  modern  industry  and  study 
has  produced ;  so  far  from  it  that  we  welcome 
to  the  patrimony  of  truth  and  to  an  ever- 
widening  scope  of  public  well-being  whatsoever 
helps  toward  the  progress  of  learning  and  vir- 
tue.    Yet   all   this,  to  be  of  any  solid   benefit, 


440 


POPE  LEO  ON    "AMERICANISM." 


nay,  to  have  a  real  existence  and  growth,  can 
only  be  on  the  condition  of  recognizing  the 
wisdom  and  authority  of  the  Church. 

••No  Thought  of   Wrong  or  Quile." 

Coming  now  to  speak  of  the  conclusions  which 
have  been  deduced  from  the  above  opinions,  and 
for  them,  we  readily  believe  there  was  no  thought 
of  wrong  or  guile,  yet  the  things  themselves 
certainly  merit  some  degree  of  suspicion.  First, 
all  external  guidance  is  set  aside  for  those  souls, 
who  are  striving  after  Christian  perfection  as 
being  superfluous,  or,  indeed,  not  useful  in  any 
sense — the  contention  being  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
pours  richer  and  more  abundant  graces  than 
formerly  upon  the  souls  of  the  faithful,  so  that, 
without  human  intervention,  he  teaches  and 
guides  them  by  some  hidden  instinct  of  his  own. 
Yet  it  is  the  sign  of  no  small  over-confidence  to 
desire  to  measure  and  determine  the  mode  of  the 
divine  communication  to  mankind,  since  it  wholly 
depends  upon  his  own  good  pleasure,  and  he  is 
a  most  generous  dispenser  of  his  own  gifts. 
"The  Spirit  breatheth  whereso  he  listeth;" 
John  iii.  8. 

"  And  to  each  one  of  us  grace  is  given  accord- 
ing to  the  measure  of  the  giving  of  Christ;" 
Eph.  iv.  7. 

Law  of  Qod's    Providence. 

And  shall  any  one  who  recalls  the  history 
of  the  Apostles,  the  faith  of  the  nascent  Church, 
the  trials  and  deaths  of  the  martyrs — and,  above 
all,  those  olden  times,  so  fruitful  in  saints — 
dare  to  measure  our  age  with  these,  or  affirm 
that  the}^  received  less  of  the  divine  outpouring 
from  the  Spirit  of  Holiness?  Not  to  dwell  upon 
this  point,  there  is  no  one  who  calls  in  question 
the  truth  that  the  Holy  Spirit  does  work  by  a 
secret  descent  into  the  souls  of  the  just,  and 
that  he  stirs  them  alike  by  warnings  and  im- 
pulses, since,  unless  this  were  the  case,  all  out- 
ward defence  and  authority  would  be  unavail- 
ing.    "  For  if  any  persuades  himself  that  he  can 


give  assent  to  saving,  that  is,  to  Gospel  truth 
when  proclaimed,  without  any  illumination  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  who  gives  unto  all  sweetness 
both  to  assent  and  to  hold,  such  an  one  is  de- 
ceived by  a  heretical  spirit;"  from  the  Second 
Council  of  Orange,  Canon  7. 

Moreover,  as  experience  shows,  these  moni- 
tions and  impulses  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  for 
the  most  part  felt  through  the  medium  of  the 
aid  and  light  of  an  external  teaching  authority. 
To  quote  St.  Augustine :  "  He  (the  Holy  Spirit) 
co-operates  to  the  fruit  gathered  from  the  good 
trees,  since  he  externally  waters  and  cultivates 
them  by  the  outward  ministry  of  men,  and  yet 
of  himself  bestows  the  inward  increase;"  De 
Gratia  Christi,  chapter  xix.  This,  indeed,  be- 
longs to  the  ordinary  law  of  God's  loving  provi- 
dence that  as  he  has  decreed  that  men,  for  the 
most  part,  shall  be  saved  by  the  ministry  also 
of  men,  so  has  he  wished  that  those  whom  he 
calls  to  the  higher  planes  of  holiness  should  be  " 
led  thereto  by  men ;  hence,  St.  Chrysostom  de- 
clares we  are  taught  of  God  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  men;  Homily  I.  in  Inscrib.  Altar, 
Of  this  a  striking  example  is  given  us  in  the 
very  first  days  of  the  Church. 

For  though  Saul,  intent  upon  blood  and 
slaughter,  had  heard  the  voice  of  our  Lord 
himself  and  had  asked,  "  What  dost  thou  wish 
me  to  do  ?"  yet  was  he  bidden  to  enter  Damas- 
cus and  search  for  Ananias ;  Acts  ix.:  "  Enter 
the  city  and  it  shall  be  there  told  to  thee 
what  thou  must  do." 

Those  Liable  to  Stray. 

Nor  can  we  leave  out  of  consideration  the 
truth  that  those  who  are  striving  after  perfec- 
tion, since  by  that  fact  they  walk  in  no  beaten 
or  well-known  path,  are  the  most  liable  to 
stray,  and  hence  have  greater  need  than  others 
of  a  teacher  and  guide.  Such  guidance  has 
ever  obtained  in  the  Church  ;  it  has  been  the 
universal  teaching  of  those  who  throughout 
the  ages  have  been  eminent  for  wisdom  and 
sanctity — and   hence   to   reject   it  would  be   to 


POPE  LEO   ON    "AMERICANISM." 


441 


commit  one's  self  to  a  belief  at  once  rash  and 
dangerous. 

A  thorough  consideration  of  this  point,  in 
the  supposition  that  no  exterior  guide  is  granted 
such  souls,  will  make  us  see  the  difl&culty  of 
locating  or  determining  the  direction  and  appli- 
cation of  that  more  abundant  influx  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  so  greatly  extolled  by  innovators. 
To  practice  virtue  there  is  absolute  need  of 
the  assistance  'of  the  Holy  Spirit,  yet  we  find 
those  who  are  fond  of  novelty  giving  an  un- 
warranted importance  to  the  natural  virtues,  as 
though  they  better  responded  to  the  customs 
and  necessities  of  the  times,  and  that  having 
these  as  his  outfit,  man  becomes  both  more  ready 
to  act  and  more  strenuous  in  action.  It  is  not 
easy  to  understand  how  persons  possessed  of 
Christian  wisdom  can  either  prefer  natural  to 
supernatural  virtues  or  attribute  to  them  a 
greater  efficacy  and  fruitfulness.  Can  it  be 
that  nature  conjoined  with  grace  is  weaker 
than  when  left  to  herself? 

Virtue,  Nature  and  Grace. 

Can  it  be  that  those  men  illustrious  for 
sanctity,  whom  the  Church  distinguishes  and 
openly  pays  homage  to,  were  deficient,  came 
short  in  the  order  of  nature  and  its  endow- 
ments, because  they  excelled  in  Christian 
strength  ?  And  although  it  be  allowed  at 
times  to  wonder  at  acts  worthy  of  admiration 
which  are  the  outcome  of  natural  virtue — is 
there  any  one  at  all  endowed  simply  with  an 
outfit  of  natural  virtue  ?  Is  there  any  one  not 
tried  by  mental  anxiety,  and  this  in  no  light 
degree  ?  Yet  ever  to  master  such,  as  also  to 
preserve  in  its  entirety  the  law  of  the  natural 
order,  requires  an  assistance  from  on  high. 
These  single  notable  acts  to  which  we  have 
alluded  will  frequently,  upon  a  closer  investi- 
gation, be  found  to  exhibit  the  appearance 
rather  than  the  reality  of  virtue.  Grant  that 
it  is  virtue,  unless  we  would  "  run  in  vain  " 
and  are  unmindful  of  that  eternal  bliss  which 
a  good  God  in  his   mercy  has  destined  for  us, 


of  what  avail  are  natural  virtues  unless  sec- 
onded by  the  gift  of  divine  grace  ?  Hence  St. 
Augustine  well  says,  "Wonderful  is  the  strength, 
and  swift  the  course,  but  outside  the  true 
path."  For  as  the  nature  of  man,  owing  to  the 
primal  fault,  is  inclined  to  evil  and  dishonor, 
yet  by  the  help  of  grace  is  raised  up,  is  borne 
along  with  a  new  greatness  and  strength,  so, 
too,  virtue,  which  is  not  the  product  of  nature 
alone,  not  of  grace  also,  is  made  fruitful  unto 
everlasting  life,  and  takes  on  a  more  strong 
and  abiding  character. 

"  No   rierely   Passive   Virtue." 

This  overesteem  of  natural  virtue  finds  a 
method  of  expression  in  assuming  to  divide  all 
virtues  in  active  and  passive,  and  it  is  alleged 
that  whereas  passive  virtues  found  better  place  in 
past  times,  our  age  is  to  be  characterized  by  the 
active.  That  such  a  division  and  distinction 
cannot  be  maintained  is  patent — for  there  is 
not,  nor  can  there  be,  merely  passive  virtue. 
"  Virtue,"  says  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  "  designates 
the  perfection  of  some  faculty,  but  the  end  of 
such  faculty  is  an  act,  and  an  act  of  virtue  is 
naught  else  than  the  good  use  of  free  will," 
acting,  that  is  to  say,  under  the  grace  of  God  if 
the  act  be  one  of  supernatural  virtue. 

He  alone  could  wish  that  some  Christian  vir- 
tues be  adapted  to  certain  times  and  different 
ones  for  other  times  who  is  unmindful  of  the 
Apostle's  words  :  ''  That  those  who  he  foreknew, 
he  predestined  to  be  made  comformable  to  the 
image  of  his  Son.;"  Rom.  viii.  29.  Christ 
is  the  teacher  and  examplar  of  all  sanctity,  and 
to  his  standard  must  all  those  conform  who  wish 
for  eternal  life.  Nor  does  Christ  know  any 
change  as  the  ages  pass,  "  for  he  is  yesterday 
and  to-day  and  the  same  forever ; " — Heb. 
xiii.  8.  To  the  men  of  all  ages  was  the  precept 
given  :  "  Learn  of  me,  because  I  am  meek  and 
humble  of  heart. ;  "  Matt.  xi.  29. 

To  every  age  has  he  been  made  manifest  to  us 
as  obedient  even  unto  death ;  in  every  age  the 
Apostle's  dictum  has  its  force :    "  Those  who  are 


443 


POPE   LEO  ON   "AMERICANISM." 


Christ's  have  crucified  their  flesh  with  its  vices 
and  concupiscences."  Would  to  God  that  more 
nowadays  practised  these  virtues  in  the  degree  of 
the  saints  of  past  times,  who  in  humility,  obedi- 
ence and  self-restraint  were  powerful  in  word  and 
in  deed — to  the  great  advantage  not  only  of 
religion  but  of  the  state  and  the  public  welfare. 

"  Contempt  of    Religious    Life." 

From  this  disregard  of  the  evangelical  virtues, 
erroneously  styled  passive,  the  step  was  a  short 
one  to  a  contempt  of  the  religious  life  which  has 
in  some  degree  taken  hold  of  minds.  That  such 
a  value  is  generally  held  by  the  upholders  of 
new  views  we  infer  from  certain  statements 
concerning  the  vows  which  religious  orders  take. 
They  say  vows  are  alien  to  the  spirit  of  our 
times,  in  that  they  limit  the  bounds  of  human 
liberty  ;  that  they  are  more  suitable  to  weak  than 
to  strong  minds ;  that  so  far  from  making  for 
human  perfection  and  the  good  of  human  organi- 
zation, the}'^  are  hurtful  to  both,  but  that  this  is 
as  false  as  possible  from  the  practice  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  is  clear,  since  she  has 
always  given  the  very  highest  approval  to  the 
religious  method  of  life ;  nor  without  good 
cause ;  for  those  who  under  the  Divine  call  have 
freely  embraced  that  state  of  life  did  not  content 
themselves  with  the  observance  of  precepts,  but, 
going  forward  to  the  evangelical  counsels, 
showed  themselves  ready  and  valiant  soldiers 
of  Christ.  Shall  we  judge  this  to  be  a  char- 
acteristic of  weak  minds,  or  shall  we  say  that  it  is 
useless  or  hurtful  to  a  more  perfect  state  of   life  ? 

"  A  Fuller   and   Freer  Liberty." 

Those  who  so  bind  themselves  by  the  vows 
of  religion,  far  from  having  suffered  a  loss  of 
libertj',  enjoy  that  fuller  and  freer  kind,  that 
liberty,  namely,  by  which  Christ  hath  made  us 
free.  And  this  further  view  of  theirs,  namely, 
that  the  religious  life  is  either  entirely  useless 
or  of  little  service  to  the  Church,  besides  being 
injurious  to  the  religious  orders,  cannot  be  the 
opinion  of  any  one  who  has  read  the  annals  of 
the  Church.     Did  not  your  country,  the  United 


States,  derive  the  beginnings  both  of  faith  and 
of  culture  from  the  children  of  these  religious 
families,  to  one  of  whom  but  very  lately,  a  thing 
very  greatly  to  your  praise,  you  have  decreed 
that  a  statue  be  publicly  erected  ?  And  even  at 
the  present  time  wherever  the  religious  families 
are  found,  how  speedy  and  yet  how  fruitful  a 
harvest  of  good  works  do  they  not  bring  forth  I 
How  very  many  leave  home,  and  seek  strange 
lands  to  impart  the  truth  of  the  gospel  and  to 
widen  the  bounds  of  civilization ;  and  this  they 
do  with  the  greatest  cheerfulness  amid  mani- 
fold dangers !  Out  of  their  number  not  less, 
indeed,  than  from  the  rest  of  the  clergy,  the 
Christian  world  finds  the  preachers  of  God's 
word,  the  directors  of  consciences,  the  teachers 
of  youth  and  the  Church  itself  the  examples  of 
all  sanctity. 

••  No  Difference  of  Praise." 

Nor  should  any  difference  of  praise  be  made 
between  those  who  follow  the  active  state  of 
life  from  those  others  who,  charmed  with  soli- 
tude, give  themselves  to  prayer  and  bodily  mor- 
tification. And  how  much,  indeed,  of  good  re- 
port these  have  merited,  and  do  merit,  is  known 
surely  to  all  who  do  not  forget  that  the  "  con- 
tinual prayer  of  the  just  man  "  avails  to  placate 
and  to  bring  down  the  blessings  of  heaven  when 
to  such  prayers  bodily  mortification  is  added. 

But  if  there  be  those  who  prefer  to  form  one 
body  without  the  obligation  of  the  vows,  let 
them  pursue  such  a  course.  It  is  not  new  in 
the  Church  nor  in  any  wise  censurable.  Let 
them  be  careful,  however,  not  to  set  forth  such 
a  state  above  that  of  religious  orders.  But 
rather,  since  mankind  are  more  disposed  at  the 
present  time  to  indulge  themselves  in  pleasures, 
let  those  be  held  in  greater  esteem  "  who  having 
left  all  things  have  followed  Christ." 

••  Let  Those  Be  Set  Apart." 

Finally,  not  to  delay  too  long,  it  is  stated 
that  the  way  and  method  hitherto  in  use  among 
Catholics  for  bringing  back  those  who  have 
fallen    away  from    the    Church  should   be   left 


POPE   LEO   ON   "AMERICANISM," 


443 


aside  and  another  one  chosen,  in  which  matter 
it  will  suffice  to  note  that  it  is  not  the  part  of 
prudence  to  neglect  that  which  antiquity,  in  its 
long  experience,  has  approved,  and  which  is  also 
taught  by  apostolic  authority.  The  Scriptures 
teach  us  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  be  solicit- 
ous for  the  salvation  of  one's  neighbor,  accord- 
ing to  the  power  and  position  of  each.  The 
faithful  do  this  by  religiously  discharging  the 
■duties  of  their  state  of  life,  by  the  uprightness 
of  their  conduct,  by  their  work  of  Christian 
charity,  and  by  earnest  and  continuous  prayer 
to  God.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  belong 
to  the  clergy  should  do  this  by  an  enlightened 
fulfillment  of  their  preaching  ministry,  by  the 
pomp  and  splendor  of  ceremonies  especially,  by 
setting  forth  that  sound  form  of  doctrine  which 
St.  Paul  inculcated  upon  Titus  and  Timothy. 
But  if,  among  the  different  ways  of  preaching 
the  word  of  God  that  one  sometimes  seems  to 
be  preferable  which  is  directed  to  non-Catholics, 
not  in  Churches,  but  in  some  suitable  place,  in 
such  wise  that  controversy  is  not  sought,  but 
friendly  conference,  such  a  method  is  certainly 
without  fault.  But  let  those  who  undertake  such 
ministry  be  set  apart  by  the  authority  of  the 
bishops,  and  let  them  be  men  whose  learning 
and  virtue  have  been  previously  ascertained. 
For  we  think  that  there  are  many  in  your  coun- 
try who  are  separated  from  Catholic  truth  more 
by  ignorance  than  by  ill-will,  who  might  per- 
chance more  easily  be  drawn  to  the  one  fold  of 
Christ  if  this  truth  be  set  forth  to  them  in  a 
friendly  and  familiar  way. 

•'  The   Question   of  Americanism." 

From  the  foregoing  it  is  manifest,  beloved 
son,  that  we  are  not  able  to  give  approval 
to  those  views  which,  in  their  collective 
sense,  are  called  by  some  "  Americanism." 
But  if  by  this  name  are  to  be  understood  cer- 
tain endowments  of  mind  which  belong  to  the 
American  people,  just  as  other  characteristics 
belong  to  various  other  nations,  and  if,  more- 
over, by  it  is  designated  your  political  condition, 
and   the   laws  and  customs   by  which  you  are 


governed,  there  is  no  reason  to  take  exception 
to  the  name.  But  if  this  is  to  be  so  understood 
that  the  doctrines  which  have  been  adverted  to 
above  are  not  only  indicated,  but  exalted,  there 
can  be  no  manner  of  doubt  that  our  venerable 
brethren,  the  bishops  of  America,  would  be  the 
first  to  repudiate  and  condemn  it  as  being  most 
injurious  to  themselves  and  to  their  country. 
For  it  would  give  rise  to  the  suspicion  that  there 
are  among  you  some  who  conceive,  and  would 
have  the  Church  in  America  to  be  different  from 
what  it  is  in  the  rest  of  the  world. 

But  the  true  Church  is  one,  as  by  unity  of 
doctrine,  so  by  unity  of  government,  and  she 
is  Catholic  also.  Since  God  has  placed  the 
centre  and  foundation  of  unity  in  the  chair  of 
Blessed  Peter,  she  is  rightly  called  the  Roman 
Church,  for  "where  Peter  is,  there  is  the 
Church."  Wherefore,  if  anybody  wishes  to  be 
considered  a  real  Catholic,  he  ought  to  be 
able  to  say  from  his  heart  the  self-same  words 
which  Jerome  addressed  to  Pope  Damasus  :  "I, 
acknowledging  no  other  leader  than  Christ, 
am  bound  in  fellowship  with  Your  Holiness ; 
that  is,  with  the  chair  of  Peter.  I  know  that 
the  Church  was  built  upon  him  as  its  rock, 
and  that  whosoever  gathereth  not  with  you, 
scattereth." 

Copies  to  the  Bishops. 

We  have  thought  it  fitting,  beloved  son,  in 
view  of  your  high  office,  that  this  letter  should 
be  addressed  specially  to  you.  It  will  also  be 
our  care  to  see  that  copies  are  sent  to  the 
bishops  of  the  United  States,  testifying  again 
that  love  by  which  we  embrace  your  whole 
country,  a  country  which  in  past  times  has 
done  so  much  for  the  cause  of  religion,  and 
which  will  by  the  Divine  assistance  continue 
to  do  still  greater  things.  To  you,  and  to  all 
the  faithful  of  America,  we  grant  most  lov- 
ingly, as  a  pledge  of  Divine  assistance,  our 
apostolic  benediction. 

Given  at  Rome,  from  St.  Peter's,  the  twenty- 
second  day  of  January,  1899,  and  the  thirty- 
first  of  our  pontificate.  Leo  XII. 


444 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO  XIIL 


Pope  Leo  and  the  Spanish-American  Difficulty. 

The  l^ope  was  exceedingly  distressed  by  the 
development  in  the  Spanish- American  situation, 
fearing  that  war  would  result  despite  his  eflforts 
to  maintain  peace.  Upon  one  occasion,  after 
saying  Mass  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  His  Holiness 
turned  to  his  entourage  and  said :  "  I  have  prayed 
to  God  with  the  whole  force  of  my  being  to  avert 
war  and  not  to  allow  my  Pontificate  to  end  amid 
the  smoke  of  battle ;  otherwise  I  have  implored 
the  Almighty  to  take  me  to  himself  that  I  may 
not  behold  such  a  sight." 

The  eflforts  of  the  Holy  Father  for  peace  were 
used  more  directly  with  Spain,  which,  being  a 
nation  of  Catholics,  would  naturally  be  expected 
to  listen  more  heartily  to  him ;  aud,  without  en- 
tering into  acts  or  facts  preceding  those  eflforts, 
we  say  in  all  truth,  that,  at  the  request  of  the 
Holy  Father,  the  Spanish  nation,  through  her 
Queen  and  Ministry,  consented  that  arms  be  laid 
.  down  by  the  soldiers  of  Spain  in  the  Island  of 
Cuba,  and  that  moral  means  should  at  once  be 
resorted  to,  to  strive  to  secure  that  which  here- 
tofore battles  had  not  secured. 

This  concession  of  Spain  came  too  late,  and  war 
was  declared  by  the  supreme  authority  of  the 
Republic  of  America.  But  the  thoughtful,  wise 
and  sensible  in  America  cannot  but  applaud  the 
good  will  and  action  of  the  Pontiflf  of  Rome  in 
speaking  words  of  peace  and  in  doing  what  he 
could  within  the  limits  of  his  moral  power  to 
secure  peace.  It  is  to  the  honor  of  fair-minded 
Americans  that  his  eflforts  were  duly  understood 
and  appreciated,  even  by  those  who  did  not  be- 
lieve that  war  could  be  avoided. 

While  the  war  waged  the  Holy  Father  re- 
mained aloof  from  the  conflict,  showing  no  favor 
to  one  nation  or  the  other,  but  praying  to  God  to 
soon  send  peace  and  social  happiness. 

Rome   In  the  Holy  Year,   1900. 

For  the  first  time  in  sevent3^-five  years  the  im- 
pressive ceremony  of  opening  the  holy  door  in 
the  great  Basilica  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  was  per- 
formed by  the  Pope,  Leo  XIII.,  on  Sunday, 
December  24,  1899.     This  was  done  in  prepara- 


tion for  the  approaching  twenty-second  jubilee  of 
the  Church  in  1900. 

In  1875  the  disturbed  condition  of  affairs  owing 
to  the  abrogation  of  the  temporal  power  of  the 
Pope  and  the  want  of  harmony  between  the  civil 
and  the  ecclesiastical  powers  still  continued  to  sucii 
an  extent  that  Pius  IX.,  although  he  anuounced 
the  usual  jubilee,  declared  at  the  same  time  a 
means  by  which  the  whole  Catholic  world  could 
gain  the  accompanying  indulgence  at  home,  so 
that  but  few  pilgrims  repaired  to  Rome  aud  the 
ceremonies  attendant  upon  the  jubilee,  among 
them  that  of  opening  the  holy  door,  were  not  ob- 
served. So,  as  has  been  said,  for  the  first  time  in 
seventy-five  years  that  this  door  was  opened  was 
on  the  day  before  Christmas  in  the  year  1899. 

Almost  from  the  beginning  of  the  year  pilgrims 
began  to  arrive  in  Rome,  and  by  Holy  Week  the 
Eternal  City  was  a  marvelous  sight  to  behold. 
The  streets  fairly  swarmed  with  people,  and  every 
few  blocks  a  pilgrimage  was  encountered  on  its 
way  to  one  or  other  of  the  four  great  basilicas,  St. 
Peter's,  St.  John  Lateran,  St.  Mary  Alajor  and  St. 
Paul's,  outside  the  walls,  which  it  was  necessary 
to  visit  a  number  of  times  in  order  to  gain  the 
plenary  indulgence  of  the  jubilee.     All  classes 
joined  together  in  these  pilgrimages,  and  all  con- 
ditions were  represented,  from  the  nobilit}'  to  the 
simplest  peasant.    The  costumes  of  the  peasantry, 
with  the  bright-colored  dresses    of  the  women, 
added  much  to  the  picturesqueness  of  these  pro- 
cessions.    A  particularly  striking  dress  was  that 
of  the  Hungarian  women,  consisting  of  a  woollen 
corsage  covered  b}'  a  gay  shawl  or  handkerchief, 
a  short,  full  skirt  reaching  a  little  below  the  knees 
and  underneath  high  leather  boots,  suggesting  the 
idea  of  a  masquerade  attire,  in  which  the  female 
half  of  creation  had  appropriated  the  boots  be- 
longing to  the  other  half     Nor  was  it  only  the 
pilgrimages  which  lent  beauty  and  variety  to  the 
scene.     The  priests  and  nuns  that  were  met  with 
at  every  turn  did  their  share  towards  adding  to 
the  interest  of  the  occasion,  for  the  latter  were  by 
no  means    always    in    black,  but    sometimes  in 
blue  and  sometimes  in  gray,  while  the  priests, 
who  appeared  to  have  come  from  all  parts  of  the 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING  HIS   PONTIFICATE. 


445 


world,  wore  the  picturesque  hats  of  the  Italian 
clerg}',  occasionally  with  either  red  or  blue  sashes, 
and,  to  crown  all  and  aid  in  furnishing  a  wealth 
of  color,  the  German  clerics  and  students  ap- 
peared with  long  scarlet  gowns  and  coats  reach- 
ing almost  to  the  ground.  Over  all  this  motley- 
show  the  bright  Roman  sun  poured  its  enlivening 
beams,  making  a  coup  d'oeil  such  as  could  be 
witnessed  nowhere  else  in  the  world. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  Holy  Father  to  receive 
and  bless  all  these  pilgrims,  who  for  that  purpose 
were  assembled  in  St.  Peter's,  together  with  all 
the  other  visitors  to  Rome  who  desired  an  oppor- 
tunity to  see  His  Holiness  and  receive  his  bene- 
diction. The  great  basilica,  which  holds  about  forty 
thousand  people,  was  almost  filled,  mostly  with 
pilgrims,  but  also  with  visitors  to  Rome  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  world.  All  appeared  quiet, 
decorous  and  good-natured,  awaiting  with  patience 
the  arrival  of  the  Pope.  At  a  quarter  past  twelve 
he  entered  from  the  side  door  communicating  with 
the  Vatican  palace,  borne  aloft  in  the  "  sedia  ges- 
tatoria  "  by  four  stalwart  men.  The  enthusiasm 
with  which  he  was  received  was  tremendous,  and 
the  tumult  that  greeted  his  entrance  and  con- 
tinued while  he  was  borne  along  in  a  railed  in 
space  up  to  the  body  of  the  Church  to  near  the 
high  altar  was  almost  deafening.  Cheers,  calls  of 
various  kinds,  shouts  of  "  Viva  il  Papa  "  and  clap- 
ping of  hands  were  indulged  in  to  quite  an  un- 
limited extent.  The  venerable  Pontiff,  in  his 
ninety-first  year,  looking  very  frail  and  delicate, 
but  his  face  beaming  with  a  sweet  and  benevolent 
expression, kept  raising  himself  up  in  his  chair  in 
order  to  be  better  seen  by  the  people,  waving  his 
hand  in  benediction  first  to  the  right  and  then  to 
the  left  as  he  was  slowly  carried  along  the  line. 
When  arrived  at  the  high  altar  he  was  set  down 
and  a  simple  service  ensued,  followed  by  some 
music  from  the  choir,  after  which  he  made  a  short 
address  to  the  pilgrims,  and  was  then  borne  back 
to  his  own  apartments.  The  ardent  enthusiasm 
which  greeted  his  appearance  both  in  his  entrance 
and  his  exit  was  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
members  of  his  own  Church,  but  was  warmly 
rshared  by  Protestants,  whose  shouts  and  vivas 


rang  through  the  Church  as  tumultuously  as 
those  of  their  Catholic  brethren.  All  seemed  to 
consider  it  an  occasion  to  be  eagerly  desired  and 
to  rejoice  that  they  had  been  permitted  to  be 
present.  The  same  scene  was  repeated  at  inter- 
vals of  a  few  days  throughout  the  winter  and 
spring  and  again  in  the  autumn,  and  the  wonder 
of  all  seemed  to  be  that  the  Pope  should  be  able 
to  bear  the  fatigue  and  excitement  attendant 
upon  so  many  receptions  without  breaking  down 
under  the  long-continued  strain. 

Pope  Leo  Deplores  President  ricKlnley's  Assassination. 

The  Holy  Father,  upon  receiving  news  of  the 
attempted  assassination  of  President  McKinley, 
in  September,  1901,  is  said  to  have  displayed  deep 
emotion,  exclaiming:  "Oh,  how  earnestly  I  pray 
that  he  may  escape  with  his  life.  These  violent 
crimes  are  the  curse  of  our  days.  I  can  only 
offer  the  afflicted  victim  and  his  poor  wife  my 
humble  prayers."  At  the  same  time  he  sent  a 
cablegram  through  Cardinal  Rampollo  to  Cardi- 
nal Martinelli,  which  read  as  follows  : 

"  The  Holy  Father  has  learned  with  great  sor- 
row the  attempt  to  assassinate  the  President  of 
the  United  States.  Your  Eminence  will  convey 
to  Mr.  McKinley  the  expression  of  His  Holiness' 
sympathy  and  regard  for  his  person,  assuring  him 
that  His  Holiness  execrates  with  all  the  power 
of  his  soul  the  horrible  crime,  and  with  equal 
energy  prays  for  the  President's  speedy  recovery. 

"CARDINAL  RAMPOLLO." 

By  cable  it  was  announced  that,  on  receipt  of 
the  sad  news  of  President  McKinley's  death,  the 
venerable  occupant  of  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter, 
Leo  XIII. ,  wept  in  uncontrollable  emotion,  and 
prayed  for  an  hour  for  the  soul  of  the  distin- 
guished dead. 

How  the  Pontiff  Spends  the  Day. 

The  Pope's  day  begins  at  7  o'clock,  alike  in 
summer  and  winter.  At  that  hour  Centra,  his 
faithful  body  servant,  unlocks  the  outer  door  lead- 
ing to  his  master's  bedroom.  It  is  the  valet's 
duty  to  fasten  this  door  at  night  after  His  Holiness 


446 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO   XIIL 


has  retired.  Thus  the  Pope  during  his  sleeping 
hours  is  practically  a  prisoner.  The  key  of  his 
bedroom  door,  however,  Leo  XIIL  never  trusts 
to  any  one;  it  is  locked  at  night  by  himself,  and 
the  key  never  leaves  him. 

As  soon  as  the  Pope  is  dressed  in  his  white 
woollen  cassock  and  wadded  silk  gown  he  recites 
the  prayers  before  Mass  at  a  priedieu  in  his  bed- 
room, passing  directly  afterward  into  an  adjoin- 
ing apartment,  which  has  been  arranged  as  an 
oratory.  Here  he  is  robed  in  the  necessary  vest- 
ments by  his  two  private  chamberlains.  Mass  is 
then  celebrated. 

The  service  usually  lasts  about  three-quarters 
of  an  hour,  after  which  the  Pope  returns  to  his 
bedroom,  where  Centra  brings  him  a  cup  of  coffee 
and  a  roll,  which  constitutes  his  master's  break- 
fast. 

The  Pope's  Body   Servant. 

A  word  about  Centra.  He  is  a  person  of  the 
greatest  influence  at  the  Vatican.  The  Pontiff 
relies  on  him  implicitly,  and  his  trust  is  well 
placed.  They  say  in  Rome  that  Centra  is  more 
powerful  than  the  whole  Sacred  College.  For 
years  he  has  been  a  most  faithful  servant ;  so 
necessary  is  he  to  the  Pope  that  the  whole  palace 
quickly  becomes  aware  of  Centra's  absence  or  in- 
disposition, since  things  begin  to  go  wrong. 

Some  years  ago  this  faithful  attendant  had  a 
sharp  attack  of  Roman  fever,  and  was  ordered  a 
change  of  air  by  the  Pope's  physician.  The 
Pontiff  gave  his  permission  only  on  condition 
that  Centra  should  return  to  Rome  ever}'  fifth 
day,  in  order  that  he  should  shave  him — a  task 
which  His  Holiness  would  not  trust  to  the  best 
barber  in  Rome. 

When  the  Pope  intends  to  give  public  audi- 
ences— there  are  scores  of  pilgrims  in  Rome  every 
day  in  the  year — he  receives  them  in  the  library, 
after  his  frugal  breakfast.  The  private  apart- 
ments of  the  Pope  are  situated  on  the  first  floor 
of  the  Vatican,  near  the  grand  hall  of  Clement 
VIII.  The  approach  to  these  apartments  is  cal- 
culated to  impress  even  the  most  indefatigable 
globe-trotter.  The  famous  Swiss  guards  stand 
or  sit  about  the  immense  vestibule  in  picturesque 


groups,  while  the  scarlet-clad  bussolanti  and 
violet-clad  chamberlains  cross  and  recross  the 
Salle  de  Susses  on  their  way  hither  and  thither 
from  the  adjacent  Salle  des  Bussolanti.  The 
effect  of  the  whole  presents  a  most  magnificent 
color  scene.  Those  who  have  an  audience  with 
the  Pope  being  duly  assembled  in  the  library,  the 
Pontiff  enters,  supporting  himself  by  a  long  table 
in  the  middle  of  the  room. 

The  Pope's   Personality. 

His  frame  is  bent  and  meagre.  His  personality 
is  spirit-like.  In  a  wonderfully  musical  voice — 
the  Italian  voice — the  Pope  talks  for  some  min- 
utes to  each  guest,  asking  his  name,  his  country 
and  the  history  of  his  family.  His  memory  is- 
marvelous.  He  has  been  known  to  recall  the 
faces  and  names  of  ordinary  visitors  who  have 
had  audiences  with  him  years  before.  He  is 
much  attached  to  Americans,  and  talks  to  them 
of  the  great  men  of  their  country  and  its  histori- 
cal events.  After  receiving  the  Pope's  blessing 
the  visitors  withdraw,  aud  he  then  retires  to  his 
study,  where  the  greater  part  of  his  work  is  done 
at  a  small  writing  table,  beneath  a  canopy. 

Here  he  writes  busily  all  the  morning,  using 
both  hands — the  left  grasping  the  right  to  still  its- 
nervous  trembling ;  in  this  way  sheet  after  sheet  is 
covered  with  a  peculiar,  pointed  but  entirely  legi- 
ble chirography.  His  way  of  working  is  very 
methodical.  He  makes  notes  for  his  enc3'^clicals 
every  day  on  small  slips  of  paper,  which  he  puts 
into  a  drawer ;  these  notes  are  afterwards  revised, 
cut  and  elaborated  in  accordance  with  later  re- 
flection. These  manuscrpts  are  always  written  in 
Latin,  a  language  in  which  Leo  XIIL  is  as 
thoroughly  at  home  as  he  is  in  Italian. 

During  the  morning  Cardinal  Rampolla,  the 
Pope's  Secretary  of  State,  brings  His  Holiness 
the  political  news  of  the  day,  and  this  is  duly  dis- 
cussed and  arranged.  Twice  a  week,  on  Tuesday 
and  Friday,  the  household  accounts  are  gone  over 
and  paid  from  a  coffer. 

The  household  expenses  at  the  Vatican  are 
enormous,  one  authority  estimating  them  at  $5,- 
ocx)  a  day.     But  when  the  immense  number  of 


IMPORTANT  EVENTS   DURING  HIS  PONTIFICATE. 


447 


Cardinals,  chamberlains,  servants  and  retainers 
who  live  within  the  walls  of  the  palace  is  con- 
sidered, the  sum  does  not  seem  unusually  large. 

At  midday  audiences  are  given  to  crowned 
heads  or  other  distinguished  personages.  If  the 
visitor  is  a  sovereign,  the  Pope  receives  him  in  the 
throne  room,  surrounded  by  Cardinals,  who  retire 
as  soon  as  the  potentate  has  been  presented.  The 
etiquette  of  the  Vatican  is  very  elaborate  and 
formal — in  fact,  far  more  rigid  than  that  of  many 
of  the  smaller  courts  of  Europe. 

A  luncheon  of  the  simplest  fare  is  served  at 
I  o'clock,  the  menu  consisting  chiefly  of  eggs. 
After  this  repast  the  Pope  takes  the  air  in  the 
gardens  of  the  Vatican  in  a  carriage.  Escorted 
by  two  gendarmes  and  preceded  by  an  ofl&cer,  the 
equipage  slowly  makes  its  way  through  the  long 
oak-bordered  walks  till  it  reaches  a  cascade  over- 
looking St.  Angelo.  Here  the  Pope  alights  and, 
leaning  on  the  arm  of  his  chamberlain,  inspects 
a  vine  planted  by  himself  at  the  foot  of  the  Citta 
Leonina  tower  He  gathers  the  fruit  with  his  own 
hands,  and  last  year  it  yielded  a  fair  quantity  of 
wine.     Next  to  this  vine  the  Pope  loves  his  roses. 

Where  He  Seeks  Solitude. 

The  Pontiff  spends  the  greater  part  of  his  day 
in  the  Citta  Leonina  tower,  reserving  the  upper 
story  for  himself  No  one  is  allowed  to  enter 
this  room.  Here  at  least  the  Pope  can  work  and 
think  undisturbed.  This  rule  has  been  relaxed 
in  favor  of  but  one  person,  Ugolini,  the  painter, 
whom  the  Pope  holds  in  high  regard.  It  is 
said  that  the  artist  won  the  Pontiff's  favor  by  dis- 
creetly avoiding  the  Pope's  great  resemblance  to 
Voltaire  in  painting  the  famous  "Ugolini  por- 
trait." This  resemblance  is  His  Holiness'  special 
aversion. 

Despite  his  advanced  age,  Leo  XIII.  works  in- 
dustriously at  all  times.  The  hot  afternoons  of 
the  Roman  summer  find  him  working  in  the  up- 
per room  of  the  Leonina  tower,  unmindful  of  ma- 
laria or  other  plagues  of  the  summer  season  in 
Rome. 

With  sunset  Leo  returns  to  the  palace.  As 
the  day  is  fading  the  chair-bearers,  in  their  scarlet 


liveries,  appear  at  the  door  of  the  tower  and  carry 
him  back  to  his  carriage,  and  thence  through  the 
Raphael  chambers  to  his  private  apartments. 
After  reciting  the  rosary  with  one  of  his  prelates, 
the  Pope  again  resumes  work  at  his  writing  table, 
and  writes  till  Centra  attends  him  to  bed. 

Our  Holy  Father's  Qreat  Endurance. 

The  present  year  of  our  Holy  Father's  Pon- 
tificate will  compare  favorably  with  any  gone 
before.  We  hear  rumors  occasionally  that  the 
Pope's  health  is  failing  him,  yet  he  manages  to 
show  himself  the  same  indefatigable  Pontiff  that 
he  has  been  since  he  first  ascended  the  Papal 
throne.  Without  doubt  the  long  confinement  to 
which  he  has  been  subjected  in  the  Vatican, 
together  with  the  tremendous  amount  of  labor 
which  he  accomplishes,  has  told  on  His  Holiness' 
strength  ;  for,  since  the  insult  to  the  remians  of 
the  saintly  Pius  IX.,  the  Holy  Father  has  re- 
mained in  closer  confinement  in  the  Vatican  than 
he  probably  would  have  done  if  this  outrage  had 
not  convinced  him  that  neither  his  person  nor  the 
dignity  of  his  office  was  secure  from  insult. 

Indeed,  there  is  something  phenomenal  in  what 
we  are  now  beholding  with  regard  to  this  most 
illustrious  of  modern  Pontiffs.  In  longevity 
almost  patriarchal,  in  faith  and  in  wisdom  greater 
than  any  of  the  patriarchs  of  old,  he  seems  des- 
tined by  an  all-wise  God  to  play  yet  a  still  more 
memorable  part  in  the  mighty  drama  of  the 
Church's  development,  and  the  great  problems  of 
the  world's  government. 

The  Church  may  well  be  proud  of  its  present 
Pontiff,  who  is  not  inaptly  styled  Leo  the  Great ; 
for  though  it  has  not  fallen  to  his  lot,  during  the 
few  years  of  his  Pontificate,  to  decree,  like  his 
saintly  predecessor,  any  new  dogma  of  faith,  he  has 
achieved  many  brilliant  successes  ;  he  has  glori- 
fied the  Papal  chair ;  and  he  has  prepared,  as  far 
as  in  him  lies,  the  Church  to  meet  that  more  dan- 
gerous foe  which  she  has  to  encounter  in  these 
modern  days,  that  false  science  which  makes  the 
perverted  mind  and  will  to  revolt  against  the  teach- 
ings of  the  true  Church  and  the  unchangeable 
doctrines  of  the  Catholic  religion.     All  over  the 


448 


LIFE  OF  POPE  LEO   XIIL 


Christian  worid,  in  both  hemispheres,  wherever 
the  Catholic  faith  is  known  and  taught — and  few 
are  the  places  on  the  world  where  it  is  not  known 
and  taught — Leo  XIII.  is  hailed  as  the  worthy 
successor  of  the  sainted  Pius  IX.,  and  proclaimed 
one  of  the  greatest  Pontiffs  who  ever  occupied 
the  Papal  throne,  while  daily  fervent  prayers  are 
oflFered  up  in  his  behalf,  that  his  years  ma}^  be 
many  upon  earth,  and  that  the  Church  may  long 
profit  by  his  prudence,  his  piety,  and  his  great 
abilities. 

A  more  feeling  ending  to  these  pages  cannot 
be  found  than  the  reproduction  here  of  the  fol- 
lowing tribute  to  Leo  XIIL  from  the  pastoral  let- 
ter of  the  Fathers  of  the  last  Baltimore  Council : 

"While  enduring  with  the  heroism  of  a  martyr 
the  trials  which  beset  him,  and  trustfully  await- 
ing the  Almighty's  day  of  deliverance,  the  energy 


and  wisdom  of  Leo  XIII.  are  felt  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth.  He  is  carrying  on  with  the  govern- 
ernments  of  Europe  the  negotiations  which  prom- 
ise soon  to  bring  peace  to  the  Church.  In  the 
East  he  is  preparing  the  way  for  the  return  to 
Catholic  unity  of  the  millions  whom  the  Greek 
schism  has  so  long  deprived  of  communion  with 
the  See  of  Peter,  and  is  following  the  progress 
of  exploration  in  lands  hitherto  unknown  or  inac- 
cessible, with  corresponding  advances  of  Catholic 
missions.  To  the  whole  world  his  voice  has 
again  and  again  been  lifted  up  in  counsels  of 
eloquence  and  wisdom,  pointing  out  the  path  to 
the  acquisition  of  truth  in  the  important  domain 
of  philosophy  and  history;  the  best  means  for 
the  improvement  of  human  life  in  all  its  phases, 
individual,  domestic  and  social;  the  ways  in 
which  the  children  of  God  should  walk — '  that 
all  flesh  may  see  the  salvation  of  God.' " 


GUARDIAN  ANGEL. 

The  Son  of  God  in  His  mercy  furnishes  every  human  being  with  an  Angel  Guardian,  to  aid  and  protect  him  or  her  in  time  of  temp- 
tation :  this  messenger  of  Christ  accompanies  the  creature  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  and  will  be  the  accuser  as  well  as  the  defender 
•t  the  iMt  judgment 


THE  QUEEN  OF  HEAVEN. 

Mary  considered  that  her  mission  on  earth  was  accomplished,  began  to  sigh  after  the  cool  shade  of  the  tree  of  life  which  grows  near 
the  throne  of  God,  and  for  the  living  waters  which  flow  beneath  its  branches  ;  this  thought  being  known  to  her  Son,  He  sent  His 
angel  to  infonn  the  future  Queen  of  Heaven  that  her  wish  would  be  granted. 


PAPAL    INFALLIBILITY. 


T  might  be  well  to  explain  to  the  ordinaty  reader,  who  is  not  a  member  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  what  the  doctrine  of  Papal  infallibility  really  is.  The  most 
erroneous  ideas  prevail  upon  that  subject,  sometimes  even  among  perfectly 
intelligent  and  impartial  men,  who  are  willing  and  eager  to  know  the  truth. 
To  begin  with,  the  Roman  Church  would  have  no  claim  to  existence,  aud  no 
,  motive  for  existing,  if  it  had  not  as  its  fundamental  principle  the  faith  that, 
in  the  teaching  of  the  nations  where  belief  and  morals  are  concerned,  it  has 
the  direct  inspiration  of  heaven.  That  inspiration  is  understood  to  be  given 
through  the  Church,  of  which  the  Pope  is  the  visible  head.  The  faith  of 
Rome  is  that  when  the  Pope  and  his  Council  have  to  define  some  question  of 
creed  or  morals,  that  inspiration  will  guide  them  right.  It  is  furthermore  the 
faith  of  Rome  that  if,  on  any  occasion,  at  any  crisis,  the  Pope  should  find  it 
impossible  to  convene  his  Council,  and  because  of  some  new-risen  doubt  on  a 
question  of  creed  or  morals  a  definition  should  be  necessary,  the  Holy  Spirit  would  then  be  with  the 
Pope,  and  would  metaphorically  touch  his  lips  with  sacred  fire.  The  Pope  has  no  power  to  start  new 
dogmas.  He  only  interprets  revelation.  He  defines  and  declares  doctrines,  extracting  them,  as  one 
writer  puts  it,  out  of  that  deposit  of  faith  originally  entrusted  to  the  Apostles,  and  proposing  them  to 
be  received  by  all  the  faithful.  The  Pope  is  infallible  only  when  he  expounds  a  question  of  faith  or 
morals  ex  cathedra^  and  on  behalf  of  the  Church.  His  private  opinion,  even  on  a  question  of  faith  or 
morals,  is  but  as  the  opinion  of  any  other  learned  ecclesiastic.  Outside  the  question  of  faith  and  morals 
the  Pope  has  no  claim  whatever  to  infallibility.  The  most  itnlettered  Irish  peasant  understands  the 
distinction  perfectly  well.  When  the  Pope  declares  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  a  question  of  faith 
or  morals,  the  Irish  peasant  accepts  the  definition  without  question,  and  believes  that  the  Divine  Spirit 
speaks  through  the  lips  of  the  PontiflF.  But  were  the  Pope  to  pronounce  an  opinion  on  any  political 
question,  the  Irish  peasant  would  perfectly  well  understand  that  he  was  not  bound  to  accept  the  opinion 
as  a  judgment.  There  is  no  man  in  the  world  more  devoted  to  his  Church  than  the  Irish  peasant;  but  he 
knows  that  divine  inspiration  was  not  given  to  the  Church  to  teach  politics.  It  would  be  as  easy  to 
make  him  believe  that  the  opinion  of  the  Pope  was  infallible  as  to  the  time  and  method  of  harvest 
operations. 

A  yet  more  erroneous  misconception  of  the  doctrine  of  Papal  infallibility  than  that  which  we  have 
just  been  considering  is  the  idea  that  the  Pope  claims  to  be  impeccable  as  well  as  infallible.  No  such 
claim  was  ever  made  by  any  Catholic;  no  such  claim  could  possibly  be  made.  The  Popes,  on  the  whole, 
have  been  virtuous  and  noble  men,  but  a  Pope  is  liable  to  sin  and  to  have  need  of  repentance  like 
other  men.  The  inspiration  given  to  him  at  the  time  when  some  solemn  and  sacred  declaration  has  to 
be  made  in  the  name  of  the  Church  on  a  question  of  faith  or  morals  does  not  depend  on  his  personal 
sinlessness.  It  is  not  given  to  him  for  his  own  sake,  or  as  any  reward  for  his  conduct;  it  is  given  that 
he  may  rightly  instruct  his  people.  I  am  not  asking  my  readers  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  Papal  infalli- 
bility;  I  am  only  asking  them  to  understand  what  it  is  and  what  it  is  not.  In  our  days  there  are  large 
numbers  of  men  and  women  who  refuse  to  believe  in  any  guidance  of  man  from  a  higher  world,  or,  in- 
deed, in  any  higher  world  from  which  he  could  be  guided.  I  do  not,  of  course,  expect  such  men  and 
women  to  accept  the  principle  of  Papal  infallibility.  But  I  should  certainly  expect  even  them  to  try 
to  understand  what  the  principle  actually  is.  I  have  read  and  listened  to  scores  and  scores  of  argu- 
ments against  Papal  infallibility,  which  were  complacently  founded  on  the  belief  that  the  Pope  professed 

to  be  infallible  in  every  word  he  spoke  on  any  subject  whatever. 

(449) 


LIST  OF  ROMAN  PONTIFFS 

ACCORDING  TO  THE  "GERARCHIA  CATTOLICA." 


St.  Peter,  of  Bethsaida  in  Galilee,  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  who  received  from  Jesus  Christ  the  Supreme  Pontifical  Power  to  be  transniiilcd  to  his  Sue 
cessors;  resided  first  at  Antiocli,  then  at  Rome,  where  he  was  martyred  June  29,  in  the  year  67,  having  governed  the  Church  from  iliat  city  25  years, 
2  months  and  7  days. 


»3 

>5 

36. 
»7 
28. 

»9- 
3P- 
3'- 
32. 
3i- 
34- 
35 
3« 
37- 
38. 
39- 
¥>■ 
4" 
♦»■ 
43. 
M- 
45. 
46. 
47 
48. 
49- 
50 
5>. 
5J. 
S3- 
54. 
55- 
56 
57. 
58, 

§: 
61. 

65 
66 
67. 
68 
69 
70. 
71 
72. 
73 
74. 
75 
/76. 
7; 


Elected. 

St  Linus,  M » 67 

St.  Cletus,  M .,»    78 

St.  Clement  I.,  M «    90 

St.  Anacletus,  M » *^ 100 

St.  Evaristus,  M na 

St.  Alexander  I.,  M » lai 

St.  Sixms  I..  M „ « *i3a 

St.  Telesphorus,  M « i4» 

St.  Hyginus,  M ~ «.—  X54 

St.  Pius  I..M «..  158 

St.  Anicetus,  M_ « "..« 167 

St.  Soterus,  M «« 175 

St.  Elcutherius.  M «•  18a 

St.  Victor  I..  M 193 

St.  Zcphyrinus,  M « ».. fl03 

St.  Callistus  I..  M « «  281 

St.  Urban  I.,  M « -  aa? 

Sl  Pontian,  M ». «, au 

St.  Antenis,  M 338 

St.  Fabian,  M » ». 840 

St.  Cornelius,  M 254 

St.  Lucius  I.,  M- »«.....» 855 

St.  Stephanus  L.  M    ...  ..^ ».  257 

St.  Sixius  n..  M «.. 260 

St.  Dionysiiis „ » »., 261 

St.  Felix  I..  M « 278 

St.  Eutychian,  M « 275 

St.  Caius.  M „ 283 

St.  Marcellinus,  M » 296 

St.  Manrcllus  L,  M « -  304 

St.   Eusebius » 309 

St.  Metchiades , -^ii 

St.  Sylvester  I „  314 

St.  Mark „«   v 337 

St.  Julius  I ». 341 

St.  Libcrius „ , H 358 

St.  FelixlL.M* 

St.  Damascu.s  1 « 366 

St.  Siricius « „  384 

St.  Anastasius  1 399 

St.  Innocent  I ».. 40a 

St.  Zozimus „ „ 417 

St.  Boniface  I 415 

St.  Celestine  1 433 

St.  Sixtus  III »  43a 

St.  Leo  I.  (the  Great) 440 

t.  Hilary .■., „ 461 

St.  Simpticius »» 468 

St.  Felix  III ™. 483 

St.  Gelasius  I « „. „  492 

St.  Anastasius  II  ....„ 496 

St.  Symmachus 498 

St.   Hormisdas .,„ „ 514 

St.  John  I..  M „ „ 523 

St.  Felix  IV 586 

Boniface  11 ««...  ..,._«  ....«„  530 

ohn  II „.. ..„. 5J2 

t,  Agapitu* „ „ 535 

St.  Silverius,  M _  536 

V'g'iius-" - -  537 

Pclagius  I -.— ..  .« 555 

John  III „  560 

Benedict  I —«. 574 

-  Pelagius  II 578 

St.  Gr^ory  I  (th=  Great) - 590 

Sabintan 604 

Boni&ce  III .,.„ 607 

St.  Boniface  IV «. 608 

St.  A'icodatus  I „ « 615 

Boniface  V„ „,, 619 

Honorius  I .„ „  625 

Scverinus « 640 

John  IV..,.. 640 

•Theodore  I » 642 

St.  Martin  I.,  M 649 

St.  Eugene  I 655 

St.  Vitatian - 657 

Adeodatus  II „ « 672 

Donus  I » 676 

St.  Agaiho....- - 678 

St.  Leo  II ««....,«. 682 

St.  Benedict  II 684 

John  v.. « 685 

Conon 686 

St.  Sergius  I „ » 687 

John  Vl »M 701 

John  VII „ « 705 

*  Pope  during  exfle  of  Liberius. 


I.  Si 


Died. 

78 

89- 

90 

90 

100 

91. 

ii> 

9»- 

ISI 

93- 

"3» 

94 

141 

95- 

'54 

,6. 

% 

??: 

'Z* 

99- 

181 

100. 

•93 

101. 

ao3 

10a, 

aao 

'03. 

"7 

104. 

V^ 

105. 
106. 

»39 

107. 

»53 

i<>8. 

»55 

109 

>57 

SIO 

>«o 

III. 

<«l 

113. 

»7> 

113. 

»75 

114. 

M% 

■  15. 

'¥> 

116. 

304 

117. 

309 

itS. 

3»" 

119. 

3'4 

lao. 

337 

191. 

34° 

133. 

35; 

"3 

366 

134. 

135. 

384 

136. 

MS 

137. 

401 

138. 

*'l 

139. 

418 

130. 

4»3 

131. 

43» 

133. 

440 

'33- 

461 

'34- 

468 

"35. 

483 

■36 

49» 

'37- 

49« 

1,8. 

498 

139. 

5>4 

140. 

5»3 

141. 

5^ 

143. 

53° 

■43- 

53a 

M4. 

535 

■45 

536 

.46. 

518 

'47- 

555 

.48. 

5<» 

»49. 

573 

150, 

578 

151. 

590 

'53. 

604 

'53- 

6d« 

■54 

607 

■55 

6.5 

nb 

610 

'57- 

fas 

.S«. 

638 

159. 

640 

.60. 

64= 

161. 

649 

163. 

6>i5 

i6v 

656 

.64. 

67, 

t6,. 

676 

.66. 

678 

.67. 

682 

168. 

683 

.69. 

685 

.70 

686 

17.. 

687 

.72. 

701 

«73- 

705 

'74- 

707 

»75. 

.76. 

Elected. 

Sisinnius 708 

Consuntine 708 

St.  Gregory  II „ 715 

St.  Gregory  III 731 

St.  Zachary 741 

St.  Stephen  II '. 75a 

Stephen  III 753 

St.  Paul  I  « ..„  757 

Stephen  IV 768 

Adrian  I ,. « 771 

St.  Leo  III 705 

St.  Stephen  V 816 

St.  Paschal  I 817 

Eugene  U 884 

Va^ntine 887 

Gregor>-  IV ftt? 

SergiusII  « „.  844 

St.  Leo  IV 847 

Benedict  HI 855 

St.  Nicol.is  I   (the  Great) »  858 

Adrian  II - 867 

.  John  VIII 878 

Marinus  I » 888 

St.  Adrian  III  - 884 

Stephen  VI « 885 

Formosus 891 

Boniface  VI „ „ 896 

Stephen  VII 897 

Romanus  898 

Theodore  II 898 

John  IX „ 898 

Benedict  IV 900 

Leo  V 903 

Christopher 903 

Sergius  III „ 904 

Anastasius   III 911 

Landus », 913 

John  X 915 

Leo  VI „ ., 928 

Stephen  VIII 929 

,  John  XI , „ 931 

,  Leo  VII 936 

Stephen  IX „ 939 

Marinus  II » 943 

AgapituR  II , 946 

John  XII „ „ 956 

Benedict  V 964 

John  XIII  965 

Benedict  VI 972 

Donus  II 973 

Benedict  VJI „ 975 

John  XIV 984 

Boniface  VU - 985 

John  XV 985 

John  XVI i 996 

Gregory  V « 996 

John  XVn 996 

Sylvester  II 999 

John  XVIII „ 1003 

John  XIX 1003 

Sergius  IV ...„« 1009 

Benedict  Vllt »iota 

John  XX... 1024 

Benedict  IX 1033 

Gregory  VI T044 

Clement  II S046 

Damascus  II 1048 

St    Leo  IX     « 1049 

Victor  II » 1055 

Stephen  X 1057 

Benedict  X « 1058 

Nicholas  II 1059 

Alexander  11 1061 

St.  Gregory  VII « 1073 

B.  Victor  III 1087 

B.  Urban  II 1088 

Paschal  II » 1099 

Gelasius  II 11 18 

Callistus  II JI19 

Honorius  II 1124 

Innocent  II 1130 

Celestine  II. 1 143 

Lucius  II M 1144 

B.  Eugene  III '. 1145 

Anastasius  IV ii53 

Adrian  IV „ 1154 

Alexander  III 11 59 

Lucius  III„ X181 


Died. 


708 

7'5 

\\l 

73" 

'79. 

74" 

iSo 

753 

181. 

753 

.83 

757 

iS, 

767 

.84 

77" 

.8, 

?rl 

.86 
187 

8.7 

.88 

834 

'89 

837 

190. 

B37 

191. 

843 

193 

847 

'93 

855 

'94 

858 

'95. 

867 

.96 

88> 

'97 

883 

198 

884 

'99 

885 

200. 

89. 

so. 

896 

202 

896 

303. 

898 

204. 

898 

305. 

898 

306. 

900 

Tl 

903 

903 

log. 

904 

2.0. 

911 

2". 

9"3 

313. 

9"4 

3.3. 

928 

3.4. 

939 

215. 

93' 

216. 

936 

"I 

939 

218. 

943 

2.9. 

946 

320. 

9=;6 

221. 

964 

322, 

965 

223. 

973 

224. 

973 

235. 

973 

326. 

984 

327. 

985 

328. 

985 

329. 

996 

330. 

996 

331. 

996 

332. 

999 

233- 

1003 

334 

X003 

335. 

XOC39 

236. 

1013 

337. 

1034 

»38. 

1033 

339. 

ti044 
J.046 

240. 

241, 

1047 

242. 

.048 

343- 

1054 

344- 

.057 

345- 

.058 

346. 

1059 

347- 

1061 

348. 

'073 

249. 

.085 

250. 

.087 

351. 

1099 

353, 

1118 

»53- 

.119 

354- 

.134 

355- 

1130 

356. 

"43 

257- 

■144 

'S>i- 

"45 

259. 

"53 

260, 

"54 

261. 

"59 

263. 

1181 

361. 

"8s  1 

Elected. 

Urban  III 1185 

Gregory  VllI 11 87 

9.  Clement  111 1187 

o.  Celestine  111 ,  .1191 

Innocent  111 , 119S 

Honoriu.i  III 1216 

Gregory  IX 1227 

Celestine  IV 1241 

5.  Innocent  IV 1243 

6.  Alexander  IV 1254 

7.  Urbanus  IV 1261 

8.  Clement  IV .265 

9.  B.  Gregory  X 127. 

0.  Innocent  V 1376 

1.  Adrian  V 1376 

^ohn  XXI .276 

Nichol.is  III 1277 

Martin  IV .281 

Honorius  IV 1285 

Nichoh.s  IV 1288 

7.  Pt.  Celestine  V .294 

"     Boniface  VIII 1394 

B.  Benedict  XI '3<^3 

.Clement  V 1305 

.  John  XXII *. J316 

.    Benedict  XII 1334 

.  Clement  VI .342 

.  Innocent  VI 135a 

.   B   Urban  V .363 

.  Gregory  XI .370 

Urban  Vl 1378 

.  Boniface  IX '389 

.   Innocent  VII 1404 

.  Gregory  XII .406 

.  Alexander  V 1^09 

iohn  XXlll 1410 
lartin  V 1417 

Eugene  IV 1431 

Nicholas  V ^....447 

Callistus  111  1455 

Pius  II .458 

Paul  II 1464 

Sixtus  IV .471 

Innocent  VIII 1484 

Alexander  VI 1493 

Pius  111 1503 

Julius  U 1503 

Leo  X 1513 

Adrian  VI 1522 

Clement  VII 1523 

Paul  III .534 

Julius  III 1550 

Marcellus  II 1555 

Paul  IV .555 

Pius  IV .559 

St.  Pius  V 1566 

Gregory  XIII .1573 

Sixtus  V 1585 

Urban  VII  1590 

Gregory  XIV .590 

Innocent  IX 1591 

Clement  VIII 1593 

Uo  XI 1605 

Paul  V .605 

Gregory  XV 1621 

Urban  Vlll  1623 

Innocent  X 1644 

Alexander  VII .^ 1655 

Clement  IX  .....1667 

Clement  X .670 

Innocent  XI 1676 

Alexander  VIII 1689 

Innocent  XII 1691 

Clement  IX  1700 

Innocent'  XIII  1721 

Benedict  XIII .734 

Clement  XII .73c 

Benedict  XIV 1740 

Clement  XI 11 .758 

Clement  XIV 1769 

Pius  VI  1775 

Pius  VII 1800 

Leo  XII 1823 

Pius  VIII 1829 

Gregory  XVI 1831 

Pius  IX 1846 

Leo  XIII 1878 

I  Resigned. 


Died. 
.187 
..87 
119. 
.198 
1216 
.227 
.241 
124. 
1354 
J26X 
1364 
1268 
1376 
1276 
1276 
1277 
1280 
.385 
.287 
1393 

1 1294 
■303 
.304 
'3'4 
'334 
1343 
.353 
.369 
'37° 
'378 
'389 
1404 
.4-6 

JM09 
1410 

Ji-115 
143' 
1447 
1455 
'458 
1464 
'47' 
1484 
1493 

"5"3 
.503 

'513 
152. 
1523 
'534 
1549 
'555 
'555 
'559 
1565 
1573 
'585 
.1590 
159° 
'59' 

1605 
1605 
1621 
1623 
1644 
1655 
1667 
1669 
1676 
1689 
169. 
1700 
1721 
1724 
1730 
1740 
'753 
1769 
'774 
'799 
1823 
1829 
1810 
1846 
1878 


(450) 


Copyrighted,  March,  1903,  by  Century  Art  Co.,  Phila. 


A  IS)  A  (Kl  Ctd  JU  l9^  Cli  CCr  Cia  i33 
w  ^  TO  w  rj^  ^p  rj^  tis  w  w  BB 


The   Catholic    Peligion    Defined. 


By  the 


PEV.  STEPHEN   KEENAN. 


da  cia  a  cti  ^!^  tSu  d^  lOi  a  a  est 
KW  US  nt  rj^  rj^  ^j^  tis  w  tu  ?» 


(451) 


n 
4 


|e  GflTpowc  {(EidGioji  Defied. 

By  the  Rev.  STEPHEN  pEHflH. 


AAA  d^  C[d  AAA 
QU  Ct?  03  fl^  rj^  Oj  W  tiS 


PRELIMINARY  CHAPTER. 


General   Idea  of  Religion. 


Question.  What  is  the  most  important  busi- 
ness of  men  in  this  world? 

Answer.  To  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  and 
to  know  themselves  ;  that  is,  to  know  what  they 
are ;  for  what  end  they  exist ;  what  they  will 
become  after  this  life,  and  what  they  must  do  to 
secure  true  happiness. 

Q.  Give  us  some  general  idea  of  the  truths 
of  religion. 

A.  These  may  be  reduced  to  the  following 
— there  is  one  God,  infinitely  perfect,  subsist- 
ing in  three  persons ;  this  God  is  the  Creator 
of  heaven  and  earth.  Angels  and  men  are  the 
most  perfect  of  God's  creatures ;  he  created  them  to 
render  them  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  him- 
self. Some  of  the  angels  remained  attached  to 
God,  others  abandoned  him  ;  the  first  are  and 
will  be  happy  with  him  eternall}',  and  God 
employs  them  for  the  execution  of  his  orders; 
the  second  have  rendered  themselves  miserable 
for  eternity,  and  form  what  we  may  call  the 
society  of  devils. 

God  created  man  and  woman  to  make  them 
happy  as  angels,  without  subjecting  them  to 
death ;  he  created  them  in  a  state  of  holiness 
and  justice,  and  engraved  his  law  on  their 
hearts,  so  that  they  knew  well  what  they  ought 
to  do,  and  had  great  facility  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  duty.  They  were  placed  in  an 
r.bode  of  delight,  called  the  terrestrial  paradise. 

But   instead  of  following  the  light  of   their 


understandings,  and  the  inclination  of  theii 
hearts.  Eve,  the  first  woman,  permitted  herself 
to  be  seduced  by  the  devil,  into  an  act  of  dis- 
obedience to  God ;  Adam,  the  first  man,  followed 
her  example,  and  fell  with  her.  By  this  dis- 
obedience they  rendered  miserable,  not  only  them- 
selves, but  their  posterity,  to  whom  they  trans- 
mitted their  sin,  as  well  as  its  consequences, 
ignorance — a  tendency  to  evil — the  enmity  of 
God — the  inconveniences  of  life,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  dying.  They  were  banished  from  the 
terrestrial  paradise,  and  would  have  been  lost, 
had  not  God  shown  them  mercy,  and  had  not 
they  themselves  done  penance.  The  first  of 
God's  mercies  to  them  was  the  promise  of  a 
Redeemer,  for  whose  coming  the  world  longed 
during  at  least  four  thousand  years. 

Meantime  men,  corrupted  by  the  sin  of  their 
first  parents,  rushed  blindly  into  all  kinds  of 
sins  and  excesses,  to  punish  which,  God  de- 
stroyed, by  a  universal  deluge,  all  men,  except 
Noah  and  his  family.  The  descendants  of 
these,  having  again  peopled  the  earth,  became 
gradually  as  corrupt  as  the  antediluvians,  and. 
God  abandoned  almost  all  to  their  corruption,, 
and  chose  Abraham  and  his  posterity  alone,  as 
a  people  to  be  consecrated  peculiarly  to  hisi 
service. 

This  people,  descended  from  one  man,  com- 
posed as  it  were  of  one  family,  and  called  first 
the    Hebrew    people,  and  afterwards  the  Jews, 


(453) 


454 


THE  CATHOLIC   REUGION   DEFINED. 


■were  the  depositaries  of  God's  law,  his  worship, 
his  promises,  his  prophecies,  and  God  wrought 
in  their  favor  a  multitude  of  miracles.  These 
prodigies  were  wrought  chiefly  by  the  ministry 
of  Moses ;  through  him  did  God  give  his  law, 
engraven  on  tables  of  stone,  and  through  him 
were  God's  people  taught  the  rites  and  ceremo- 
nies of  the  worship  due  to  the  Almighty. 

All  these  favors  and  wonders  did  not  prevent 
the  Jewish  people  from  sometimes  forgetting 
Ood ;  he  punished  them  often,  sometimes  in 
one  way,  sometimes  in  another ;  j'et,  notwith- 
standing all,  they  remained  generally  disorderly 
subjects  to  heaven. 

At  length,  the  Redeemer  of  men  arrived  at 
the  time  foretold  b}'  the  prophets;  this  Redeemer 
is  the  Son  of  God,  made  man  in  the  womb  of  a 
virgin ;  this  God-man  is  called  Jesus  Christ ; 
who,  after  having  taught  men,  bj'  his  examples 
and  instructions,  what  thej^  ought  to  do  to  attain 
happiness — after  having  proved  his  mission  and 
his  Divinity  by  miracles,  and  reconciled  fallen 
man  with  God  by  his  death  on  the  cross, — and 
after  having  been  placed  dead  in  the  sepulchre, 
rose  triumphantly  on  the  third  day,  remained 
on  earth  forty  days  instructing  his  disciples, 
and  then  before  their  eyes  ascended  to  heaven. 
Ten  days  after  this,  he  sent  his  Holy  Spirit 
tipon  his  disciples  assembled  for  this,  bj'  his  order, 
in  the  city  of  Jerusalem.  Moses  had  engraven 
the  law  of  God  only  on  stone,  but  this  Holy 
Spirit  engraves  it  now  on  the  living  tablet  of 
the  heart.  From  this  moment  the  disciples  of 
Christ,  the  chief  of  whom  were  the  twelve  Apos- 
tles, announced  to  the  Jews,  and  when  they  re- 
jected it,  to  all  the  people  of  the  earth,  the 
Gospel  which  Christ  had  taught  them,  of  the 
truth  of  which  they  were  witnesses.  Their 
preaching,  supported  by  innumerable  miracles, 
and  sealed  with  the  blood  of  millions  of  mart3frs, 
rendered  also  efficacious  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God, 
converted  the  greater  part  of  the  world,  in  spite 
of  all  earthl}'  opposition,  animated  b}'  that  of  the 
devil.  Nay,  even  the  very  powers  that,  humanly 
considered,  should  have  been  most  opposed  to 
Christianity,  became  subject  to  its  influence. 


This  society  of  persons,  converted  to  the  faith 
of  Christ  by  his  Apostles  and  disciples',  and 
guided,  or  directed,  by  the  lawful  successors  of 
the  Apostles,  is  called  the  Catholic  Church.  It 
is  a  visible  society,  which  has  ever,  and  will  ever 
subsist  under  the  guidance  of  Christ,  as  its  in- 
visible head ;  and  under  the  direction  of  the 
Pope,  who  is  its  visible  head,  the  vicar  of  Christ, 
and  the  lawful  successor  of  St.  Peter,  who  is 
aided  by  the  bishops  and  other  ministers,  for  the 
edification  of  the  body  of  Christ. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  ever  been,  and  ever 
will  be  distinguished  from  all  other  societies 
calling  themselves  churches,  by  four  marks, 
which  are  its  peculiar  properties.  These  marks 
are  unity,  sanctity,  catholicity,  and  aposiolicity. 
These  we  shall  explain  afterwards  in  detail. 
From  the  first  moment  of  her  existence  to  the 
present,  the  Church  has  ever  been  engaged  in 
spiritual  warfare,  and  this  combat  will  be  her  lot 
until  the  end  of  time.  But  she  has  ever,  and 
shall  forever  triumph  over  her  enemies;  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail  against  her; 
she  shall  be  ever  animated  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
aided  and  fortified  by  Christ  her  chief,  who 
promised  to  guide  her  securely  through  the 
stormy  assaults  of  this  world,  until  the  consum- 
mation of  time. 

This  holy  society,  which  commenced  on  earth, 
shall  not  be  consummated  or  perfected,  until  at 
the  end  of  the  world,  it  take  possession  of 
heaven.  Previous  to  that  general  consumma- 
tion, each  individual  who  dies,  appears  before 
God  to  be  judged,  and,  according  to  his  spiritual 
condition,  has  heaven,  or  purgator}',  or  hell  ap- 
pointed for  his  abode ;  but  when  the  number  of 
the  elect  shall  be  completed,  all  men  shall  rise 
from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  come  again  to 
judge  them;  after  this  general  judgment  there 
will  be  no  purgator}',  the  good  body  and  soul 
shall  be  with  God  forever  in  heaven,  and  the  wicked 
body  and  soul  shall  be  forever  inmates  of  hell. 

We  call  the  good,  those  Christians  who  lead 
upon  earth  lives  conformable  to  the  law  of  God ; 
and  we  call  the  wicked  those  whose  lives  are 
opposed  to  his  law  and  will.     To  be  good,  we 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


455 


must  be  detached  in  heart  from  sin,  and  attached 
in  affection  to  God ;  to  be  detached  from  sin,  we 
must  labor  to  suppress  our  tendency  to  pride, 
sensualit}^,  and  criminal  curiosity,  because  these 
are  the  sources  of  all  sin ;  to  be  attached  to  God, 
we  must  believe  in  him,  hope  in  him,  and  love 
him.  Charity  is  the  soul  of  all  the  other  Chris- 
tian virtues;  without  this  virtue  we  are  noth- 
ing: no  matter  what  we  do  otherwise,  we  can 
never  merit  heaven.  We  may  know  whether 
we  have  charity  by  this  mark :  We  have  it,  if 
we  practice  exactly  all  the  commandments  of 
God,  the  observance  of  which  has  been  ever 
necessary.  We  must  also  observe  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Church,  which  has  no  other 
view  in  what  she  prescribes  for  her  children,  than 
to  determine,  according  to  necessity ,  time  and  place, 
the  best  manner  of  keeping  God's  commandments. 
If  our  lives  are  guided  in  practice  by  these  general 
principles,  we  shall  infallibly  arrive  at  that  in- 
finite good  for  which  we  were  created. 

But  this  end  we  cannot  attain  by  our  own 
exertions ;  we  must  be  aided  by  God's  grace. 
This  grace  is  the  pure  effect  of  God's  mercy  to 
us;  he  owes  it  to  no  one, — no  one  by  his  own 
virtue  can  merit  it ;  God  gives  it  to  whom  he 
pleases,  and  in  what  measure  he  pleases.  Christ 
has,  by  his  death,  merited  this  succor  for  us ;  and 
all  the  graces  men  have  received  since  the  fall 
are  the  application  of  the  merits  of  Christ  to 
our  souls, — the  price  of  his  precious  blood.  It 
is  only  by  virtue  of  this  grace  of  God,  granted 
to  us  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  that  we  are 
reconciled  to  heaven,  and  become  his  friends 
and  children,  after  having  been  the  slaves  of 
the  devil,  and  the  enemies  of  God,  by  sin. 

God  has  established  two  ordinary  channels  of 
grace:  the  sacraments  and  prayer.  The  sacra- 
ments are  sensible  signs,  by  which  God  com- 
municates to  men  all  graces  necessary,  either 
for  individuals,  or  society  in  general.  They  are 
seven  in  number :  Baptism  gives  us  spiritual 
life ;  Confirmation  gives  us  that  life  in  greater 
perfection ;  the  Eucharist  nourishes  that  life ; 
Penance  restores  it,  when  lost ;  Extreme  Unction 
strengthens  the  sick,  and  effaces  the  relics  of 


sin ;  Orders  supply  ministers  for  the  public 
functions  of  God's  worship,  and  Marriage  sup- 
plies the  Church  with  children,  whose  end  is 
eternal  happiness.  Prayer  has  ever  accom- 
panied the  solemn  administration  of  the  sacra- 
ments, and  is,  as  it  were,  the  soul  of  the  Church ; 
it  is  by  and  through  prayer  that  we  elevate  our 
minds  to  God,  and  draw  from  his  inexhaustible 
fountain  the  help  we  require.  All  that  we  can 
lawfully  ask  of  God  is  included  in  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  of  which  Christ  is  the  author.  Consider- 
ing prayer  in  general  as  including  all  the  actions 
by  which  we  elevate  our  minds  to  God,  the  most 
excellent  of  all  prayers  is  the  sacrifice.  In  the 
old  law,  God  himself  appointed  both  the  sacri- 
fices and  accompanying  ceremonies.  These 
ancient  sacrifices  were,  however,  only  the  types 
and  figure  of  the  great  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ, 
once  offered  on  the  cross,  and  continued,  in  a 
mystical  manner,  on  our  altars. 

This  sacrifice  of  the  altar  is  what  we  call  the 
holy  Mass ;  it  has  been  ever  offered  in  all  the 
churches  of  the  world,  since  the  time  of  Christ, 
for  the  living  and  the  dead.  Nothing  can  be 
more  dignified  or  more  holy  than  the  prayers 
used  in  this  august  sacrifice, — nothing  more 
worthy  of  respect  than  the  ceremonies  which 
accompany  these  prayers.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  all  the  other  prayers,  ceremonies,  and 
usages  of  the  Church,  such  as  its  exorcisms, 
benedictions,  processions ;  all  these  are  vener- 
able by  their  antiquity,  worthy  of  respect  for 
their  sanctity,  and  those  only  will  dare  to  blame 
them,  who  do  not  understand  them. 

We  have  here  given  you  a  brief  summary 
of  all  the  great  truths  of  religion;  we  shall 
now  expound  all  these  in  detail.  In  the  first 
place,  we  shall  explain  the  origin,  the  prin- 
ciples, and  the  progress  of  religion,  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  down  to  the  enjoyment  of 
eternal  life,  for  which  men  were  created.  In 
the  second  part,  what  sort  of  life  men  should 
lead  upon  earth,  in  order  to  arrive  at  that 
happiness  for  which  they  were  created ;  and,  in 
the  third  and  last  part,  we  shall  point  out  the 
means,  by  the  use  of  which  man  may  reach  his 
his  high  and  holy  destination. 


456 


THE  CATHOUC  RELrlGION   DEFINED. 


CHAPTER   I. 
On  God. 

SECTION  1.— ON  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD. 


Q.  Are  we  certain  that  there  is  a  God? 

A.  That  God  exists,  is  a  truth  so  undeniably 
clear  and  evident,  that  a  man  must  be  foolish 
or  mad,  either  to  deny  it,  or  call  it  in  doubt. 
"The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart:  There  is  no 
God,"  Ps.  xiii.  I.  These  words  of  the  Psalmist 
are  very  remarkable ;  they  tell  us,  that  when 
a  man  arrives  at  such  a  pitch  of  folly  as  to 
deny  God,  his  mind  has  less  share  in  the  folly 
than  his  heart,  that  is,  that  he  wishes  there 
were  no  God,  that  he  may,  without  remorse, 
satisfy  his  criminal  passions  with  more  liberty. 
It  is  the  depravity  of  his  heart,  and  not  the 
light  of  his  intellect,  which  declares  there  is  no 
God.  But  he  cannot  shut  his  mind  to  this 
great  truth — it  is  so  impressed  on  the  mind 
of  man,  that  to  erase  it  completely  is  impossi- 
ble.— St.  Aug.,  Tract  i66,  n.  4,  on  St.  John. 
That  God  exists,  we  are  convinced  by  all  sorts 
of  reasons, — reasons  founded  on  our  own  in- 
ternal feeling,  our  experience,  our  faith,  and  on, 
as  it  were,  the  very  elements  of  reason  itself, 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  reasons  founded 
on  internal  feeling? 

A.  I  mean  reasons  drawn  from  the  impres- 
sions of  the  divinity,  made  by  God  himself  on 
the  heart  of  each  man. — St.  Aug.  as  above. 
This  impression  of  a  deity  has  existed  in  all 
the  people  of  the  earth.  There  is  no  nation 
which  does  not  recognize  some  deity ;  no  man, 
who,  in  sudden  danger  of  an  imminent  kind, 
does  not  address  himself  to  and  invoke  a  god, 
and  this  from  mere  natural  impulse.  This  is 
what  Tertullian  calls  the  testimony  of  a  soul 
naturally  Christian. — Apologet.  ch.  17,  ad finem. 
To  this  truth  the  Royal  Prophet  alludes — Ps. 
iv.  7 — "  The  light  of  thy  countenance,  O  Lord, 
is  signed  upon  us." 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  reasons  founded 
upon  experience  ? 


A.  Those  arguments  which  we  may  draw 
every  day  from  the  providence  of  God  in  our 
regard ;  his  goodness  in  hearing  our  prayers ; 
his  visible  punishments  of  the  wicked ;  and  a 
multitude]of  proofs  we  have  of  his  omnipotence, 
on  striking  and  important  occasions.  And  in 
addition  to  this,  the  arguments  we  must  draw 
from  the  order  and  arrangement  of  his  crea- 
tures.— Rom.  i.  20.  Sap.  xiii.  5.  You  have 
only  to  look  at  a  beautiful  building,  picture, 
or  book,  to  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  an  able 
architect,  painter,  or  writer  exists  somewhere ; 
and  you  would  consider  him  a  fool  who  would 
attribute  the  harmony,  arrangement,  and  order 
of  these  works  to  chance.  Now,  the  order  of 
the  world  is,  without  comparison,  more  beauti- 
ful, more  noble,  more  magnificent  and  regular 
than  that  of  any  work  of  art.  The  very  con- 
struction of  a  human  body  points  to  a  divine 
hand  as  the  maker.  A  man  capable  of  saying 
that  hazard  has  produced  a  thing  so  admirable, 
uniform,  regular,  with  all  its  minute  parts  so 
wonderfully  adapted  to  the  action  of  the  whole, 
is  a  being  beneath  the  notice  of  thinking  and 
reasoning  humanity.  In  a  word,  he  is  a  fool 
who  does  not  see  the  finger  of  God  in  all  the 
wonders  of  nature. — Ps.  xviii.  2. 

Q.  What  do  you  understand  by  reasons  found- 
ed on  faith  ? 

A.  Reasons  founded  on  what  God  has  certainly 
and  indubitably  revealed  to  mankind.  All  that 
goes  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion, 
proves  by  a  necessary  consequence  the  existence 
of  God, — for  religion  supposes  that  truth  as  the 
foundation  of  all  others  ;  now  the  arguments  for 
the  truth  of  religion  are  so  convincing,  that  the 
man  must  be  blind  or  mad  who  does  not  yield  to 
their  force. — St.  Aug.  lib.  22,  de  Civ.  Dei,  chid.  7. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  arguments  founded 
on  the  elements  or  first  principles  of  reasoning  ? 


THE   CATHOUC    RELIGION  DEFINED. 


457 


A.  I  mean  the  metaphysical  reasons,  brought 
forward  by  philosophers,  to  prove  the  existence 
of  God.  I  shall  not,  although  these  are  invin- 
cible, give  them  here,  because  all  are  not  able 


to  comprehend  them ;  and  those  who  can  under- 
stand their  force  have  abundant  opportunities  of 
seeing  them  in  multitudes  of  works  on  this 
subject. 


SECTION   II.— ON    THE   NATURE   OF   GOD   AND   HIS  PERFECTIONS. 


Q.  What  is  God? 

A.  God  is.  He  who  is, — /  am  who  am, 
said  God  himself  to  Moses. — Exod.  iii.  14. 
These  words  give  us  the  best  idea  of  God  and 
his  nature  we  can  have  in  this  world,  where 
our  knowledge  of  God  is  very  imperfect. 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  these  words,  "/ 
ant  who  am,?  " 

A.  That  God  is  an  independent  being,  who 
lives  and  subsists  in  and  by  himself,  whilst 
all  other  beings  are  created  and  dependent, 
and  have  only  a  very  imperfect  participation 
in  life  and  subsistence. — St.  Aug.  Tract  3,  in 
Joan.  n.  8,  10,  11.  I  have  said  that  these 
words  give  us  the  most  comprehensive  idea  of 
God,  because  they  teach  us  that  God  possesses 
in  himself,  in  a  sovereign  manner,  all  im- 
aginable perfections.  From  the  truth  that  God 
exists  of  himself,  independently  of  all  other 
beings,  it  follows  that  he  is  infinite,  for  we  call 
that  infinite  which  is  not  bounded  or  limited. 
Now,  a  being  which  subsists  independently  of 
any  other,  is  not  bounded  or  limited  by  any  other 
being ;  we  cannot  conceive  a  being  not  limited, 
without  conceiving  that  he  possesses  all  im- 
aginable perfections  in  a  sovereign  degree. 
For  if  he  were  deficient  in  any  perfection,  or 
if  he  did  not  possess  all  perfections  in  a 
sovereign  degree,  his  perfections  would  be 
limited,  and  consequently  would  not  be  infinite. 
In  a  word,  to  be  infinite,  and  to  possess  all 
perfections  in  a  sovereign  degree,  is  one  and 
the  same  thing;  and  to  subsist  independently 
of  every  other  being,  and  to  be  infinite,  are 
one  and  the  same  thing.  Consequently,  as 
God  is  an  independent  being,  subsisting  of  and 
by  himself,  and  depending  on  no  other,  so   he 


evidently  posseses  all  perfections  in  a  sovereign 
degree. 

Q.  What  are  the  perfections  of  God  ? 

A.  He  posseses  all  perfections  in  a  sovereign 
degree;  hence,  ist,  he  is  simple ;  2d,  he  is  a 
pure  spirit ;  3d,  he  is  eternal ;  4th,  he  is  im,- 
mense  ;  5th,  he  is  immutable  ;  6th,  he  knows  all 
things ;  7th,  he  can  do  all  things ;  8th,  all 
things  are  dependent  upon  him.  If  any  of 
these,  or  any  other  imaginable  perfection, 
were  wanting  to  him,  he  would  not  be  sovereignly 
perfect,  and  consequently,  would  not  be  God. — 
St.  Aug.  Confess,  lib.  1.  c.  4. 

Q.  What  mean  you  by  saying  God  is  simple? 

A.  That  he  is  not  composed  of  parts ;  that 
he  excludes  by  his  very  nature  all  mixture  or 
composition. 

Q.  What  mean  you  when  you  say  God  is  a 
spirit  ? 

A.  That  he  has  no  body,  nor  figure,  nor 
color,  and  that  he  cannot  be  seen  or  felt  by 
our  senses. — St.  John  iv.  24.  When  the 
Scripture  speaks  of  his  arms,  his  hands,  or  his 
feet,  its  language  is  figurative  or  metaphorical, 
that  we  may  understand  God's  operations  or 
works. — St.  Aug.  contra  Ademant.  c.  13,  n. 
2,  3,  and  lib.   16  de  Civ.  Dei,  c.  5. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  saying  God  is 
eternal  ? 

A.  That  he  had  no  beginning,  and  will  have 
no  end  ;  he  is,  or  exists,  has  existed,  and  will 
exist  forever. — Ps.  ci.  13,  Tert.  contra  Hermog. 
c.  4. 

Q.  What  mean  you  when  you  say  God  is 
immense  ? 

A.  That  he  is  every  where,  that  he  fills  all, 
that  he  is  not  confined  by  place  or  space. — Ps. 


458 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


cxxxviii.    7,    8 ;   Job    xi.    8,  9 ;  Isaiah  Ixvi.  i ; 
Jerem.  xxiii.  24 ;  Acts  xvii.  27,   28. 

Q.  What   means    God's    attribute    of    immu- 
tability ? 

A.  That  he  is  subject  to  no  change  or  vicis- 
situde. When  in  Scripture  God  is  said  to  be 
in  wrath,  the  expression  is  a  mere  figure,  to 
signify  to  men  the  exterior  effects  of  God's 
justice,  but  it  implies  not  in  God  any  passion 
or  change ;  his  works  are  changed  without  any 
change  in  his  eternal  designs.  Always  the 
same  himself,  he  makes  in  his  creatures  what 
changes  he  pleases ;  when  the  Scripture  says 
he  repented^  it  merely  accommodates  itself  to 
our  language  and  understanding. — James  i.  17; 
Malach.  iii.  6;  St.  Aug.  lib.  i,  Confess,  c.  4,  n. 
4,  and  lib.  12  de.  Civ.  Dei,  c.  17. 

Q.  When  you  say  God  knows  all  things, 
what  mean  you  ? 

A.  That  nothing  can  be  hid  from  him ;  that 
he  sees  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future, 
and  penetrates  the  most  secret  thoughts  of  our 
hearts. — Ps.  cxxxviii.  i ;  Eccles.  xxiii.  27 ; 
Rom.  xi.  33. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  saying  God  can 
do  all  things  ? 

A.  That  he  is  all-powerful,  and  that  nothing 
is  impossible  to  him. — Gen.  xviii.  14 ;  Job  xlii. 
2 ;  Matt.  xix.  26 ;  Luke  i.  37.  God  cannot  lie, 
or  deceive,  or  sin,  or  die,  or  be  ignorant,  or  do 
an  absurdity.  These  are  marks  not  of  power 
but  weakness.     To  attribute  such  to  God  is  a 


crime  of  the  deepest  dye. — Heb.  iv.  13,  vi.  18; 

1  Tim.  i.  17;    2  Tim.  ii.  13. 

Q.  What  mean  you  by  saying  that  all  things 
depend  upon  God  ? 

A.  That  he  created  all,  preserves  all,  governs 
all,  and  disposes  of  all  things  as  he  pleases. 
He  drew  all   things  out  of  nothing. — Sap.  ii.; 

2  Mach.  vii.  28;  Isaiah  xli.  24.  All  existing 
things  exist  only  because  God  preserves  and 
maintains  them  in  being;  if  he  withdrew  his 
hand,  they  would  cease  to  be. — Sap.  xi.  26 ;  Ps. 
ciii.  28.  God  disposes  all  the  events  in  the 
world,  his  providence  enters  into  every  action 
of  his  creatures,  he  regulates  all  and  orders 
all  for  his  glory.  The  good  that  is  done  is 
done  by  his  disposal ;  the  evil  that  is  done  he 
permits,  to  draw  from  it  greater  good.  He 
afflicts  the  good,  and  reduces  them  sometimes 
to  the  extreme  of  misery,  but  he  never  abandons 
them ;  he  sometimes  permits  prosperity  to  the 
wicked  for  a  time,  and  uses  their  malice  to 
exercise  either  his  justice  or  his  mercy  towards 
them ;  in  a  word,  the  execution  of  his  absolute 
decrees  always  contributes  to  display  his  grand- 
eur and  omnipotence. — St.  Chrys.  de  Providen. 
Dei,  lib.  tres ;  St.  Amb.  lib.  5,  6,  de  oper.  sex. 
dier.;  St.  Aug.  in  Ps.  xxxvi.  The  texts  of 
Scripture  are  innumerable  on  this  subject.  I 
give  only  a  few  of  them, — Ps.  cxiii.  3-13 ; 
Prov.  XX.  24;  Jerem.  x.  23;  Tob.  vii.  12; 
Matt.  vi.  33;  xi.  26;  John  v.  17;  Rom.  ix. 
15;    2  Cor.  iii.  5;    Philip,  ii.  13;   Heb.  xiii.  21. 


SECTION  III.— ON  THE  UNITY  OF  GOD. 


Q.  Is  there  only  one  God  ? 

A.  There  is  only  one  God ;  it  is  impossible 
there  should  be  more  than  one.  To  multiply 
deities  is  to  destroy  the  Deity,  says  Tertullian. — 
Lib.  I,  contra  Marc.  c.  3  ;  Deut.  vi.  4,  xxxii. 
39 ;  Eph.  iv.  5  ;  St.  Cyp.  de  Vanit.  Idol.  I  say 
that  two  or  more  Gods  are  impossible,  because 
it  is  impossible  to  conceive  two  beings  sov- 
ereignly   perfect.      For    a    being     to    be    sov- 


ereignly perfect  it  is  required  he  should  have 
no  equal,  for  to  be  without  an  equal  is  a 
perfection ;  and  he  who  is  without  this  per- 
fection is  deficient  in  something, — if  he  be 
deficient  in  any  one  thing,  he  is  not  infinitely 
or  sovereignly  perfect,  and  consequently  not 
God.  We  cannot  suppose  two  supreme  beings, 
for  the  one  destroys  the  other ;  either  the}'  are 
supposed  equal   in  perfections,  or  unequal ;   if 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


459 


the  latter,  then  the  most  perfect  is  God, — if 
the  former,  as  neither  is  all-powerful,  because 
each  has  an  equal,  over  whom  he  has  no 
power,  so  the  very  idea  of  a  God  having  all 
perfection  is  destroyed. 

Q.  If  this  be  the  case,  how  is  it  that  men 
spread  over  the  whole  earth  have  adored  many 
diflferent  gods  ? 

A.  This  was   the    effect  of   the  blindness  of 


reason  and  obduracy  of  heart  caused  by  sin, — 
a  terrible  example  to  all  men ;  confirming  the 
great  truth  delivered  by  St.  Paul  (Rom.  i.  23, 
etc.)  that  when  men  once  abandon  God,  he 
delivers  them  over  to  a  reprobate  sense  ;  and 
when  once  thus  abandoned,  even  the  most  wise 
and  enlightened  are  capable  of  any  or  every 
excess  and  folly. 


SECTION  IV.— ON  THE  TRINITY  OF  PERSONS  IN  GOD. 


Q.  Does  not  the  trinity  of  persons  believed 
by  Christians  admit  more  than  one  God? 

A.  No ;  for  Christians  believe  that  these 
Three  Persons  are  only  one  God ;  and  nothing 
can  be  more  reasonable  than  the  belief  of  this 
truth.  Whether  we  can  or  cannot  comprehend 
it,  God  has  spoken  this  truth ;  we  are,  then, 
bound  to  submit  and  believe.  To  act  other- 
wise is  to  refuse  to  recognize  God  as  the 
sovereign  Truth — to  outrage  reason  as  well  as 
religion.  Our  reason  is  limited ;  there  are  a 
thousand  things  which  we  believe,  that  we  do 
not  comprehend ;  but  when  God  speaks  to  us 
through  his  infallible  Church,  we  believe,  be- 
cause we  know  he  cannot  deceive  us.  We  see 
things  now  in  an  imperfect  and  obscure  man- 
ner, but  we  shall  arrive  one  day  at  the  pleni- 
tude of  perfect  age,  when  the  clouds  which 
darken  our  minds  shall  be  dissipated,  and  we 
shall  see  clearly,  what  now  we  can  neither 
penetrate  nor  comprehend. — i  Cor.  xiii.  12 ; 
Eph.  iv.  13 ;  I  John  iii.  2.  That  God  has 
revealed  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  of  persons 
subsisting  in  one  divine  nature,  is  a  truth 
evident  from  Scripture,  tradition,  and  many 
express  decisions  of  God's  hoi}'  Church. 

Q.  What  is  the  faith  of  the  Church  on  the 
mystery  of  the  Holy  Trinity  ? 

A.  She  believes  that  the  nature  of  God  sub- 
sists in  Three  Persons — the  Father  the  first; 
the  Son  the  second ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost  the 
third. — I  John  v,  7 ;  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 


Q.  Are  these  Three  Persons  distinct  each  from 
the  other  ? 

A.  Yes:  the  Father  is  not  the  Son,  nor  the 
Son  the  Father ;  nor  are  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  the  Holy  Ghost. — John  viii.  16,  xv.  26. 

Q.  Is  each  of  these  Persons  God  ? 

A.  Yes  :  the  Father  is  God — the  Son  is  God — 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  God  ;  but  yet  these  Three 
Persons  are  only  one  God.  They  have  only  one 
nature,  and  are  one  divinity. — ^John  i.  i,  ii.  25  ; 
Acts  V.  3,  4 ;  I  Cor.  xii.  4,  5,  6;  i  John  v.  7. 

Q.  Are  they  all  equal  ? 

Yes — equal    in    eternity,    majesty,  perfec- 
they  are  one  and  the  same  God. — i  John 


A. 
tion : 
V.  7. 

Q- 

A. 


Why  is  the  first  person  called  Father  ? 
Because  from  all  eternity  he  begets  a  Son, 
who  is  consubstantial  to  and  with  himself;  who 
is  God  as  he  is ;  and  who  is  called  the  Word^ 
the  Wisdom  of  God. — Ps.  ii.  7  ;  Heb.  i.  5  ;  i  John 
i.  I,  2,  3  ;  Prov.  viii.  22  ;  Con.  Nicen.  de  Symbol. 

Q.  Do  the  Father  and  the  Son  mutually  love 
each  other  ? 

A.  From  all  eternity  they  love  each  other 
with  an  infinite  love ;  and  in  thus  loving  each 
other,  they  produced  from  all  eternity  the  third 
person  of  the  adorable  Trinitjf,  who  is  called  the 
Holy  Ghost. — John  xiv,  31,  xvii.  24;  St.  Aug. 
Tract.  105,  in  Joan.,  n.  3,  —  lib.  6.  De  Trinitate, 
cap.  5,  n.  7. 

Q.  Does  the  Holy  Ghost  proceed  from  the 
Father  alone? 


460 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


A.  No ;  he  proceeds  from  both  the  Father  and 
the  Son. — John  xv.  26,  xvi.  14,  15 ;  St  Aug. 
Tract.  99,  in  Joan.,  n.  4,  6. 

Q.  Does  the  Father  proceed  from  any  one  ? 

A.  No.  He  is,  as  it  were,  the  first  principle 
of  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  yet  he  was 
not  prior  in  time  to  them.  The  production  of 
the  Son  is  coeval  with  the  Father's  being ;  and 
the  same  is  true  as  to  the  procession  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  from  both  the  Father  and  the  Son. 
The  Father  could  not  exist  one  moment  without 
knowing   himself,  and  in  knowing   himself  he 


produced  the  Son — the  eternal  Word.  The 
Father  and  Son  could  not  exist  one  moment 
without  loving  each  other,  and  in  loviug  each 
other  they  produced  the  Holy  Ghost. — St.  Aug. 
Serm.  117,  118;  St.  Amb.  lib.  2,  in  S.  Lucam. 
n.  13.  This  great  truth  may  be  illustrated  by 
the  following  imperfect  comparison :  Light  is 
produced  by  the  sun,  and  the  sun  is  the  source 
and  principle  of  the  light ;  yet  the  light  is  as 
old  as  the  sun,  for  the  sun  cannot  exist  one 
moment  without  shining,  and  its  lustre  produces 
light  and  heat. 


CHAPTER  II. 
On  the  Works  of  God. 

SECTION  1.— ON  THE  CREATION  OF  THE   WORLD, 


Q.  How  has  God  made  himself  known  ? 

A.  Principally  by  his  works,  which  are  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  and  all  that  they  con- 
tain ;  all  these  are  the  work  of  God — the  work 
of  the  adorable  Trinity. — John  v.  19,  20 ;  Ps. 
xxxii.  6;  St.  Aug.  Serm.  71  or  11.  When  you 
observe  in  the  Creed  that  the  creation  is  at- 
tributed to  the  Father,  you  must  not  understand 
this  as  excluding  the  co-operation  of  the  Son 
and  the  Holy  Ghos*^  We  attribute  to  the  diflfer- 
ent  persons  of  the  Trinity  different  works;  we 
attribute  to  the  Father  the  works  of  omnipo- 
tence, because  he  is  the  source  or  principle  of 
the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost:  we  attribute  to 
the  Son  the  works  of  the  wisdom  of  God,  because 
he  is  the  eternal  wisdom  of  the  Father;  we 
attribute  to  the  Holy  Ghost  the  works  of  God's 
goodness  and  love,  because  he  is  the  love  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son. 

Q.  Why  did  God  make  the  heavens  and  the 
earth? 

A.  For  his  glory — that  his  infinite  being, 
bounty,  wisdom,  justice,  power,  and  other  per- 
fections might  be  known,  loved,  adored,  served, 
and  glorified. — Prov.  xvi.  4;  Rom.  i,  20,  21. 


Q.  How  did  God  create  the  heaven  and  the 
earth? 

A.  "  He  spoke,"  says  the  Scripture,  "  and 
they  were  made  ;  he  commanded,  and  they  were 
created." — Ps.  cxlviii.  5,  6.  The  Scripture  uses 
this  form,  "  He  spoke,"  etc.,  to  accommodate 
itself  to  our  weakness,  and  to  make  us  under- 
stand that  the  moment  God  wished  or  willed 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  made,  they  were 
made, — his  will  alone  produced  them. — Ps.  cxiii. 
3  ;  cxxxiv.  6  ;  St.  Aug.  lib.  ii.  de  Civ.  Dei. 

Q.  How  long  is  it  since  the  creation  ? 

A.  According  to  the  ordinary  Scriptural  com- 
putation, nearly  six  thousand  years. 

Q.  In  what  time  was  the  world  created? 

A.  According  to  Scripture,  God  employed  six 
days  in  this  work ;  the  seventh  day  he  rested, 
that  is,  ceased  to  create  any  thing. — Gen.  ii.  2. 
The  first  day  he  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth ;  he  also  made  the  light,  and  separated 
the  light  from  the  darkness. — Gen.  i.  2,  3,  4,  5. 
The  second  day  he  made  the  firmament  or 
heaven,  and  divided  the  waters  that  were  under 
the  firmament  from  those  that  were  above. — 
Gen.  i.  6;    7,   8.     The    third    day  he  separated 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


461 


the  water  from  the  earth,  and  made  the  latter 
produce  herbs  and  trees  bearing  fruit. — Gen.  i. 
9,  II,  12,  13.  The  fourth  day  he  made  the 
sun,  the  moon,  the  other  planets  and  stars. — 
Gen.  i.  14,  15,  etc.  The  fifth  da)'-  he  made 
the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  the  living  creatures  of 


the  deep. — Gen.  i.  20,  21,  etc.  The  sixth  day- 
he  created  all  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  and 
cattle,  and  every  thing  that  creepeth  on  the 
earth  ;  and  on  this  day  also  he  made  man  and 
woman  to  preside  over  all  the  living  creatures 
he  had  created. — Gen.  i.  24,  25,  etc. 


SECTION  II.— ON  THE  CREATION  OF  ANGELS. 


Q.  Did  God  also  create  the  angels  ? 

A.  The  holy  Scripture  frequently  attests  this 
truth,  although  it  is  not  expressly  mentioned 
in  the  above  chapter  of  Genesis. — Ps.  cxlviii.  2, 
5  ;  Dan.  iii.  58 ;  Col.  i.   16. 

Q.  Who  are  the  angels  ? 

A.  Spiritual  and  intelligent  beings,  not  cre- 
ated to  be  united  to  bodies.  They  have  no 
bodies,  nor  figure,  nor  color :  nor  can  they,  in 
their  own  proper  nature,  be  seen  or  felt  by  our 
sense's ;  yet  they  are  intellectual  beings,  with 
understandings  more  perfect  than  those  of  men. 
Our  souls  are  spiritual,  intelligent  beings,  but 
made  to  be  united  to  bodies,  and  by  this  union 
to  form,  what  we  call,  men.  It  is  not  so  with 
angels ;  the}'  have  appeared,  as  men,  and  they 
can  move  bodies,  but  there  is  no  natural  union 
between  them  and  matter,  as  is  the  case  with 
man.  The  number  of  the  angels  is  very  great, 
Dan.  vii.  10 ;  Apoc.  v.  11;  and  they  are  of  dif- 
ferent orders :  seraphim,  cherubim,  thrones, 
dominations,  principalities,  powers,  virtues,  arch- 
angels, and  angels. — Isa.  vi.  2,  3  ;  Heb.  ix.  5  ; 
Col.  i.  16;  Eph.  i.  21;   I  Thess.  iv.  15;  St.  Jude  9. 

Q.  Why  did  God  create  the  angels  ? 

A.  To  render  them  happy  ;  and  for  this  pur- 
pose he  gave  them  all  the  means  necessary  to 
arrive  at  eternal  life,  which  consists  in  know- 
ing God,  and  in  the  eternal  possession  of  him. 
— John  xvii.  3. 

Q.  What  did  God  give  them  to  enable  them 
to  arrive  at  eternal  life  ? 

A.  He  made  them  pure  and  intelligent  beings, 
that  they  might  know  what  was  good,  and 
gave  them  a  will,  disposed  to  love  good,    with 


all  graces  necessary  to  enable  them  to  perse- 
vere to  the  end  in  the  faithful  fulfillment  of 
his  holy  will. — St.  Aug.  lib.  12,  de  Civ.  Dei, 
ix.  n.  2. 

Q.  Did  all  the  angels  secure  eternal  life  ? 

A.  Many  amongst  them  fell,  whilst  the 
others  persevered  in  obedience,  and  secured  the 
crown.  The  latter  are  called  the  good  angels; 
the  former  are  called  the  wicked  angels,  the 
powers  of  hell,  devils,  etc. — Dan.  xii.  i ;  Apoc. 
xii.  7,  9 ;  Eph.  vi.  12  ;  Isa.  xiv.  12  ;  Ps.  Ixxvii. 
49.  The  good  angels  were  faithful  to  God, 
humble,  and  obedient,  and  thus  deserved  the 
crown  of  glory.  The  wicked  yielded  to  pride, 
were  puffed  up  with  their  own  importance, 
wished  to  be  equal  to  God,  and  rejected 
their  dependence  upon  him,  and  hence  they 
were  precipitated  into  the  gulf  of  misery. — Isa. 
xiv.  12,   13,   14,  etc. 

Q.  Why  had  pride  such  a  dreadful  effect? 

A.  Because  it  is  a  sovereign  injustice  for  the 
creature  to  attempt  to  withdraw  itself  from 
subjection  to  the  Creator ;  and  hence  it  is  sove- 
reignly just  in  God  to  resist  the  proud,  and 
make  them  feel  his  indignation. — 2  Pet.  ii.  4 ; 
Jude  5.  These  evil  spirits  suffer  now  all  the 
pains  of  hell,  and  this,  too,  although,  as  St.  Paul 
tells  us,  some  are  in  this  world,  some  in  the 
air,  and,  as  the  Scripture  frequently  states, 
some  have  the  possession  of  unhappy  men. — 
Eph.  ii.  I,  2  ;  vi.  12  ;  Matt.  xii.  22  ;  Luke  ix. 
I  ;  St.  Basil,  Horn.  9 ;  St.  Aug.  ad.  Laurent,  c. 
28  ;  et  Civ.   Dei,  lib.  xi.  c.  33. 

Q.  Why  are  the  wicked  angels  left  thus  at 
large  amongst  us  ? 


462 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


A.  God  has  permitted  them  to  go  about  thus 
till  the  day  of  judgment,  seeking  whom  they 
may  devour.  They  are  permitted  to  tempt 
men,  that  we  may  be  kept  ever  on  our  guard 
— watching,  praying,  strengthening  ourselves 
with  God's  word,  and  living  constantly  by 
faith. — Matt.  viii.  28 ;  2  Pet.  ii.  4 ;  Luke  viii. 
27,  28 ;  xxii.  31 ;  Acts  v.  3  ;  Eph.  ii.  i,  2  ;  vi. 
12. 

Q.  Have  the  wicked  angels  great  power  over 
men  for  their  ruin  ? 

A.  They  had  great  power  of  this  kind  before 
Christ,  because  men  were  the  slaves  of  sin, 
and  they  almost  every  where  adored  devils. — 
Ps.  xcv.  5;  I  Cor.  X.  20,  21.  Since  Christ, 
these  demons  are  bound ;  they  can  enslave  only 
those  who  voluntarily  become  their  victims. 
Christ  triumphed  over  them  by  his  death  and 
resurrection, — he  banished  from  the  kingdom 
of  his  Church  these  enemies  of  the  human  race ; 
but  they  have  still  power  to  tempt  Christians, 
and  to  lay  a  thousand  snares,  that  they  may 
entangle  us  in  sin. — Col.  ii  15  ;  Luke  xi.  14  ; 
Eph.  vi.  II.  At  the  end  of  the  world,  during 
the  persecution  of  Antichrist,  the  malice  of 
men  will  give  these  devils  a  more  extended 
empire,  which,  however,  shall  last  only  a  short 
time ;  Christ  will  scatter  their  forces  and  hurl 
them  into  hell,  whilst   he  will  lead  his  saints 


in  triumph  to  heaven,  where  they  will  reign 
with  him  for  eternity. — Apoc.  xx.  i,  2,  3,  9; 
xxi.  9,  10,  12;  2  Thess.  ii.  8,  9,  10. 

Q.  Where  are  the  good  angels,  and  what  is 
their  occupation  ? 

A.  They  are  in  heaven, — always  in  the  pres- 
ence of  God,  they  see,  adore,  and  bless  him^ 
and  are  inseparably  attached  to  him  for  eternity. 
— Tob.  xii.  15;  Dan.  vii.  10;  Apoc.  v.  11;  Isa, 
vi.  2,  3.  They  are  the  ministers  or  messengers 
of  God,  ever  ready  to  obey  him;  they  execute 
his  orders  as  regards  all  his  creatures,  espe- 
cially men. — Ps.  cii.  20,  21;  Heb.  i.  14. 

Q.  What  do  the  holy  angels  do  for  men  ? 

A.  They  present  our  prayers  to  God. — Tob. 
xii.  12;  Apoc.  viii.  3,  4.  God  makes  use  of 
angels  to  manifest  his  will  to  us,  and  to  per- 
form miracles  in  our  favor  on  extraordinary 
occasions. — Gen.  xvi.  7,  8,  9  ;  xix.  i,  et  seq.  29  ^ 
xxi.  17;  xxiv.  7  ;  xxxi.  11;  Ex.  xii.  23;  xiv.  19; 
Num.  xxii.  21,  23,  24;  Jos.  v.  13,  14;  Matt.  i.  20^ 
21;  ii.  13,  19;  xxiv.  31;  xxvi.  53;  Luke  i.  11,. 
26;  John  V.  4,  etc.;  Actsi.,  v.,  x.,  xii.,  xxvii.  God 
has  also  appointed  the  angels  as  the  guardians 
of  his  Church,  and  of  its  individual  members. — 
Ps.  xxxiii.  8;  xc.  11,  12;  Dan.  xii.  i;  Matt, 
xviii.  10;  Acts  xii.  15;  St.  Basil,  lib.  iii.  contra 
Eunom. 


SECTION   III.— ON  THE  CREATION  OF  MAN. 


Q.  After  the  angels,  which  is  the  most  perfect 
creature  ? 

A.  Man,  who  is  a  reasonable  creature,  made  to 
the  image  and  likeness  of  God. — Gen.  i.  26,  27. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  man  is  a  reasonable 
creature  ? 

A.  Because  he  can  act  with  knowledge  and 
freedom,  or  choice;  he  knows  what  he  does, 
and  why  he  does  it. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  man  is  made  to 
the  image  of  God  ? 


A.  Because  man's  soul  is  a  spirit,  endowed 
with  will,  memory,  understanding,  and  liberty. 
These  faculties  of  man  are  not  given  to  any 
other  creature  except  the  angels.  These  facul- 
ties liken  man  to  God,  who  is  a  spirit,  and 
whose  understanding,  will,  and  liberty,  are  the 
resplendent  perfections  of  his  divine  nature. — 
John  iv.  24 ;  St.  Aug.  lib.  i.  contra  Manich. 

Q.  Why  are  the  angels  more  perfect  creatures 
than  man  ? 

A.  Because  the    angels    resemble   God  more 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


463 


perfectly, — they  are  spirits  without  bodies ; 
whilst  man,  having  a  body,  is  like  God  only  in 
a  part  of  his  nature,  namely,  in  the  soul. 

Q.  How  is  it  that  God  formed  man  ? 

A.  He  formed  the  body  from  earth,  and  gave 
life  to  the  body,  by  uniting  with  it  a  living  and 
reasonable  soul,  for  this  soul  is  to  the  body  the 
source  of  life ;  Gen.  ii.  7 ;  St.  Aug.  lib.  xiii.  de 
Civ.  Dei.  c.  24,  n.  i,  2. 

Q.  What  mean  you  by  a  reasonable  soul  ? 

A.  An  immortal  spirit,  created  by  God  to  be 
united  to  a  humcn  body. 

Q.  How  do  we  know  that  our  soul  is  spiritual 
and  immortal  ? 

A.  Both  faith  and  reason  teach  us  these  truths. 
The  former  teaches  them;  for  evidently  the 
whole  economy  of  religion  rests  upon  these  two 
great  fundamental  truths.  Reason  teaches 
them  in  many  ways ;  we  shall  here  give  only 
one  of  many  arguments :  If  the  soul  is  spiritual, 
it  is  immortal ;  for  what  is  mortal  is  corruptible, 
— what  is  corruptible  is  separable  into  parts; 
what  is  spiritual  has  no  parts, — it  is  indivisible, 
and  consequently  incorruptible.  Now,  the  soul 
is  spiritual ;  for  what  thinks,  and  reflects  on  its 
thoughts,  is  spiritual ;  mere  matter  is  incapable 
of  thinking  or  reasoning.  In  whatever  light 
you  view  it,  you  can  only  conceive  its  material 
qualities,  length,  shape,  local  motion;  we  cannot 
conceive  thought  to  be  a  body  or  matter,  nor 
can  we  conceive  matter  to  be  thought.  Now, 
we  have  no  doubt  that  we  thinks  know,  wish, 
and  reflect,  etc.  The  very  doubt  whether  we 
think  is  itself  a  thought.  There  is  there- 
fore  within    us    a    spiritual    principle    which 


thinks,  and  this  principle  we  call  a  reasonable 
soul. 

Q.  Did  God  create  the  soul  of  the  first  man? 

A.  Yes,  and  thus  he  creates  each  soul  to  be 
united  to  its  body.  We  do  not  enter  here  into 
any  theological  dispute;  the  above  is  the  general 
opinion  of  theologians,  supported  by  reason,  and 
most  conformable  to  Scripture;  Ps.  xxxii.  15; 
Zach.  xii.  i ;  Eccl.  xii.  7  ;  Heb.  xii.  9 ;  St.  Jerom. 
ad.  Pamach.  61 ;  St.  Amb.  lib.  in  Noe,  cap.  4,  u. 
8 ;  St.  Greg,  of  Nyssa,  lib.  de  Anima,  etc.  The 
soul  of  Eve  was  created  like  that  of  Adam,  but 
Eve's  body  was  formed  of  one  of  Adam's  ribs. 
Gen.  ii.  21,  22.  This  formation  of  Eve  gives  us 
to  understand  the  strict  union  which  ought  to 
subsist  between  man  and  wife.  When  Eve  was 
thus  formed,  Adam  declared  "  that  she  was 
bone  of  his  bone,  and  flesh  of  his  flesh  ;  "  Gen. 
ii.  23,  24 ;   St.  Aug.  lib.  xii.  de  Civ.  Dei,  cap.  27. 

Q.  What  sort  of  sleep  was  that  into  which 
God  cast  Adam,  while  the  rib  was  taken  from  his 
side,  to  form  Eve  ? 

A.  A  kind  of  ecstasy,  which  represented  a  great 
mystery ;  as  the  woman  was  not  united  to  man 
by  marriage  until  after  having  been  formed 
from  the  side  of  the  man  whilst  asleep,  so  the 
Church  was  not  united  to  Jesus  Christ  until 
after  she  was,  as  it  were,  formed  from  the  blood 
which  flowed  from  his  side,  pierced  upon  the 
cross  during  his  sleep  of  death.  Hence,  St. 
Paul's  words,  "  We  are  the  members  of  the 
body  of  Christ,  flesh  of  his  flesh,  and  bone  of 
his  bone;"  Eph.  v.  30,  32;  St.  Aug.  lib.  xii. 
contra  Faust.  Hence,  also,  marriage  represents 
the  union  of  Christ  and  his  Church. 


SECTION  IV.— ON  THE  TERRESTRIAL   PARADISE   AND  THE  STATE  OF  INNOCENCE. 


Q.  Where  did  God  place  Adam,  after  having 
created  him  ? 

A.  In  the  terrestrial  Paradise,  that  he  might 
occupy  and  take  care  of  it.  This  was  a  delicious 
garden,  which  God  had  planted  with  beautiful 
trees,  bearing  agreeable  fruits,  amongst  which 


were  the  tree  of  life,  and  the  tree  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  good  and  evil ;  Gen.  ii.  8,  9. 

Q.  What  were  these  trees  ? 

A.  The  tree  of  life,  according  to  St.  Aug.  de 
Civ.  Dei,  lib.  ::iv.  c.  19,  prevented  men  from 
growing  old  or  dying.     The  other  is  so  called 


464 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


from  the  effects  of  its  fruit.  Except  the  fruit  of 
this  tree  of  knowledge,  God  permitted  man  to 
eat  of  all  the  others  ;  if  man  had  obeyed  God,  in 
abstaining  from  the  fruit  of  this  tree,  he  would 
have  had  a  knowledge  of  good  and  truth,  and 
lived ;  but  unfortunately,  he  became  cognizant  of 
evil,  by  eating  the  forbidden  fruit  of  this  tree ; 
St.  Aug.  lib.  xiv.  de  Civ.  Dei. 
>     Q.  Was  the  fruit  of  this  tree  bad  in  itself? 

A.  No,  it  was  as  good  as  the  other  fruits ;  but 
it  was  forbidden  by  God,  to  prove  man's  obedi- 
ence, and  hence,  to  eat  it  was  evil ;  St.  Aug.  Civ. 
Dei,  lib.  xiv.  c.  17. 

Q.  Why  did  God  create  man  ? 

A.  To  render  man  happy  as  the  angels,  by  com- 
municating himself  to  him  for  eternity  ;  neither 
angels  nor  men  can  be  happy  without  having  all 
their  hearts  can  desire,  and  nothing  to  fear.  Now, 
in  the  possession  of  God  they  have  this ;  every 
other  but  the  sovereign  good  is  imperfect  and 
passing,  it  can  never  satisfy  the  heart  of  man ; 
St.  Aug.  Conf  lib.  i.  c.   1. 

Q.  What  had  Adam  and  Eve  to  do,  in  order  to 
secure  this  infinite  good,  for  which  they  were 
created  ? 

A.  To  live  in  obedience  to,  and  dependent  on, 
God  ;  to  love  him  with  their  whole  hearts  ;  to  do 
him  homage,  as  their  sovereign ;  to  live  them- 
selves in  peace,  and  to  abstain  from  the  forbidden 


fruit.  God  himself  had  impressed  on  their  hearts 
the  knowledge  of  these  great  and  indispensable 
duties,  and  had  expressly  forbidden  the  fruit  of 
the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil ;  Gen.  ii. 
17.  Besides,  God,  in  creating  them,  had  given 
them  every  corporal  and  spiritual  advantage  which 
tended  to  make  the  observance  of  their  duties 
easy;  St.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xiv.  c.  15. 

Q.  What  were  these  advantages  they  received 
from  God  ? 

A.  They  enjoyed  in  their  bodies  perfect  health, 
without  subjection  to  infirmities  or  death ;  Wis- 
dom ii.  23  ;  and  their  souls  were  created  in  a 
state  of  righteousness,  light,  and  justice  ;  Eccles. 
vii.  30;  Eph.  iv.  24.  These  souls  were  adorned 
with  all  the  natural  knowledge  of  which  man  is 
capable ;  no  dangerous  ignorance,  or  defect  in 
judgment  or  reason,  tarnished  the  beauty  of 
their  minds  ;  they  had  perfect  liberty  to  do  what 
they  willed,  and  their  wills  were  upright  and 
tended  to  good,  without  inclination  to  evil.  They 
were  masters  of  all  their  bodily  movements,  with 
an  equal  temperament,  always  tranquil,  without 
any  tendency  to  excess.  God  had  given  them  all 
the  graces  necessary,  if  they  chose  to  use  them, 
for  the  attainment  of  eternal  life ;  in  fine,  they 
possessed  not  these  blessings  for  themselves 
alone,  they  were  given  to  be  transmitted  to  all 
their  posterity ;  St.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xiv.  c.  10. 


CHAPTER  III. 
On  the  Sin  of  Man,  and  Its  Consequences. 

SECTION    I.— ON    THE     SIN    OF    OUR    FIRST    PARENTS. 


Q.  Did  our  first  parents  preserve  the  advant- 
ages of  the  state  of  innocence  for  any  consider- 
able time  ? 

A.  No  ;  by  their  sin  of  disobedience,  they  very 
soon  lost  all  these  blessings.  They  partook  of 
the  forbidden  fruit ;  Eve  allowed  herself  to  be 
seduced  by  the  devil ;  and  after  eating  of  this 
fruit  presented  it  to  Adam,  who  ate  also  of  it ; 
Gen.  iii.  6,  12,  13  ;  i  Tim.  ii.  14. 


Q.  How  did  the  devil  seduce  Eve  ? 

A.  Represented  in  Scripture  as  a  serpent,  he 
told  Eve  to  eat  of  the  fruit ;  that  she  should  not 
die ;  but  that  she  should  then  be  like  God,  in 
having  a  perfect  knowledge  of  good  and  evil ; 
Gen.  iii.  4;  the  devil  did  this  from  envy  and  jeal- 
ousy, that  he  might  render  man  miserable,  as  he 
was  himself,  by  making  him  lose  the  eternal  good 
for  which  he  was  created;  Sap.  ii.  24;  John  viii.  44. 


THE   CATHOLIC  REUGION   DEFINED. 


465 


Q.  What  were  the  sources  of  man's  fall  ? 

A.  Pride,  curiosity,  and  sensuality ;  he  wished 
to  be  equal  to  God,  and  hence  he  revolted  against 
his  Creator ;  he  wished  to  prove  if,  in  reality,  he 
knew  good  and  evil,  and  thus  he  yielded  to  a 
criminal  curiosity  in  disobeying  God.  The  fruit 
was  agreeable  to  the  eye,  and  out  of  sensuality 
he  yielded  to  the  gratification  of  his  appetite ; 
Gen.  iii.  5,  6  ;  St.  Chry.  Hom.  16.  St.  Augus- 
tine says,  that  in  Adam  pride  was  the  source  of 
crime  ;  that  curiosity,  sensuality,  and  a  criminal 
complaisance  towards  his  wife,  were  the  eflfects  of 


pride.  The  other  Fathers  of  the  Church  were  of 
the  same  opinion,  which  is  confirmed  by  the 
Holy  Scripture;  Gen.  iii.;  Prov.  xvi.  18; 
Eccles.  X.  14,  15  ;  Tob.  iv.  14 ;  St.  Aug.  ad  Lau- 
rent, c.  45. 

Q.  Was  the  sin  of  Adam  very  great  ? 

A.  We  may  judge  of  its  magnitude  by  the 
majesty  of  the  God  who  is  offended ;  by  the  nat- 
ural tendency  which  God  gave  Adam,  not  to  evil, 
but  to  good  ;  and,  in  fine,  by  the  dreadful  conse- 
quence of  this  sin. 


SECTION    II.— ON    THE     PUNISHMENT    OF    THE    FIRST    SIN   OF   MAN,  AND    ON   ORIGINAL   SIN. 


Q.  What  happened  to  our  first  parents  imme- 
diately after  their  first  sin  ? 

A.  They  felt  ashamed  of  their  nakedness,  and 
covered  themselves  with  fig  leaves ;  Gen.  iii.  7. 
This  shame  was  caused  by  their  knowledge,  that 
now,  for  the  first  time,  they  felt  the  flesh  revolt- 
ing against  the  spirit ;  St.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib. 
xiv.  c.  17. 

Q.  Did  God  leave  the  sin  of  Adam  and  Eve 
unpunished  ? 

A.  No;  he  punished  it  in  their  own  persons, 
and  in  their  descendants  ;  their  bodies  became 
subject  to  all  sorts  of  diseases,  and  to  death  ; 
their  souls  became  subject  to  ignorance  and  con- 
cupiscence, and  their  liberty  was  weakened  ;  they 
lost  their  empire  over  all  other  creatures  ;  they 
revolted  against  God,  and  all  creatures  revolted 
against  them  ;  God  declared  that  the  earth  would 
produce  of  itself  only  briers  and  thorns,  and  that 
man  should  eat  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his 
brow  ;  to  Eve  God  also  said,  "  I  will  multiply 
thy  sorrows  in  thy  conceptions  ;  in  sorrow  shalt 
thou  bring  forth  thy  children,  and  thou  shalt  be 
under  thy  husband's  power,  and  he  shall  have 
dominion  over  thee  ;"  Gen.  iii.  17.  Both  Adam 
and  Eve  were  banished  from  the  terrestrial  para- 
dise, without  the  hope  of  ever  returning ;  the  gate 


of  heaven  was  shut  against  them  ;  and  they  be- 
came deserving  of  eternal  death  ;  Gen.  iii. 

Q.  What  mean  you  by  the  concupiscence  to 
which  man  became  subjected  ? 

A.  That  inclination  to  evil,  which  we  feel  we 
have,  without  our  own  consent.  This  concupis- 
cence is  threefold :  the  concupiscence  of  the 
flesh,  the  concupiscence  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride 
of  life  ;  I  John  ii.  16.  Subjection  to  these  three 
passions  is  the  punishment  of  Adam's  sin,  be- 
cause in  disobeying  God  he  yielded  to  these  same 
passions. 

Q.  How  was  the  liberty  of  man  weakened  by 
sin  ? 

A.  After  the  commission  of  sin,  his  faculty  or 
tendency  to  good  became  less  than  it  had  previ- 
ously been  ;  Trid.  Sess.  5  de  Peccat.  Orig. 

Q.  What  was  the  punishment  of  the  sin  of  our 
first  parents  in  their  descendants  ? 

A.  The  same  as  that  to  which  our  first  par- 
ents themselves  were  subjected ;  hence  we  are 
born  subjects  to  all  sorts  of  infirmities — to  death, 
ignorance,  triple  concupiscence — slaves  of  sin 
and  the  devil,  enemies  of  God,  children  of  wrath, 
unworthy  of  grace  or  glory ;  Job  xiv.  i ;  Acts 
xvii.  30;  Rom.  v.  10,  12,  16;  vi.  17,  20;  vii.  14, 
23,  24 ;  Eph.  ii.  3  ;  Col.  i.  13. 


?" 


4«56 


THE   CATHOLIC  RELIGION    DEFINED. 


Q.  Ought  their  descendants  to  be  punished  for 
a  sin  they  did  not  actually  commit  ? 

A.  The  judgments  of  God  are  incomprehensi- 
ble, while  they  are  infinitely  just.  All  are  guilty 
of  that  sin  ;  we  are  all  born  with  it,  and  we  are 
justly  doomed  to  bear  its  punishment ;  Rom.  v. 
12.  In  a  wonderful  manner,we  were  all,  as  it  were, 
included  in  our  first  parents,  as  in  our  source ; 
the  stream  of  human  life  was  by  them  polluted 
in  its  source,  and  in  them  have  we  all  sinned  and 
become  polluted;  Rom.  v.  12.     Still, original  sin 


is  an  incomprehensible  mystery,  but  one  clearly 
revealed — one  which  the  Church  has  ever  taught 
— one  which  is  the  foundation  of  the  whole  econ- 
omy of  religion  ;  Job  xiv.  4  ;  Ps.  i.  7  ;  Rom.  v. 
12.  I  say  that  on  this  dogma  is  established  the 
whole  economy  of  religion,  because  the  necessity 
of  the  incarnation,  the  death,  resurrection,  and 
ascension  of  Christ,  the  baptism  of  infants, 
prayer,  penance,  and  Christian  vigilance,  are 
grounded  on  this  great  fundamental  truth. 


SECTION    III.— ON    THE   NECESSITY   AND    THE   PROMISE  OF  A    REDEEMER. 


Q.  What  would  have  become  of  men,  if  God 
had  treated  them  as  they  deserved  ? 

A.  They  would  have  been  abandoned  by  him, 
like  the  fallen  angels,  and  forever  deprived  of 
their  celestial  inheritance. 

Q.  Could  they  not  have  done  penance ;  im- 
plored and  obtained  pardon  from  God  ? 

A.  The  corruption  into  which  all  human 
nature  was  plunged  was  such,  that,  so  far  from 
weeping  over  their  sins,  they  would  have  loved 
them  more ;  nor  would  they  ever  have  known 
their  real  misery,  had  not  the  grace  of  God 
opened  their  eyes  and  touched  their  hearts. 
But  even  could  they  have  known  and  wept  over 
their  misery,  all  would  have  been  unavailing 
for  the  expiation  of  the  infinite  offence  offered 
to  God,  and  utterly  useless  in  the  way  of  satis- 
fying his  justice,  which  demanded  a  satisfac- 
tion proportioned  to  the  offence.  Man's  only 
resource  was  God's  free  bounty,  which  might 
still  grant  him  mercy. 

Q.  In  what  consists  the  mercy  shown  by  God 
to  men  ? 

A.  His  mercy  is  ineffable.  He  has  so  loved 
the  world,  as  to  give  his  only  Son  to  redeem 
sinners.  The  Word  is  made  flesh  in  the  womb 
of  a  virgin ;  he  reconciles  us  with  God  by  his 
death ;  he  opens  heaven  by  his  resurrection 
and  ascension  ;  he  instructs  us  by  his  doctrine ; 
astonishes  and  converts  us  by  his  miracles ; 
renews  us    by  his  Spirit ;    reanimates,  fortifies, 


and  nourishes  us  by  his  sacraments;  conse- 
crates, offers  us,  and  renders  us  worthy  of  God, 
by  his  sacrifice ;  he  is  our  intercessor,  our  pro- 
tector, our  chief.  He  conquered  the  devil  on 
the  cross ;  and  in  our  daily  temptations,  when 
we  are  faithful  to  his  graces,  he  conquers  him 
still,  and  will  continue  to  triumph  over  him, 
until  he  bears  us  with  him  in  triumph  to 
heaven. 

Q.  Did  God  show  this  mercy  actually  as  soon 
as  man  fell  ? 

A.  No ;  he  only  promised  it  then  ;  four  thou- 
sand years  elapsed  between  the  fall  of  man 
and  the  coming  of  the  Messiah. 

Q.  What  were  the  terms  of  the  promise 
which  God  made  to  men? 

A.  He  cursed  the  serpent,  which  was  the 
instrument  of  the  devil  in  the  fall  of  man ; 
and,  in  doing  so,  he  said  he  would  put  eternal 
enmity  between  the  serpent  and  man  ;  and  that 
the  woman  should  crush  the  serpent's  head ; 
Gen.  iii.  15.  The  meaning  of  which  promise 
is,  that  men  would  ever  have  a  natural  aversion 
to  the  serpent ;  that  the  enmity  between  man 
and  the  devil,  figured  by  the  serpent,  should 
be  irreconcilable ;  and  that,  of  a  virgin,  a 
Saviour  should  be  born,  who  would  destroy  the 
empire  of  the  devil.  This  Saviour  is  called  by 
the  prophets  the  Redeemer,  the  Messiah,  and 
Christ,  etc. ;  Job  xix.  25 ;  Isa.  lix.  20 ;  John  i. 
41 ;   Dan.  ix.  26,  etc. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


467 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Abridged  History  of  Religion  from  the  Fall  of  Man  till  the  Coming  of  the  Messiah, 

SECTION  I.— IN  WHAT  WAY  MEN  WERE  TO  BE  SANCTIFIED  BEFORE  THE  COMING  OF  THE  MESSIAH. 


Q.  Why  did  God  not  send  the  Messiah  imme- 
diately after  the  fall  of  man  ? 

A.  First. — That,  during  long  trial,  men  might 
feel  their  weakness,  and  the  need  they  had  of 
a  Redeemer.  Second. — That,  sensible  of  their 
wants  and  weakness,  they  might  sigh,  like  the 
just  of  the  Old  Testament,  for  his  coming ; 
Rom.  viii.  3 ;  xi.  32  ;  Gen.  xlix.  18  ;  Ex.  iv. 
13;  Isa.  xvi.  I.  Third. — That  the  strongest 
anticipatory  proofs  of  the  greatness  of  the  Mes- 
siah might  be  given ;  by  previous  prophecies 
as  to  his  birth,  life,  death,  sepulture,  resurrec- 
tion, and  the  astonishing  change  he  was  to  pro- 
duce in  the  world ;  Acts  x.  43  ;  St.  Aug.  Tract. 
31,  in  Joan  n.  7.  Fourth. — In  fine,  that  when 
the  Messiah  really  came,  his  followers  and  the 
world  might  see,  that  the  religion  he  actually 
taught,  and  all  the  events  which  accompanied 
it,  were  shadowed  out  in  the  history  of  past 
times,  and  that  the  events  of  former  ages  were 
all  such  types  of  Christ,  and  his  doctrines,  and 
his  institutions,  as  might  contribute  to  make 
religion  venerable,  and  attach  men  to  the  Mes- 
siah ;  I  Cor.  X.  6,  11;  Gal.  iv.  24;  Col.  ii.  17; 
Heb.  viii.  5 ;  x.  i ;  St.  Aug.  De  Catech.  Rudibus, 
c.  20,  n.  34,  36. 

Q.  What  became  of  those  men  who  lived 
during  the  four  thousand  years  before  Christ, 
seeing  they  had  no  means  of  salvation,  as  the 
Redeemer  had  not  yet  died  ? 

A.  Christ  died  for  all  men,  as  well  for  those 
who  lived  before,  as  those  who  have  existed 
since  his  death ;  his  infinite  merits  and  satis- 
factions were  applied  during  these  four  thou- 
sand   years,    for     the    sanctification    of    men, 


through  faith  in  him  as  the  future  Messiah  ; 
but  none  were  permitted  to  enter  heaven,  its 
gates  were  shut  till  his  coming — he  was  to  be 
the  first  to  enter.  The  saints  of  the  old  law 
were  to  receive  their  recompense  along  with 
him  ;  Heb.  xi.  39,  40 ;  St.  Aug.  in  Gal.  c.  3^, 
n.  23. 

Q.  What  were  men  obliged  to  do,  in  order  to 
sanctify  themselves  before  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah  ? 

A.  To  believe  in  one  God ;  to  adore  and  serve 
him;  to  love  him  above  all  things;  to  await 
with  longing  the  coming  of  the  Redeemer,  ancB 
to  hope  in  him;  to  love  their  neighbors;  to 
abstain  from  every  injustice;  and  to  live  accord- 
ing to  the  voice  of  conscience,  and  the  dictates 
of  right  reason.  Such  were  the  general  obli- 
gations of  all  the  human  race.  But  the  Jewish 
people,  in  addition  to  these  duties,  were  obliged 
to  observe  faithfully  all  the  precepts  of  the  law 
of  Moses,  and  to  believe  all  that  God  had 
revealed  to  them. 

Q.  Did  men  live  according  to  these  laws,  as 
to  faith  and  morality  ? 

A.  Those  who  sanctified  themselves,  by  thus 
obeying  God's  commands,  were  few,  even  amongst 
the  Jews,  compared  with  those  who  ruined  them- 
selves by  disobedience;  St.  Aug.  in  Gal.  cap.  iii, 
ver  20.  Those  who  were  lost  were  lost  by  their 
own  fault ;  they  had  the  same  means  of  salvation 
that  the  saints  possessed,  but  they  refused  to 
employ  those  means  for  the  ends  for  which  God 
bestowed  them,  and  hence  their  perdition  was  the 
work  of  their  own  hands.  "  Many  are  called," 
says  Christ,  "but  few  are  chosen;"  Matt.  xx.  16. 


Sf 


468 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


SECTION    II— THE    LIVES   OF   ADAM,    EVE,   AND    THEIR  CHILDREN,  AFTER  THE    FALL. 


Q.  How  did  Adam  and  Eve  conduct  them- 
selves after  their  expulsion  from  Paradise? 

A.  God  showed  them  mercy,  and  they  sanc- 
tified themselves  b}'  penance ;  Sap.  x.  i ;  St. 
Iren.  lib.  iii.  contra.  Heres.  c.  31,  33,  34.  They 
had  no  children  before  their  fall,  and  hence  all 
their  descendants  bear  the  stain  of  original  sin: 
Gen.  iv.  i;  Rom.  v.  12.  All  the  human  race 
have  descended  from  Adam  and  Eve;  the  latter 
is  called  the  "mother  of  all  the  living;"  Gen. 
ii.  20.  From  this  it  is  evident  that,  being 
members  of  one  great  family,  springing  origi- 
nally from  the  same  parents,  we  should  love 
one  another  as  brethren ;  as  Jesus  Christ  has 
taught  tis;  Luke  x.  27. 

Q.  Had  Adam  and  Eve  a  great  number  of 
children  ? 

A.  Their  children  were  very  numerous,  because 
they  were  instruments  in  the  hand  of  God  for 
peopling  the  world.  God  made  them  fruitful, 
and  they  lived  more  than  nine  hundred  years. 
As,  however,  the  Scripture  relates  of  the  history 
of  man  only  what  contributes  to  our  knowledge 
of  religion,  only  three  of  Adam's  children  are 
mentioned — Cain,  Abel,  and  Seth. 

Q.  What  does  the  Scripture  teach  us  as  to 
Cain? 

A.  That  he  was  the  first  child  of  Adam — 
that  he  was  a  laborer — that  he  ofiFered  to  God 
the  first  fruits  of  the  earth,  in  sacrifice — and 
that  neither  he  nor  his  offerings  were  accept- 
able; that  out  of  envy  or  jealousy,  he  killed  his 
brother  Abel,  because  the  sacrifices  of  the  latter 
were  agreeable  to  God;  that  he  was  cursed  by 
God,  and,  as  a  punishment  for  his  crime,  he  was 
made  a  fugitive  over  the  face  of  the  earth — 
that  God  marked  him,  that  he  might  not  be 
murdered — that  he  built  a  city,  and  gave  it  the 
name  of  his  son,  Enoch;  Gen.  iv.  i,  etc. 

Q.  What  does  the  Scripture  say  of  Abel? 

A.  That  he  was  Adam's  second  son — that  he 
was  a  shepherd — that  he  offered  to  God  the  first- 
born of  his  flock — that  they  were  the  largest 


and  the  fattest — that  God  regarded  his  offerings 
and  himself  favorably — that  he  was  murdered 
by  his  brother,  and  that  his  blood  cried  to 
heaven  for  vengeance;  Gen.  iv.  i,  etc.;  Matt. 
xxiii.  35;  Heb.  xi.  4. 

Q.  What  does  the  Scripture  say  regarding 
Seth? 

A.  That  he  was  born  after  the  death  of  Abel, 
and  lived  a  holy  life;  that  piety  was  preserved 
much  longer  in  his  family  than  in  that  of  Cain, 
and  that  he  was  one  of  the  ancestors  of  Jesus 
Christ;  Gen.  iv.  25,  26;  v.  9;  Eccles.  xlix.  19; 
Lukeiii.  38. 

Q.  What  does  the  history  of  Cain  and  Abel 
teach  us,  as  regards  religion? 

A.  We  see  in  these  two  the  image  of  two 
cities,  or  societies  of  men,  who  were  to  live 
together  in  the  world  until  the  end  of  time; 
besides,  they  represent  very  expressly,  Abel, 
Jesus  Christ;  and  Cain,  the  Jews. 

Q.  What  mean  you  by  these  two  societies? 

A.  The  society  of  the  good,  and  the  society  of 
the  wicked.  The  one  is  called  by  St.  Augustine 
the  city  of  God,  and  the  other  the  city  or  society 
of  the  earth ;  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  ii,  c.  i.  He  entitles 
them  thus;  because  the  one  is  a  stranger  here, 
detached  from  all  perishable  things,  lives  for  God 
alone,  and  regards  heaven  as  its  true  country. 
The  other  is  attached  to  this  world,  lives  for 
the  riches,  honors,  and  pleasures  of  the  earth; 
and  labors  against  every  thing  that  can  separate 
the  heart  and  affections  from  worldly  goods, 
making  these  the  great  object  of  their  life; 
Ps.  xlv.  5,  6;  xlvii.  2,  3;  Ixxxvi.  3;  St.  Aug. 
Civ.  Dei,  lib.  ii.  c.  i ;  and  lib.  xiv.  c.  28. 

Q.  In  what  did  Cain  represent  the  city  of 
the  earth? 

A.  He  was  the  first-bom.  We  all  belong  first 
to  the  city  of  the  earth,  and  it  is  only  by  regenera- 
tion we  belong  to  the  city  of  God.  What  is  carnal 
and  merely  animal,  begins  in  us  before  what  is 
spiritual;  i  Cor.  xv.  46.  Cain  was  attached  to 
this  world,  which  appears  from  this  that  he  was 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


469 


the  first  to  build  a  city,  and  to  look  upon  it  as 
the  place  of  his  abode  and  repose.  He  was 
corrupted  in  heart — he  attended  to  the  externals 
of  religion,  but  true  religion  had  no  place  in 
his  heart,  he  offered  not  to  God  his  richest 
first  fruits ;  he  was  full  of  pride  and  envy — he 
hated,  persecuted,  and  murdered  his  brother, 
because  his  brother  was  more  just  than  he. 
Such  is  the  character  of  all  who  belong  to  the 
city  of  the  earth;  St.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xv.  c. 
2,  3,  6,  7,  n.  I. 

Q.  How  was  Abel  an  image  of  the  city  of 
God? 

A.  He  was  detached  from  this  world :  he 
regarded  himself  as  a  stranger  here ;  he  built 
no  city  or  home  in  it;  he  lived  for  God — 
religion  was  his  glory — heaven  his  true  country. 
In  his  death  he  was  a  figure  of  Christ,  and  of 
all  the  just  who,  in  after  ages,  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  the  wicked  for  justice'  sake. 

Q.  In  what  did  Abel  represent  Christ,  and 
Cain  the  Jews  ? 

A.  Cain  was  the  first  born — Abel  followed ; 
and  the  Jews  preceded  in  time  the  temporal 
birth  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  occupation  of  Cain 
was  an  image  of  the  Jews,  who  were  attached 
to  the  fruits  and  goods  of  the  earth.  The 
occupation  of  Abel — a  shepherd — was  an  image 
of  Christ,  who  is  called  the  Pastor  and  Prince 
of  Pastors,  the  Good  Shepherd,  etc. ;  Ezek. 
xxxvii.  24;  Jerem.  xxxi.  10;  John  x.  11,  14; 
I  Peter  ii.  25,  v.  4.  Cain  honored  God  with 
his    lips,    but    his    heart    was    far    from    God; 


and  with  this  crime  God  reproached  the  Jews; 
Is.  xxix.  13 ;  Matt.  xv.  8.  Abel  was  just, — 
his  exterior  offering  was  the  expression  of  a 
heart  offered  to  God,  as  Christ  offered  himself 
to  God  by  the  Holy  Spirit;  Heb.  xi.  14. 
Cain  and  his  sacrifice  were  rejected;  Abel  and 
his  were  received;  Gen.  iv.  4,  5.  God  rejected 
the  Jews  and  their  sacrifice,  whilst  with  Christ 
and  his  sacrifice  God  was  well  pleased ;  Dan. 
ix.  26,  27;  Matt.  iii.  17;  Heb.  viii.  8,  9.  It 
was  through  envy  and  jealousy  that  Cain  slew 
Abel ;  and  it  was  through  the  same  nefarious 
passions  that  the  Jews  put  Jesus  Christ,  their 
brother  of  the  race  of  David,  to  death ;  John 
iii.  12;  Gen.  iv.  5;  Matt,  xxvii.  18.  The 
blood  of  Abel  cried  for  vengeance  on  Cain ; 
the  blood  of  Christ,  which  spoke  mercy  for  the 
just,  drew  down  the  vengeance  of  heaven  on 
the  Jews;  Heb.  xii.  24,  25.  Cain,  in  punish- 
ment of  his  crime,  led  the  life  of  a  wanderer, 
and  he  was  marked,  that  none  should  kill  him ; 
Gen.  iv.  15,  16; — the  Jews,  in  punishment  of 
their  crime,  were  banished  their  country,  and 
dispersed  over  the  face  of  the  earth.  They  are 
distinguished,  and  to  the  end  will  be  distin- 
guished, by  the  sign  of  circumcision  ;  St.  Aug. 
lib.  xii.  contra  Faust. 

•Q.  Why  does    the    Scripture    speak  of  Seth 
oftener   than  of   the  other   children  of  Adam  ? 

A.  Because  his  family  distinguished  itself 
above  all  the  others  for  its  piety,  and  of  them 
did  the  Messiah  come ;   lyuke  iii.  38. 


SECTION   111.— OiN  THE  CORRUPTION  OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE,  AND  THE  GENERAL  DELUGE. 


Q.  How  did  the  children  of  Cain  and  the 
other  children  of  Adam  live? 

A.  They  almost  all  forgot  God,  and  lived  in 
wickedness ;  as  they  advanced  in  age,  so  did 
impiety  increase ;  Gen.  vi.  The  children  of 
Seth  were  an  exception ;  they  copied  after  the 
piety  of  their  father  for  a  long  time ;  but  in 
the  end,  like  others,  they  also  fell  into  corrup- 


tion, by  associating  with  the  wicked,  and  form- 
ing family  alliances  with  them ;  Gen.  v.,  vi. 
Indeed,  vice  became  so  general,  that  scarcely 
one  remained  on  the  face  of  the  earth  who  was 
just  or   innocent;    Gen.  vi.  5,  8,  9. 

Q.  Did  God  leave  these  universal  corruptions 
unpunished  ? 

A.  No;   he  destroyed   men   by  the  universal 


470 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


deluge.  He  drowned  all  men  and  all  the 
animals,  except  Noah,  his  wife,  his  three  sons, 
and  their  wives, — in  all,  eight  individuals ; 
animals  of  each  species  were  also  preserved ; 
Gen.  vii.  7,  8,  ii;  2  Pet,  ii.  5.  Noah  was  a 
just  man,  and  one  of  the  descendants  of  Seth ; 
Gen.  vi.  9. 

Q.  How  were  Noah  and  his  family  pre- 
served ? 

A.  In  the  ark ;  a  structure  large  enough  to 
contain  them,  with  the  necessary  provisions, 
and  the  animals  to  be  preserved.  Noah  was 
employed  a  hundred  years  in  building  the  ark. 
God  ordered  this,  that  all  men  might  be  aware 
of  the  approaching  deluge, — might  enter  into 
themselves,  and  do  penance.  But  instead  of 
this,  they  despised  Noah,  and  his  advices  and 
his  menaces,  they  ate  and  drank,  and  married, 
and  pursued  their  amusement.  They  were 
surprised  by  the  deluge,  and  lost  in  its  waters; 
Matt.  xxiv.  37. 

Q.  What  impression  should  such  an  example 
make  upon  our  minds  ? 

A.  It  should  teach  us  to  profit  by  the  warn- 
ings God  gives  us,  and  never  to  put  oflF  our 
conversion   until  the  anger  of  God  comes  like 


lightning  upon  us,  but  to  watch  and  pray 
incessantly. 

Q.  Were  all  those  who  perished  in  the  del- 
uge lost  for  eternity  ? 

A.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  those  who, 
in  the  beginning,  were  incredulous  to  Noah's 
warnings,  but  who  afterwards  believed,  and 
were  in  reality  converted  before  the  deluge  was 
consummated,  were  not  lost ;    i  Pet.  iii.  20. 

Q.  What  did  the  ark  typify? 

A.  The  Catholic  Church,  which  is  the  ark 
of  salvation ;  and  it  represented  also  the  sacra- 
ment of  baptism.  We  can  be  saved  only  in 
the  Church,  and  all  who  were  out  of  the  ark 
perished ;  all  men  were  drowned  in  the  deluge, 
and  all  our  sins,  as  it  were,  are  drowned — that 
is  to  say,  effaced — by  the  waters  of  baptism ; 
I  Peter  iii.  21;  St.  Aug.  lib.  xii.  contra 
Faust. ;    St.  Amb.  in  Noah  et  Arcam,  c.  vi.  n. 

15- 

Q.  What  did  Noah  do  after  the  deluge  ? 

A.  He  offered  thanksgiving  sacrifice  to  God. 

God  blessed  him  and  his  children  ;  and  promised 

that  he  would  not  again  send  a  deluge  on  the 

earth,  and  he  gave  the  rainbow  as    a    sign    of 

this  promise. 


SECTION   IV.— ON  THE  STATE  OF  THE  WORLD,  FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  THE  VOCATION  OF 

ABRAHAM. 


Q.  How  was  the  world  repeopled  after  the 
deluge  ? 

A.  By  the  three  children  of  Noah ;  Sem, 
Cham,  and  Japhet,  and  their  descendants ;  Gen. 
ix.  19.  The  Scripture  tells  us  that  Noah 
blessed  Sem  and  Japhet,  on  account  of  their 
piety;  and  cursed  Cham,  and  his  son  Chanaan, 
because  they  showed  him  not  the  respect  due 
to  him. — That  men,  being  multiplied,  in  their 
pride,  wished  to  acquire  a  celebrated  name 
before  they  separated,  by  some  wonderful  work. 
— That  they  began  to  build  a  tower  which  they 
wished  to  raise  to  the  clouds. — That  that  tower 
was     called     Babel,    which     means     confusion^ 


because  God,  to  punish  them,  confounded  their 
tongues,  so  that  they  could  not  understand  one 
another;  and  that  thus  were  they  compelled  to 
desist  from  their  enterprise,  and  disperse  them- 
selves over  the  country ;  and  that  by  this  dis- 
persion was  the  earth  peopled ;  St.  Aug.  Civ. 
Dei,  lib.  xvi.  c.  i.  n.  i,  2,  c.    iv.  n.  4. 

Q.  Were  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  God 
long  preserved  amongst  them  ? 

A.  As  they  advanced  in  age,  they  became 
more  grossly  ignorant;  the  knowledge  of  God 
was  effaced  from  their  minds ;  they  became 
idolaters.  Piety  was  preserved  during  a  longer 
time    amongst   the    descendants    of    Sem;    but 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


471 


even  here  it  ultimately  died  out,  so  that  there 
was  scarcely  one  upon  the  earth  who  adored 
or  worshiped    God;  St.   Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xvi. 

Q.  How  did  God  now  treat  mankind  ? 

A.  He  abandoned  them  to  corruption  and 
blindness ;  thus,  left  to  the  corruption  of  their 
own  hearts,  they  plunged  into  every  abomina- 
tion; he  reserved  the  punishment  of  their 
crimes  for  the  next  life,  and  chose  one  man, 
as  a  father,  to  the  people  who  were  to  be 
peculiarly  consecrated  to  his  service ;  Rom.  i. 
24 ;  Gen.  xii.  1 ;  Wisd.  v.  5. 

Q.  Who  was  the  man  chosen  thus  by  God  ? 

A.  Abraham,  son  of  Thare,  of  the  family  of 
Sem;  Gen.  xi.  26,  27.  The  choice  was  the  pure 
effect  of  God's  goodness  and  mercy.     He  com- 


manded Abraham  to  quit  his  country,  his 
family,  his  home ;  and  promised  to  make  him 
the  father  of  a  great  people,  upon  whom  he 
would  confer  many  graces;    Gen.  xii.  i. 

Q.  Why  did  God  wish  Abraham  to  quit  his 
country  ? 

A.  That  he  might  not  be  exposed  to  the  society 
of  the  wicked;  to  induce  him  to  consider  the' 
earth  as  a  place  of  exile,  and  heaven,  his  true 
home ;  to  make  him  the  father  of  a  people, 
who  were  to  be  different  in  manners  and 
religion  from  all  the  other  people  of  the  earth. 
Abraham  believed  and  obeyed  God,  who 
rewarded  him  for  his  submission;  Gen.  xii.  4, 
7,8. 


SECTION  v.— ON   THE  PROMISES   OF    GOD  TO   ABRAHAM,  AND  ON   THE  POSTERITY  OF 

THAT   HOLY  MAN. 


Q.  How  did  God  reward  the  faith  and  obedi- 
ence of  Abraham  ? 

A.  By  a  solemn  alliance,  which  he  made  with 
him,  God  promised  to  take  him  and  his  pos- 
terity under  his  protection — to  make  him  the 
father  of  a  great  people — to  give  him  a  laud 
that  was  rich  and  abundant,  called  Chanaan, 
for  himself  and  his  posterity — and  he  also 
declared,  that  the  Messiah  should  descend  from 
his  race;  Gen.  xxii.  18.  God  swore  by  him- 
self, to  the  accomplishment  of  these  promises ; 
and  appointed  circumcision,  as  a  mark  to  dis- 
tinguish Abraham  and  his  posterity  from  all 
the  other  people  of  the  earth ;  Gen.  xvii.  14, 
xxii.  16;  Heb.  vi.  13,  16,  17. 

Q.  Who  were  the  children  of  Abraham  ? 

A.  None  were  born  to  him  of  his  wife  Sarah 
till  her  ninetieth  year;  and  it  was  on  this 
account,  that  Sarah  wished  him  to  marry  his 
servant  Agar,  of  whom  he  had  a  son  called 
Ismael;  Gen.  xvi.  i,  2,  15.  In  this  connection, 
there  was  nothing  immoral,  as  God  allowed 
plurality   of   wives,  that    the   earth   might    be 


peopled;  St.  Aug.  contra  Faust,  lib.  xxii.  It 
was  not,  however,  through  Ismael  that  God  ful- 
filled the  promises  made  to  Abraham  ;  although 
the  latter  believed  that  such  would  be  the  case, 
seeing  his  wife  barren  and  beyond  the  age  of 
childbearing;  Gen.  xvii.  18.  God  foretold  that 
Sarah  would  have  a  son;  and  that,  through 
him,  the  promises  would  be  accomplished; — 
Abraham  believed  God,  though  the  event 
seemed  beyond  hope — and  the  year  after,  Sarah 
had  a  son,  who  was  called  Isaac;    Gen.  xxi.  i,  2. 

Q.  How  did  Agar  and  Ismael  live  with  Sarah 
and  Isaac  ? 

A.  Agar  despised  Sarah,  on  account  of  her 
sterility,  and  was  punished.  Ismael  persecuted 
Isaac;  and  was,  by  the  order  of  God,  banished, 
with  his  mother,  from  the  house  of  Abraham; 
Gen.  xvi.  4,  5,  6;  xxi.  9,  10;  Gal.  iv.  29,  30. 
After  the  death  of  Sarah,  Abraham  married  ; 
Cethura,  by  whom  he  had  six  children ;  Gen. 
XXV.  1,2.  Isaac,  however,  was  the  sole  heir  of 
Abraham ;  he  gave  presents  to  his  other 
children,  but  allowed  them  not  to   dwell,  even 


472 


THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION   DEFINED. 


during  his  own  life,  with  Isaac;  Gen.  xxv.  5,  6. 

Q.  What   did  the  alliance,  which  God  made 
with  Abraham,  represent  ? 

A.  The   eternal  alliance  which  Jesus    Christ 
was  one  day  to  make  with  Christians  ;  of  which 
baptism    was    the   p]edge    or  seal;    as    circum- 
cision, a  figure  of  baptism,   was  the  pledge  or 
I  token  of  that  made  by  God  with  Abraham. 

Q.  In  what  was  circumcision  a  figure  of  bap- 
tism ? 

A.  As  circumcision  was  a  sign  that  showed 
men  to  be  participators  in  the  alliance  with 
Abraham,  so  baptism  makes  us  partakers  of 
the  alliance  of  Christ  with  mankind.  Besides, 
in  baptism  we  profess  to  be  circumcised  in 
heart,  that  is,  we  renounce  the  concupiscence 
of  this  world,  of  which  the  circumcision  of  the 
body  was  only  a  figure ;  Rom.  ii.  28,  29 ;  Philip, 
iii.  3. 

Q.  What  was  signified  by  the  possessions 
promised  to  Abraham  and  his  posterity  ? 

A.  Heaven,  which  is  promised  to  all  Christians, 


whose  spiritual  Father  Abraham  was ;  Heb. 
xi.  I,   14,   15,  16. 

Q.  Of  what  were  Agar  and  Sarah  the  figure  ? 

A.  Agar,  the  servant  or  bondwoman,  was 
the  figure  of  the  Synagogue,  or  Judaism  ;  Sarah, 
the  wife,  or  freewoman,  was  a  figure  of  the 
Christian  Church ;  Gal.  iv.  22;  Ismael  was  a 
figure  of  the  Jewish  ;  and  Isaac  of  the  Christian 
people.  The  Jews  were  the  bond  children  of 
the  law,  we  are  the  freed  children  of  Christ ; 
and  as  Ismael  persecuted  Isaac,  so  did  the  Jews 
persecute  Christ  and  his  followers. 

Q.  Who  are  prefigured  by  the  children  of 
Abraham,  born  of  Cethura? 

A.  Those  Christians  who  do  not  live  by  faith, 
but  who  live  according  to  the  flesh  ;  such  may 
receive  a  temporal  reward  like  the  children 
of  Cethura,  but  God  will  not  grant  them  an 
eternal  inheritance ;  and  those  who  live  by 
faith  should  avoid  them ;  i  Cor.  v.  1 1 ;  St.  Aug. 
Civ.  Dei,  lib.   xvi.  c.  34. 


SECTION    VI.— ON   ISAAC   AND   JACOB,    FROM   WHOM   ALL  THE   JEWS   HAVE   DESCENDED. 


Q.  Why  is  Abraham  called  the  father  of  all 
the  faithful  ? 

A.  Because  he  is  the  father  of  both  Chris- 
tians and  Jews.  The  Jews  descended  from  him, 
by  his  son  Isaac ;  the  Christians  have  sprung, 
by  faith,  from  Jesus  Christ,  who  descended  from 
Abraham,  and  of  whom  Isaac  was  a  striking 
figure  ;  Rom.  iv. 

Q.  In  what  was  Isaac  a  figure  of  Christ  ? 

A.  His  life  of  innocence  and  sanctity,  was  an 
image  of  that  of  Christ.  The  sacrifice  of  Isaac 
was  an  expressive  figure  of  the  death  and  resur- 
rection of  Christ.  Isaac,  after  his  sacrifice,  was  the 
Father  of  all  the  Jews ;  Jesus,  after  his  resur- 
rection, was  the  Father  of  all  Christians. 

Q.  What  was  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac  ? 

A.  God,  to  try  the  faith  of  Abraham,  ordered 
him  to  sacrifice  his  son  Isaac,  aged  then  about 
thirty-seven  years  ;  St.  Jerom.  de  Trad.  Judaeor. 
in  Gen.   xxii.  2.     Abraham   hesitated    not  one 


moment,  though  Isaac  was  his  beloved  son ; 
he  hoped  against  all  hope ;  and  persuaded  that 
God  could  again  raise  Isaac  from  the  dead,  he 
prepared  for  the  sacrifice,  according  to  St.  Jerom, 
on  Mount  Moria,  which  is  near  Calvary.  Isaac's 
faith  was  equal  to  that  of  his  father ;  he  sub- 
mitted to  God's  command ;  he  carried  on  his 
shoulders  the  wood  upon  which  he  was  to  be 
offered  in  sacrifice ;  and  allowing  himself  to  be 
tied,  he  submitted  to  his  fate.  But  God  was 
satisfied  with  the  faith  and  obedience  of  both. 
The  father's  hand  was  already  raised  to  immo- 
late that  innocent  victim.  God  arrested  it,  and 
restored  the  son  as,  it  were,  from  the  tomb  to 
his  father,  that  after  having  been  a  very  ex- 
pressive figure  of  Christ,  suffering  and  dying 
on  the  cross,  Isaac  might  also  be  a  figure  of 
Jesus  arisen  from  the  tomb;  Heb.  xi.  17, 
18,  19;  St,  Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xvi.  c.  32. 
Abraham,  after  this  found  a  ram  entangled  in 


THE   CATHOLIC   REUGION   DEFINED. 


473 


a  thicket,  and  he  offered  it  in  sacrifice,  instead 
of  his  son.  Even  this  was  emblematic  of  Christ, 
the  Lamb  of  God,  who  was  laden  with  the  sins 
of  the  world,  and  offered  in  the  place  of  men 
a  sacrifice  to  his   Father. 

-  Q.  Who  were  the  children  of  Isaac  ? 

A.  Esau  and  Jacob,  twin  brothers,  bom  of 
his  wife  Rebecca.  Esau  was  the  first  bom,  and 
was  rejected  of  God,  even  before  birth.  Jacob 
came  second,  and  was  beloved  of  God ;  Rom. 
ix.  13;  Mai.  i.  2,  3.  I  say  Esau  was  rejected, 
because  God  did  not  choose  him  as  the  father 
of  his  people — the  heir  of  the  land  promised 
to  Abraham — or  as  one  in  the  line  of  the 
Messiah's  ancestry.  To  Jacob,  as  the  pure  ef- 
fect of  his  goodness,  did  God  accord  these 
blessings.  Esau  was  a  figure  of  the  Jews  and 
the  reprobates  ;  Jacob  prefigured  the  Christians 
and  the  elect ;  Rom.  ix.  "6,  7,  8 ;  St.  Aug.  Civ. 
Dei,  lib.  xvi.  c.  35. 

Q.  How  many  children  had  Jacob  ? 

A.  Twelve  sons  and  a  daughter,  born  of  the  four 
wives  he  espoused;  and  from  these  twelve  sons, 
known  by  the  names  of  the  twelve  patriarchs, 
have  descended  all  the  Jews.  Jacob  wished  to 
marry  only  Rachel,  but  he  was  surprised  into 
a  previous  marriage  with  Lia,  her  elder  sister. 
Lia  had  six  children.  Rachel,  after  being  barren 
for  a  long  time,  had  two.  Jacob  married  after- 
wards two  others  :  Bala,  at  the  request  of  Rachel ; 
and  Zelpha,  by  the  advice  of  Lia.;  Gen.  xxix. 
23;  XXX.  3,'9 ;  XXXV.  23,  24  ;  St.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib. 
xvi.c.  38,  n.  5.  The  children  of  Jacob  were,  Ruben, 
Simeon,  Levi,  Juda,  Issachar,  Zabulon,  Dan, 
Nephtali,  Gad,  Aser,  Joseph,  and  Benjamin, 
and  one   daughter,   called    Dina.     These    were 


called  patriarchs,  because  they  were  the  heads 
of  the  twelve  Jewish  families,  from  whom  all  the 
Jews  have  descended.  The  word  Patriarch  means 
head  of  a  family.  These  were  called  the  twelve 
tribes  of  the  Jews.  The  family  of  Joseph, 
however,  composed  two  tribes,  because  Ephraim 
and  Manasses,  the  two  children  of  Joseph,  were 
adopted  by  Jacob,  and  were  the  heads  of  tribes 
called  after  them,  so  that  there  appears  to  have 
been  thirteen  tribes.  But  this  in  reality  was 
not  the  case,  because  the  tribe  of  Levi  was 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  God  in  the 
religious  ministry,  and  was  thus  lost  amongst 
the  other  twelve  tribes  ;  God  intended  this,  that 
this  tribe,  by  their  example  and  instruction, 
might  keep  the  others  in  his  service ;  Num.  i. 
48  ;  XXXV.  2,  3  ;  Josue  xxi.  2,  etc. 

Q.  What  is  the  most  celebrated  of  the  twelve 
tribes  ? 

A.  That  of  Juda,  which  in  all  ages,  was  most 
favored  by  God — was  that  from  which  the 
Messiah  sprang,  and  that  which,  at  last,  after 
the  Babylonish  captivity,  gave  its  name  to  the 
whole  Jewish  people.  The  children  of  Jacob 
were  called  Israelites,  because  Jacob  their  father 
was  named  Israel ;  Gen.  xxxii.  28. 

Q.  Did  the  descent  of  the  Jewish  people  from 
one  man  prefigure  any  thing,  and  what  did 
the  twelve  Patriarchs  represent  ? 

A.  Yes ;  the  spiritual  birth  of  all  Christians 
in  Jesus  Christ ;  and  the  Patriarchs  represented 
the  twelve  apostles,  who  were  the  spiritual 
Fathers  of  all  Christians.  Hence,  St.  Paul 
says,  "We  are  built  upon  the  apostles ;"  Eph. 
ii.  2a 


SECTION  VII.— THE  SERVITUDE  OF  THE  ISRAELITES  IN  EGYPT,  AND  ITS  CAUSE. 


Q.  Were  the  Israelites  always  in  possession 
of  the  promised  land? 

A.  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  dwelt  there 
as  strangers,  nor  were  their  descendants  put  in 
possession    of  it,  till  four   hundred    years  after 


the  promise;  Gen.  xv.  13  ;  Acts  vii.  6  ;  Heb.  xi. 
9,  10.  They  were  a  long  time  slaves  to  the 
Egyptians,  and  they  were  not  delivered  from 
that  slavery  till  the  expiry  of  four  centuries; 
Ibid. 


474 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


Q.  What  was  the  occasion  of  this  Egyptian 
servitude  ? 

A.  A  famine  compelled  Jacob,  with  his  family, 
amounting  to  seventy  persons,  to  retire  to  Egypt. 
These  multiplied,  and  were  ultimately  persecuted 
and  reduced  to  a  state  of  slavery  by  Pharaoh, 
king  of  Egypt;  Acts  vii.  ii.  Jacob's  reason  for 
flying  to  Egypt  was,  that  he  understood  the 
famine  would  endure  seven  years ;  that  Joseph, 
one  of  his  family,  had  all  power  in  Egypt;  and 
that  through  Joseph's  foresight,  there  would  be 
no  distress  in  that  kingdom  ;  Acts  vii.  ii. 

Q.  Why  did  Joseph  go  to  Egypt  ? 

A.  Jacob  loved  Joseph  more  than  his  other 
children  ; — the  latter  became  jealous  of  him,  and 
wished  to  kill  him,  but  Ruben,  the  eldest,  pre- 
vented it ;  and  Juda  determined  them  to  sell  him 
to  Ismaelite  merchants  ;  who  again  sold  him  to 
an  Egyptian,  called  Potiphar.  God  employed 
this,  their  crime,  to  raise  Joseph,  and  make  him 
the  support  of  his  family ;  Gen.  xxvii.,  xiv.; 
Acts  vii.  9.  Joseph  was  a  long  time  a  slave  to 
Potiphar.  The  wife  of  the  latter  accused  him 
of  an  attempt  at  violation ;  he  was  cast  into 
prison ;  and  this  very  imprisonment  caused  him 
to  be  loaded  with  honors  and  power ;  Gen.  xxxix. 
Pharaoh  was  troubled  with  a  dream  ;  he  wished 
it  explained  ;  he  was  informed  that  the  prisoner, 
Joseph,  knew  the  future ;  he  called  him — was 
satisfied  with  his  answers — and  made  him  his 
first  minister;  Gen.  xl.,  xli.  8. 

Q.  How  did  Jacob  know   that  his  son  was   a 
ruler  in  Egypt  ? 


A.  The  famine  compelled  Jacob  to  send  his 
children  to  Egypt  for  corn  ; — they  were  presented 
to  Joseph,  who  had  all  authority  there — he  made 
himself  known  to  them,  forgave  their  treachery, 
and  induced  Jacob  and  all  his  family  to  come  to 
Egypt ;  Gen.  xlii.,  xliii.,  etc. 

Q.  Where  did  Jacob  die  ? 

A.  He  died  in  Egypt,  after  having  foretold 
the  precise  time  the  Messiah  would  come.  It 
was  then  he  made  Joseph's  sons,  Ephraim  and 
Manasses,  chiefs  of  tribes,  and  adopted  them  as 
his  own.  His  body  was  carried  b}'  Joseph  to 
the  land  of  Canaan,  to  be  laid  with  Abraham 
and  Isaac;  Gen.  xlviii.,  etc.  Joseph  himself 
died  in  Egypt,  where  he  preserved  his  authority 
till  his  death, — he  had  ordered  his  bones  to  be 
carried  to  Canaan,  to  the  tomb  of  his  fathers. 
So  long  as  Joseph  lived,  the  Israelites  were  well 
treated  by  the  Egyptians,  but,  after  his  death, 
the  next  king  forgot  the  services  of  Joseph, 
maltreated  his  family,  and  reduced  them  to  a 
state  of  servitude  ;  Gen.  1.;  Ex.  i.  7  ;  v.  4. 

Q.  What  was  prefigured  by  the  crime  of 
Joseph's  brethren,  who  sold  him  as  a  slave  ? 

A.  The  crime  of  Judas,  who  betrayed  and 
sold  Jesus,  and  of  the  princes  and  priests  who 
delivered  him  to  the  Romans.  The  imprison- 
ment and  exaltation  of  Joseph  were  figures  of 
the  sufferings  and  resurrection  of  Jesus,  who 
procured  salvation  for  the  Jews,  by  whom  he 
was  delivered  to  his  enemies,  and  to  the  Gentiles, 
prefigured  in  the  Egyptians. 


SECTION    Vm.— THE  DELIVERANCE  OF   THE  ISRAELITES  BY    MOSES,    THE    PASCHAL   LAMB 

AND   PASSAGE   OF   THE  RED   SEA. 


Q.  How  long  did  the  Israelites  remain  in 
Egypt? 

A.  About  two  hundred  years,  after  which 
God  raised  up  Moses  to  deliver  them  from  that 
tyrannical  servitude. 

Q.  Who  was  Moses  ? 

A.  One  of  the  descendants   of   Levi,    son  of 


Jacob.  Three  months  after  his  birth,  his 
mother  exposed  him  on  the  Nile,  and  abandoned 
him  to  Providence,  because  Pharaoh  had  ordered 
all  the  male  children  of  the  Hebrews  to  be 
put  to  death.  The  daughter  of  Pharaoh,  about 
to  bathe  in  that  river,  found  the  infant — nursed 
him    tenderly^had    him  instructed    in    all  the 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


475 


learning  of  the  Egyptians,  and  finally  adopted 
him,  as  her  sou.  But  Moses  loved  better  to  be 
a  suflFerer  with  the  Israelites,  than  in  prosperity 
and  criminal  enjoyment  with  the  Egyptians. 
At  the  age  of  fortj',  he  visited  his  brethren, 
but  he  dwelt  with  them  only  a  short  time,  for, 
having  killed  an  Egyptian,  and  dreading  the 
wrath  of  Pharaoh,  who  sought  his  life,  he  was 
obliged  to  fly.  He  retired  into  the  land  of  the 
Madianites,  married  there,  and  was  occupied  in 
feeding  the  flocks  of  Jethro  his  father-in-law, 
when  God  appeared  to  him  and  commanded 
him  to  deliver  his  people  from  the  servitude 
of  Pharaoh.  He  was  then  forty-five  years  of 
age. 

Q.  How  did  Moses  deliver  the  Israelites  from 
Egypt  ? 

A.  He  wrought  so  many  miracles,  and  struck 
Egypt  with  so  many  plagues,  that  the  king  was 
compelled  to  allow  them  to  leave  his  territories. 
The  Scripture  speaks  of  ten  plagues,  viz. : 
The  waters  changed  into  blood,  the  frogs,  the 
gnats,  the  flies,  the  murrain  in  all  cattle  and 
beasts,  the  ulcers,  the  hail  mixed  with  fire,  the 
locusts,  darkness,  and  the  death  of  all  the  first 
bom  ;  Ex.  vii.,  viii.,  ix.,  x.,  xii. ;  Ps.  Ixxvii.  43  ; 
Wisd.  xvi.  9,  etc. 

Q.  What  determined  the  Egyptians  to  send 
the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt  ? 

A.  The  death  of  the  first  bom,  which  took 
place  in  the  following  manner :  Moses,  on  the 
part  of  God,  commanded  the  Israelites  to  kill  a 
lamb  each,  in  his  family ;  to  roast  and  eat  such 
lamb,  and  to  sprinkle  the  door  posts  with  its 
blood.  An  angel  then  came,  and  exterminated 
the  first  born  in  every  house  in  Egypt,  except  in 
the  houses  of  the  Israelites,  which  were  sprinkled 
with  blood. 

Q.  Tell  us  a  little  more  in  detail,  what  God 
through  Moses,  ordered  the  Israelites  to  do  on 
this  occasion. 

.  A.  Moses  ordered  them  to  borrow  from  their 
Egyptian  neighbors  all  that  they  could  in  the 
shape  of  movables  and  silver ;  they  did  so,  and 
the  Egyptians,  moved  by  God,  refused  them 
nothing.     Again,  Moses  ordered  them  to  kill  a 


lamb  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month, 
in  the  evening ;  to  eat  of  Its  flesh  roasted  at  the 
fire ;  to  eat  the  head  with  the  feet  and  intes- 
tines ;  to  eat  them  with  unleavened  bread  and 
wild  lettuce;  and  to  make  this  repast  in  haste, 
standing  in  the  habit  of  wayfarers,  with  a 
stafi"  in  their  hands.  He  forbade  them  to  admit 
to  this  meal  any  stranger,  or  to  bruise  the 
bones  of  the  lamb ;  and  ordered  that  all  that 
remained  of  the  lamb  should  be  consumed  by 
fire.  Moses  also  ordained  that  each  year,  on 
the  same  day,  the  Israelites  should  eat  a  lamb 
with  the  same  ceremonies,  in  memory  of  the 
miracle  which  God  was  about  to  work  in  their 
favor ;  that  the  next  day  they  should  celebrate 
a  solemn  feast,  as  a  memorial  of  these  de- 
liverances ;  that  this  lamb  should  be  called  the 
Paschal  lamb,  or  lamb  of  passage,  and  the  feast 
itself,  the  Pasch  ;  Ex.  xii.  3,  etc. 

Q.  Why  did  Moses  order  the  eating  of  the 
Paschal  lamb  with  so  much  ceremony  ? 

A.  The  first  time  it  was  eaten,  the  hurry 
and  precipitation  of  their  departure  required 
haste ;  it  was  God's  will  that  afterwards  the 
same  ceremonies  should  be  used,  in  memory 
of  the  first  Pasch  ;  but  the  real  cause  was,  that 
God  wished  all  these  circumstances  and  cere- 
monies to  represent  and  prefigure  great  mys- 
teries ;  Ex.  xii. 

Q.  Did  God  appoint  any  ordinance  to  remind 
the  Israelites  forever  of  the  death  of  the  first 
born  of  the  Egyptians  ? 

A.  Yes ;  he  desired  that  the  first  born,  as 
well  of  men  as  of  beasts,  should  be  forever  con- 
secrated to  him ;  Ex.  xiii.  2. 

Q.  Why  did  God  wish  the  Israelites  to  carry 
away  with  them  the  riches  of  the  Egyptians  ? 

A.  To  punish  that  infidel  nation  for  their 
persecution  of  the  Israelites,  and  to  recompense 
the  latter  for  their  labors  in  Egypt. 

Q.  What  did  the  Egyptians  do  after  the 
death  of  their  first  born  ? 

A.  They  pressed  the  Israelites  to  depart; 
but  they  soon  repented  of  this,  and  pursued 
them,  to  make  them  return.  At  this  time 
happened  the  famous  miracle  of  the  passage  at 


476 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


the  Red  Sea ;  Ex.  xii.  Moses  struck  the  waters 
of  the  sea,  they  separated,  and  aflforded  to  the 
Israelites  a  dry  passage.  The  blind  and  obsti- 
nate Egyptians  pursued  them  in  that  miracu- 
lous passage,  but  the  waters  which  allowed 
the  Israelites  to  pass,  closed  upon  the  Egyptians, 
and  swallowed  them  up ;  Ex.  xiv. 

Q.  What  were  the  number  of  the  Hebrews  at 
this  time  ? 

A.  About  six  hundred  thousand  men,  besides 
women  and  children  under  twenty  years ;  so 
much  had  they  multiplied  during  two  hundred 
years,  even  under  continued  persecution.  God 
had  promised  this  extraordinary  multiplication 
to  Abraham;  Gen.  xvi.  lo;  Ex.  i.  12.  This 
extraordinary  propagation  of  the  children  of 
Abraham  was  a  figure  of  the  propagation  of  the 
Christian  people,  who,  in  spite  of  every  opposi- 
tion and  persecution,  filled  the  world. 

Q.  What  did  the  deliverance  of  the  Israelites, 
by  Moses,  signify? 

A.  The  deliverance  of  Christians  from  the 
bondage  of  the  devil,  by  Jesus  Christ. 

Q.  What  did  the  Paschal  lamb  signify  ? 

A.  Jesus  Christ,  the  true  Lamb  of  God,  whose 
death  delivered  us  from  eternal  death,  and 
opened  heaven,  the  true  land  of  promise,  to  us. 
The  Jews  were  forbidden  to  break  the  bones  of 
the  lamb,  and  this  was  a  figure  of  what  hap- 
pened to  Christ,  after  his  death ;  his  limbs 
were  not  broken,  as  were  those  of  the  two 
thieves  who  were  crucified  with  him  ;  John  xix. 

33- 


Q.  What  was  signified  by  the  feast  of  the 
Pasch  ? 

A.  The  Holy  Eucharist,  in  which  we  eat  the 
true  flesh  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  has  saved  us'  by 
his  blood,  as  the  Jews  ate,  in  their  first  Pasch, 
the  flesh  of  the  same  lamb,  whose  blood  had 
preserved  them  from  death  ;   i  Cor.  v.  7,  8. 

Q.  What  did  the  ceremonies  which  accom- 
panied the  eating  of  the  Paschal  lamb  signify  ? 

A.  The  dispositions  of  a  worthy  communi- 
cant at  the  Christian  altar.  To  eat  of  the  Pas- 
chal lamb,  it  was  necessary  to  be  a  Jew,  to  be 
in  the  habit  of  a  traveler,  to  eat  with  celerity, 
and  to  eat  it  along  with  unleavened  bread  and 
wild  lettuce.  To  eat  of  the  Eucharist,  it  is 
necessary  to  be  a  Christian  ;  to  be  a  traveler  to 
heaven  ;  to  be,  as  it  were,  in  haste  to  meet  Jesus, 
and  be  united  with  him  by  love  and  fervor ;  to 
be  mortified,  by  using  what  is  unsavory  to  our 
palate,  and  a  check  to  our  passions,  and  to  have 
simple  and  upright  hearts,  without  the  leaven 
of  malice  or  hypocrisy  ;  St.  Greg.  Mag.  Horn, 
xxii,  in  Evang. 

Q.  What  did  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea 
signify  ? 

A.  It  was  a  figure  of  baptism ;  for,  to  enter 
into  heaven.  Christians  must  pass  through  the 
waters  of  baptism ;  as  the  Jews,  to  enter  the 
land  of  promise,  had  to  pass  through  the  Red 
Sea  ;  i  Cor.  x.  i.  The  Egyptians,  who  were 
drowned  in  the  passage,  were,  according  to  St. 
Augustine,  a  figure  of  our  sins,  which  are  effaced 
by  baptism.     [In  Ps.  Ixxii.  n.  5.] 


SECTION   IX.— THE   JOURNEY   OF   THE   ISRAELITES  TO  MOUNT  SINAI  ;   THE   BITTER 

WATERS  ;  THE  MANNA,   ETC. 


Q.  Whither  did  Moses  conduct  the  Israelites, 
after  they  passed  the  Red  Sea  ? 

A.  Through  a  desert,  to  Mount  Sinai,  where 
they  arrived  the  forty-seventh  day  after  their  de- 
parture from  Egypt;  Ex.  xix.  i.  God  was 
their  guide  in  this  journey  :  a   cloud  preceded 


them  during  the  day,  and  a  column  of  fire 
during  the  night ;  when  the  cloud  or  the  pillar 
of  fire  advanced,  they  advanced,  and  when  it 
stopped,  so  did  the  Israelites  ;  Ex.  xiii.  22  ; 
Ps.  Ixxvii.  14. 

Q.  How  were  the  Israelites  fed  in  the  desert  ? 


THE   CATHOLIC   REUGION    DEFINED. 


477 


A.  God  sent  them  food  from  heaven,  called 
manna ;  and  whilst  on  their  journey,  three  re- 
markable things  happened  ;  the  Israelites  mur- 
mured ;  they  gained  a  victory  over  the  Amalec- 
ites ;  and  Jethro,  father-in-law  to  Moses,  visited 
him. 

Q.  How  often,  and  why  did  the  Israelites  mur- 
mur ? 

A.  They  murmured  three  times ;  once,  be- 
cause they  found  the  waters  bitter  ;  again,  because 
they  had  no  bread  ;  and  the  third  time,  because 
they  could  not  obtain  water.  Moses  on  each  of 
these  occasions  praj'ed,  and  obtained  mercy.  By 
the  order  of  God,  he  threw  a  piece  of  wood  into 
the  bitter  waters,  and  they  became  sweet ;  Ex. 
XV.  22.  On  the  second  occasion,  God  directed 
to  their  camp  a  number  of  quails,  and  sent 
manna  from  heaven,  which  fell  every  day,  except 
Sabbath,  until  the  time  they  left  the  desert ;  on 
this  manna  they  lived  during  forty  years ;  Ex. 
xvi.  13,  etc.  On  the  third  occasion,  Moses  struck 
a  rock  with  his  staff,  and  it  produced  abundance 
of  water;  Ex.  xvii.  6. 

Q.  On  what  occasion  did  the  Israelites  con- 
quer the  Amalecites,  and  what  was  there  remark- 
able in  that  victory  ? 

A.  The  Amalecites  attacked  them,  to  oppose 
their  march.  Moses  sent  Josue  to  meet  them, 
with  a  choice  body  of  troops,  and,  during  the 
contest,  retired  to  a  mountain  to  pray.  When 
Moses  raised  his  hands  to  heaven,  the  Amalec- 
ites were  overcome ;  and  when  he  lowered  his 
hands,  through  lassitude,  they  became  victorious; 
but  Moses  persevered  in  keeping  his  hands  erect 
till  evening,  and  then  the  Israelites  gained  a  com- 
plete victory  ;  Ex.  xvii.  8. 

Q.  What  was  there  remarkable  in  the  visit  of 
Jethro  to  Moses,  his  son-in-law  ? 

A.  Jethro  came  to  deliver  to  Moses  his  wife 
and  his  children,  who  had  been  placed  in  his 
hands  before  the  deliverance  of  the  Israelites 
from  Egypt.  Jethro  counseled  Moses  to  appoint 
inferior  magistrates,  in  order  that  they  might 
relieve  him  of  part  of  his  cares.     He  appointed 


to  that  office  men  of  courage  and  fearing  God, 
lovers  of  justice  and  truth — and  such  should  all 
magistrates  be. 

Q.  What  did  the  sojourn  of  the  Israelites  in 
the  desert  signify? 

A.  It  was  a  figure  of  the  pilgrimage  of  bap- 
tised Christians  in  this  world  before  they  enter 
heaven.  The  pillar  of  fire  was  a  figure  of  Christ, 
by  following  whose  light  and  footsteps,  we  shall 
enter  his  kingdom.  The  fatigues  and  sufferings 
of  the  Jews,  in  the  desert,  were  figures  of  our 
sufferings  and  miseries  in  this  life,  which  ought 
to  make  us  long  after  our  true  countr}' ;  St. 
Aug.  in  Ps.  Ixxii.  n.  5.  The  wood  which,  cast  into 
the  bitter  waters,  rendered  them  sweet,  repre- 
sented the  cross,  by  which  our  labors  and  toils, 
in  the  observance  of  God's  commandments,  are 
sweetened  and  rendered  light ;  St.  Aug.  Quasst. 
57,  in  Exodus. 

Q.  What  did  the  manna  signify? 

A.  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  living  bread,  de- 
scended from  heaven  to  nourish  us  in  the  desert 
of  this  life,  not  only  by  his  grace,  but  also  by 
his  own  flesh  and  blood.  The  rock  from  which 
the  miraculous  waters  proceeded,  was  an  image 
of  Christ,  the  source  of  all  grace,  who  is  styled 
in  Scripture  the  Spiritual  Rock,  from  which 
spring  the  living  waters  of  life  eternal ;  John 
i.  16;  iv.  14;  I  Cor.  X.  4.  The  Amalecites  were 
a  figure  of  the  devil  and  his  angels,  who  strug- 
gle to  prevent  Christians  from  entering  heaven, 
the  true  land  of  promise;  and  the  struggle  of 
Josue  and  his  army  represented  the  efforts  of 
the  Church  militant  to  conquer  the  enemies  of 
their  salvation ;  Origen,  Horn.  ii.  in  Exodus. 

Q.  What  did  Moses,  with  his  arms  elevated, 
praying  on  the  mount,  represent? 

A.  Jesus  Christ,  who,  with  arms  extended  on 
the  cross,  conquered  the  devil,  and  made  us  vic- 
torious and  free.  In  all  our  trials  we  must 
pray,  like  Moses,  with  arms  and  hearts  lifted 
to  God;  Matt.  xxvi.  41;  Luke  xxi.  36;  i  Pet. 
iv.  7. 


4/8 


THE   CATHOLIC   REUGION    DEFINED. 


SECTION   X.— THE   LAW  GIVEN  TO   THE  ISRAELITES,    AND  THE   BLOOD  OF   THE  COVENANT. 


Q.  What  did  the  Israelites  do  when  they 
arrived  at  Mount  Sinai? 

A.  Moses  ordered  them  to  purify  themselves, 
during  ten  days,  as  a  preparation  to  receive  the 
law  of  God.  He  marked  out,  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  bounds  beyond  which  he  forbade 
them  to  pass,  under  pain  of  death.  On  the  third 
da}'^,  being  the  fiftieth  after  they  left  Egj'pt,  the 
mountain  appeared  on  fire ;  they  heard  terrible 
trumpet  sounds,  and  God  spoke  to  them  in  the 
midst  of  thunder  and  lightning;  Ex.  xix.  t6. 

Q.  Why  did  God  deliver  the  law  to  the 
Israelites,  amidst    such    terrible  circumstances? 

A.  Because  they  were  an  obstinate  and  carnal 
people,  whom  he  wished  to  restrain  by  severity 
and  terror.  The  time  for  the  law  of  love  had 
not  yet  come. 

Q.  What  was  the  law  here  delivered? 

A.  The  ten  commandments,  of  which  we  shall 
speak  elsewhere.  These  commandments  had 
been,  in  general,  engraven  on  the  hearts  of 
men,  but  they  were  here  again  distinctly  given, 
because  few  observed  them.  Sin  and  corruption 
had  almost  effaced  them  from  the  hearts  of  all 
men.  See  Gen.  xxxi.  34,  etc.,  xxxv.  2 ;  Gen. 
xxi.  23 ;  xxiv.  3 ;  Gen.  ii.  3 ;  Ex.  xvi.  23 ; 
Gen.  ix.  25,  26;  iv.  10;  ix.  6;  xx.  9;  xxxiv. 
31  ;  xxxviii.  24;  etc. 

Q.  Did  God  give  any  other  law  but  what  is 
contained  in  the  commandments? 

A.  Through  Moses,  he  gave  many  other  pre- 
cepts, regarding  the  administration  of  justice, 
and  the  exterior  ceremonies  of  religion ;  of  these 
precepts  and  ceremonies,  only  those  founded 
on  the  natural  laws  are  obligatory  on  Chris- 
tians ;  from  the  yoke  of  the  rest  we  have  been 
liberated  by  Jesus  Christ ;  Rom.  vii.  6 ;  Gal.  iv. 
31  ;  V.   I  ;  St.  Aug.  contra  Faust,  lib.  x.  c.  2,  3. 

Q.  Why  did  God  charge  the  Israelites  with 
so  many  ceremonies,  which  were  to  be  abolished 
by  Jesus  Christ? 

A.  Because  the  nature  of  that  people  required 
the  yoke,  as  they  were  gross  and  carnal,  with 


very  limited  intelligence,  and  because  all  these 
ceremonies  and  usages  were  figures  of  events 
under  the  new  law  to  come;   i  Cor.  x.   11. 

Q.  Did  the  Jews  receive  these  ordinances  with 
submission  ? 

A.  They  promised  solemnly  to  observe  them ; 
and  God,  in  return,  promised  to  regard  them  as 
his  own  people,  to  establish  amongst  them  his 
kingdom  and  priesthood,  to  protect  them  against 
their  enemies,  and  grant  them  abundant  tem- 
poral blessings ;  Ex.  xix.  8 ;  xix.  5,  6 ;  xxiii. 
22,  25,  26,  27  ;  Deut.  xxviii.   i,  2,   15. 

Q.  After  these  muttial  promises,  what  did 
Moses  do? 

A.  He  wrote  in  a  book  the  ordinances  of 
the  Lord;  he  fitted  up  an  altar  at  the  foot 
of  the  mountain,  to  offer  sacrifice  to  God; 
he  sprinkled  on  the  altar  the  half  of  the  blood 
of  the  animals  sacrificed,  and  reserved  the  rest; 
he  took  the  book  of  the  covenant  and  read  it 
before  the  people,  who  renewed  their  promise  to 
obey;  he  then  sprinkled  the  rest  of  the  blood 
upon  the  book  and  the  people,  saying,  "This  is 
the  blood  of  the  covenant  which  the  Lord  hath 
made  with  you,  concerning  all  these  words ;  " 
Ex.  xxiv.  4,  etc.  Moses  then  ascended  the 
mountain  to  receive  the  tables  of  the  command- 
ments, and  to  learn  from  God  himself  all  that 
the  Jews  should  observe  in  their  religion  ;  Ex. 
xxiv.  12. 

Q.  The  law  was  given  to  the  Jews  fifty  days 
after  they  left  Egypt :  was  this  a  figure  of 
any  thing? 

A.  Yes ;  a  striking  figure  of  the  descent  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  Apostles,  fifty  days 
after  Christ  had  delivered  them  and  us  from 
the  slavery  of  the  devil,  by  his  death  and 
resurrection.  God  gave  the  law  to  Moses, 
amidst  thunder  and  lightning,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  descends  on  the  Apostles,  to  enable 
them  to  preach  the  new  law,  amidst  miracu- 
lous sounds  as  of  the  rushing  of  mighty  winds ; 
Acts  ii. ;    Jerem.  xxxi.  33. ;    Heb.  x.   16.     The 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


479 


stone  on  which  the  law  was  written,  was  a 
figure  of  the  hard  Jewish  heart,  which  in 
Scripture  is  called  a  stone ;    Ezech.  xxxvi.   26. 

Q.  What  did  the  blood  of  the  covenant, 
which  Moses  sprinkled  upon  the  altar  and  on 
the   people,  signify  ? 

A.  The    blood    of   Jesus,    which   purifies    us, 


and  which  is  the  seal  of  the  new  covenant 
which  God  has  made  with  man,  and  which 
will  subsist  for  eternity  ;  Heb.  x.  4,  etc.  The 
promises  made  by  God  to  the  Jews  were  a 
figure  of  the  spiritual  promises  made  to  Chris- 
tians ;    I  Peter  ii.  9,  10. 


SECTION    XI.— MOSES   ON   MOUNT   SINAI. 


Q.  What  was  Moses  doing  on  Mount  Sinai  ? 

A.  He  received  God's  orders  as  to  the  taber- 
nacle, the  ark  of  the  covenant,  the  propitia- 
tory, the  table  of  the  bread  of  proposition, 
the  candlestick,  the  altar  of  incense,  the  altar 
of  holocausts,  the  brazen  laver,  and  the  vest- 
ments of  the  chief  priests,  and  other  sacri- 
ficers.  He  received  from  God  the  two  tables 
of  stone  on  which  the  law  was  written.  St. 
Paul  informs  us  that  the  tabernacle,  the  ark, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  above,  were  figures  of 
the  religion  and  worship  of  the  new  law ; 
Heb.  viii.  5. 

Q.  What  was  the  tabernacle  ? 

A.  A  portable  temple,  used  by  the  Jews 
whilst  they  waited  for  the  erection  of  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem.  It  had  two  divisions : 
one  was  called  the  holy  place  \  the  other  the 
holy  of  holies ;  Ex.  xxvi.  i ;  xxxvi.  8. 
The  urst  was  a  figure  of  the  Church,  where 
the  holy  are  in  a  state  of  pilgrimage ;  the 
second  represented  heaven,  the  true  home  of 
the  blessed;    Heb.  ix.  8,  11. 

Q.  What  was  the  ark  of  the  covenant  ? 

A.  A  kind  of  chest,  made  of  incorruptible 
wood,  and  covered,  inside  and  out,  with  plates 
of  pure  gold.  It  was  to  contain  the  tables  of 
the  law,  and  hence  was  called  the  ark  of  the 
covenant,  of  which  the  observance  of  the  law 
was  the  condition ;  it  was  ordered  to  be  placed 
in  the  holy  of  holies.  This  ark  was  a  figure 
of  the  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ ;  St.  Greg. 
Horn,  in  Ezech.  lib.  ii. 

Q.  What  was  the  propitiatory  ? 


A.  The  cover  of  the  ark,  which  was  of  mas- 
sive gold.  From  this  did  God  speak  to  men. 
The  name  signifies  the  place  from  which  God 
shows  himself  favorable  and  propitious  to  men  ; 
Ex.  XXV.  17,  18,  22;  xxxvii.  6;  Num.  vii. 
89 ;  Ps.  Ixxix.,  xcviii.  ;  Isa.  xxxvii.  16.  The 
propitiatory  represented  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
which  enshrouded  his  humanity,  by  his  union 
with  which,  he  was  the  propitiation  for  the 
sins  of  men,  and  made  them  acceptable  to 
God ;  Col.  ii.  9 ;  i  John  ii.  2 ;  Rom.  v.  2 ; 
Eph.  ii.  18 ;  Heb.  iv.  16.  The  two  cherubim 
of  the  propitiatory  represented  the  two  Testa- 
ments, the  Old  and  the  New  ;  St.  Aug.  Quaest 
105,  in  Exodus. 

Q.  What  was  the  table  of  the  bread  of 
proposition  ? 

A.  It  was  made  of  incorruptible  wood,  cov- 
ered with  plates  of  gold,  and  was  used  solely 
for  the  bread  of  proposition  ;  Ex.  xxv.  23. 
The  bread  of  proposition  was  the  name  of 
twelve  loaves,  which  were  ever  exposed  before 
the  altar  of  incense.  These  were  changed 
every  week;  Ex.  xxv.  30;  xxxv.  13.  The 
table  and  the  bread  were  a  figure  of  the 
Christian  altar,  upon  which  Christ  offers  him- 
self continually  to  God  his  Father  for  our 
sins,  by  the  ministry  of  his  priests,  under  the 
appearances  of  bread  and  wine.  The  loaves 
were  twelve,  representing  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel,  and  these  again  represented  all  the 
nations  of  which  the  Church  is  composed ;  St. 
Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  x.  c.  20. 

Q.  What  was  the  candlestick  ? 


48o 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


A.  It  was  one  of  pure  gold ;  had  seven 
branches,  with  a  light  in  each  branch,  and  it 
was  of  the  finest  workmanship.  It  burnt  be- 
fore the  altar  of  incense,  opposite  to  the  table 
of  the  bread  of  proposition;  Ex.  xxv.  31. 
It  was  a  figure  of  Christ  and  the  pastors  of 
his  Church;  John  viii.  12;  Matt.  v.  14,  15, 
16 ;  Apoc.  i.  20.  The  altar  of  incense  was 
made  of  incorruptible  wood,  overlaid  with 
plates  of  gold ;  it  was  put  in  the  holy  place 
opposite  to  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  on  the 
outside  of  the  screen  which  separated  the  holy 
of  holies  from  the  holy  place.  It  received  the 
incense  which  the  priests  offered  morning  and 
evening  to  the  Lord  ;    Ex.  xxx. ;  Luke  i.  9,  10. 

Q.  What  did  this  altar  and  that  incense 
signify  ? 

A.  The  altar  represented  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  incense  was  a  figure'  of  his  prayers,  and 
of  the  prayers  which,  through  him,  the  Church 
daily  offers  up  to  God  as  a  sweet  incense, 
agreeable  to  him ;    Ps.  cxl.  2. 

Q.  What  was  the  altar  of  holocausts? 

A.  An  altar  of  incorruptible  wood,  overlaid 
with  brass,  which    was  placed    opposite    to  the 


entrance  of  the  tabernacle,  but  without.  On 
this  altar  was  offered  to  God  the  holocaust,  and 
all  the  other  sacrifices;  Ex.  xxvii.  It  rep- 
resented the  cross  on  which  Christ,  prefigured 
by  all  the  ancient  sacrifices,  was  immolated. 
This  altar  was  placed  outside  the  tabernacle, 
as  Christ  was  crucified  outside  of  Jerusalem. 

Q.  What  was  the  brazen  laver  ? 

A.  A  large  brazen  vase  filled  with  wate-, 
and  placed  in  the  vestibule,  in  which  the 
priests  were  to  wash  their  feet  and  their  hands 
before  all  their  religious  functions.  This  rep- 
resented the  purity  of  conscience  required  from 
all ;  and  after  this  model  is  the  holy  water 
placed  at  the  vestibule  of  every  Christian 
Church ;  St.  Greg.  Hom.  xvii.  in  Evang. 

Q.  What  were  the  vestments  of  the  high 
priest  ? 

A.  The  rational,  the  ephod,  tunic,  strait 
linen  garment,  mitre,  and  girdle.  The  prin- 
cipal vestments  of  the  other  priests  were :  the 
tunic,  girdle,  and  mitre.  All  these  vestments 
signified  the  various  virtues  that  should  adorn 
the  sacerdotal  character ;  Ex.  xxviii ;  St.  Aug. 
Quaest.  119,  in  Exodus. 


SECTION  XII.— THE  GOLDEN  CALF,  THE   PUNISHMENT   WHICH    FOLLOWED  ;   THE  VEIL  ; 

THE  CHOICE  OF  AARON  AND  THE  LEVITES. 


Q.  During  the  forty  days  which  Moses  spent 
on  the  mountain,  how  were  the  Israelites  oc- 
cupied ? 

A.  Seeing  that  Moses  returned  not,  they 
believed  him  lost.  They  pressed  Aaron  to  give 
them  idols,  that  they  might  adore  them ; 
Aaron  was  weak  enough  to  yield ;  he  made  a 
golden  calf,  which  the  people  adored,  after  the 
example  of  the  Egyptians.  When  Moses  saw 
this  abomination,  he  broke  the  tables  of  the 
law ;  he  reduced  the  golden  calf  to  powder ; 
and  having  cast  this  into  water,  he  forced  the 
Israelites  to  drink  it.  He  reprimanded  Aaron 
severely,  and  ordered  the  tribe  of  Levi  to  ex- 
terminate,   without    mercy,    all    the     guilty — 


twenty-three  thousand  men,  according  to  the 
Vulgate,  were  slain — and  by  this  dreadful  but 
just  zeal  were  the  hands  of  the  Levites  con- 
secrated to  God ;  Ex.  xxxii.   28. 

Q.  What  did  Moses  do  after  this  punish- 
ment ? 

A.  He  showed  the  Israelites  the  magnitude 
of  their  crime,  and,  having  appeased  the  wrath 
of  God  by  prayer,  he  again  ascended  the  moun- 
tain, and  remained  there  forty  days  and  nights 
without  eating  or  drinking;  he  then  returned 
with  two  new  tables  of  the  law.  Whilst  Moses 
was  on  the  mountain,  God  favored  him  with  a 
partial  sight  of  his  glory ;  and  when  he  de- 
scended, his  countenance  emitted  ra3'S  of  light, 


THE  APPARITION  OF  OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDES. 

On  the  eleventh  of  February,  1858,  a  poor  peasant  girl,  Bernadette  Sobuirous,  aged  fourteen,  went  to  gather  dry  branches  near  a  cliff, 
and  whilst  thus  engaged  she  suddenly  beheld  a  lady  of  supreme  loveliness,  clad  in  white,  having  a  white  mantle  over  her  head,  and 
drooping  down  to  her  feet,  on  each  of  which  glittered  a  golden  cross 


CHRIST  BLESSING  LITTLE  CHILDREN. 

Infancy  is  the  age  of  simplidty,  of  candor  and  of  innocence— those  amiable  qualities  which  every  true  Christian  should  strive  to 
have  at  every  age  ;    the  possession  will  ever  render  him  more  beloved  by  God  and  man.     The  Saviour  of  the  world  assures 
woros: 


in  these 


'  Amen,  I  say  to  you.  unless  you  be  converted,  and  become  as  little  children,  you  shall  not  enter  into  the  kinadom  ot  neaven. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


481 


so  that  the  Israelites  could  not  bear  its  lustre, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  cover  his  face  with  a 
veil,  when  he  addressed  them  ;  Ex.  xxxiv.  29. 
This  veil  was,  according  to  St.  Paul,  a  figure 
of  the  blindness  of  the  Jews,  which  prevented 
them  from  recognizing  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  ;  2  Cor.  iii. 
7,  8,   II,   13,  etc. 

Q.  Who  were  here  chosen  for  the  office  of 
the  ministry  ? 

A.  Moses  consecrated  Aaron  as  High  Priest. 
Aaron's  sons  were  consecrated  to  God  for  the 
priesthood.  The  whole  tribe  of  Levi  were  set 
aside  for  the  inferior  functions  of  the  ministry 
iu  the  tabernacle;  Ex.  xxviii.,  xxix.  God 
prompted  Moses  to  this  choice ;  had  he  followed 
human  nature  he  would  have  chosen  his  own 
children.  An  extraordinary  miracle  proves  that 
God  called  his  ministers  ;    for  when    Core,  Da- 


than,  and  Abiron  rose  against  Moses  and  Aaron, 
pretending  that  they  had  as  good  a  right  to 
the  priesthood  as  the  latter,  the  earth  opened 
and  swallowed  these  chiefs  alive,  and  fire  from 
heaven  exterminated  their  followers,  to  the 
number  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  ;  Num.  xvi. 
I,  31.  Moses  afterwards  ordered  each  tribe  to 
deliver  to  him  a  rod,  with  the  name  of  the 
tribe  inscribed.  He  placed  these  rods  in  the 
tabernacle ;  and  the  rod  of  Aaron  was  the  only 
one  which  in  one  night  flowered,  and  bore 
leaves  and  fruit.  Thus,  by  a  miracle,  did  God 
prove  that  he  chose  Aaron  and  his  descendants 
for  the  functions  of  the  priesthood  ;  Num.  xvii. 
I.  All  the  ministers  of  God  must  therefore 
be  called  by  God  as  Aaron  was,  and  dreadful, 
like  the  fate  of  Core,  Dathan,  and  Abiron,  will 
be  the  fate  of  those  who  enter  not  by  the  door, 
but  over  the  wall. 


SECTION  XIII.— THE  SPIES  ;   MURMUR   AND  SEDITION  OF   THE   ISRAELITES  ;    THEIR   PUNISH- 
MENT ;   REWARD  OF   CALEB   AND   JOSUE. 


Q.  How  did  Moses  proceed  after  he  had  ar- 
ranged in  the  desert  all  that  regarded  the 
worship  of  God  ? 

A.  He  sent  twelve  spies,  one  from  each  tribe, 
to  examine  the  land  of  Canaan,  the  land  of 
promise,  and  to  bring  back  samples  of  its 
fruits  ;  Num.  xiii.  3.  These  reported  well  of 
the  land,  and  brought  back  with  them,  as 
a  sample,  a  vine  branch  so  laden  with  grapes 
that  it  required  two  men  with  a  lever  to 
carry  it.  Ten,  however,  of  the  spies  discour- 
aged the  people  from  entering  it,  declaring 
that  it  was  inhabited  by  an  invincible  people ; 
Num.  xiii.  3.  The  Jews  now  murmured  against 
Moses,  and  wished  to  choose  a  chief  to  lead 
them  back  to  Egypt.  But  Caleb  and  Josue 
endeavored  to  encourage  them,  and  appease 
their  murmurings,  by  assurances  of  help  from 
God.  Their  efforts,  however,  were  vain,  and 
they  would  have  been  stoned,  had  not  God 
interposed  by  the  lustre  of  his  glory  on  the 
tabernacle;  Num.  xiii.  31;  xiv.  10. 
51 


Q.  Did  God  punish  this  revolt? 

A.  He  struck  with  a  sudden  death  the  ten 
spies.  He  swore  that  those  who  had  mur- 
mured should  never  enter  the  laud  of  promise; 
that  they  should  die  in  the  desert ;  that  Caleb 
and  Josue  were  the  only  individuals  who  would 
enter  the  promised  land ;  and  had  not  Moses 
appeased  God  by  prayer,  all  the  Israelites  would 
have  instantly  perished;  Num.  xiv.  23;  Ps. 
xciv.  II ;  Heb.  iii.  10;  iv.  i,  2,  3,  etc. 

Q.  What  did  this  revolt  of  the  Israelites 
represent  ? 

A.  It  was  a  figure  of  the  disposition  of  those 
Christians  who  despair  of. being  able  to  over- 
come the  enemies  of  their  salvation,  and 
through  this  despair,  revolt  against  Jesus 
Christ,  and  abandon  themselves  to  their  pas- 
sions; St.  Aug.  in  Ps.  viii.  Caleb  and  Josue 
were  figures  of  those  faithful  pastors  who 
excite  the  people  to  put  their  trust  in  God 
alone,  and  reckon  for  succor  upon  Jesus  Christ. 
The     persecution     which      these     holy      men 


482 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION  DEFINED. 


suflFered  was  figurative  of  the  sufFerings  to  be 
endured  from  the  wicked  by  all  the  true  fol- 
lowers of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  the  chastisement 
of  the  Israelites,  in  this  instance,  was  a  figure 
of  the  just  judgments  of  God,  which  sometimes 
visibly,  and  always  invisibly,  overtake  the  per- 
secutors of  his  ministers  and  people. 


Q.  Only  Caleb  and  Josue  entered  the  prom- 
ised land,  out  of  six  hundred  thousand  men : 
what  did  this  prefigure  ? 

A.  The  small  number  of  the  elect  who  shall 
enter  heaven, — a  terrible  truth,  which  we  could 
not  believe,  did  not  St.  Paul  himself  so  explain 
it;  I  Cor.  X.  5,  13. 


SECTION    XIV.— THE  WATERS    OF  CONTRADICTION  ;   THE    BRAZEN   SERPENT  ;  PREDICTION 

OF    BAALAM  ;   AND   DEATH    OF  MOSES. 


Q.  What  did  the  Israelites  do  during  their 
forty  years'  sojourn  in  the  desert  ? 

A.  God  kept  them  traveling ;  sometimes  to 
one  side,  sometimes  to  the  other.  By  a  con- 
stant miracle,  their  shoes  and  clothes  lasted 
during  the  whole  period;  and  they  were  fed 
with  manna,  which  fell  each  daj'  except  Sab- 
bath; Deut.  viii.  2  ;  xxix.  5.  They  were  still, 
however,  obdurate.  They  murmured  often 
against  God  and  against  Moses.  They  once 
excited  a  sedition  for  want  of  water;  and  at 
another  time  they  publicly  testified  their  dis- 
gust for  the  manna;  in  short,  they  remained 
constantl}' rebellious ;  Num.  xx.,  xxi. ;  Deut. 
xxxi.  27. 

Q.  How  did  Moses  quash  the  sedition  caused 
by  want  of  water  ? 

A.  He  struck  a  rock  twice  with  his  rod  or 
staff,  and  it  gave  forth  water  in  abundance.  It 
was  on  this  occasion  that  Moses  showed  dis- 
trust in  God,  and  seemed  to  doubt  whether  he 
could  work  the  miracle.  The  waters  were 
called,  on  account  of  the  murmurs  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  waters  of  contradiction;  Num.  xx.  ri. 
As  a  punishment  for  the  want  of  faith  shown 
by  Moses,  God  told  him  he  should  see  the  land 
of  promise,  but  he  should  never  enter  it.  God 
permitted  this  error  on  the  part  of  Moses, 
to  humble  him, — to  let  the  people  see  that  he 
was  still  man,  like  the  rest  of  men;  and  that 
the  punishment  of  his  crime  might  prefigure  a 
great  future  mystery,  which  we  shall  explain 
afterwards.     God  punished  the  crime  of  Moses 


in  this  world,  that  he  might  not  be  chastised 
in  the  next,  for  temporal  punishments  are  the 
effects  of  God's  paternal  goodness ;  Prov.  iii. 
II,  12  ;  Heb.  xii.  5,  6. 

Q.  Did  God  punish  the  people  who  showed 
disgust  for  the  manna  ? 

A.  He  sent  serpents  amongst  them,  whose 
bite  burnt  them  as  fire,  and  many  were 
wounded  or  killed ;  Num.  xxi.  6.  Moses,  how- 
ever, made  a  serpent  of  brass,  by  the  order  of 
God,  and,  having  set  it  up  as  a  sign,  all  the 
woixnded  who  looked  on  it  were  healed  ;  Num. 
xxi.  9.  This  brazen  serpent,  having  all  the 
appearance  of  a  serpent,  without  its  venom,  was 
a  figure  of  Christ  raised  on  the  cross,  having 
the  likeness  of  sinful  man,  yet  without  sin ; 
nay,  the  very  salvation  of  all  sinners ;  John  iii. 

14,  15- 

Q.  Did  the  Israelites  again  provoke  God  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  Balac,  king  of  the  Moabites,  engaged 
Baalam  to  curse  the  people  of  Israel  ;  but  God 
influenced  the  tongue  of  that  prophet  to  bless 
them  instead;  and  he  foretold  the  Messiah. 
Dreading,  however,  the  loss  of  the  promised 
reward,  Baalam  advised  Balac  to  send  to  the 
camp  of  Israel  Madianitic  women,  that  the 
Israelites,  corrupted  by  these,  might  provoke 
God,  become  corrupted,  and  be  easily  van- 
quished. The  advice  was  followed  :  the  Israel- 
ites fell  into  impurity,  and  then  into  the  most! 
infamous  idolatry ;  Num.  xxii.,  xxiii.,  xxiv., 
etc.;  2  Peter  ii.  14,  15;  Apoc.  ii.  14;  Jude, 
verse  11. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


483 


Q.  Did  God  punish  these  crimes  ? 

A.  By  the  order  of  God,  the  leaders  were 
hanged,  and  twenty-four  thousand  were 
slain.  On  this  occasion,  Phinees,  the  son  of 
Aaron,  slew  an  Israelite  in  the  act  of  com- 
mitting the  impure  outrage  ;  and  by  this  act 
of  zeal  the  anger  of  God  was  appeased ;  Num. 
XXV.  6 ;  Ps.  cv.  28,  etc. ;  i  Machab.  ii.  54. 
Phinees,  at  the  head  of  twelve  thousand  men, 
made  war  against  the  Moabites  and  Madianites, 
— Balac  and  Baalara  were  killed  ;  none  were 
spared,  except  virgins,  who  had  not  known  man  ; 
Num.  xxxi.  2,  etc. 

Q.  How  did  Moses  proceed  after  this  expe- 
dition ? 

A.  On  the  part  of  God,  he  ordered  Josue  to 
govern  and  conduct  the  people  into  the  land  of 


promise.  He  declared  the  law,  anew;  he  pre- 
dicted the  reprobation  of  the  Jews,  and  the  voca- 
tion of  the  Gentiles  ;  he  gave  his  benediction  to 
each  tribe;  and,  having  written  all  these  things 
in  a  book,  which  was  put  into  the  ark  with  the 
law,  he  ascended  a  mountain,  from  which  God 
showed  him  the  land  of  promise,  which  he  was 
doomed  never  to  enter.  On  this  mountain  he 
died;  his  sepulchre  was  never  known,  and  his 
body  was  never  discovered;  Deut.  iii.  28;  iv. 
xxxi.,  xxxii. 

Q.  What  did  Josue,  leading  the  people  into 
the  land  of  promise,  represent? 

A.  Jesus  Christ,  conducting  the  Church  unto 
eternal  life,  the  true  and  everlasting  promised 
land;  Gal.  iii.  11;  Heb.  vii.  19;  Theod.  Quasst. 
43,  in  Deut. 


SECTION   XV.— CONQUEST   AND   DISTRIBUTION   OF   THE    LAND   OF   PROMISE,    UNDER   THE 
GUIDANCE   OF   JOSUE,    AND  STATE  OF  THE   ISRAELITES   UNDER   THE  JUDGES. 


Q.  How  did  the  Israelites  act  after  the  death 
of  Moses? 

A.  they  promised  to  obey  Josue  in  all  things, 
and  he  put  them  in  possession  of  the  promised 
land;  Jos.  i.  17.  In  this  they  had  many  difficul- 
ties; but,  under  the  guidance  of  Josue,  they  over- 
came and  exterminated  the  people  of  that  coun- 
try. This  people,  by  God's  order,  were  not 
destroyed  all  at  once,  but  by  degrees,  that  the 
people  of  Israel  might  have  time  to  multiply; 
and,  by  having  still  enemies,  might  be  con- 
stantly exercised,  and  on  their  guard;  Ex. 
xxiii.  29,  30;  Deut.  vii.  22;  Jos.  xxiii.  4;  Judg. 
iii.  I,  2. 

Q.  How  did  Josue  divide  the  land  of  Canaan  ? 

A.  The  tribes  cast  lots  for  it,  and  each  tribe 
took  that  for  its  abode  which  Providence  assigned 
to  it;  Num.  xxvi.  55 ;  Jos.  xxiii.  4;  Ps.  Ixxvii.  54. 
We  speak  here  only  of  those  tribes  who  remained 
on  this  side  of  the  Jordan ;  for  the  tribe  of  Ruben, 
and  Gad,  as  well  as  part  of  that  of  Manasses, 
established  themselves  beyond  the  Jordan. 


Q.  What  is  represented  by  the  difficulties  and 
enemies  the  Israelites  had  to  contend  with,  in 
taking  possession  of  the  promised  land? 

A.  The  difficulties  the  Church  and  her  chil- 
dren have  to  contend  with  in  making  their  wa}?-  to 
the  land  of  the  living — the  true  land  of  promise, 
heaven.  These  difficulties  are  overcome  grad- 
ually ;  and  God  always  leaves  some  trial  to  exer- 
cise our  virtue,  to  teach  us  to  cherish  a  holy  fear, 
and  prevent  us  from  perishing  through  pride  or 
self-confidence;  Jerom.  lit.  129,  ad  Dardan. 

Q.  Why  did  God  wish  the  promised  land  to 
be  distributed  by  lot  to  the  Israelites? 

A.  To  prevent  murmurs  and  disputes;  to 
teach  them  that  it  is  God,  and  not  man,  who 
gives  our  inheritance ;  to  teach  them,  that, 
though  they  made  conquest  of  that  land,  still, 
their  possession  of  it  was  the  pure  effect  of 
God's  mercy;  and  to  make  s  Christians  sensi- 
ble, that  even  when  we  obtain  heaven  as  the 
reward  of  our  obedience,  still,  we  owe  this  pos- 
session to  the  gratuitous  goodness  of  God,  who 


484 


THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION   DEFINED. 


gave  us  grace  to  obey;  Rom.  vi.  23;  Eph.  i. 
11;  Col.  i.  12;  Aug.  lit.  194,  ad  Sixtum,  c.  3, 
n.  14. 

Q.  How  did  the  Israelites  conduct  themselves 
after  they  were  put  in  possession  of  the  land 
of  promise  ? 

A.  They  served  God  during  the  lives  of  Josue 
and  the  Ancients ;  but  after  their  death,  the 
people  abandoned  themselves  frequently  to  dis- 
order and  idolatry;  Jud.  ii.  7,  8,  etc.  These 
excesses  were  caused  by  the  communication  of 
the  people  of  Israel  with  the  infidel  race  who 
still  dwelt  in  Canaan ;  for  God  had  forbidden 
every  intercourse  with  that  unbelieving  people; 
Jud.  ii.  2 ;  iii.  6.  God,  however,  punished  them 
severely;  he  delivered  them  into  the  hands  of 
their  enemies ;  and  they  fell  into  extreme  misery, 
as  Moses  and  Josue  had  foretold ;  Jud.  ii.  14, 
15;  Deut.  xxviii.  15;  Josue  xxiv.  20.  Their 
punishments    continued    until     they    again    re- 


pented, when  God  raised  up  judges  to  deliver 
them  from  their  misery.  Still,  that  ungrateful 
people  fell  again  and  again,  and  were  again  and 
again  delivered  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies ; 
Jud.  ii.  16;  St.  Aug*.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  16,  c-  43,  n.  2. 

Q.  Why  were  these  liberators,  whom  God 
raised  up,  called  judges? 

A.  Because  they  did  justice  to  the  people  on 
the  part  of  God,  and  governed  them  in  his 
name.  They  assumed  not  the  title  of  kings, 
because  it  was  God  himself  who  governed  the 
people  through  these  men,  as  he  tells  the  Israel- 
ites through  Samuel;  i  Kings  viii.  7.  These 
judges  were  only  the  interpreters  of  God,  who 
regarded  the  Israelites  as  his,  in  a  peculiar 
manner,  by  the  covenant  he  had  made  with 
Abraham  and  renewed  with  Moses.  Some  of 
these  judges  were  appointed  by  the  Almighty, 
others  were  chosen  by  the  people.  The  history 
of  each  may  be  seen  in  the  Scripture. 


SECTION  XVI.— ON  THE  STATE  OF  THE  ISRAELITES   UNDER  THE   KINGS,  AND  ON  SAUL  AND  DAVID. 


Q.  Who  was  the  last  of  the  judges? 

A.  Samuel,  a  holy  man  and  a  great  prophet. 
Before  his  death  the  Israelites  wished,  contrary 
to  the  first  order  of  God,  to  have  a  king  to 
govern  them  ;   i   Kings  viii.  4,  5,  6. 

Q.  Who  was  the  first  king  of  the  Jews? 

A.  Saul,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin;  i  Kings 
X.  I,  20.  God  chose  him  ;  he  was  anointed  by 
Samuel,  by  the  order  of  God.  God  made  his 
will  known  to  the  people  by  lot ;  all  the  tribes 
cast  lots  for  a  king ;  the  lot  fell  on  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin.  Of  all  the  families  in  that  tribe 
the  lot  fell  upon  that  of  Cis,  son  of  Abiel,  and 
father  of  Saul.  In  fine,  amongst  all  the  heads 
of  that  family,  the  lot,  guided  by  Providence, 
fell  upon  Saul,  who  had  already  been  privately 
anointed  by  Samiiel ;  i  Kings  x.  i,  20  :  Saul's 
kingdom  was  to  d  sceud  by  hereditar}^  right  to 
his  heirs ;  but  he  disobeyed  the  order  of  God, 
and  his  kingdom  was  transferred  to  another 
family  and  another  tribe. 


Q.  Who  was  Saul's  successor? 

A.  David,  the  son  of  Jesse,  of  the  tribe  of 
Juda ;  he  was  feeding  the  flocks  of  his  father 
when  God  chose  him  to  be  anointed  king,  by 
Samuel ;  i  Kings  xvi.  1,13.  He  was  a  prince 
after  God's  own  heart,  a  great  king  and  a  great 
prophet.  Persecuted  by  Saul,  and  in  constant 
danger,  he  gave  great  proofs  of  his  courage 
and  Arirtue.  W^hen,  however,  he  was  in  the 
quiet  possession  of  all  Saul's  dominions,  he 
committed  two  dreadful  crimes,  adultery  and 
murder ;  but  he  humbled  himself,  did  penance, 
and  God  showed  him  mercy.  God  forgave  him 
the  sins,  but  inflicted  severe  temporal  punish- 
ments upon  him.  After  this,  David  persevered, 
to  the  last,  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  died  in  a 
holy  manner,  leaving  his  son  Solomon  in  the 
quiet  possession  of  his  kingdom  ;  see  i,  2,  3 
Kings,  I  Paral.  xi.,  etc. 

Q.  What  were  the  principal  favors  that  David 
received  from  God  ? 


THE   CATHOLIC   REUGION   DEFINED. 


485 


A.  God  gave  him  an  upright  and  sincere 
heart.  God  chose  him  to  be  king,  although  he 
was  the  last  of  his  brethren — he  preserved  him 
from  the  persecutions  of  Saul,  made  him  always 
victorious  over  his  enemies — he  gave  him  a 
contrite  heart  after  he  had  sinned,  and  purified 
him  with  temporal  afflictions — he  promised  that 


the  Messiah  would  descend  from  his  race,  pre- 
served the  royal  power  in  his  family,  gave  him 
the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  inspired  him  with 
those  divine  canticles  which  shall  ever  form 
the  instruction  and  consolation  of  the  Church. 
It  does  not  appear  that  the  Israelites  fell  into 
idolatry  during  the  reigns  of  Saul  or  David. 


SECTION    XVII.— ON    SOLOMON    AND   THE    TEMPLE  OF   JERUSALEM. 


Q.  How  did  Solomon  live  ? 

A.  Having  begged  wisdom  of  God,  his  request 
was  granted.  God  made  him  the  wisest,  the 
most  opulent,  the  most  powerful,  and  the  most 
admired  of  men  and  kings ;  but  he  became 
puffed  up  with  prosperity,  fell  into  impurity, 
and  hence  into  idolatry ;  3  Kings ;  Eccl.  xlvii. 
14.  We  know  not  well  whether  he  was  con- 
verted before  death.  There  are  reasons  for  and 
against  his  conversion. 

Q.  What  was  the  most  remarkable  action  of 
Solomon's  life  ? 

A.  The  erection  of  the  temple,  the  most 
superb  edifice  ever  known,  and  the  first  ever 
consecrated  to  the  honor  of  God.  The  stones 
of  which  it  was  built  were  all  hewn  and  dressed 
outside  of  Jerusalem,  no  sound  of  hammer  was 
heard  in  the  city,  all  were  carried  in,  polished 
and  ready  for  their  place ;  and  when  the  temple 
was  finished,  it  was  dedicated  to  God  amidst 
the  most  pompous  ceremonies;  3  Kings  v.  17; 
vi.  7,  14 ;  viii.  13. 

Q.  Upon  what  model  was  the  temple  built  ? 

A.  Upon  the  model  of  the  tabernacle  of 
Moses ;  hence  it  had  a  sanctuary  which  con- 
tained the  ark  of  the  covenant — a  hol}^  place 
which  contained  the  altar  of  incense — a  vesti- 
bule for  the  priests — an  altar  of  holocausts,  of 
unpolished  stone,  placed  without  the  range  of 
the  sanctuary  and  vestibule ;  and  finally,  it  had 
vast  galleries  for  the  people. 

Q.  Was  Solomon  a  figure  of  any  one  ? 

A.  Yes;  Solomon  in  his  glory  was  an  imper- 
fect figure  of  Jesus  Christ.     Much    is  said  of 


Solomon  in  the  Scripture  which  can  in  reality 
apply  only  to  Christ,  and  Solomon's  temple  was 
figurative  of  the  grand  spiritual  edifice  which 
Christ  came  to  construct  for  heaven.  We  are 
the  spiritual  stones  of  that  edifice ;  our  sins 
require  the  chisel  and  knife  of  the  architect 
before  we  can  enter  into  the  building.  The 
sound  of  the  hammer  was  not  heard  in  Jeru- 
salem ;  all  the  stones  were  polished  without ; 
so  must  we  be  spiritually  polished  ere  we  enter 
the  heavenly  temple,  for  there,  says  St.  John, 
there  are  neither  tears,  nor  sorrows,  nor 
groans;  Apoc.  xxi.  4.  Before  we  can  take 
our  place  in  the  building,  we  must  be  puri- 
fied and  receive  our  spiritual  form  by  the 
sacraments,  afflictions,  mortifications,  and  pen- 
ance. Those  who  are  not  purified  in  this 
manner  will  be  rejected  by  the  heavenly 
Architect;  and  those  who  are  will  take  their 
place  according  to  order  and  rank  in  the  build- 
ing. They  will  be  perfectly  cemented  and 
•joined  together  by  charity,  which  com- 
mences here,  and  will  be  perfected  in  heaven, 
where  is  the  true  sanctuary  of  God,  prefigured 
by  the  ark  of  the  covenant.  The  veil  which, 
in  the  temple  of  Solomon,  separated  the  sanctu- 
ary from  the  holy  place,  indicated,  according  to 
St.  Paul,  that  heaven  should  be  shut  to  man, 
until  opened  by  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
that  then,  and  not  till  then,  should  the  veil  of 
separation  be  rent  in  twain.  The  golden  altar 
of  incense  was  figurative  of  Christ  in  heaven, 
where  he  receives  continually  the  sacrifice  of  the 
incense  of  the  prayers  and  praises  of  the  Saints. 


486 


THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION   DEFINED. 


The  altar  of  unpolished  stoue,  upon  which 
victims  were  oflFered  without  the  sanctuary, 
represented  Jesus  Christ  in  his  mortal  flesh 
offering  himself  to  his  Father  on  the  altar  of 
the  Cross,  the  first  stone  of  that  holy  temple ; 
he  received  no  polish,  because  he  was  without 
sin  ;  and  thus  is  Jesus  at  once  the  divine  architect, 
the  altar,  the  priest,  the  sacrifice,  and  the  corner 
stone  of  that  temple  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem 
which  will  subsist  for  eternity ;  Villalpand, 
de  Templo  Salom. 


Q.  Was  there  only  one  temple  in  Judea  ? 

A.  The  temple  of  Solomon  was  the  only 
one  in  which  God  wished  to  be  adored,  and 
in  this  temple  there  was,  as  we  have  already 
said,  only  one  altar  for  the  offering  of  sac- 
rifice. This  unity  of  temple  and  altar  was  a 
figure  of  the  unity  of  the  Church,  priest- 
hood, and  sacrifice  of  the  new  law ;  see  Villal- 
pand, ibid. 


SECTION   XVIII.— DIVISION   OF   THE   TRIBES   UNDER   JEROBOAM,    AND   STATE   OF   THE   PEOPLE 

OF   GOD   UNDER   THE   KINGS   OF   JUDA   AND   ISRAEL. 


Q.  Who  was  king  of  the  Israelites  after 
Solomon,  and  what  happened  under  his  reign  ? 

A.  Roboam,  the  son  of  Solomon,  was  king ; 
his  kingdom  was  divided  as  a  punishment  for 
the  sins  of  his  father,  as  God  foretold  that 
prince  even  during  his  own  life ;  3  Kings    xi. 

43.  31- 

Q.  How  did  this  division  take  place  ? 

A.  Roboam  irritated  his  people  by  his  impru- 
dence ;  and  b}''  the  permission  of  God,  ten 
tribes  revolted  against  him,  and  recognized 
Jeroboam  as  king.  Only  the  tribes  of  Juda 
and  Benjamin  remained  faithful  to  Roboam, 
and  thus  were  two  kingdoms  formed  ;  3  Kings 
xii.  13,  14,  etc.  Roboam  wished  to  make  war 
upon  Jeroboam,  but  God  forbade  him.  This 
peace,  however,  endured  only  three  years,  after 
which  continual  war  existed  between  these  two 
princes ;  3  Kings  xii.  2 1 ;  xiv.  30.  The  king- 
dom of  Roboam  was  called  the  kingdom  of 
Juda,  that  of  Jeroboam  the  kingdom  of  Ephraim, 
or  Israel;  3  Kings  xv.   17;  Isai.  vii.  17. 

Q.  What  were  the  capital  cities  of  these 
kingdoms  ? 

A.  Jerusalem  was  always  the  capital  of  Juda, 
and  Samaria  became  the  capital  of  Israel ;  Isai. 
X.  10. 

Q.  How  did  the  Jews  live  under  Roboam  ? 

A.  That  prince  was  faithful  to   God   during 


three  years  of  his  reign,  and  the  people  imitated 
his  example ;  but  after  that,  he  and  his  people 
fell  into  impiety,  and  to  punish  them,  God  sub- 
jected them  for  a  time  to  the  Egyptians ;  3 
Kings  xiv.  22  ;  2  Paral.  xi.  17  ;  xii.  i,  2,  3,  etc. 

Q.  How  did  Jeroboam  live  ? 

A.  He  was  a  wicked  and  impious  man.  He 
dreaded  the  return  of  his  subjects  to  the  rule  of 
Roboam ;  and  hence,  that  they  might  have  no 
commerce  with  the  Jews  under  Roboam  at  the 
temple  in  Jerusalem,  he  made  two  golden  calves, 
and  induced  his  subjects  to  adore  them,  that  he 
might  keep  up  a  separation,  and  render  their 
differences  more  irreconcilable ;  3  Kings  xii.  26. 
Unfortunately,  the  Jews  under  him  imitated  his 
example,  and  the  majority  of  them  became 
impious  ;  3  Kings  xii.  30  ;  2  Paralip.  xi.  16  ;  Tob. 
i.  5,  6. 

Q.  What  did  this  division  in  religion  pre- 
figure ? 

A.  The  heresies  and  schisms  that  were  after- 
wards to  spring  up  amongst  the  children  of  the 
Christian  Church  ;  and  as  some  of  these  heresies 
have  lasted  for  a  long  time,  so  did  the  mutual 
aversion  and  disunion,  which  existed  between  the 
Jews  and  the  Samaritans,  continue  down  to  the 
time  of  Christ ;  John  iv.  9,  20. 

Q.   What  was  the  number  of  the  kings  of  Juda  ? 

A.  Twenty  :   Roboam,  Abias,   Asa,  Josaphat, 


THE  CATHOLIC  REI.IGION   DEFINED. 


487 


Jorara,  Ochosias,  Athalia,  (a  queen,)  Joas, 
Amasias,  Osias,  Joathan,  Achaz,  Ezecliias, 
Manasses,  Anion,  Joas,  Joachas,  Joachim, 
Jechonias,  Sedecias ;  see  3  and  4  Kings,  and  2 
Paralip. 

Q.  How  many  were  the  kings  of  Israel  ? 

A.  Nineteen :  Jeroboam,  Nadab,  Basa,  Ela, 
Zambri,(a  usurper,)  Amri,  Achab,  Ochosias, 
Joram,  Jehu,  Joachas,  Joas,  Jeroboam  II., 
Zacharias,  Sellum,  Manahem,  Phacee  son  of 
Manahem,  Phacee  son  of  Romelia,  and  Osee  ; 
Ibid. 

Q.  How  did  the  kings  of  Juda  live? 

A.  Ezechias  and  Joas  were  holy  kings,  and 
Josaphat  had  much  piety  ;  many  of  the  others 
were  guilty  of  great  crimes,  and  Manasses  was 
converted,  and  died  a  holy  death.    The  kings  of 


Israel  all  lived  in  impiety.  They  adored  the 
golden  calf  of  Jeroboam,  and  fomented  schism 
and  idolatry  amongst  their  tribes. 

Q.  How  did  the  Jews  themselves  live  during 
these  times  ? 

A.  They  followed  the  example  of  their  kings  ; 
but  God  reserved  a  few  faithful  children  in  both 
kingdoms,  who  remained  inviolably  attached  to 
his  law,  notwithstanding  the  crimes  of  their 
rulers;  3  Kings  xix.  18;  Rom.  xi.  4.  God 
preserved  religion  amongst  the  people  of  Juda, 
through  his  priests  and  his  prophets,  who  were 
the  depositaries  of  his  truth;  and  even  the 
people  of  Israel  had,  as  guardians  of  their 
worship  and  true  religion,  the  two  great  pro- 
phets Elias  and  Eliseus;  see  3  and  4  Kings; 
St.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xvii.  c.  22. 


SECTION   XIX.— ON    THE   PROPHETS   AND   THEIR  PROPHECIES. 


Q.  Who  were  the  prophets  ? 

A.  Holy  men,  raised  by  God  for  the  salva- 
tion of  his  people;  men  who,  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Lord,  spoke  with  power,  knew 
secret  things,  foretold  the  future,  and  often 
wrought  great  miracles.  The  most  celebrated 
of  these,  under  the  kings,  were  Elias,  Eliseus, 
and  Isaiah. 

Q.  What  were  the  most  remarkable  actions  of 
Elias  ? 

A.  He  prevented  rain  for  three  years ;  he 
did  this  to  detach  the  Israelites  from  the  idol- 
atry of  Baal.  He  exterminated  four  hundred 
and  fifty  priests  of  that  false  divinity;  he  was 
fed  by  a  raven  and  by  an  angel :  he  raised  to 
life  the  son  of  a  widow ;  he  foretold  that 
Jesabel,  an  idolatrous  queen,  would  be  de- 
voured by  dogs ;  he  confronted  kings ;  he  made 
fire  descend  from  heaven ;  he  divided  the  river 
Jordan  with  his  mantle,  and  passed  on  dry 
land;  he  was  carried  in  a  chariot  of  fire  to 
heaven;  and  he  will  return  to  the  earth  at  the 
rnd  of   the  world,  to  labor   for  the  conversion 


of  the  Jews ;  3  Kings  xvii.  etc. ;  4  Kings  i. 
etc. ;  Eccles.  xlviii. ;  Mai.  iv.  5  ;  Matt.  xi.  14 ; 
xvii.  10;  James  v.   17. 

Q.  What  were  the    most    remarkable  of  the 
actions  of  Eliseus  ? 

A.  Like  Elias,  he  made  a  dry  path  through 
the  waters  of  the  Jordan ;  he  healed  the  waters 
of  Jericho ;  bears  came  and  devoured  forty-two 
children,  who  were  making  him  an  object  of 
raillery ,  he  foretold  the  victory  of  the  kings 
of  Juda,  Israel,  and  Idumea,  over  the  Moabites  ; 
he  multiplied  oil  for  a  widow ;  he  foretold 
that  a  rich  woman  of  Sunam  should  bear  a 
son,  and  it  happened  according  to  his  word; 
that  child  died,  and  he  raised  him  to  life 
again ;  he  cured  Naaman  of  leprosy,  and 
punished  his  own  servant  Giezi  with  that 
disease,  for  taking  presents  from  Naaman  for 
the  cure ;  he  made  an  iron  axe  swim  upon 
water ;  he  discovered  to  the  king  of  Israel  what  ^ 
passed  in  the  secret  councils  of  the  king  of 
Syria ;  he  foretold  the  miraculous  victories  of 
the  Israelites  over  the  Syrians ;  and,  lastly,  by 


488 


THE   CATHOLIC  RELIGION   DEFINED. 


the  touch  of  his  body,  he  raised  a  dead  man 
to  life;  4  Kings  xvii.  etc.;  Eccles.  xlviii.  13; 
Luke  iv.  27. 

Q.  What  was  there  extraordinary  in  the 
actions  of  Isaiah  ? 

A.  He  wrote  a  book,  which  contains,  on 
Jesus  Christ,  and  his  Church,  prophecies  so 
clear  and  numerous,  that  we  might  consider 
him  rather  as  an  evangelist  than  a  prophet ; 
St.  Jerome,  lit.  117;  St.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib. 
xviii.  c.  29. 

Q.  What  sort  of  lives  did  the  prophets  lead  ? 

A.  Very  holy  lives,  generally  retired  from 
the  world,  in  povert}'^  and  hardship.  They  left 
their  retreats  only  by  the  order  of  God,  and 
to  perform  the  duties  of  their  ministry ;  they 
showed  no  complaisance  to  kings  or  princes;  they 
denounced  all  evil-doers,  regardless  of  their  smiles 
or  frowns ;  they  sought  only  God  and  truth ; 
Luke  i.  70;  xi.  47;  Heb.  xi.  2-33;  St.  Peter  i. 
21;  iii.  2;  see  examples,  i  Kings  xv.  17;  2  Kings 
xii.  7;  xxiv.  13;  I  Paral.  xxi.  11;  3  Kings 
xiv.  7;  etc.  Good  kings  honored  the  prophets, 
as  men  of  God;  the  wicked  persecuted  them, 
and  sometimes  put  them  to  death,  as  the 
bearers  of  evil  news,  and  promoters  of  trouble 
and  consternation  amongst  their  people ;  3 
Kings  xiii.  4,  6,  21;  2  Paral.  xvi.  10;  3  Kings 
xviii.  13;  xix.,  xxii.  8;  4  Kings  vi.  31;  Matt, 
xxiii.  35,  etc.  These  wicked  kings  persecuted 
the  men  of  God,  because  the  latter,  with  a 
holy  liberty,  opposed  their  passions,  and 
reproached  them  with  their  crimes.  False 
prophets  also  flattered  the  passions  of  these 
corrupt  rulers,  and  made  them  suspicious  of 
the  true  prophets  of  God.  Wicked  princes 
love  falsehood  more  than  truth,  and  persecute 
not  those  who  flatter  them  to  their  ruin,  but 
those  who  wish  to  save  them;  3  Kings  xxii. 
22;  Jerem.  xiv.  13;  xxiii.  i;  xxvii.  15;  xxix. 
8;   Lament,  ii.  14;    etc. 

Q.  What  did  the  prophets  foretell  ? 

A.  The3'  foretold  what  should  happen  to  the 
Jews;  and,  in  connection  with  them,  what 
should  happen  to  other  nations;  but  they 
especiall}'  foretold  the  Messiah,  whom  the  Jews 


expected,  and  by  whom  all  nations  were  to  be 
saved.  As  regards  the  Jews,  the  prophets 
foretold  the  general  ruin  of  the  kingdom 
of  Israel — that  the  city  and  temple  would  be 
destroyed,  and  restored  for  a  time ;  that  the 
Jews  would  be  captive  in  Babylon,  and  that 
they  would  again  return;  that  they  would 
reject  the  Messiah,  and  put  him  to  death;  that 
God  would  abandon  them,  and  disperse  them 
over  the  whole  earth;  that  he  would  make 
with  another  people  an  eternal  covenant;  and 
that  the  Jews  would  be  converted  at  the  end 
of  the  world.  The  prophets  also  foretold  the 
conversion  of  all  the  other  nations  of  the  earth, 
and  that  God  would  be  known  and  adored  by 
all  peoples  and  all  tongues. 

Q.  What  did  the  prophets  foretell  regarding 
Christ  ? 

A.  The  precise  time  of  his  coming;  his 
preaching;  all  the  circumstances  of  his  life; 
his  passion ;  his  death  and  resurrection  ;  and  all 
that  should,  in  consequence  of  these,  take  place 
in  the  world.  They  also  foretold  the  general 
judgment  and  the  eternal  separation,  by  the 
just  Judge,  of  the  just  from  the  wicked. 

Q.  Why  did  God  wish  the  prophets  to  foretell 
portions  of  Jewish  history,  as  well  as  what  re- 
garded the  religion  to  be  at  a  future  time  estab- 
lished ? 

A.  That  the  Jews,  seeing,  in  their  own 
immediate  history,  these  prophecies  verified  by 
the  event,  might  find  in  them  a  proof  of  the 
prophecies  which  regarded  the  Messiah  and  his 
religion.  In  the  same  way,  as  we  find  in  the 
prophecies  of  Christ,  his  prophets,  and  Apostles, 
regarding  the  conversion  of  the  gentiles,  the 
destruction  of  the  temple,  and  the  dispersion  of 
the  Jews,  which  have  been  all  really  verified,  the 
strongest  proof  that  what  has  been  foretold,  as  to 
the  ultimate  reconversion  of  the  Jews,  the  perse- 
cution of  antichrist,  the  resurrection  of  our 
bodies,  and  the  second  coming  of  Christ,  will  be 
all  verified  by  the  events ;  St.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei, 
lib.  vii.  c.  32.  Scripta  lege^  impleta  cerne^  im- 
plenda  collige. 


THE   CATHOIvIC  RELIGION    DEFINED. 


489 


SECTION   XX.— DISPERSION   OF   THE   TEN   TRIBES— BABYLONISH   CAPTIVITY- 
RE-ESTABLISHMENT   OF   THE   JEWS. 


-RETURN   AND 


Q.  How  long  did  the  govemmeut  of  kings 
subsist  in  Judea  ? 

A.  Saul,  David  and  Solomon  reigned  succes- 
sively during  100  years  ;  the  kings  of 
Israel  reigned  255  years  ;  and  those  of  Juda 
387  years  ;  hence  Juda  was  under  kings  during 
487  years.  The  idolatrous  and  schismatical 
people  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  provoked  God, 
who  showered  down  his  wrath  upon  them,  and 
destroyed  their  kingdom.  The  ten  tribes  were 
led  captive  by  the  Assyrians,  scattered  over  all 
the  north  of  Asia,  and  never  again  united  as  a 
body.  The  people  of  Juda  became  more  and 
more  wicked,  and  the  king  of  Babylon,  according 
to  the  predictions  of  the  prophets,  made  himself 
master  of  Judea,  took  and  burnt  Jerusalem, 
levelled  its  walls,  razed  the  temple  to  its  founda- 
tion, and  led  off  the  Jews  with  their  king,  Jec- 
honias,  captives  to  Babylon;  4  Kings  xv.  17;  4 
Kings  sub  fine m  ;  Jer.  liii.  3,  10. 

Q.  How  long  did  this  captivity  last  ? 

A.  Seventy  years  ;  as  was  foretold  by  Jeremias  ; 
2  Paral.  xxxvi.  21 ;  Jer.  xxv.  12  ;  Dan.  ix.  2. 
During  this  captivity,  the  Jews  served  God  under 
the  spiritual  guidance  of  the  prophets,  Ezechiel, 
Daniel  and  others,  whom  God  raised  to  support 
and  direct  them.  Cyrus,  king  of  Persia,  having 
become  master  of  the  East,  permitted  the  Jews 
to  return  to  rebuild  their  city  and  temple ;  he 
restored  to  them  their  sacred  vases,  and  gave 
them  many  presents  ;  2  Paral.  xxxvi.  22  ;  Esdras 
i.  I.  Cyrus  acted  in  this  manner,  because  it 
was  made  clear  to  him,  that  Isaias,  who  lived  two 
hundred  years  before  him,  had  by  name  foretold 
that  he  would  reign  over  the  East,  and  that  the 
city  and  temple  would  be  rebuilt  by  his  order;  Isa. 
xliv.  28  ;  xlv.  I ;  Joseph.  Hist,  of  the  Jews,  lib. 
xi.  c.  I,  n.  436. 

Q.  Under  whose  guidance,  and  in  what  num- 
bers, did  the  Jews  return  ? 

A.  Their  numbers  were  42,360 ;  they  were 
guided  by  Jesus  the  son  of  Josedec,  the  high 
priest,    and  Zorobabel,    son   of  Salathiel,  chief 


of  the  tribe  of  Juda ;  i  Esd.  ii.  2,  64,  65. 
Besides  the  tribes  of  Juda  and  Benjamin,  some 
belonging  to  the  other  ten  tribes  may  have 
returned ;  but  the  latter  lost  their  distinction 
as  a  nation,  and  from  this  time  all  were  called 
Jews ;  Esd.    iv.  4 ;  Luke    ii.  36 ;  Acts    xxvi.  7. 

Q.  Were  the  city  and  temple  rebuilt  ? 

A.  After  much  opposition  from  the  Samari- 
tans, and  an  interruption  of  sixty  j'ears,  they 
were  at  length,  after  seventy  years  from  the 
date  of  the  first  edict  of  Cyrus,  allowed  to 
rebuild  the  walls,  under  the  direction  of 
Nehemias  ;  and  even  here  they  had  much  to 
contend  with  ;  they  were  compelled  to  have  one 
hand  on  the  sword,  whilst  the  other  was 
employed  on  the  wall;  i  Esd.  iv.  4,  21;  v.  3 ; 
vi.   12;  2  Esd.  ii.   19;  iv.  i;  Dan.  x.  ii. 

Q.  Was  the  second  temple  as  magnificent 
as  the  first  ? 

A.  Its  external  magnificence  was  much 
inferior;  still,  it  surpassed  in  greatness  that  of 
Solomon,  for  it  was  sanctified  by  the  corporal 
presence  of  the  Messiah. 

Q.  Of  whom  were  Jesus  and  Zorobabel  a 
figure  ? 

A.  Of  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  both  priest  and 
king,  and  who  delivers  us  from  the  bondage  of 
the  devil ;  as  Jesus  the  high  priest,  and 
Zorobabel  the  chief  of  the  Jews,  delivered  them 
from  the  bondage  of  Babylon ;  St.  Aug.  cont. 
Faust,  c.  36. 

Q.  What  was  represented  by  the  opposition 
the  Jews  met  with  in  rebuilding  the  city  and 
the  temple  ? 

A.  The  persecutions  suffered  by  the  disciples 
of  Christ,  and  especially  those  which  will  be 
raised  before  the  last  day,  to  prevent  the 
children  of  God  from  taking  possession  of  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem,  where  the  living  and 
eternal  temple  of  God  is  to  be  consecrated. 

Q.  What  did  the  second  temple,  built  after 
the  return  of  the  Jews  from  captivity,  repre- 
sent ? 


49° 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


A.  It  was  a  figure  of  the  Christian  Church 
and  the  New  Testament,  the  glory  of  which, 
being  principally  spiritual  and  interior,  infinitely 
surpassed  the  glory  of  that  of  Solomon, 
which  was  all  material  and  exterior ;  St.  Aug. 
Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xviii.  c.  48.  The  Jews,  with  one 
hand  on  the  work  of  the  temple,  and  the  other 


upon  the  sword,  were  a  figure  of  the  Christian 
laboring  to  build  up  the  heavenly  edifice  on 
Christ  as  his  foundation,  and  combating  at  the 
same  time,  with  his  spiritual  sword,  the  devil, 
who  labors  to  turn  him  from  this  heavenly 
duty. 


SECTION  XXI.— STATE  OF   THE   JEWS,    FROM  THE   BABYLONISH  CAPTIVITY   TILL   THEIR 

TOTAL   RUIN    BY  THE   ROMANS. 


Q,  By  whom  were  the  Jews  governed,  after 
their  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity  ? 

A.  They  were  governed  by  the  Persians ;  and 
afterwards,  by  Alexander  the  Great,  who  made 
himself  master  of  the  East,  after  having  con- 
quered Darius,  the  last  king  of  the  Persians. 
On  the  death  of  Alexander,  his  empire  was  di- 
vided :  Ptolemy  became  king  of  Egypt ;  Seleu- 
cus  reigned  in  Babylon  and  Sj'ria.  Ptolemy 
made  himself  master  of  Judea,  and  led  many 
Jews  captive  to  Egypt.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  who  treated  the  Jews 
well,  and  permitted  all  who  wished  to  return 
to  their  own  country.  It  was  during  the  reign 
of  Philadelphus,  according  to  the  common  opin- 
ion, that  the  Holy  Books  were  translated  into 
Greek,  by  seventy-two  Jewish  interpreters.  The 
successors  of  the  latter  were  Ptolemy  Evergetes, 
Ptolemy  Philopater,  and  Ptolemy  Epiphanes. 
Under  the  two  latter  the  Jews  were  much  per- 
secuted, that  they  might  be  forced  to  change 
their  religion.  Antiochus,  king  of  Syria,  united 
his  forces  with  those  of  Philip,  king  of  Macedon, 
to  dethrone  Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  king  of  Egypt ; 
and  diiring  these  struggles,  Judea  was  unceas- 
ingly harassed.  Antiochus  was  succeeded  by 
Seleucus  Philopater,  who,  touched  with  the  piety 
of  the  high  priest,  Onias,  furnished  him  with 
the  expenses  of  the  sacrifices.  To  the  latter 
succeeded  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  who  was  cele- 
brated for  his  impieties.  He  banished  Onias, 
the  high  priest,  and  sacrilegiously  transferred 
the  office  of  sovereign  sacrificer  to  any  one  he 


pleased.  He  pillaged  the  temple  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  forced  the  Jews  to  change  their  re- 
ligion. He  put  to  death  for  his  religion  the 
holy  man  Eleazar;  he  afflicted  with  dreadful 
sufferings  the  seven  Machabees  and  their 
mother;  he  butchered  all  that  were  assembled 
on  a  Sabbath  for  sacrifice ;  and  died  in  the 
end  a  miserable  death,  by  a  just  judgment  of 
God. 

During  this  persecution  Mathathias  withdrew 
to  the  desert,  and  lived  upon  herbs  rather 
than  feast  on  forbidden  meats.  In  the  end, 
however,  he  took  up  arms,  along  with  his  son, 
the  celebrated  Judas  Machabeus,  for  the  defence 
of  his  country  and  his  religion.  This  revolt 
was  not  a  rebellion  against  the  lawful  ruler, 
for  God  ordered  it ;  he  declared  himself,  by 
miracles,  for  the  Machabees,  and  in  quality  of 
Sovereign  Ruler,  positively  ordered  Judas 
Machabeus  to  take  up  arms ;  i  Machab.  ii.  26, 
27;  2  Machab.  x.  29,  30;  xv.  12,  15,  16.  Be- 
sides, Antiochus  was  a  usurper ;  the  kingdom 
properly  belonged  to  Demetrius,  son  of  king 
Seleucus ;  i  Machab.  vii.  4.  The  Machabees, 
therefore,  had  a  right  to  deliver  themselves 
from  the  tyranny  of  a  usurper ;  as  the  Israel- 
ites were  justified  in  shaking  off,  under  Gideon 
and  the  other  judges,  the  yoke  of  the  Madian- 
ites.  Ammonites,  and  Philistines,  etc.;  see  Judges, 
especially  i  Machab.  xv.  33,  34. 

Q.  Of  what  tribe  and  race  was  Mathathias? 

A.  Of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  the  race  of  Aaron, 
for  Judas,  his  son,  was  sacrificed  in  the  temple ; 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


491 


and  Jonathan,  another  son,  became  high  priest — 
offices  which  belonged  to  the  descendants 
of  Aaron  only  ;  i  Mach.  iv.  42  ;  x.  20 ;  2  Mach, 
X.  I,  3,  26,  etc.  Judas  Machabeus  gained  victories 
over  Antiochus,  the  other  kings  of  Syria,  and 
the  neighboring  nations ;  he  took  Jerusalem, 
purified  the  temple,  dedicated  it,  and  established 
a  perpetual  feast  in  honor  of  its  dedication — 
a  feast  which  was  celebrated  by  Jesus  Christ ; 
John  X.  22.  He  trusted  in  God,  was  most  in- 
trepid, and  by  his  victories  became  celebrated 
every  where.  In  fine  he  was  killed  in  an  un 
equal  contest,  having  only  eight  hundred  men 
against  a  large  and  formidable  army  ;  but,  even 
here,  he  gave  astonishing  proofs  of  his  faith 
and  his  valor. 

Q.  Who  were  the  successors  of  Judas  Ma- 
chabeus in  the  government  of  the  Jewish  army 
and  people  ? 

A.  Jonathan  succeeded  him  and  became  both 
temporal  and  spiritual  ruler ;  i  Mach.  x.  20, 
65.  To  him  Simon,  his  brother,  succeeded ;  he 
was  the  first,  since  the  Babylonish  captivity, 
who  ruled  Judea  in  peace :  he  was  treasonably 
killed  at  a  feast,  and  left  his  double  authority 
to  his  son  John,  surnamed  Hircanus ;  i  Mach. 
xiii.  3;  xiv.  4;  XV.  6,  21  ;  xvi.  2,  etc. ;  21,  etc. 
Judas,  surnamed  Aristobulus,  next  succeeded, 
and  was  the  first  after  the  Babylonish  captivity 
who  took  the  title  of  King  of  the  Jews.  To 
the  latter  succeeded  Alexander  Janneus,  who 
had,  by  his  wife  Alexandra,  two  sons,  Hircanus 
and  Aristobulus.  Alexandra  reigned  as  queen 
after  the  death  of  her  husband,  and  committed 
to  Hircanus  both  the  high  priesthood  and  the 
crown  ;  but  Aristobulus  made  war  at  his  mother's 
death  upon  his  brother,  and  stripped  him  of 
his  crown. 

During  the  reign  of  Aristobulus,  the  Roman 
army,  under  the  command  of  Pompey  the 
Great,  made  Judea  tributary  ;  Pompey  restored 
Hircanus,  but  without  the  title  of  king,  and 
led  Aristobulus  to  Rome,  to  grace  his  triumph. 
After  this  Pacorus,  king  of  the  Parthians, 
deposed  Hircanus,  and  set  up  in  his  place 
Antigonus,  son  of  Aristobulus.     Soon  after  this, 


Herod,  an  Idumean  by  birth,  obtained  from  the 
Romans  leave  to  take  the  title  of  King  of  the 
Jews  ;  he  overcame  Antigonus,  and  ruled  Judea 
in  peace.  It  was  toward  the  end  of  this  king's 
reign  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  men, 
appeared  in  the  world.  After  the  death  of 
Herod,  which  took  place  a  little  after  the  birth 
of  Christ,  his  states  were  divided  amongst  his 
children,  by  Augustus  the  Roman  Emperor. 
One-half  was  given  to  Archelaus,  and  the  rest 
divided  into  two  tetrarchates,  and  given  to  Herod 
Antipas  and  Philip.  About  nine  years  after, 
Augustus  banished  Archelaus  to  Gaul,  where 
he  died ;  and  his  states  were  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  a  Roman  province.  When  Christ 
commenced  his  public  ministry,  the  Holy  Land 
was  divided  into  four  portions  :  Judea  proper, 
which  had  been  under  Archelaus,  but  now  gov- 
erned by  Pilate,  for  the  Romans,  contained 
Idumea  and  Samaria ;  Galilee,  which  was  under 
the  tetrarch  Herod  Antipas,  who  is  mentioned 
in  the  history  of  the  passion  of  Christ ;  Iturea 
and  Trachonitis,  of  which  Philip,  the  brother  of 
Antipas,  was  tetrarch  ;  and  lastly,  Abilina, 
which  was  the  tetrarchate  of  Lysanias.  This 
latter  country  belonged  rather  to  Syria  than  to 
Judea;  Luke  iii.  i,  2.  Thus,  at  this  time, 
were  the  Romans  masters  of  Jerusalem,  and 
half  of  the  Holy  Land.  Indeed,  they  might 
be  said  to  have  been  masters  of  it  all,  as  they 
treated  the  above  rulers  nearly  as  subjects, 
though  they  were  permitted  to  be  addressed  as 
kings;  Mark  vi.  14,  etc. 

Besides  the  three  sons  above  mentioned, 
Herod  the  Great  had  three  others,  Antipater, 
Alexander,  and  Aristobulus,  all  of  whom  he 
put  to  death.  Agrippa,  the  eldest  son  of  the 
latter,  was  cast  into  prison  by  Tiberius,  but 
liberated  afterwards  by  Caligula,  from  whom 
he  received  the  dominions  of  his  grandfather. 
Antipas  having  heard  what  Caligula  was  doing 
for  Agrippa,  set  out  for  Rome,  that  he  might 
obtain  the  title  of  king;  but  he  was  banished 
by  the  Emperor  to  Lyons,  from  which  he  fled 
to  Spain,  where  he  perished  miserably  with  his 
wife  Herodias,  who  had   been  the  cause  of  the 


492 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


murder  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  Agrippa  was 
confirmed  king  by  the  Emperor  Claudius,  the 
successor  of  Caligula,  who  even  increased  his 
territories.  This  was  the  Herod  Agrippa  who 
put  St.  James  the  Greater  to  death ;  who  cast 
St.  Peter  into  prison ;  and  who,  struck  by  an 
angel,  died  at  Caesarea,  devoured  by  worms,  as 
we  have  in  Acts  xii.  23.  Agrippa  the  Younger 
succeeded  his  father,  as  king;  but  his  royalty 
was  only  a  shadow — the  Roman  governors 
were  in  reality  the  kings  of  Judea.  It  was 
before  this  Agrippa  that  St.  Paul  pronounced 
the  discourse  which    we  find    reported  in  Acts 


xxvi. 


The  Jews  wished  at  length,  sixty-six  years 
after  the  death  of  Christ,  and  in  the  seven- 
teenth year  of  the  reign  of  Agrippa,  to  shake 
off  the  yoke  of  the  Romans.  They  sustained 
a  cruel  war,  which  lasted  four  years ;  at  the 
end  of  which,  Jerusalem  was  taken  and  ruined, 
the  temple  destroyed,  and  the  Jews  themselves 
banished  from  their  country,  and  dispersed 
over  the  whole  earth.  Of  this  sad  fate — 
the  destruction  of  a  people — we  shall  after- 
wards see  the  cause.  Meantime  we  have  shown 
how.  and  by  whom,  the  Jewish  nation  was 
governed,  from  the  Babylonish  captivity  down 
to  the  period  of  its  utter  ruin. 


SECTION    XXII.— THE  MORALITY    AND   RELIGION   OF  THE   JEWS,   FROM  THE  BABYLONISH 

CAPTIVITY  TILL  THE  COMING   OF  THE  MESSIAH. 


Q.  Had  the  Jews  any  prophets,  after  the 
Babylonish  captivity,  as  they  had  before  ? 

A.  Malachy,  who  prophesied  about  the  time 
the  second  temple  was  finished,  was  the  last 
of  the  prophets.  Until  the  time  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  no  other  appeared ;  Ps.  Ixxiii.  9 ;  Ma- 
chab.  iv.  46;  ix.  27;  xiv.  41.  So  that,  during 
450  years,  the  time  between  Malachy  and  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  there  was  no  prophet.  Dur- 
ing all  this  period,  the  Jews  lived  as  wickedly  as 
during  the  time  of  the  prophets.  Still  there 
were  some  holy  personages  amongst  them ;  such 
were  Onias,  the  sovereign  pontiff;  Simon  his 
son ;  the  seven  Machabee  martyrs,  with  their 
mother,  Mathathias  ;  the  illustrious  family  of 
the  Machabees ;  with  others,  whose  names  and 
history  may  be  seen  in  the  books  of  the  Macha- 
bees, and  in  Eccles  i.  4,  5,  7,  9. 

Q.  Did  the  Jews  fall  again  into  idolatry,  after 
their  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity  ? 

A.  They  were  forced  into  it,  in  g^eat  num- 
*bers,  by  the  persecutions  they  suffered  under 
the  Ptolemies — kings  of  Egypt — and  under  the 
impious  Antiochus,  king  of  Syria ;  but  we  do 
not  find  that  they  fell  voluntarily  into  that 
dreadful  crime.     St.  Jerome,  and  many  other  in- 


terpreters, say  that  the  persecution  they  suffered 
under  Antiochus  was  a  figure  of  the  persecutions 
the  Christian  Church  must  endure,  before  the 
end  of  the  world,  from  antichrist ;  St.  Jerom.  on 
vii.,  vaii.,  xi.,  xii.  of  Daniel. 

Q.  What  was  the  state  of  religion  amongst  the 
Jews,  during  the  above  period,  when  they  had 
no  prophets  ? 

A.  After  the  death  of  Judas  Machabeus  and 
his  brethren,  various  sects  appeared.  The  Phari- 
sees added  to  the  law  of  God  a  great  number  of 
human  interpretations,  of  which  some  were  indif- 
ferent, some  superstitious,  and  some  directly 
opposed  to  that  holy  law.  The  most  celebrated 
of  these  sects  were  the  Pharisees,  the  Sadducees, 
and  the  Essenians. 

Q.  What  was  there  peculiar  in  these  sects  ? 

A.  The  Pharisees  were  Jews  who  affected  great 
external  regularity  of  life,  whilst  in  their  hearts 
they  were  very  corrupt,  and  in  many  things 
actually  adulterated  the  sanctity  of  the  law  ;  see 
their  dogmas;  Josephus,  lib.  xiii.  c.  9,  n.  520; 
Matt.  XV.  3  ;  xxiii.;  Luke  xviii.  11,  12  ;  St.  Epiph. 
lib.  i.,  contra  Haeres.  The  Sadducees  were  impi- 
ous libertines,  who  denied  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  the  existence  of  spirits,  the  resurrection  of 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


493 


the  body,  and  the  pains  of  a  future  life.  This  sect 
was  composed  of  the  great  and  the  lich  amongst 
the  Jews  ;  Josephus,  lib.  xiii.  c.  9,  n.  530 ;  Matt. 
xxii.  23  ;  Acts  xxiii.  8.  The  Essenians  lived  in 
common  ;  led  edifying  lives  ;  there  was  nothing 
in  their  faith  or  morals  reprehensible ;  some  did 
not  marry  at  all,  and  others  married,  but  under 
very  strict  regulations  ;  and  all  were  very  much 
detached  from  voluptuousness;  Josephus,  ibid.; 
Euseb.  de  Prepar.  Evang.  lib.  viii.  c.  11,  12. 
Some  think  that  what  Josephus  has  written  of 
the  Essenians  is  to  be  understood  only  of  the 
Jews  who  were  converted  by  the  Apostles,  whom 
we  find  mentioned  in  Acts  ii. 

Q.  Were  there  any  other  sects  amongst  the 
Jews? 

A.  Yes  ;  the  Samaritans,  the  Hemero-baptists, 
and  the  Herodians.  The  Samaritans  were  schis- 
matical  Jews  ;  they  had  a  separate  temple  and 
altar,  and  priests  who  did  not  recognize  the 
authority  of  the  high  priest.  They  adored  golden 
calves,  and  introduced  many  pagan  ceremo- 
nies. The  Samaritan  schism  commenced  under 
Jeroboam,  and  lasted  till  the  time  of  Christ ; 
thej?^  recognized  as  Holy  Scripture  only  the  five 
books  of  Moses ;  denied  that  Jerusalem  was  the 
only  place  in  which  God  was  pleased  to  be  wor- 


shiped. In  other  matters  they  agreed  with  the 
rest  of  the  Jews,  who  attributed  to  them  many 
errors  which  they  did  not  teach ;  "  see  i  and  2 
Esdras  ;  Josephus, lib.  xi.,xii.,  xiii.,  Hist.  Judaeor,; 
John  iv.  20. 

Q.  Who  were  the  Hemero-baptists  and  Hero- 
dians ? 

A.  The  Hemero-baptists  were  Jews  who,  as 
their  Greek  name  informs  us,  washed  themselves 
every  day ;  and  in  this  consisted  all  their 
sanctity  ;  they  denied  the  resurrection  of  the 
body ;  and  in  every  other  thing  followed  the 
Pharisees.  The  Herodians  were  so  called, 
because  they  pretended  that  Herod  the  Great  was 
the  Messiah  Some  interpreters  say,  that  the 
Herodians,  mentioned  in  Scripture,  were  of  this 
sect,  whilst  others  maintain  that  these  were  only 
so  called,  because  they  were  oflScers  of  Herod, 
appointed  to  collect  the  tribute  to  be  paid  to  the 
Romans  ;  Matt.  xxii.  16  ;  Mark  xii.  13.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark  here,  that  the  very  fact  of  the 
Herodians  believing  Herod  to  be  the  Messiah, 
proves  clearly  that  the  Jews  were  persuaded  that 
the  time  foretold  for  the  coming  of  the  Messiah 
was  at  hand ;  St.  Jerome,  contra  Lucifer,  page 
625. 


SECTION    XXIll.— ON  THE  STATE  OF  THE  GENTILE    PEOPLE,    FROM   THE   VOCATION   OF 

ABRAHAM  TO  THE  COMING  OF   THE   MESSIAH 


Q.  How  did  the  Gentiles  live,  before  the  Mes- 
siah came  ? 

A.  God  has  never  failed  to  give  to  men  the 
means  of  salvation  ;  but  the  Gentiles,  having 
been  unfaithful  to  his  graces,  he  abandoned  them 
to  their  corruption,  from  the  time  he  chose  Abra- 
ham to  be  the  father  of  the  Jewish  people.  After 
that  period,  and  down  to  the  establishment  of 
the  Christian  Church,  the  Gentiles  lived  in  dis- 
order and  idolatry.  The  picture  St.  Paul  gives 
of  them  is  frightful  :  nor  can  it  be  said  that,  God 
having  abandoned  them,  they  were  excusable,  for 
the  fault  was  theirs  ;  their  crimes  forced  him  to 


deliver  them  over  to  a  reprobate  sense.  They 
still  had,  in  all  nature,  the  means  of  knowing 
him ;  and,  in  their  own  hearts,  incentives  to 
serve  him.  They  were  justly  abandoned,  because 
they  neglected  to  use  the  means  of  salvation 
which  God  had  put  in  their  power;  Acts  xiv.  15, 
16;  Romans  i.  20,  21.  There  were,  however, 
still  even  amongst  these  Gentiles,  some  chosen 
children  of  God,  who  belonged  to  the  society  of 
the  saints ;  St.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xviii.  c.  47. 

Q.  What  were  these  Gentiles  bound  to  de,  in 
order  to  sanctification  ? 

A.  Exactly  what  men  were  bound  to  do  before 


494 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


the  vocation  of  Abraham,  viz.:  to  believe  in  one 
God,  to  adore  him  alone,  to  obey  him,  to  live 
according  to  the  law  of  conscience  and  right  rea- 
son, and  to  believe  and  hope  in  a  future  Messiah ; 
St.  Aug.  Ibid. 

Q.  Do  we  know  any  Gentiles  who  lived  in  the 
above  manner? 

A.  Yes,  Job  and  Melchisedech  were  celebrated 
for  their  piety,  and  were  express  figures  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  Ninevites,  also,  who  did  penance 
at  the  preaching  of  Jonas,  served  the  true  God. 
We  have  reason  to  believe,  that  the  dispersion  of 
the  Jews,  under  the  Assyrians,  with  the  aid  of 
the  holy  books  which  they  carried  with  them, 
had  the  effect  of  leading  many  Gentiles  to  the 
knowledge  of,  and  hope  in,  the  Messiah. 

Q.  Who  was  Job? 

A.  He  was  an  eastern  prince  of  the  land  of 
Hus,  who  believed  in  God,  and  feared  him  ;  his 
virtue  was  subjected  to  every  possible  trial,  yet 
he  remained  a  perfect  model  of  patience,  purity, 
and  fidelity.  God  rewarded  him  by  doubling  his 
possessions,  and  he  died  loaded  with  merit.  He 
was  a  figure  of  Christ,  in  his  innocence,  his  temp- 
tations, his  sufferings,  his  patience,  and  in  the 
glory  with   which    that   patience    was  crowned. 


which  was  a  figure  of  the  resurrection  aud  ascen- 
sion of  Christ. 

Q.  Who  was  Melchisedech  ? 

A.  We  know  neither  his  genealogy,  nor  his 
birth,  nor  his  death  ;  all  we  know  of  him  is,  that 
he  was  priest  of  the  Most  High,  aud  king  of 
Salem  ;  that  when  the  patriarch,  Abraham,  con- 
quered the  five  kings,  Melchisedech  offered  in 
sacrifice  bread  and  wine,  by  way  of  thanksgiving 
to  God  for  that  victory ;  that  he  blessed  Abra- 
ham ;  and  that  the  latter  gave  him  the  tithe  of 
all  he  possessed;  Gen.  xiv.  i8,  etc. ;  Heb.  vii.  i, 
2,  3,  etc.,  17.  Melchisedech  was  a  figure  of 
Christ  in  this,  that  all  that  is  said  of  him  has  a 
distinct  relation  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  priest- 
hood, as  St.  Paul  admirably  shows  in  Heb.  vii., 
and  hence  Christ  is  called  a  high  priest  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  Melchisedech  ;  Ps.  cix.  4. 

Q.  Why  did  God  permit  such  general  corrup- 
tion amongst  the  Gentiles  and  the  Jews  ? 

A.  That  he  might  exercise  his  mercy  towards 
both  ;  that  he  might  confound  the  pride  of  men, 
and  lead  them  to  desire,  and  to  obej'  the  Messiah, 
by  feeling  the  necessity  of  him,  who  alone  could 
cure  their  otherwise  irremediable  evils  ;  Rom.  iii. 
9  ;  viii.  3. 


CHAPTER  V. 
On  the  State  of  Religion  After  the  Coming  of  the   Messiah. 

SECTION   1.— ON     JESUS   CHRIST,      PROOFS   OF   THE  COMING  OF   THE  MESSIAH,  BY  THE  ACCOM- 
PLISHMENT   OF   THE    PROPHECIES   IN  THE  PERSON  OF    CHRIST. 


Q.  Do  we  certainly  know  that  the  Messiah  has 
come,  and  that  the  Jews,  who  still  expect  him, 
are  in  error  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  for  the  time,  marked  out  by  the 
prophets  for  his  coming,  has  already  passed  ;  and 
all  the  prophecies  have  been  accomplished  in  the 
person  of  Christ. 

Q.  What  are  the  prophecies  which  mark  out 
the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  ? 


A.  The  prophecies  of  Jacob,  Daniel,  and  Ag- 
geus,  are  the  most  precise  on  this  point. 

Q.  What  was  the  prophecy  of  Jacob? 

A.  Being  on  the  point  of  death,  he  foretold 
many  things  regarding  each  of  his  children  and 
their  posterity  ;  and  when  he  came  to  Juda  he 
said,  "The  sceptre  shall    not    be    taken 

AWAY  FROM  JUDA,  NOR  A  RULER  FROM  HIS  THIGH, 

TILL  HE  COME  THAT  IS  TO  BE  SENT,  and 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


495 


HE  SHALL  BE  THE  EXPECTATION  OF  NA- 
TIONS ;"  Gen.  xlix.  lo. 

Q.  How  does  this  prove  that  the  Messiah  has 
already  come  ? 

A.  More  than  1800  years  have  elapsed  since 
the  Jews  have  had  either  a  king  or  a  chief,  and 
more  than  1700  years  have  passed  since  they 
were  banished  from  their  native  land,  and  so  dis- 
persed, that  they  have  never  since  been  able  to 
return.  Therefore,  either  the  above  prophecy  is 
false,  or  the  Messiah  is  already  come. 

Q.  Did  the  Messiah  in  reality  come  as  soon  as 
the  Jews  ceased  to  have  a  sovereign  of  their  own 
nation  ? 

A.  Yes ;  for  when  Christ,  whom  we  shall 
prove  to  be  the  Messiah,  came  to  the  world, 
Herod,  who  was  not  a  Jew  by  birth,  but  an  Idu- 
mean,  had  the  title  of  king  of  the  Jews.  The  Ro- 
mans were  so  absolutely  masters  of  Judea,  that 
they  had  governors  there,  and  during  the  life  of 
Christ,  they  took  from  the  Jews  the  power  of  life 
and  death.  Even  the  Jews  themselves  acknowl- 
edged that  they  had  no  king  but  Csesar ;  John 
xix.  15. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  Roman  subjection,  the 
Jews  had  always  retained  their  authority,  either 
"wholly  or  in  part,  and  if  they  lost  it,  it  was  only 
for  a  time ;  their  longest  captivity  was  that  of 
Babylon,  which  lasted  only  seventy  years,  during 
which  they  had  the  power  of  life  and  death,  as 
appears  by  the  history  of  Susanna.  Afterwards, 
when  they  were  tributary  to  the  Medes,  Persians, 
Greeks,  Syrians,  or  the  kings  of  Egypt,  they 
were  governed  by  their  high  priests,  who  had 
almost  absolute  authority,  and  who,  in  course  of 
time,  effected  their  entire  independence,  and  took 
the  title  of  kings.  This  authority  of  the  last  of 
the  really  Jewish  kings,  endured  precisely  until 
the  coming  of  Christ,  in  whom  the  prophecy  of 
Jacob  was  exactly  verified;  see  Euseb.  Demon- 
strat.  Evangel,  lib.  viii.  c.  i. ;  St.  Cyril  Alex, 
contra  Julian,  lib.  viii. 

Q.  What  was  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  as  to  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah  ? 

A.  During  the  time  that  the  Jews  were  captives 
in   Babylon,  God  sent  his  angel  Gabriel  to  the 


prophet  Daniel  to  inform  him,  that  the  city  and 
the  temple  of  Jerusalem  would  be  rebuilt,  and 
that,  reckoning  from  the  term  of  the  edict  for  its 
reconstruction,  seventy  weeks  should  elapse, 
until  the  coming  of  Christ ;  that  in  the  middle 
of  the  seventieth  week  the  Messiah  should  be  put 
to  death ;  that  he  would  be  rejected  by  his  own 
people,  and  consequently  would  cease  to  regard 
them  as  his;  that  the  city  and  temple  of  Jeru- 
salem would,  after  this,  be  entirely  destroyed; 
and  that,  before  the  demolition  of  the  temple, 
the  abomination  of  desolation  would  be  seen  in 
that  holy  place,  and  that,  immediately  after,  the 
Jews  would  suffer  a  desolation  which  would  en- 
dure to  the  end  of  time;  Dan.  ix.  24,  25,  27. 

Q.  Does  this  prophecy  prove  that  the  Messiah 
has  already  come  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  for  if  we  take  these  seventy  weeks  for 
weeks  of  days,  they  only  make  490  days  ;  and  if 
we  reckon  them  weeks  of  years,  as  we  are  author- 
ized by  other  scriptural  authorities,  (Lev.  xxiii. 
15,  16;  XXV.  8,)  they  make  490  years.  Now,  it 
is  more  than  1700  years  since  Jerusalem  and  its 
temple  were  destroyed,  and  the  Jews  dispersed 
over  the  whole  earth,  bearing  with,  and  upon 
them,  visible  marks  of  the  reprobation  foretold 
by  this  and  other  prophecies  ;  Osee  i.  9  ;  iii.  4  ; 
ix.  17  ;  Isa.  vi.  9. 

Q.  The  Messiah  then  has  long  since  come  ? 

A.  So  it  appeared  to  all  antiquity.  When 
Pompey  made  himself  master  of  Jerusalem,  it 
was  the  opinion  of  all  the  Jews  that  the  time, 
marked  by  the  prophets  for  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah,  had  arrived.  A  report  was  spread  abroad 
that  a  sovereign  would  come  from  the  East,  who 
would  subject  the  world ;  it  was  published  in 
Rome  that  nature  was  about  to  give  a  king  to  the 
Romans;  with  this  the  predictions  of  the  Sibyls, 
so  much  venerated  by  the  Romans,  agreed;  and 
it  was  this  same  general  impression  which  gave 
rise  to  the  sect  of  the  Herodians,  of  whom  we 
have  spoken;  Joseph.  Wars  of  the  Jews,  lib.  vi. 
c.  31,  n.  476;  Sueton.  de  Vita  August.  Lucan.  lib. 
viii. ;  Cicero  de  Divinatione. 

Q.  Does  this  prophecy  prove  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  Messiah  ? 


496 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


A.  Yes ;  for  all  that  is  here  foretold  of  the 
Messiah  agrees  exactly  with  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus 
Christ  was  put  to  death  exactly  in  the  middle  of 
the  seventieth  week  of  years,  reckoning  from  the 
edict  of  king  Artaxerxes  Longimanus,  in  the 
twentieth  year  of  his  reign,  to  rebuild  Jerusalem. 
The  Jews  abandoned  and  denied  Jesus ;  they 
were  rejected  by  him  as  reprobates,  and  conse- 
quently the  Romans  attacked  and  destroyed  their 
city  and  temple.  Joseph  us  shows  us  by  how 
many  abominations  the  temple  was  polluted.  It 
is  notorious,  that  since  that  time  the  Jews  have 
been  dispersed  over  the  whole  earth ;  and  that, 
aided  even  in  their  attempts  to  rebuild  that  city,  by 
idolatrous  emperors  who  hated  Christianity,  they 
failed  in  every  effort ;  see  Ammian.  Marcel,  lib. 
xxiii.  c.  I ;  St.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  iv.,  in  Jul. 
Apost. ;  St.  Chrys.  Horn.  4,  in  Matth. ;  Tille- 
mont.  Hist.  Eccl.  torn.  ii. 

Q.  Is  there  any  other  prophecy  of  Daniel  re- 
garding the  coming  of  the  Messiah  ? 

A.  Yes ;  God  discovered  to  this  prophet  the 
succession  of  empires,  from  Nabuchodonosor  to 
the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  These  were  the 
empires  of  the  Babylonians,  the  Persians,  the 
Greeks,  and  the  Romans ;  the  Romans  are  rep- 
resented under  the  figure  of  iron,  which  subdues 
and  crushes  all  other  substances,  as  the  Romans 
were,  in  effect,  to  render  themselves  masters  of 
the  world.  The  prophet  adds,  that  in  the  time 
of  these  empires,  God  would  raise  another  em- 
pire, which  is  compared  to  a  little  stone  descended 
from  heaven  ;  that  this  empire  should  subdue  all 
the  others,  without  any  violence ;  that  this  stone, 
so  small  in  the  beginning,  should  become  a  great 
mountain  which  would  fill  the  whole  earth, — that 
is,  a  great  new  empire,  which  should  be  extended 
every  where,  and  should  subsist  eternally  ;  Dan. 

ii-  37-  _ 

Q.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  prophecy  ? 

A.  That  God  would  send  to  the  world  the 
^Messiah,  who  is  designated  often  in  Scripture  as 
a  stone  or  rock ;  that  this  Messiah  would  estab- 
lish on  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  empire  the  spir- 
itual empire  of  his  Church ;  that  this  empire 
should  be  small  in  the  beginning,  like  the  mus- 


tard seed  to  which  it  is  compared  in  Scripture, 
but  which,  in  Palestine,  becomes  a  great  tree, 
where  are  lodged  the  fowls  of  the  air.  We  know 
that  the  Church,  in  the  Scripture,  is  compared  to 
a  high  mountain,  to  which  all  nations  will  flow, 
and  this  is  the  mountain  which  Daniel  foresaw, 
formed  from  a  small  detached  stone,  without  the 
aid  of  the  hand  of  man;  Isa.  ii.  2  ;  Mich.  iv.  i. 

Q.  Is  this  prophecy  verified  ? 

A.  Yes;  to  the  very  letter.  Jesus  appeared 
under  the  reign  of  Augustus,  the  first  of  the 
Roman  emperors.  The  empire  of  Jesus  was 
almost  nothing  at  first,  but  it  grew  up  gradu- 
ally, without  human  aid.  It  subjected  great 
nations,  and  subdued  idolatrous  empires,  and  has 
now  for  ages  been  extended  over  the  entire  uni- 
verse. No  other  kingdom  or  empire  has  existed, 
or  does  now  exist,  in  which  this  prophecy  could 
or  can  be  verified ;  see  Bossuet,  in  Dan.  ii. 

Q.  What  is  the  prophecy  of  Aggeus,  which 
relates  to  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  ? 

A.  The  Jews  were  sad  that  the  second  temple, 
built  by  Zorobabel,  was  not  equal  in  glory  to  that 
of  Solomon.  To  console  them,  God,  by  his 
prophet  Aggeus,  addressed  them  in  these  words  : 
"  Yet,  one  little  while,  and  I  will  move  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  dry 
land,  and  I  will  move  all  nations  and  the  desired 
of  all  nations  shall  come,  and  I  will  fill  this  house 
with  glory ;  great  shall  be  the  glory  of  this  last 
house,  more  than  of  the  first,  and  in  this  place  I 
will  give  peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts ;"  Agg., 
ii.  7,  8,  10. 

Q.  How  does  this  text  prove  that  the  Messiah 
is  come  ? 

A.  It  tells  us  that  he  should  come  in  a  short 
time,  that  he  should  give  this  second  temple  more 
glory  by  honoring  it  with  his  presence  than 
attended  that  of  Solomon  with  all  its  grandeur. 
Now,  it  is  more  than .  seventeen  hundred  years 
since  this  temple  was  destroyed,  and  the  Messiah 
must  have  appeared  before  that  event. 

Q.  Does  this  prophecy  prove  that  Christ  is  the 
Messiah  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  for  it  can  be  applied  to  him,  and  to  no 
other.      He   appeared   in   the  world  about   five 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


497 


"hundred  years  after  this  prophecy,  which  is  a 
short  time  compared  with  the  age  of  the  world. 
He  was  the  desired  of  nations,  for  he  brought  all 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  as  so  many 
prophets  had  foretold.  The  need  we  had  of  him 
may  be  called  desire,  as  we  say  the  parched  earth 
desires  and  seeks  water.  He  moved  the  universe, 
because,  as  St.  Paul  says,  he  renewed  all  things 
in  heaven,  and  on  earth ;  Eph.  i.  lo.  He  ren- 
dered the  second  temple  more  glorious  than  the 
first,  literally,  by  his  actual  presence,  and  spirit- 
nally  by  his  Church,  which  the  temple  prefigured. 
Finally,  he  gave  peace  in  this  place .,  because  the 
real  second  temple  prefigured  still  exists  in  the 
Christian  Church,  where  God  is  adored,  man  in- 
structed and  reconciled  to  Heaven,  and  the  way 
to  everlasting  peace  and  happiness  opened.  This 
prophecy,  then,  applies  admirably  to  Christ,  and 
to  no  other ;  St.  Jerom.  St.  Cyril  Alex.  n.  14. 

Q.  What  is  there  remarkable  in  the  prophecies, 
as  regards  Christ  ? 

A.  There  is  not  a  circumstance  of  his  birth, 
his  life,  or  his  death,  which  was  not  foretold,  as 
we  shall  see  in  the  abridged  history  of  his  life ; 
see  also  St.  Aug.  lib.  xiii.  contra  Faust,  c.  6,  15. 

Q.  May  not  these  prophecies  have  been  forged 
by  the  Christians  ? 

A.  They  are  so  clear,  that  the  pagans  have 
been  tempted  to  make  this  same  objection ;  but 
their  truth  is  so  certain  that  no  man  of  good 
sense  will  call  them  in  question  ;  and  this  incon- 
testable certainty  has  ever  been  the  bulwark  of 
the  Christian  religion  ;  2  Peter  i.  19,  20,  21. 

Q.  How  is  the  truth  and  certainty  of  these 
prophecies  demonstrated  ? 

A.  The  Jews,  the  irreconcilable  enemies  of 
Christians,  were  the  depositaries  of  these  prophe- 
cies ;  from  the  Jews  did  both  Christians  and 
Gentiles  receive  them.  In  spite  of  the  humili- 
ating reproaches  with  which  these  prophecies  are 
filled  against  the  Jews,  they  have  ever  reverenced 
them  as  divine ;  they  had  them  translated  into 


Greek  before  the  time  of  Christ,  and  spread 
abroad  in  that  language  wherever  it  was  known. 
The  smallest  change  made  by  the  Christians 
would  have  been  seen  at  once,  not  only  by  the 
Jews,  but  by  the  Gentiles.  The  Jews,  so  much 
attached  to  their  law  and  their  holy  writings,  and 
such  envenomed  enemies  of  the  Christians,  would 
have  exclaimed  loudly  against  any  corruption  of 
their  writings.  We  have,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
testimony  of  the  pagans,  who  saw  these  prophe- 
cies so  clear,  that  they  were  tempted  to  believe 
that  they  were  forged  after  the  events;  and  we 
have  on  the  other,  the  testimony  of  the  Jews, 
whose  interest  it  was  to  obscure  the  lustre  of 
these  prophecies,  declaring  loudly  that  they  were 
authentic  and  uncorrupted  ;  so  that  we  have,  in 
the  opposition  of  the  Jews  to  the  Gentiles,  and  of 
the  Gentiles  to  the  Jews,  an  invincible  proof  of 
the  authenticity  of  these  prophecies,  and,  conse- 
quently, of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion ; 
St.  Aug.  Serm.  174  ;  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xviii.  c.  46. 

Q.  Since  these  prophecies  are  so  clear,  why  are 
the  Jews,  otherwise  sensible  men,  so  obstinate  in 
rejecting  them  ? 

A.  This  is  a  just  judgment  of  God,  who  aban- 
dons them  to  blindness  as  a  punishment  of  their 
crimes.  The  very  fact  that  they  are  the  enemies 
of  the  Christian  Church  is  the  strongest  proof 
of  the  truth  and  purity  of  those  Scriptures  which 
the  Church  has  received  from  them ;  this  fact 
shows  at  once  to  the  unbeliever  that  no  collusion 
could  exist  between  the  Jews  and  the  Christians, 
as  to  these  prophecies.  Besides,  this  very  obsti- 
nacy of  the  Jews  is  itself  a  proof  of  the  truth  of 
the  prophecies,  for  it  was  clearly  foretold  that 
they  would  remain  obstinate  and  blind  to  the 
end,  that  they  should  have  eyes  without  seeing, 
and  ears  without  hearing,  and  that  even  their 
own  writings  should  be  for  them  a  sealed  book  ; 
Dent,  xxviii.  28  ;  Ps.  Ixviii.  24 ;  Isa.  i.  3  ;  vi.  9 ; 
xxix.  10 ;  xlii.  18,  19 ;  lix.  9,  10, 


3» 


498 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


SECTION    II.— ON   JESUS   CHRIST,   OR   THE    MESSIAH. 


Q.  Who  is  the  Messiah  whom  God  has  sent 
to  men  ? 

A.  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  the  eternal 
Word,  made  man,  to  deliver  men  from  sin,  and 
from  the  power  of  the  devil,  to  reconcile  them 
to  God,  to  restore  their  right  to  eternal  life, 
and  put  them  in  possession  of  that  life ;  in  a 
word,  to  be  the  Redeemer,  so  long  expected  by 
fallen  man. 

Q.  Jesus  Christ  is,  then,  both  God  and  man  ? 

A.  Yes,  and  this  the  prophets  have  foretold 
of  the  Messiah.  They  call  him,  on  account  of 
his  dimne  nature^  the  Son  of  God,  or,  simply, 
God ;  and,  on  account  of  his  human  nature^ 
they  call  him  the  son  of  David ;  they  call  him 
Emmanuel,  that  is,  God  with  us,  which  ex- 
presses the  union  of  these  two  natures  in  one 
person ;  Paral.  xvii.  13,  14 ;  Ps.  ii.  7,  8,  9 ; 
Ixxxviii.  27,  etc. ;  Isa.  ix.  6;  viii.  13  ;  xxxv.  4 ; 
liv.  5  ;  xi.  I  ;  vi.  5. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  saying  Christ  is 
both  God  and  man  ? 

•A.  That  there  are  two  natures  in  Christ,  the 
divine  and  the  human.  The  divine  nature  is 
consubstantial  with  the  Father,  and  with  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  one  God  ;  John  i., 
X.  7,  etc. ;  see  SS.  Athanasius,  Hilary,  Basil, 
Austin  against  the  Arians.  The  human  nature 
has  a  body  and  soul  like  ours,  and  the  eternal 
Word,  in  taking  this  body  and  soul,  clothed  him- 
self with  all  our  infirmities,  excepting  sin,  igno- 
rance, and  the  inclination  to  evil ;  Phil.  ii. ;  Heb. 
iv.  14,  15,  16  ;  St.  Athan.  Lit.  ad  Epict. ;  St. 
Greg.  Naz.  Serm.  iv.  contra  Julian ;  St.  Amb, 
ie  Incarn.  c.  iii.  n.   16. 

Q.  What  mean  you  by  saying  that  in  Christ 
the  divine  and  human  natures  are  united  in 
one  person? 

A.  That  they  are  united  in  him  without 
confusion,  so  that  there  is  only  one  person, 
which  is  the  Son  of  God,  something  like  the 
union  of  the  soul  and  body,  which  are  so 
united  that  they   make   only  one   man.     From 


this  difference  of  natures  we  easily  understand 
his  words,  when  he  says,  "  I  and  the  Father 
are  one  "  ;  and  in  another  place,  the  "Father  is 
greater  than  I."  In  the  former  he  speaks  of 
his  divine  nature^  and  in  the  latter  of  his 
human  nature ;  Symb.  S.  Athan. ;  John  x. 
30;  xiv.  28;  St.  Aug.  lib.  2  de  Trinit.  It 
follows,  also,  from  the  above  principle,  that  we 
can  attribute  to  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  what  can 
only  agree  properly  to  man,  and  the  reverse, 
because  the  same  person  is  both  God  and 
man  ;  thus,  it  is  true  that  God  has  suffered, 
died,  and  risen  from  the  dead,  and  thus  is  it 
true  that  man  is  the  Son  of  God — that  he  is 
God ;  St.  Hilar,  de  Trin.  lib.  9  ;  St.  Leo.  Lit. 
134  ad  Imperat.  Leon.  We  cannot,  however, 
say  of  the  Father  or  the  Holy  Ghost,  that 
they  became  incarnate,  suffered,  or  died,  because 
they  have  the  same  nature  with  the  Son;  for, 
to  the  person  of  the  Son  alone,  is  human  na- 
ture united  ;  he  alone,  and  not  the  Father  or 
the  Holy  Ghost,  became  man;  St.  Aug.  lit.  11, 
or  218  ad  Nebrid.  n.  4  ;  St.  Leo.  ibid. 

Q.  How  can  the  divine  and  human  natures 
be  united  in  the  same  person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
without  the  participation  of  the  Father  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  who  are  of  the  same  divine  nature 
with  the  Son  ? 

A.  All  this  infinitely  surpasses  our  under- 
standing ;  we  believe  all  firmly,  because  God 
has  revealed  all,  and  the  Church  has  ever  re- 
puted those  heretics  who  have  rejected  these 
divine  mysteries  ;  Serm.  S.  Leon,  de  Incar. 

Q.  Has  Jesus  Christ  two  distinct  wills,  as 
he  has  two  distinct  natures? 

A.  Yes ;  for  the  will  is  an  essential  part  of 
intelligent  nature,  but  the  two  wills  of  Christ 
are  subordinate  the  one  to  the  other ;  the  hu- 
man is  perfectly  subject  to  the  divine  will ; 
see  6  Gener.  Con.  contra  Monothel.  ;  St.  Leo. 
Serm.  5. 

Q.  Did  the  Son  of  God  leave  heaven  when 
he  became  man  ? 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


499 


A.  No ;  he  is  every  where ;  when  we  say  he 
descended  from  heaven  to  this  earth,  we  merely 
mean  that  he  united  to  himself  human  nature, 
and  became,  by  his  humanity,  sensible  to  us 
mortals  ;  whilst  in  an  ineffable  manner,  he,  in 
reality,  fills  heaven  and  earth  ;  St.  Aug.  Serm. 
187  de  Nativ. 

Q.  What  is  the  union  of  the  divine  with  the 
human  nature  termed  ? 


A.  A  Hypostatical,  that  is,  personal  union, 
for  the  original  Greek  word  signifies  a  person. 
The  person  of  the  Son  of  God  is  the  term 
of  this  union,  for  the  human  nature  is 
not  united  to  the  three  persons  of  the 
Trinity;  see  Cone.  Ephes.  Chalced.,  etc., 
Cyril  Alex.  P.  Petav.,  and  other  dogmatic 
theologians. 


SECTION    III.— HISTORY   OF  THE  INCARNATION. 


Q.  In  what  way  did  the  Son  of  God  become 
man  ? 

A.  God  sent  the  angel  Gabriel  to  the  city 
of  Nazareth,  in  Galilee,  to  a  virgin  named 
Mary,  who  had  espoused  a  man  called  Joseph, 
of  •  the  race  of  David.  The  angel  said  to  her, 
"  Hail,  full  of  grace,  the  Lord  is  with  thee." 
She  was  troubled  at  these  words.  The  angel 
said  to  her,  "Fear  not,  Mary,  thou  shalt  con- 
ceive, and  shalt  bring  forth  a  son,  and  thou 
shalt  call  his  name  Jesus ;  he  shall  be  great, 
and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the  Most  High ; 
the  Lord  God  shall  give  him  the  throne  of 
his  father  David  ;  he  shall  reign  in  the  house 
of  Jacob  forever,  and  of  his  kingdom  there 
shall  be  no  end." 

The  holy  Virgin  asked  the  angel  how  this 
could  be,  seeing  she  knew  not  man  :  which 
shows,  according  to  the  holy  Fathers,  that  she 
had  determined  to  remain  forever  a  virgin.  The 
angel  replied,  "The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come 
upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Most  High 
shall  overshadow  thee,  and,  therefore,  the  holy 
One  which  shall  be  born  of  thee,  shall  be  called 
the  Son  of  God."  This  prediction  is  confirmed 
by  the  miracle  which  God  was  working  at  the 
time,  in  favor  of  Elizabeth,  who,  though  before 
barren,  was  now  in  her  sixth  month  of  preg- 
nancy, "For  nothing  (concludes  the  an  gel),  is 
impossible  to  God."  The  holy  Virgin  believed 
the  words  of  the  angel,  and  gave  her  consent, 
saying,  "  Behold  tlie  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  be 


it  unto  me  according  to  thy  word."  And  in 
this  moment  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  is 
accomplished  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  in  the  chaste  womb  of  that  holy  Virgin, 
and  the  eternal  Word  is  made  man  to  dwell 
amongst  us ;  Luke  ii. 

Q.  Of  what  family  was  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and  was  she  married,  or  only  afi&anced  to 
Joseph  ? 

A.  Of  the  family  of  David,  of  which  also 
sprang  her  spouse  Joseph.  St.  Augustine  and 
several  other  Fathers  think  that  she  was  really 
married,  and  the  original  word,  used  by  St. 
Matthew,  seems  to  favor  this  opinion.  Other 
Fathers,  however,  have  taught  that  she  was  only 
afiianced;  see  Tillemont  and  all  the  inter- 
preters ;  St.  Aug.  lib.  23,  contra  P'aust. ;  St. 
Jerom.  in  i.  Matt. ;  Tillemont,  n.  7,  in  Sane. 
Virg. 

Q.  If  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  married  to  St. 
Joseph,  why  was  she  surprised  when  told  by  the 
angel  that  she  should  have  a  son? 

A.  Because,  as  all  the  Fathers  teach,  she  had 
made  a  vow  of  virginity. 

Q.  Why  then  did  she  marry,  after  having 
made  this  vow? 

A.  By  the  especial  order  of  God,  and  for 
great  ends.  First — That  the  incarnation  might 
remain  unknown,  so  long  as  might  be  required 
by  the  impenetrable  designs  of  God's  mercy  and 
justice;  Tillem.  in  S.  Virg.  Art.  2.  Second — 
That  the  reputation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  might 


500 


THE   CATHOIJC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


be  protected  by  the  honorable  veil  of  marriage, 
against  the  maligTiant  calumnies  and  violence 
of  the  Jews,  who  would  have  stoned  her  ;  St. 
Jerora.  in  i  Matt.;  St.  Amb.  in  i  Luc.  lib.  2,  c.  27. 
Third — That  the  Blessed  Virgin  might  have 
the  solace  of  an  affectionate  friend,  in  the  trials 
to  which  God  was  about  to  subject  her;  St. 
Jerom.  ibid. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean,  when  you  say  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  conceived  by  the  operation  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  ? 

A.  That  as  man,  he  had  no  father,  but  that  his 
body  was  formed  miraculously  in  the  chaste 
womb  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Although  this  great  miracle  was  performed 
by  the  operation  of  the  Trinity,  still,  it  is 
attributed  to  the  Holy  Ghost  only,  because 
it  was  the  effect  of  God's  ineffable  love  to 
men,  that  the  Son  became  incarnate ;  John  iii. 
16.  Now,  we  attribute  the  effects  of  love  to 
the  Holy  Ghost,  as  we  attribute  the  effects  of 
power  to  the  Father,  and  wisdom  to    the    Son. 

Q.  The  Blessed  Virgin  then  conceived,  and 


gave  birth  to  Jesus  Christ,  without   losing  her 
virginity  ? 

A.  She  was  a  virgin  before  the  birth,  a 
virgin  in  the  birth,  and  remained  a  virgin  all 
her  life.  Such  has  ever  been  the  belief  of  the 
whole  Church.  Isaias  had  foretold  that  the 
Messiah  should  be  born  of  a  virgin,  vii.  15; 
Matt.  i.  23.  The  Church  has  always  regarded 
as  heretics,  those  who  denied  the  perpetual 
virginity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin ;  St.  Jerom. 
contra  Jovin.  lib.  i. 

Q.  Is  the  Blessed  Virgin  truly  the  mother  of 
God? 

A.  Yes  ;  because  she  gave  birth  to  a  Son, 
who  is  God ;  and  the  flesh  of  the  God  man 
was  formed  from  her  flesh ;  Gal.  iv.  4,  5  ;  Cone. 
Bphes.  contra  Nestor. 

Q.  What  was  the  profession  of  St.  Joseph  ? 

A.  Although  of  the  ro37al  race  of  David,  he 
■was  poor,  and  obliged  to  earn  his  bread  by  the 
work  of  his  hands.  He  was  an  artisan,  but  of 
what  kind  the  Scripture  does  not  say ;  Matt. 
xxiii.  55  ;  Tillem.  torn.  i.  2,  note  on  St.  Joseph. 


SECTION  IV.— HISTORY   OF   JESUS  CHRIST,  FROM   HIS   TEMPORAL   BIRTH   TILL   HIS 

RETIREMENT  INTO   EGYPT. 


Q.  When  was  Jesus  Christ  bom,  and  in  what 
place? 

A.  Precisely  at  the  time  foretold  by  the  proph- 
ets, about  4,000  years  after  the  creation.  He 
was  bom  in  the  city  of  Bethlehem,  where  the 
prophets  foretold  the  Messiah  should  be  born,  as 
even  the  Jews  themselves  declared  to  the  Magi, 
in  the  presence  of  Herod ;  Micheas  v.  2 ;  Matt. 
ii.  5,  6. 

Q.  Since  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  of  Nazareth, 
a  city  of  Galilee,  how  does  it  happen  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  bom  at  Bethlehem? 

A.  The  Emperor  Augustus  had  ordered  a  cen- 
sus of  all  the  subjects  of  the  Roman  empire;  this 
order  compelled  all  the  Jews  to  return  to  their 
original  family  home.  On  this  account,  St. 
Joseph    and    the    Blessed    Virgin    returned    to 


Bethlehem,  the  city  of  David;  as  they  arrived 
there,  the  full  time  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  had 
arrived.  There  was  no  room  for  her  in  the  inn, 
on  account  of  the  crowds  which  the  census  had 
forced  to  repair  thither;  so  she,  with  Joseph, 
were  compelled  to  retire  to  a  cavern,  which 
served  as  a  stable  to  the  inn,  and  in  this  mis- 
erably poor  place  did  the  Saviour  of  the  World 
choose  to  be  bom;  Luke  ii.   i,  4,  etc. 

Q.  Why  did  Augustus  make  this  census  ? 

A.  He  was  to  give  peace  to  all  the  earth ; 
and  from  reasons  of  state,  or  from  pride,  he 
desired  to  know  the  numbers  subject  to  his 
empire.  God,  however,  made  use  of  this  dis- 
position of  the  emperor,  to  give  to  the  Gentiles, 
as  well  as  to  the  Jews,  a  proof,  so  authentic  as 
to  be  beyond  suspicion,  of  the  accomplishment 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


501 


of  the  prophecies,  that  the  Messiah  should  be 
bom  in  Bethlehem,  of  the  family  of  David;  for 
the  registry  of  this  census  was  carried  to  Rome, 
and  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  empire, 
where  it  still  was  in  the  time  of  Tertullian ; 
St.  Chrys.  Hom.  8  and  33,  in  Matt. ;  Tertul. 
lib.  iv.  contra  Marcion.  c.  7. 

Q.  Had  the  prophets  foretold  that  there 
would  be  universal  peace,  when  the  Messiah 
should  come  ? 

A.  Yes.  "  And  they  shall  turn  their  swords 
into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into  sickles; 
— nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation, 
neither  shall  they  be  exercised  any  more  to 
war; "   Isaias  ii.  4;    St.  Jerom.  in  ii.  Isai. 

Q.  Why  did  Jesus  choose  to  be  born  in  a 
stable  ? 

A.  He  came  to  cure  the  corruption  of  the 
world ;  to  teach  men  what  were  true  goods ; 
and  in  what  their  real  happiness  consisted.  He 
gave  them  a  complete  and  solemn  antidote  for 
the  concupiscence  of  the  flesh,  of  the  eyes,  and 
for  the  pride  of  life — the  sources  of  all  sin,  in 
his  being  bom  of  parents  fallen  from  the  most 
illustrious  to  the  most  obscure  state,  reduced 
to  the  extreme  of  poverty,  compelled  even  to 
leave  the  inn  where  worldlings  rioted,  and  take 
tip  their  abode  in  a  stable;  Titus  ii.  11,  12; 
St.  Chrys.  Hom.  8,  in  Matt. 

Q.  Did  the  prophets  foretell  that  the  Messiah 
would  come  in  a  state  of  poverty  and  obscurity  ? 

A.  Yes.  "  Verily  thou  art  a  hidden  God,  the 
God  of  Israel,  the  Saviour;  Isaias  xlv.  15.  And 
again,  "  Despised  and  the  most  abject  of  men  ; 
and  his  look  was  as  it  were  hidden  and  despised ; 
liii.  3.  "  Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter  of  Sion  : 
behold,  thy  King  will  come  to  thee,  the  just  and 
Saviour ;  he  is  poor  and  riding  upon  an  ass ; " 
Zach.  ix.  9. 

Q.  On  what  day,  and  at  what  hour,  was  Christ 
bom  ? 

A.  About  the  middle  of  the  night  of  the  twenty- 
fifth  day  of  December,  according  to  the  most  an- 
cient tradition  of  the  most  celebrated  churches. 

Q.  Did  the  prophets  foretell  the  hour  of  the 
birth  of  the  Messiah  ? 


A.  The  Book  of  Wisdom  speaking  of  the 
arrival  of  the  angel  in  Egypt,  to  deliver  the 
Israelites,  and  exterminate  the  first  bom  of  the 
Egyptians,  uses  an  expression  which  the  Church 
has  applied  to  the  birth  of  Christ :  "  While  all 
things  were  in  quiet  silence,  and  the  night  was 
in  the  midst  of  her  course^  Thy  almighty  word 
leapt  down  from  heaven,  from  thy  royal  throne ;  " 
Wisd.  xviii.  14,  15. 

Q.  Did  Christ  make  his  birth  knov/n  to  men? 

A.  Yes ;  angels  announced  him  to  the  neigh- 
boring shepherds,  who  were  Jews  ;  and  a  new 
star,  along  with  a  revelation  from  God,  made 
him  known  to  the  wise  men  of  the  east,  who  were 
Gentiles.  Both  came  immediately  to  adore  the 
Saviour  of  mankind  ;    Luke  ii.  8  ;   Matt.  ii. 

Q.  Was  Jesus  circumcised  on  the  eighth 
day,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Jews  ? 

A.  Yes;  he  desired  to  submit  himself  to  the 
law,  that  he  might  redeem  those  who  were 
under  the  law;  Luke  ii.  21;  Phil.  ii.  9;  Gal. 
iv.  4.  Christ  remained  at  Bethlehem  forty 
days,  to  give  the  Jews  time  to  inform  them- 
selves of  the  great  event  of  his  birth,  after 
which  the  Blessed  Virgin  carried  Jesus  to  the 
temple,  to  off'er  him  to  God  as  her  first  bom, 
and  to  comply,  although  she  reqiiired  it  not, 
with  the  legal  purification  of  the  Jews  ;  St. 
Chrys.  Hom.  7,  in  Matt. 

Q.  When  did  the  Magi  come  to  adore  Christ? 

A.  The  common  opinion  is  that  they  came 
on  the  twelfth  day  after  his  birth,  the  day  upon 
which  the  Latin  Church  celebrates  the  feast 
of  the  Epiphany.  This  visit  of  the  wise  men 
is  foretold  by  Isaias  :  "  And  the  Gentiles  shall 
walk  in  thy  light,  and  kings  in  the  brightness 
of  thy  rising.  .  .  .  All  they  from  Saba 
shall  come,  bringing  gold  and  frankincense,  and 
showing  forth  praise  to  the  Lord;"  Isaias 
Ix.  3,6.  "  The  kings  of  Tharsis  and  the 
Islands  shall  offer  presents ;  the  kings  of  the 
Arabians,  and  of  Saba,  shall  bring  gifts ;  '* 
Ps.  Ixxi.  10.  That  the  above  passage 
was  not  applied  to  Solomon,  is  evident 
from  the  same  chapter,  verse  5.  "  He  shall 
continue  with    the    sun,  and   before  the   moon 


502 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


throughout  all  generations;  and  he  shall  rule 
from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  end 
of  the  earth."  These  are  words  which  cannot 
by  any  means  be  applied  to  Solomon.  Even 
the  apparition  of  the  star  had  been  foretold : 
"  A  star  shall  rise  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  sceptre 
shall  spring  up  from  Israel ;"  Num.   xxiv.   17. 

Q.  Whither  did  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St. 
Joseph  direct  their  steps,  after  the  presentation 
of  Christ  in  the  temple  ? 

A.  Thej'^  fled  to  Eg3'pt,  to  avoid  the  persecu- 
tion of  Herod,  who  sought  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ;  Matt.  ii.  13.  Herod  dreaded  that  Christ, 
who  was  called  King  of  the  Jews,  by  the  wise 


men,  would  one  day  dethrone  him,  and  hence 
he  sought  to  put  him  to  death ;  and  in  order 
to  entrap  him,  he  ordered  all  children  under 
two  years  to  be  slain. 

Q.  Was  this  massacre  of  the  innocents  fore- 
told ? 

A.  It  was  prefigured  by  Pharaoh's  slaughter 
of  the  male  children  of  the  Hebrews ;  and  the 
flight  of  Christ  to  Egypt  was  prefigured  by  the 
care  which  the  daughter  of  the  Egyptian  king 
took  of  Moses,  who  was  the  type  of  Christ ; 
but,  besides  these  figures,  the  words  of  Isaias 
are  applied  to  the  innocents  by  St.  Matthew ; 
Jer.  xxxi.  15;  Matt.  ii.  18. 


SECTION  v.— LIFE  OF  CHRIST  TILL   HIS    BAPTISM,    AND   THE  LIFE   OF  ST.  JOHN   THE  BAPTIST. 


Q.  Was  the  retreat  of  Christ  into  Egypt 
foretold  by  the  prophets  ? 

A.  The  retreat  of  the  family  of  Jacob  into 
Egypt  was  a  figure  of  it,  and  Isaias  expressly 
foretold  it :  "  Behold,  the  Lord  will  ascend  on 
a  swift  cloud,  and  will  enter  Egypt,  and  the 
idols  of  Egypt  shall  be  moved  at  his  presence  ;  " 
xix.  I.  This  prophecj'^  was  verified  ;  as  the  idol 
of  the  temple  of  Dagon  was  overturned  by  the 
presence  of  the  ark,  so,  by  the  presence  of 
Christ,  were  the  idols  of  Egypt  overturned,  for 
Egypt  became  soon  a  flourishing  province  of 
the  Church ;  Tillem.  Art.  4,  sur.  I.  C. 

Q.  How  long  did  Christ  remain   in  Egypt  ? 

A.  We  only  know  that  he  returned  from 
thence  shortly  after  the  death  of  Herod,  in  the 
reign  of  Archelaus,  Ethnarch  of  Judea;  Matt, 
ii.  19.  He  dwelt  at  Nazareth,  a  city  of  Galilee, 
which  was  the  ordinary  abode  of  Joseph,  after 
the  birth  of  Christ ;  Luke  i.  26 ;  ii.  4,  39,  51; 
Matt.  ii.  23.  Here  he  remained  until  he  was 
jabout  thirty  years  of  age  ;  Luke  ii.  51. 

Q-  What  do  we  know  of  the  infancy  of  Jesus 
Christ  ? 

A.  Besides  what  we  have  related  above,  we 
know  only  that  when  he  was  about  twelve  years 


of  age,  he  was  conducted  to  the  temple  by  St. 
Joseph  and  his  Blessed  Mother;  that,  without 
their  knowledge,  he  remained  there  behind 
them ;  that,  after  they  had  sought  him  three 
days,  they  found  him  in  the  midst  of  the  doc- 
tors, hearing  and  asking  questions,  so  as  to 
excite  great  admiration;  Luke  ii.  41.  We  know 
also,  that  he  went  down  with  his  Blessed 
Mother  and  Sc.  Joseph  to  Nazareth,  and  was  sub- 
ject to  them,  until  he  had  attained  his  thirtieth 
year;  by  which  he  gave  an  admirable  lesson 
of  obedience  to  children,  and  to  all  who  are 
subjects  ;  John  vii.  15  ;  Luke  ii.  41. 

At  the  age  of  thirty  years,  Christ  sought  St. 
John  the  Baptist  in  the  desert,  and  received 
baptism  from  that  holy  man;  Matt.  iii.  13,  etc.; 
Luke  iii.  21,  etc. 

Q.  Who  was  the  Baptist,  and  what  sort  of 
life  did  he  lead  ? 

A.  He  was  a  man  sent  by  God  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  Messiah,  as  his  precursor,  ac- 
cording to  the  predictions  of  Isaias  and  Mal- 
achias;  Isaias  xl.  3,  4;  Malach.  iii.  i.  The 
angel  Gabriel  announced  his  birth  to  his 
father  Zacharias,  who  was  a  holy  priest;  and 
the  Baptist  was  miraculously  conceived  by  St. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


503 


Elizabeth  in  her  old  age.  Jesus  Christ,  yet  in 
the  womb  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  visited  his 
precursor,  to  sanctify  him  for  his  high  ofBce, 
even  before  his  birth  ;  Luke  i.  13.  St.  John  re- 
tired at  an  earl}"  age  into  the  desert ;  he  ate 
the  coarsest  food,  and  was  clothed  in  the  rudest 
manner  ;  at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  he  appeared 
on  the  Jordan.  The  Jews  admired  him,  and 
took  him  for  the  Messiah,  but  he  proclaimed 
loudly  that  he  was  only  a  voice  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  Messiah.  He  urged  them  to  do 
penance,  and  baptized  those  who  were  penitent. 
His  baptism  did  not  forgive  sins,  but  it  pre- 
pared men  for  their  remission,  by  the  baptism 
of  Christ.  St.  John  preached,  that  the  Messiah 
had  come.  Herod  Antipas  greatly  esteemed 
him ;  but  the  holy  liberty  which  the  Baptist 
took  in  reproaching  that  prince  with  his  public 
crimes,  occasioned  his  own  imprisonment  and 
decapitation  ;  Matt.  iii.  3,  4  ;  Luke  vii.  24  ;  John 
i.  19,  etc. ;  Matt.  iii. ;  Luke  iii.  ;  Acts  xix,  3,  4  ; 
John  i.  31,  33;  Matt.  xiv.  2;  and  Markvi.  14. 


Q.  Why  did  Christ  submit  to  the  baptism 
of  St.  John,  seeing  he  was  pure  and  innocent? 

A.  To  give  authority  to  the  preaching  and 
baptism  of  that  holy  man ;  to  sanctify  the 
waters  of  baptism,  and  imbue  them  with  that 
spiritual  fecundity  which  they  were  ever  after 
to  possess ;  to  give  to  the  people,  who  sought 
St.  John,  an  authentic  proof  of  his  own 
mission  and  his  divinity,  by  the  testimony 
which  God  his  Father  rendered  on  that 
occasion  when  the  Holy  Ghost  descended 
upon  him,  under  the  form  of  a  dove,  and  a 
voice  was  heard  to  say,  "  This  is  my  beloved 
Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased;"  Matt.  iii. 
17;  Luke  iii.  21,  22.  In  this  declaration  of 
heaven,  the  Jews  had  a  strong  proof  that  the 
Messiah  was  really  come.  St.  John  wrought  no 
miracles  ;  John  x.  41.  By  this,  God  wished  the 
Jews  to  understand  that  he  was  not  the  Mes- 
siah, as,  according  to  the  prophets,  the  Messiah 
was  to  perform  a  multitude  of  miracles ;  Isaias 
XXXV.  4,  5,  etc. 


SECTION  VI.— CONTINUATION  OF   THH   LIFE  OF   CHRIST  TILL  THE  END  OF   THE   FIRST   YEAR 

OF   HIS   PREACHING. 


Q.  What  did  Christ  do  immediatel}'  after  he 
was  baptized  ? 

A.  The  spirit  of  God  conducted  him  into  a 
■desert,  where,  without  eating,  he  spent  forty  days 
and  forty  nights  in  prayer ;  Matt,  iv.;  Mark  i.; 
Luke  iv.  This  he  did  to  teach  us  that  it  is  by 
retirement,  fasting,  and  piayer,  that  we  should 
prepare  ourselves  for  the  ministry  of  the  gos- 
pel; and  that,  when  men,  regenerated  by  the 
waters  of  baptism,  or  by  penance,  engage  with 
the  world,  without  the  aid  of  these  spiritual 
arms,  they  are  sure  to  be  defeated.  This  fast 
of  Christ  was  the  model  of  the  fast  of  Lent, 
instituted  by  the.  Apostles.  After  this  fast, 
Jesus  hungered,  and  permitted  the  devil  to 
tempt  him.  The  tempter  was  repelled  by  the 
word  of  God ;  he  retired  in  confusion ;  and 
atig^ls  came  to  minister  to  Christ ;  Matt.  iv.  i. 


Q.  Why  did  Christ  permit  the  devil  to 
tempt  him  ? 

A.  That  we  might  see  that  he  was  truly 
man,  clothed  in  all  man's  infirmities,  except 
sin;  Heb.  iv.  15.  To  merit  for  us,  by  his 
victory,  the  grace  and  strength  to  conquer  the 
devil,  our  enemy  ;  Heb.  ii.  18.  To  show  us, 
by  his  own  example,  the  efiicacy  of  fasting, 
prayer,  and  the  word  of  God,  in  overcoming 
the  destroyer ;  and,  lastly,  to  teach  us  that 
the  devil  tempts  all,  even  the  most  virtuous : 
and,  hence,  that  all  should  watch  and  be  ever 
armed  with  the  proper  spiritual  arms,  to  repel 
the  foe ;    Matt.  xvii.  20 ;    Eph.  vi.   13. 

Q.  What  did  Christ  do  when  he  left  the 
desert  ? 

A.  He  commenced  the  duties  of  his  public 
life;   he  sought  St.  John  the  Baptist,  who  cried 


504 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


out  to  those  present,  when  he  saw  Jesus  ap- 
proaching, "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God ;  behold 
him  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 
Thus  he  made  them  understand  that  Christ 
was  the  Messiah.  He  gave  the  same  testi- 
mony, the  next  day,  when  Andrew,  one  of  his 
disciples,  attached  himself  to  Jesus,  and  the 
•  next  day  brought  his  brother  Simon  to  his 
Saviour,  who  gave  him  the  name  of  Peter; 
John  i.  29. 

Q.  What  time  did  Jesus  employ  in  preaching 
the  gospel,  and  what  was  his  life  during  that 
time  ? 

A.  The  common  opinion  is,  that  he  spent 
three  years  and  three  months  in  that  duty. 
As  to  his  life,  he  showed  by  his  conduct,  as 
well  as  by  his  instructions,  the  greatest  con- 
tempt for  riches,  and  a  most  perfect  detachment 
from  sensuality,  pride,  and  curiosity.  He  had 
not  whereon  to  repose  his  head ;  he  suffered 
hunger  and  thirst ;  he  ate  only  from  necessity, 
and  what  was  given  him ;  he  lodged  wherever 
he  was  received ;  the  poor  and  rich  were  equal 
in  his  eyes ;  he  disdained  not  to  associate  with 
sinners,  because  he  wished  to  instruct  them. 
Herod  anxiously  desired  to  see  him,  on  account 
of  his  wonderful  miracles,  but  Christ  refused, 
because  he  knew  that  that  prince  was  actuated 
only  by  curiosity.  Even  at  the  time  of  his 
passion,  he  wrought  no  wonder ;  nay,  he  spoke 
not  a  word,  in  the  presence  of  that  king ;  for 
he  came  to  cure,  not  to  gratify,  the  criminal 
curiosity  of  men. 

Q.  "What    was     there     remarkable     in     our 


Saviour's    life,    during    the    first    year  of    his 
mission  ? 

A.  He  went  to  Galilee  and  chose  St, 
Philip,  who  brought  Nathanael  to  him.  He 
attended  the  marriage  of  Cana,  where,  at 
the  request  of  his  Blessed  Mother,  he  changed 
water  into  wine,  which  was  his  first  miracle. 
He  afterwards  spent  some  '^^vs  at  Caphar- 
naum,  from  whence  he  returnea  .,  Jerusalem 
to  celebrate  the  Pasch.  In  this  city  he 
wrought  many  miracles ;  he  banished  from  the 
temple  the  merchants  who  profaned  it;  he  in- 
structed the  people,  and  amongst  others  Nico- 
demus;  John  i.  45,  etc.;  ii.  13,  etc.  He  then 
traversed  Judea,  baptized  the  people  by  the 
ministry  of  his  disciples  ;  crowds  followed  him  ; 
the  disciples  of  the  Baptist  became  jealous  of 
him,  but  they  were  reprehended  by  their  mas- 
ter, who  thence  took  occasion  to  exalt  Christ 
and  to  humble  himself;  John  iii.  22,  etc. 
About  this  time  Herod  cast  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist into  prison ;  and  Christ,  to  avoid  the 
jealousy  of  the  Pharisees,  withdrew  into  Gali- 
lee. In  passing  through  Samaria,  he  con- 
verted the  Samaritan,  and  employed  two  days 
in  instructing  the  people ;  he  was  received 
with  honor  in  Galilee,  where  he  cured  of  fever, 
in  the  town  of  Cana,  the  son  of  one  of  Herod's 
oflftcers ;  John  iv.  6.  Some  time  after  he  called, 
for  the  second  or  third  time,  Peter  and  An- 
drew; and  he  called,  about  the  same  time, 
James  the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  John  his 
brother,  who  quitted  all  to  follow  him  ;  Matt, 
iv.  13,  18;    Mark  i.  14,  16;    Luke  v.  i. 


SECTION  VII.— THE   SECOND  YEAR   OF   CHRIST'S   MISSION. 


Q.  What  was  there  remarkable  in  the  second 
year  of  Christ's  preaching? 

A.  He  dwelt  some  time  at  Caphamaum, 
he  cured  the  mother-in-law  of  St.  Peter,  and 
wrought  many  miracles;  yet  the  inhabitants 
remained  incredulous,  which  induced  Jesus  to 
pronounce  a  terrible  malediction  against  them ; 
Matt.   iv.   23.     Christ    then    traversed    Galilee, 


and  every  where  performed  many  miracles.  In 
passing  to  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan,  he 
crossed  the  lake  of  Genesareth,  and,  by  his 
word,  calmed  a  mighty  tempest ;  amongst  the 
Gerasens,  he  cured  two  demoniacs.  He  then 
returned  to  Capharnaum,  where  he  cured  the 
paralytic,  and,  from  a  tax-gatherer,  made  St. 
Matthew    a    disciple.      He    cured    the    woman 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


505 


troubled  with  an  issue  of  blood,  and  raised  to 
life  the  daughter  of  Jairus.  At  Jerusalem,  he 
healed  one  who  had  been  a  paralytic  during 
twenty  years ;  and,  on  the  same  day,  a  man  who 
had  a  withered  hand.  The  Pharisees,  offended 
because  he  did  these  wonders  on  the  Sabbath,  re- 
solved to  put  him  to  death  ;  but,  as  his  time  was 
not  yet  come,  he  withdrew  to  Galilee  to  avoid 
their  anger ;  a  great  crowd  followed  him ;  he 
was  compelled  to  retire  to  a  mountain,  where  he 
chose  his  twelve  apostles.  Before  choosing  them, 
he  passed  the  night  in  prayer,  to  teach  us  how 
their  successors  should  be  chosen.  Their  names 
were  Peter,  who  was  the  first,  Andrew,  James, 
John,  Philip,  Bartholomew,  Matthew,  Thomas, 
James  the  son  of  Alpheus,  Jude,  Simon,  and 
Judas  Iscariot,  who  betrayed  his  Master.  These 
were  all  rude  and  unlettered  men,  so  that  to 
them  or  their  mere  efforts,  the  propagation  of 
religion  could  not  be  attributed.  After  this 
choice,  Christ  preached  the  celebrated  sermon 
on  the  mountain,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
brief  summary. 

He  begins  by  giving  a  different  idea  of  hap- 
piness from  that  which  was  generally  received 
by  men.  Blessed,  says  he,  are  the  poor,  the 
meek,  the  afflicted,  the  just,  the  merciful,  the 
pure,  the  peacemakers,  and  those  who  are  per- 
secuted for  justice'  sake.  He  then  tells  his 
disciples  that  they  are  to  be  the  lights  of  the 
world,  the  salt  of  the  earth  ;  that  our  justice 
must  be  more  perfect  than  that  of  the  Phari- 
sees, which  sprang  merely  from  their  external 
acts,  instead  of  springing  from  the  heart ;  for 
it  is  not  enough  to  pray  with  the  lips ;  our 
prayers  must  spring  from  the  heart,  otherwise 
they  are  only  hypocrisy.  He  teaches  how  we 
ought   to    be    reconciled  to  our  neighbors,  and 


commands  us  to  love  them.  He  informs  us 
that  we  may  sin  in  thought,  and  hence,  that 
whatever  is  an  obstacle  or  a  temptation,  even 
were  it  a  member  so  dear  to  us  as  the  eye 
or  the  hand,  we  must  part  with,  rather 
than  fall.  He  establishes  the  indissolubility  of 
marriage,  and  denounces  oaths,  passion  and  vio- 
lence, whilst  he  orders  us  to  avoid  ostentation,  in 
our  alms,  fasting,  and  prayer.  He  gives  us  that 
divine  formula,  which  we  call  the  Lord's  prayer. 
He  instructs  us,  that  we  must  despise  riches,  and 
act  uprightly,  as  we  cannot  serve  God  and  mam- 
mon ;  that  we  must  not  be  over  anxious  as  to  food 
and  raiment,  but  trust  in  a  kind  Providence, 
whilst  we  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
justice.  He  forbids  us  to  judge  any  one,  or  to 
expose  what  is  holy  to  the  profane.  He  orders 
us  to  enter  the  narrow  way,  as  the  only  one 
which  conducts  to  heaven.  In  fine,  he  concludes 
his  admirable  discourse  by  declaring  that  it  is  by 
our  works  we  shall  be  known  and  judged,  and 
that  our  instructions  will  avail  us  little,  unless 
we  practice  what  we  know ;  Matt,  v.,  vi.,  vii. 

After  this  time,  Jesus  cured  the  leper,  and 
the  servant  of  the  centurion.  He  convinced 
the  disciples  of  the  Baptist  that  he  was  the  Mes- 
siah, by  performing  the  miracles  which  Isaias  fore- 
told should  be  performed  by  the  Messiah.  About 
this  time  took  place  the  celebrated  conversion 
of  the  sinful  woman,  whom  some  have  believed 
to  be  Magdalene.  Jesus  continued  daily  instruct- 
ing and  confirming  the  truth  of  his  instruction, 
by  multitudes  of  wonderful  miracles.  He  after- 
wards returned  to  Nazareth ;  but  that  being  his 
native  place,  the  people  would  not  believe ;  and 
this  gave  him  occasion  to  say,  that  no  one  is  a 
prophet  in  his  own  country. 


SECTION  VIII.— CONTINUATION  OF  THE  LIFE   OF  CHRIST. 


Q.  In  the  third  year  of  the  mission  of  Christ, 
what  was  there  remarkable  ? 

A.  He  sent  his  disciples,  two  and  two,  into 
Judea,  to  preach  penance  and  the  kingdom  of 


God,  whilst  he  himself  traveled  through  all 
the  towns  of  Galilee.  On  their  return,  he  con- 
ducted them  to  the  desert  of  Bethsaida,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  sea  of  Galilee,  where  he  in- 


5o6 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


structed  five  thousand  and  fed  them  b}'  the  mirac- 
ulous loaves  and  fishes.  When  the  disciples  were 
returning  by  sea,  he  came  to  them  walking  on 
the  waters,  calmed  a  mighty  tempest,  and  made 
Peter  walk  also  on  the  surface  of  the  deep. 
The  next  day  he  delivered  to  the  people  of 
Capharnaum  that  celebrated  discourse,  in  which 
he  promises  to  give  his  people  his  sacred  flesh 
and  blood  as  the  food  of  their  souls.  He  re- 
mained in  Galilee  during  the  festival  of  the 
Pasch  ;  and  some  time  after  appeared  in  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  where  the  faith,  the  humility,  and  the  per- 
severance of  the  Cananean  woman  obtained  from 
him  the  cure  of  her  daughter.  On  his  return  to 
Galilee,  he  fed  four  thousand  with  seven  loaves 
and  a  few  fishes.  It  was  about  this  time,  that 
he  asked  his  Apostles  whom  they  took  him  to 
be;  and  when  Peter  answered,  "Thou  art  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God,"  Christ    told    him, 


that  this  faith  was  revealed  to  him  by  the  Father 
who  is  in  heaven,  and  then  added,  "  Thou  art 
Peter,  and  upon,  this  rock  I  will  build  my 
Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.  I  will  give  to  thee  the  keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  and  whatsoever  then  shalt 
bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  what- 
soever thou  shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed 
in  heaven."  After  these  words,  he  foretold  his 
passion,  death,  and  resurrection  openly  to  his 
disciples,  and  reprimanded  Peter  severely  for 
wishing  that  such  should  not  take  place;  and, 
after  telling  all  his  disciples  that  they  should  carry 
their  cross,  if  they  wished  to  be  his  disciples 
in  reality,  he  announced  that  he  would  come 
one  day  to  judge  all  men,  according  to  their 
works ;  and  concluded  by  foretelling  his  trans- 
figuration, which  happened  eight  days  after ; 
Matt,  xvi,  28;  xvii.  i,  2. 


SECTION    IX.— TRANSFIGURATION    OF   JESUS   CHRIST. 


Q.  What  do  3'ou  mean  bj^  the  transfigura- 
tion? 

A.  That  the  face  of  Jesus  appeared  bright 
as  the  sun,  and  his  garments  white  as  snow ; 
this  was  only  a  feeble  ray  of  his  glory ;  still, 
it  dazzled  the  eyes  of  the  Apostles,  and  filled 
them  with  ecstasy.  This  transfiguration  was 
less  a  miracle  than  the  cessation  of  a  great 
miracle,  for  the  Godhead  must  naturally  have 
given  to  his  humanity  this  heavenly  lustre, 
had  he  not  habitually  prevented  it ;  that  appear- 
ing as  a  mere  man  to  the  eyes  of  the  Jews,  he 
might  be  put  to  death ;  St.  Thorn,  part  3, 
quaest.  45,  art.  2,  in  corpore.  Moses  and  Elias 
appeared  with  Jesus,  during  his  transfiguration ; 
and  when  they  disappeared,  a  voice  was  heard 
from  heaven,  saying,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son, 
hear  ye  him."  Jesus  then  toiiched  the  Apostles, 
who  were  prostrate,  and  raising  them,  descended 
from  the  mountain,  and  ordered  them  not 
to  disclose  what  they  saw  or  heard,  until 
after    he     had    arisen    from    the   dead ;    Matt. 


xxvii.  Jesus  was  thus  transfigured,  that 
the  Apostles,  as  well  as  all  his  followers, 
might  believe  in  his  divinity,  obey  his 
moral  precepts,  and  labor  earnestly  to  eujoy 
one  day  that  glory,  with  a  faint  ray  of  which 
the  Apostles  Peter,  James,  and  John  were  cast 
into  such  ecstatic  delight.  The  great,  who 
loved  pomp  and  riches,  who  despised  the  hum- 
ble birth  and  low  estate  of  Jesus,  as  well  as 
the  obstinate,  who  would  not  be  convinced  by 
his  other  many  miracles,  were  unworthy  of  this 
manifestation  of  his  divinity;  and  hence  he 
confined  it  to  three  of  his  Apostles,  a  number 
quite  sufficient  to  attest  its  truth  and  reality 
to  all  sincere  inquirers. 

Q.  Why  did  Moses  and  Elias  appear  with 
Christ,  conversing  as  to  what  Christ  should  suf- 
fer at  Jerusalem  ? 

A.  That  his  Apostles  and  we  might  know 
that  he  was  above  Moses  and  Elias,  who  ap- 
peared as  servants  to  contribute  to  his  triumph ; 
again,  that  the  law,  represented  by  Moses,  and 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


507 


the  prophets^  represented  by  Elias,  might  testif}' 
to  Jesus  Christ  that  his  passion  was  prefigured 
and  foretold  by  them  ;  and  lastly,  that  it  might 
appear  that  the  Jews  were  calumniators,  when 
they  accused  Jesus  of  violating  the  law,  seeing 
that    Moses,    the    minister    of    that    law,    and 


Elias,  the  most  illustrious  defender  of  that 
law,  gave  their  most  unequivocal  testimony  to 
Jesus ;  St.  Chrys.  Horn.  Ivii.  in  Matt,  xvii, ;  St. 
Amb.  in  Luke  ix.  lib.  vii.  n.  9  ;  St.  Hilar,  in 
Matt.  xvii. ;  St.  Leo.  de  Transfig.  Serm.  94. 


SECTION     X.— LIFE      OF     CHRIST 


CONTINUED   TILL   THE   END   OF   THE  THIRD   YEAR 
OF  HIS   MISSION. 


Q.  What  did  Christ  do  after  the  transfigura- 
tion? 

A.  He  continued  instructing  the  people,  and 
confirming  his  doctrine  by  miracles,  his  course 
through  Galilee  being  marked  by  the  good 
■which  he  did,  and  the  sick  he  healed,  on  his 
way.  He  passed  from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem  to 
celebrate  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  in  September, 
when  the  Jews  lived  seven  days  under  tents, 
in  commemoration  of  the  tents  of  the  desert. 
On  his  way  to  Jerusalem,  he  cured  ten  lepers; 
he  arrived  at  Jerusalem  about  the  middle  of 
the  feast ;  he  repaired  to  the  temple,  where  his 
admirable  doctrine,  full  of  mercy  and  wisdom, 
regarding  the  adulterous  woman,  confounded 
the  malignant  Pharisees ; — continuing  to  in- 
struct the  people,  he  gave  authentic  proofs  of 
liis  divinity,  from  the  testimony  of  the  prophets, 
and  by  frequent  miracles.  He  left  the  temple, 
as  the  people  seemed  desirous  to  stone  him ; 
and  finding  on  his  way  one  blind  from  his 
birth,  he  restored  this  man's  sight,  a  miracle 
•which  only  increased  the  jealousy  and  indig- 
nation of  the  Pharisees;     John    vii.,    viii.,    ix. 

He,  after  this,  chose  seventy-two  disciples, 
•whom  he  sent  two  and  two  before  him  to 
preach,  telling  them  to  beseech  the  Father  to 
send  workmen  into  his  vineyard,  because  the 
harvest  was  abundant,  but  the  laborers  few ; 
Tie  told  these  to  consider  themselves  as  lambs 
amongst  wolves ;  to  submit  themselves  en- 
tirely to  the  will  of  Providence ;  that  they 
should  do  good,  wherever  they  should  be  re- 
ceived ;  should  cure  the  sick,  and  be  messen- 
gers of  peace;  adding,  that  those  who  rejected 


them  should  be  more  severely  punished  than 
Sodom.  "  For,"  says  he,  "  he  that  heareth  you, 
heareth  me ;  and  he  that  despiseth  you,  despi- 
seth  me ;  and  he  that  despiseth  me,  despiseth 
him  that  sent  me."  When  these  disciples  re- 
turned from  their  mission,  Christ  told  them 
not  to  be  vain  of  their  power  to  work  miracles, 
but  rather  to  rejoice  that  their  names  were 
written  in  the  Book  of  Life;  for  to  the  hum- 
ble alone  did  God  grant  his  favors ;  Luke 
X.   16. 

Christ  afterwards,  when  visiting  Martha  and 
Mary,  preferred  the  contemplative  life  of  the 
latter  to  the  active  life  of  the  former.  He 
then  repaired  to  the  temple,  to  celebrate  the 
feast  of  the  Dedication,  which  had  been  insti- 
tuted by  Judas  Machabeus.  Whilst  in  the 
temple,  he  addressed  the  Jews  with  severity, 
and  gave  them  again  proofs  of  his  divine  mis- 
sion. They,  in  return  conceived  greater  hatred 
towards  him,  and  desired  to  seize  his  person, 
which  he  did  not  permit.  Whilst  near  the 
Jordan,  Christ  continued  his  instructions 
and  miracles,  he  there  gave  the  para- 
bles of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,  and 
of  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publican ;  whilst 
in  the  person  of  a  young  rich  man, 
he  showed  the  difficulty  of  reconciling  riches 
with  salvation.  Returning  near  to  Jerusalem, 
he  raised  Lazarus  to  life,  a  miracle  which 
induced  many  to  believe  in  him,  whilst  it  excited 
in  the  priests  and  Pharisees  bitter  envy  and 
hatred  against  him.  He  then  retired  from 
Bethania  to  Ephrem,  a  city  near  the  desert  j 
John  xi.  II,  14,  etc. 


5o8 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


SECTION   XI.— LIFE   OF  CHRIST   CONTINUED   TILL   AFTER    THE  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

HOLY  EUCHARIST. 


Q.  What  was  there  remarkable  in  the  life  of 
Christ  after  the  third  year  of  his  mission  ? 

A.  The  feast  of  the  Pasch  approached ;  and, 
having  resolved  to  die  at  that  time,  he  directed 
his  steps  towards  Jerusalem.  He  told  his  dis- 
ciples that  he  was  about  to  accomplish  all  that 
had  been  foretold  by  the  prophets ;  he  spoke 
of  his  passion,  his  death,  and  resurrection.  On 
his  way,  he  rested  at  Jericho,  with  Zacheus, 
whom  he  converted ;  leaving  Jericho,  he  healed 
two  who  were  blind,  and  went  to  Bethania  six 
days  before  the  Pasch.  Two  days  after,  he  ate 
at  Simon  the  Leper's  house,  with  Lazarus; 
Martha  served  the  table,  and  Mary  poured  pre- 
cious ointment  on  his  feet.  Judas  was  scan- 
dalized, but  Christ  praised  the  devotion  of 
Mary,  The  next  day,  which  was  Sunday,  he  set 
out  as  if  in  triumph,  riding  on  an  ass,  a  cir- 
cumstance foretold  by  the  prophet ;  Zach.  ix. 
9.  The  people  in  crowds  strewed  his  way  with 
their  garments,  and  with  branches,  exclaiming, 
"  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord ;  Hosanna  to  the  son  of  David :"  (the 
word  Hosanna,  according  to  some,  means  save 
me,  if  thou  pleasest ;  and,  according  to  others, 
salvation  and  glory) . 

Amid  these  acclamations,  Jesus  entered  Jeru- 
salem, but  before  entering,  the  moment  he  per- 
ceived that  city,  he  burst  into  tears,  in  foretelling 
its  approaching  ruin.  He  then  entered  the 
temple,  and  banished  those  who  profaned  it ;  he 
cured  many  who  were  blind  and  lame,  and 
silenced  the  Pharisees  who  seemed  scandalized. 
After  showing  himself  to  some  Gentiles,  and 
giving  them  to  understand  that  after  he  should 
die  on  the  Cross,  he  would  draw  all  the  Gen- 
tiles to  himself,  he  in  the  evening  left  Jerusalem 
for  Bethania ;  he  returned  the  next  day,  and,  on 


his  way,  cursed  a  barren  fig  tree,  which  withered 
immediately.  The  whole  of  this  day  he  spent 
instructing  in  Jerusalem,  and  at  night,  returned 
again  to  Bethania.  He  returned  on  Tuesday 
to  Jerusalem,  and  foretold  to  the  Jews  their  rep- 
robation, and  the  vocation  of  the  Gentiles ;  he 
taught  them  to  render  to  Cassar  what  belonged  ta 
Csesar,  and  to  God  what  belonged  to  God ;  be 
gave  them  instructions  regarding  the  state  of 
the  saints,  the  love  of  God,  and  the  prophecies 
which  declared  that  the  Messiah  should  be  the 
son  of  David.  He  ordered  obedience  to  the 
Pharisees  and  Doctors,  because  they  sat  in  the 
chair  of  Moses;  he  denounced  the  hypocrites, 
and  showed  the  value  of  the  small  alms  of  the 
poor  widow. 

In  the  evening,  he  left  the  temple,  and  seat- 
ing himself  opposite  to  it  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  he  foretold  with  the  most  precise  details 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  alluded  to 
the  signs  of  his  second  coming,  of  which  the 
ruin  of  Jerusalem  was  a  figure.  On  Wednes- 
day morning  he  foretold  to  his  disciples  his 
death  upon  a  cross.  On  this  same  day  Judas 
promised  to  deliver  Jesus  to  the  chief  priests 
for  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  This  exact  sum  was 
foretold  by  the  prophet  Zachary,  xi.  12  ;  Matt, 
xxvi.,  xxvii.  The  next  day,  Christ  ordered  two- 
of  his  Apostles  to  prepare  the  repast  of  the 
Paschal  Lamb,  and  testified  his  ardor  to  eat 
with  them  this  Pasch,  the  last  before  his  death. 
After  the  repast,  he  washed  the  feet  of  his 
Apostles,  and,  having  sat  down  again  at  the 
table,  he  instituted  the  Sacrifice  and  Sacrament 
of  his  body  and  blood,  under  the  appearances 
of  bread  and  wine.  Of  these  we  shall  speak 
afterwards,  when  we  come  to  treat  of  the  Mass, 
and  the  Eucharist. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


509 


SECTION   XII.— ON   THE   DISCOURSE   DELIVERED  BY   JESUS  AFTER   HIS   LAST   SUPPER. 


Q.  What  did  Christ  do  after  the  institution 
of  the  Eucharist  ? 

A.  He  foretold  that  Judas  would  betray  him ; 
and,  by  pointing  out  the  traitor,  gave  him  an 
opportunity  of  repenting,  of  which  Judas  did 
not  take  advantage,  but  proceeded  without  delay 
to  betray  his  Master.  Christ  then  recited  a 
canticle  with  his  Apostles,  foretold  Peter's  fall, 
repentance,  and  final  perseverance;  and,  by  a  dis- 
course full  of  tenderness,  comforted  his  Apostles, 
who  were  much  depressed  at  the  near  approach 
of  his  passion  and  death.  In  this,  he  told 
them  he  was  going  to  prepare  a  place  for  them, 
that  he  would  send  his  Holy  Spirit  to  be  their 
guide,  and  to  dwell  with  them  forever;  that 
liis  Father  would  love  them,  and  all  who  kept 
his  commandments  ;  that  his  Holy  Spirit  would 
teach  them  what  to  say;  that  he  imparted  his 
peace  to  them ;  that  so  long  as  they  were 
united  to  him,  they  would,  like  the  branch 
attached  to  the  vine,  produce  fruit.  He  exhorted 
them  to  love  him  and  to  keep  his  commandments; 
to  love  one  another,  as  he,  who  was  about  to  die 


for  their  sakes,  loved  them.  He  informed  them 
that  they  should  ever  hate  the  world,  which 
hated  and  was  opposed  to  them;  and  that  they 
should,  in  all  times,  be  persecuted.  Seeing  his 
Apostles  sad,  he  told  them  it  was  necessary  he 
should  die,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  might  come 
upon  them;  that  he  should  be  separated  from 
them  only  for  a  short  time ;  that  they  should  be 
sad  during  that  time;  but  that  their  sorrow  would 
be  turned  into  joy.  In  fine,  he  concluded  by 
informing  them  that,  whatever  they  should  ask 
in  his  name,  they  should  receive  ;  that  his  Father 
loved  them,  because  they  loved  him,  and  because 
they  believed  that  he  came  from  the  Father. 

Q.  Did  this  discourse  regard  only  the  Apos- 
tles? 

A.  No ;  Jesus  Christ  addressed  it,  through  the 
Apostles,  to  all  his  followers.  Having  finished 
his  discourse,  he  addressed  to  his  Father  that 
beautiful  prayer,  for  himself,  for  his  Apostles, 
and  for  the  whole  world,  which  is  found  in  St. 
John  xvii. 


SECTION     XIII.— JESUS    IN    THE     GARDEN    OF   OLIVES. 


Q.  What  did  Christ  do  after  this  prayer? 

A.  He  passed,  with  his  disciples,  to  the  tor- 
rent Cedron,  which  David,  who  was  a  figure  of 
Christ,  passed  on  foot,  in  profound  sorrow,  when 
he  was  flying  from  his  son  Absalom,  who  re- 
volted against  him ;  he  ascended  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  and  retired  into  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semani,  where  he  knew  Judas  would  come  to 
betray  him ;  John  xvii.  He  then  counselled 
his  Apostles  to  watch  and  pray,  and  retired  to 
pray  alone.  The  thought  of  his  passion  pro- 
duced an  agony,  in  which  he  sweated  blood 
from  every  pore  of  his  sacred  body.  God  sent 
an  angel  to  comfort  him;  Matt.  xxvi.  36,  etc.; 
Mark  xiv.  32,  etc. 


Q.  Why  did  Jesus,  who  desired  so  ardently 
to  die  for  us,  fall  into  this  agony  ? 

A.  Charged  with  our  sins,  he  desired  to  bear 
all  the  humiliations  and  pains  due  to  sin,  and 
to  show  us  that  our  depression,  sorrow,  and 
agonies,  are  not  sins,  if  we  bear  them  for  his 
sake ;  St.  Aug.  in  Ps.  87.  He  desired,  also, 
to  show  us,  by  these  sorrows,  that  he  was 
really  man,  and  thus  serve  us  with  an  argu- 
ment against  heretics  who  denied  this,  such  as 
the  Manicheans  and  Apollinarists. 

Q.  What  did  Jesus  do  after  his  agony  and 
prayer  ? 

A.  He  awakened  his  disciples,  and  told  them 
that   Judas  approached;    when  the  latter  came 


5IO 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


near,  Jesus,  by  the  mild  address  of  Friend^ 
gave  Judas  an  opportunity  of  repenting,  but 
lie  would  not;  he  traitorously  kissed  Jesus, 
and  thus  gave  the  signal  for  his  apprehen- 
sion. When  Jesus  said  to  the  Jews,  who 
came  to  apprehend  him,  /  am  Jesus  of  Nazar- 
eth^ they  fell  upon  the  earth,  thus  proving 
':hat  no  man  could  violate  the  person  of 
the  Saviour,  mthout  his  own  permission.  He 
then  delivered  himself  up. 

Q.  What  became  of  his  Apostles? 

A.  They  fled.  Peter,  having  more  courage 
than  the  others,  cut  oS"  the  ear  of  a  servant; 
Jesus  cured  the  wound,  and  checked  Peter.  He 
reproached  the  Jews  for  seizing,  as  a  robber, 
him  whom  they  had  every  day  an  opportunity 
of  taking  in  the  temple,  whilst  teaching.  But 
he  added  it  was  the  time  of  the  powers  of  dark- 


ness, and  that  all  this  was  the  accomplishment 
of  the  prophecies.  He  was  made  prisoner  late 
at  night,  as  is  clear  from  the  use  of  lanterns 
and  torches ;  John  xviii.  3. 

Q.  Was  the  treachery  of  Judas  foretold  by  the 
prophets  ? 

A.  It  was  prefigured  by  the  treason  of  Achi- 
tophel,  David's  counsellor,  as  St.  Peter  tells  us 
in  the  Acts;  see  Ps.  liv.  13 ;  Ps.  cviii.  8;  Zach.  xi. 
12;  Matt,  xxvii.  9.  That  Christ  should  be  made 
prisoner,  was  also  foretold ;  Jer.  iv.  20.  Jere- 
miah himself  was  a  living  prophecy  of  the  suf- 
ferings of  Jesus  ;  Jer.  xx.  xxxviii.  Joseph,  who 
was  sold  by  his  own  brothers  to  the  Egyptians, 
was  another  figure  of  our  suffering  Saviour.  The 
flight  of  the  Apostles  was  also  foretold  by  Zach- 
arias :  "  I  will  strike  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep 
shall  be  scattered ; "  Zach.  xiii.  7;  Matt.  xxvi.  31. 


SECTION  XIV.— JESUS  BEFORE  CAIPHAS. 


Q.  Whither  was  Christ  conducted,  after  being 
made  prisoner? 

A.  First  to  Annas,  and  then  to  Caiphas.  The 
latter,  aided  by  the  chief  priests,  interrogated 
him  as  a  criminal,  produced  witnesses,  who 
contradicted  one  another,  against  him,  and,  at 
length,  asked  him  directly  if  he  were  the 
Christ.  He  replied  at  once  that  he  was,  al- 
though he  knew  that  this  alone  would  condemn 
him  to  death.  An  insolent  servant  struck  him  ; 
Peter  denied  him  thrice ;  when  condemned,  they 
spit  upon  him,  buffeted  him,  and  loaded  him 
with  a  thousand  similar  insults. 

Q.  How  did  Christ  act  towards  Peter,  who 
had  fallen  ? 

A.  He  cast  upon  him  a  look  of  compassion, 
and    Peter   wept    and    repented.     He  was    per- 


mitted to  fall,  that  he  might  from  his  own 
weakness  learn  mercy,  when  he  should  become 
chief  of  the  Church ;  and  that  his  fall  might 
teach  us  never  to  presume  on  our  own  strength, 
to  avoid  temptation,  to  shun  wicked  company, 
and  to  imitate  Peter's  tears,  and  prompt  repen- 
tance, when  we  do  fall. 

Q.  How  did  Christ  act  with  regard  to  the 
Jews  ? 

A.  He  bore  all  their  insolence  with  the 
meekness  of  a  lamb,  as  Isaias  foretold ; 
liii.  7.  All  that  Christ  suffered  before 
Caiphas  was  foretold ;  Lament,  iii.  30 ;  Isaias  1. 
6  ;  Ps.  Ixviii.  8.  Judas  repented  of  his  crimes, 
but  he  despaired,  and  hanged  himself,  thus 
teaching  all  posterity  to  avoid  cupidity ;  Matt. 
xxvii.  3. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


5" 


SECTION  XV.— JESUS   CONDEMNED  TO  DEATH   BY   PILATE. 


Q.  What  was  the  next  step  taken  by  the 
Jews? 

A.  They  led  Jesus  bound  to  Pilate,  and  there 
accused  him  of  disturbing  the  peace,  of  pre- 
venting the  payment  of  the  tribute  to  the 
emperor,  and  of  calling  himself  king.  Christ 
declared  to  Pilate  that  he  was  king  of  the 
Jews,  but  that  his  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
world.  Pilate  evidently  saw  that  Christ  was 
innocent,  and,  to  rid  himself  of  the  responsi- 
bility, sent  him  to  Herod.  Jesus  would  not 
satisfy  Herod's  curiosity,  by  answering  any  of 
his  questions,  and  Herod,  incensed,  clothed  him  in 
a  robe  of  derision,  and  sent  him  back  to  Pilate. 

Q.  What  did  Pilate  now  do  to  save    Jesus  ? 

A.  He  alleged  that  Herod,  like  himself,  could 
see  no  guilt  in  Jesus;  he  proposed  that,  as  the 
Jews  had  the  power  to  save  one  criminal  at  the 
solemn  festival  of  the  Pasch,  he  would  give 
them  their  choice  between  Christ  and  Bar- 
abbas,  hoping  they  would  save  Christ.  He 
was  disappointed ;  they  liberated  the  robber 
and  murderer,  and  demanded  the  crucifixion 
of  Jesus.  Pilate,  then,  to  excite  their 
compassion,  ordered  Jesus  to  be  scourged. 
The  Jews  then  stripped  him,  scourged  him, 
crowned  him  with  thorns,  clothed  him  in  a 
purple  garment,  insulted  and  mocked  him. 
Jesus  suffered  all  in  silence.  Pilate  presented 
him  in  this  sad  condition  to  the  Jews,  hoping 
his  very  appearance  would  melt  them  into  ten- 
derness ;  but  no ;  that  merciless  people  cried 
out,  "Let  him  be  crucified;"  and  this  unjust 
and  pusillanimous  judge  delivered  him  up : 
"Take,"  said  he,  "and  crucify  him  yourselves, 
I  find  no  cause  of  death  in  him."  The  Jews 
cried  out,  "  His  blood  be  upon  us  and  upon  our 
children ; "  and  the  eflfects  of  that  terrible  male- 
diction have  been  visible,  from  that  day  to  this, 
amongst  this  unhappy  people ;  Dan.  ix.  27. 
Thus  did  the  wretched  Pilate  deliver  up  Jesus 
to  death,  washing  his  hands  of  the  guilt.  He 
was,  however,  punished  even  in  this  life  for  his 
crime.     He  was  disgraced   in  the   ej'es  of   the 


emperor,  was  banished   into  Gaul,  and  became 
his  own  executioner ;  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  2. 

Q.  When  the  sentence  of  death  was  pro- 
nounced, what  followed  ? 

A.  Jesus  was  loaded  with  a  heavy  cross,  and 
led  to  Calvary,  like  Isaac  bearing  on  his 
shoulders  the  wood  on  which  he  was  to  be  immo- 
lated. Of  the  crowds  who  followed,  there  were 
many  women  weeping ;  Jesus  told  them  not  to 
weep  for  him,  but  for  themselves  and  their 
children.  Two  thieves  were  led  after  him,  to 
die  with  him. 

Q.  What  was  done  with  Jesus  when  he 
arrived  at  Calvary  ? 

A.  They  gave  him  not  wine  and  myrrh, 
which  was  customary,  but  wine  and  gall;  such 
was  their  refinement  in  cruelty.  They  stripped 
him,  nailed  him  to  the  cross,  and  raised  that 
cross  in  the  air,  between  two  thieves ;  all  this 
took  place  on  Friday,  about  noon,  at  which 
time  universal  darkness  shrouded  the  earth  in 
a  most  miraculous  manner.  Jesus  was  insulted 
by  the  people ;  one  thief  blasphemed,  the  other 
repented.  The  sword  of  sorrow  pierced  the 
soul  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  who  clung  to  the 
cross.  St.  John  and  the  pious  women  were 
drowned  in  a  sea  of  sorrows.  Jesus,  bleeding, 
dying,  prays  for  those  who  shed  his  blood ;  he 
offers  himself  a  victim,  for  the  sins  of  an 
ungrateful  world ;  even  on  the  cross  he  acts  as 
a  jxidge ;  he  permits  the  thief  on  the  left  to 
die  in  his  sins;  he  rewards  the  penitential  tears 
of  the  other;  he  forgets  not  his  blessed  mother, 
he  commends  her  and  St.  John  mutually  to 
each  other; — after  about  three  hours'  torture, 
he  cries  aloud,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me  ?  " — he  commends  his  soul  to 
God  ;  he  declares,  "  It  is  consummated ;  "  his 
head  droops,  and  he  gives  up  the  ghost.  Thus, 
according  to  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  the  Mes- 
siah, the  desired  of  nations,  the  Son  of  God, 
laid  down  his  life  on  the  altar  of  the  cross  for 
mankind,  urged  by  his  ineffable  love  for  his 
ungrateful  children. 


5" 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


SECTION    XVI.— ON  THE  PROPHECIES  WHICH   REGARD  THE  DEATH  OF  JESUS. 


Q.  Have  the  prophets  foretold  the  circum- 
stances of  the  passion  of  Jesus  ? 

A.  In  Psalm  xxi.,  the  passion  is  exactly  de- 
scribed. His  being  mocked,  surrounded  by  the 
wicked  Jews,  the  piei'cing  of  his  hands  and 
feet,  the  counting  of  his  bones,  the  division  of 
his  garments,  his  prayer  to  the  Father,  his 
triumph,  the  establishment  of  his  Church,  her 
extension  to  all  nations,  are  all  foretold  with 
the  utmost  precision  ;  see  Ps.  Ixviii.  5,  8,  9,  etc. 

Q.  What  says  Isaias  on  the  passion  of 
Christ  ? 

A.  There  is  scarcely  one  chapter  in  that 
prophet  which  does  not  refer  to  Christ  and  his 
Church.  We  select  especially  chapter  liii.  for  the 
inspection  of  the  reader  ;  it  seems  more  like  the 
history  of  a  past  event  than  a  prediction.  It 
might  be  called  the  Passion  of  Jesus  Christ 
according  to  Isaias.     Read  it — meditate  upon  it. 

Q.  What  says  Daniel  ? 

A.  He  foretells  the  time  of  the  coming  and 
death  of  Christ ;  that  his  people  would  renounce 
him,  and  cease  to  be  his ;  that  an  enemy  would 
come  and  destroy  their  city,  their  temple,  their 
sanctuary,  and  scatter  themselves  to  the  four 
winds  of  heaven  ;  Dan.  ix.  24,  etc. 

Q.  What  says  Zacharias  ? 

A.  He  foretells  the  spirit  of  grace  and  prayer 
that  should  descend  on  the  house  of  David,  that 
the  people  should  cast  their  eyes  on  him  whom 
they  pierced,  that  they  should  sigh  and  weep  for 
him  whom  they  wounded.  By  this  prophet  di- 
rect reference  is  made  to  the  wounds  in  the 
Saviour's  hands, — wounds  inflicted  by  his  own 
children  ;  Zach.  xii. ;  xiii.  The  treacherous  seiz- 
ure of  Christ,  and  the  crimes  with  which  he  up- 
braided the  Jews,  his  holy  life,  his  title,  his  being 


the  Son  of  God,  his  hatred  of  sin,  his  deliverance 
into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  his  torments,  his 
death — are  all  clearly  foretold;  Wisd.  ii.  10. 
How  criminal  the  blindness  of  that  man,  who 
will  not  see  truth  so  clearly  demonstrated  by  the 
perfect  accordance  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Old 
Testament  with  the  events  of  the  New ! 

Q.  Did  Christ  give  other  proofs  of  his  divinity 
about  the  time  of  his  death  ? 

A  He  terrified  the  Jews  who  came  to  take 
him ;  he  healed  miraculously  Malchus,  who  was 
wounded  by  Peter.  Whilst  on  the  cross,  the  sun 
suffered  an  eclipse,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature* 
during  three  hours, — I  say,  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  nature,  for  this  eclipse  happened  during  the 
full  moon,  as  the  Jews  always  kept  the  Pasch  at 
the  full  moon  of  the  first  month.  Now,  all  the 
world  knows  that  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  cannot 
take  place  according  to  the  laws  of  nature,  except 
at  the  time  of  the  new  moon.  This  eclipse  is 
foretold,  and  beautifully,  by  the  prophet  Amos 
viii.,  and  even  more  decidedly  by  Zacharias  xiv. 
7.  Tertullian,  in  his  defence  of  Christianity  be- 
fore the  Roman  Emperors,  tells  us  that  Plegon 
and  Thallus  speak  of  this  eclipse  in  clear  terms  ; 
Tertul.  Apol.  c.  xxi. 

Q.  What  happened  after  the  death  of  Christ  ? 

A.  The  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent ;  the  earth 
trembled  ;  the  rocks  were  rent ;  the  tombs  were 
opened ;  the  dead  arose,  and  were  seen  in  Jeru- 
salem, as  if  to  show  the  real  life  the  Messiah  was 
to  give  to  the  world ;  the  commander  of  the 
guard  was  converted ;  many  beat  their  breasts ; 
but  the  Jews,  and  especially  the  priests,  remained 
more  obstinate  than  the  rocks,  which  were  rent 
at  the  death  of  their  Creator. 


THE  MADONNA    OF  THE  SCAPULAR. 

The  festival  of  the  Scapular  or  the  feest  in  cotmnetnoration  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  of  Mount  Carmel.     This  devotion  was  Mtahlished 
bv  Simon  Stock  (in  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century),  to  whom  the  Blessed  Virgin  imparted  th?  devotion 


OUR  LADY  OF  THE  ROSARY. 

Without  taking  into  consideration  that  the  greatest  saints  said  this  prayer  daily,  it  is  a  confession  of  our  Holy  Roman  Catholic  faith,  a 
repeated  adoration  of  the  most  Holy  Trinity,  and  an  authorized  veneration  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  has  pronounced 
blessed. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


513 


SECTION  XVII.— WHY  AND  FOR  WHOM  DID  CHRIST  DIE,  AND  HOW  DID  HE  SATISFY  FOR 

SIN— THE  DESCENT  INTO  HELL. 


Q.  Why  did  Christ  die  so  ignominiously  ? 

A.  He  chose  that  sort  of  death,  to  make  us  feel 
the  enormity  of  our  sins,  and  to  cure  our  pride, 
sensuality,  and  criminal  curiosity.  He  died  for 
the  sins  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  for  those  of  all 
their  descendants  ;  he  offered  his  blood  as  a  sat- 
isfaction to  his  Father,  for  all,  and  hence  he  is 
called  the  Saviour  of  all  men ;  i  Cor.  v.  14;  i 
Tim.  ii.  4 ;  iv.  10 ;  I  John  ii.  2. 

Q.  If  Jesus  Christ  satisfied  for  all  sin,  why 
should  man  be  punished  for  it  ? 

A.  Jesus  satisfied  for  all ;  all,  however,  do  not 
receive  the  fruit  of  his  death,  but  only  those  to 
whom  the  merits  of  his  passion  are  communi- 
cated, and  to  whom  his  blood  is  really  applied. 
This  application  requires  the  co-operation  of  our 
free  will.  Christ,  like  a  prince  who  wishes  to 
liberate  his  subjects  from  bondage,  wishes  to 
liberate  those  only  who  co-operate  with  him  in 
bursting  their  chains.  The  light  of  liberty, 
which  Jesus  sheds,  is  not  shed  for  those  who 
shut  their  eyes  against  it.  He  gives  us  grace, 
to  enable  us  to  do  his  will ;  if  we  neglect  to 
co-operate,  the  fault  is  ours,  not  his  ;  Cone.  Trid. 
Sess.  vi.  c.  3,  de  Justif. 

Q.  Was  the  satisfaction  of  Jesus  absolutely 
necessary  ? 

A.  Yes;  if  a  God-man  had  not  satisfied  for  us, 
our  sins  would  not  have  been  effaced.  An  offence 
offered  to  an  tnfimte  being  could  be  satisfied  for 
only  by  a  being  of  infinite  dignity.  God  could,  we 
believe,  have  forgiven  ;  but  he  chose  that  his  jus 
tice  should  be  satisfied ;  that  justice  which  re- 
quired that  every  sin  should  be  punished.  Jesus, 
who  satisfied,  made  both  the  mercy  and  justice 
of  God  his  Father  shine  forth  to  the  world  ;  Heb. 
X.  I  ;  John  ii.  2. 

Q.  Was  it  the  divine  nature  that  suffered  ? 

A.  No ;  it  was  the  human  nature  united  to  the 

Word.     The    Divine  could    not    suffer    or   die ; 

Jesus  suffered,  as  man,  all  the  torments,  and  that 

death  which  sin  deserved,  and  gave,  as  God,  an 

.^3 


infinite  value  to  his  sufferings.  He  washed  away 
our  sins,  he  delivered  us  from  the  slavery  of  the 
devil,  and  from  the  pains  of  hell ;  he  opened 
heaven  to  us  ;  he  made  himself  the  model  of  all 
necessary  virtues ;  he  merited  for  us  all  neces- 
sary graces;  Rom.  iii.  25  ;  Col.  i.  14,  20;  ii.  13 ; 
Apoc.  i.  5  ;  John  xii.  31  ;  Heb.  v.  9 ;  ix.  8  ;  x.  19. 
The  places  of  refuge  in  which  involuntary  homi- 
cides dwelt,  as  in  exile,  till  the  death  of  the  high 
priest,  when  they  were  set  at  liberty,  were  a  fig- 
ure of  the  state  of  the  just  of  the  old  law,  who, 
by  the  death  of  Christ,  the  true  Pontiff  were 
liberated.  The  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb  which 
delivered  the  Hebrews  from  death,  prefigured  the 
effect  of  the  death  of  Christ,  the  true  Lamb  who 
delivered  us  from  death,  by  taking  away  the  sins 
of  the  world ;  Num.  xxxv.  The  graces  that 
Jesus,  by  his  death,  procured  for  us  are  foretold ; 
Isa.  liii.,  and  Dan.  ix. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean,  when  you  say  Jesus 
Christ  died  ? 

A.  That  what  happens  to  all  men  in  death, 
happened  to  him ;  his  soul  was  separated  from  his 
body,  but  the  divine  nature  remained  with  both 
the  body  and  soul. 

Q.  Whither  did  the  soul  of  Jesus  go,  when 
separated  from  the  body  ? 

A.  It  descended  to  a  place  called  hell,  or  accord- 
ing to  St.  Paul,to  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth;  Eph. 
iv.  9,  10.  This  word  hell  may  mean  either  the 
hell  of  the  damned  ;  Luke  xvi.  22,  or  what  we 
call  purgatory,  in  which  sense  the  Church  takes 
it,  when,  in  Mass  for  the  dead,  she  praj^s  God  to 
deliver  the  souls  of  the  faithful  dead  from  the 
pains  of  hell ;  or,  in  fine,  it  may  mean  a  place 
where  reposed  the  just  of  the  Old  Testament, 
waiting  the  coming  of  the  Redeemer.  It  is  to 
this  latter  place  that  the  soul  of  Jesus  descended; 
see  Ps.  XV.,  explained  by  St.  Peter,  Acts  ii.  31 ; 
and  by  St.  Paul,  Eph.  iv.  19.  See  also  St.  Hil- 
ary on  Psalm  cxxxviii. 

Q.  Why  did  Christ  descend  into  this  place  ? 


514 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


A.  To  lead  forth  from  it  all  the  just,  in  tri- 
umph, with  himself  to  heaven,  which  he  had 
opened  by  his  death.  I  mean  by  they«^^,  all  to 
whom  God  had  granted  mercy  through  the  then 
prospective  merits  of  Christ,  but  to  whom  the  full 
effect  of  that  mercy  could  not  be  applied,  until 
after  the  death  of  the  Redeemer ;  St.  Aug.  de  Civ. 
Dei,  lib.  xx. 

Q.  Was  any  thing  done  to  the  body  of  Jesus, 
after  his  death  ? 

A.  As  he  was  found  dead,  they  did  not  break 
his  limbs,  as  they  did  to  the  two  thieves  ;  and  in 
this  is  verified  the  figure  wherein,  by  the  order 
of  Moses,  the  bones  of  the  paschal  lamb  were 
forbidden  to  be  broken  ;  Ex.  xii.  46  :  John  xix. 
33.  A  soldier,  however,  to  insure  the  death  of 
Jesus,  opened  his  side  with  a  spear,  from  which 
flowed  blood  and  water,  a  figure  of  the  Sacra- 


ments of  the  Church,  which  draw  all  their  virtue 
from  the  blood  poured  forth  upon  the  cross ;  St. 
Aug.  Tract,  120,  in  Joan.  Jesus  also  wished  to 
have  his  side  pierced,  that  all  might  know  that 
he  really  died,  and  that  this  might  show  the 
reality  of  his  Resurrection. 

Q.  After  this,  what  was  done  to  the  body  of 
Jesus  ? 

A.  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  aided  by  Nicodemus, 
laid  the  body  in  a  tomb  cut  out  of  a  solid 
rock,  and  an  immense  stone  was  rolled  to  the 
mouth  of  the  tomb.  The  Jews  were  permitted  by 
Pilate  to  seal  the  mouth  of  the  sepulchre,  and  to 
place  a  guard  upon  it,  lest  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
should  come  and  steal  the  body,  and  then  say 
Christ  had  arisen,  as  he  had  foretold ;  circum- 
stances which  afterwards  served  as  invincible 
proofs  of  his  Resurrection. 


SECTION   XVIIl.— THE  RESURRECTION   OF  CHRIST,  HIS   APPEARANCES   AFTERWARDS,   AND 

HIS  LIFE  TILL  HIS  ASCENSION. 


Q.  Did  Jesus  Christ  rise  again  ? 

A.  He  rose  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  as 
he  himself  and  the  prophets  had  foretold ;  his 
soul  was  reunited  to  his  body,  and  he  came  forth 
from  the  tomb,  glorious  and  immortal.  His  Res- 
urrection was  prefigured  by  the  prosperity  of 
Job  after  his  sufierings ;  by  the  life  of  Isaac, 
after  being  laid  on  the  pile  for  sacrifice ;  by 
Joseph's  glory  after  his  imprisonment ;  and,  more 
clearly  still,  by  the  miraculous  deliverance  of 
Jonas,  after  being  three  days  entombed  in  the 
belly  of  a  marine  monster;  Jonas  ii.,  iii.;  Matt. 
xii.  40.  The  prophet  David  foretold  the  Resur- 
rection ;  Ps.  XV.  10 ;  and  St.  Peter  applies  this 
passage  of  David  to  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ;  Acts  ii.  22  ;  xiii.  29  ;  Ps.  iii.  6;  ix.,  xxi., 
xl. ;  Osee  vi.  3  ;  Isaias  liii.  10;  Zach.  vi.  12. 

Q.  How  did  the  body  of  Jesus  escape  from  the 
tomb,  seeing  its  door  was  secured  by  a  huge 
stone  ? 

A.  Christ  arose  by  his  own  divine  power. 
After  he  had  arisen,  an  Angel  descended,  caused 


an  earthquake,  rolled  away  the  stone,  and  so  ter- 
rified the  guards,  that  they  fell,  as  dead,  to  the 
earth  ;  Matt,  xxviii.  The  Jews,  instead  of  being 
converted  by  these  prodigies,  bribed  the  soldiers 
to  say,  that  when  they  were  asleep,  the  disciples 
stole  the  body  of  Jesus- — as  if  the  evidence  of 
sleeping  witnesses  could  be  of  any  weight. 

Q.  How  do  we  know  that  Christ  arose  truly.  ? 

A.  By  the  incontestable  evidence  of  those  who 
saw  him  often,  and  conversed  with  him  after  his 
Resurrection,  who  touched  his  wounds,  ate  with 
him,  and  sealed  the  truth  of  their  testimony  with 
their  blood.  He  appeared  first  to  Magdalene,  to 
recompense  her  faith  and  love  for  him ;  then,  to 
the  pious  women  who  came  to  embalm  his  body ; 
after  this,  to  St.  Peter,  chief  of  the  Apostles  ;  to 
the  two  disciples  on  their  way  to  Emmaus ;  and 
to  the  eleven  Apostles  who  were  assembled,  the 
doors  being  shut.  He  showed  them  the  wounds 
in  his  hands,  his  feet,  and  his  side  ;  he  ate  with 
them,  and  gave  them  power  to  forgive  sin ;  all 
these     apparitions    took     place    on     the    very 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION  DEFINED. 


515 


day  of  the  Resurrection ;  Luke  xxiv. ;  Mark 
xvi. ;  John  xx.  To  St.  Thomas,  who  was  not 
present  on  the  last  occasion,  he  appeared  eight 
days  after ;  he  made  him  touch  his  wounds  ;  and 
St.  Thomas  believed.  Christ  appeared  again  to 
St.  Peter  and  others  in  Galilee,  and  ate  with  them. 
It  was  here  that  St.  Peter  made  the  triple  profes- 
sion of  his  love,  as  a  compensation  for  his  three 
denials ;  here  Christ  gave  him  the  charge  of  his 
lambs  and  his  sheep ;  and  here  Christ  foretold 
the  death  Peter  should  die ;  John  xxi.  He  ap- 
peared afterwards  on  a  mountain  in  Galilee  to 
the  five  hundred  witnesses,  as  he  had  promised  ; 
Matt,  xxviii ;  i  Cor.  xv.  6.  He  appeared  to  St. 
James  ;  i  Cor.  xv.  7  ;  and  lastly,  he  appeared  to 
his  Apostles  immediatel)'^  before  his  Ascension. 
The  Scripture  expressly  mentions  these  ten  appa- 
ritions ;  but  it  says,  in  general,  that  Christ 
appeared  often  to  instruct  his  followers,  and  to 
speak  to  them  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  Acts  i.  3. 

Q.  Can  we  rest  with  entire  confidence  on  the 
testimony  of  those  who  declared  that  Christ  had 
arisen  ? 

A.  That  these  witnesses  were  deceived,  or  de- 
ceivers, was  utterly  impossible.  There  were  five 
hundred  of  them  ;  all,  without  the  exception  of 
even  one,  declared  that  they  saw  him  after  his 
Resurrection ;  and  nearly  all  laid  down  their 
lives  for  this  great  truth.  If  there  had  been  any 
fraud,  surely  some  one  would  have  divulged  it ; 
that  all  should  combine  to  act- against  their  con- 
sciences, and  to  die  for  what  they  knew  to  be 
false,  is  impossible.  These  witnesses  were  sim- 
ple men,  untutored  in  the  art  of  deception  ;  men 
very  unlikely  to  attempt  the  propagation  of 
error,  at  their  own  peril  and  in  the  face  of  malig- 
nant and  powerful  enemies.  These  witnesses 
proved  the    truth  which   they    attested,  by   the 


prophecies  which  foretold  it,  and  by  miracles,  of 
themselves  sufficient  to  prove  what  they  attested 
as  true;  Acts  ii.  24;  xiii.  35;  Mark  xvi.  17. 
The  Apostles,  in  preaching  the  Resurrection, 
declared  that,  according  to  the  prophecies,  Christ 
arisen  from  the  dead,  would  convert  all  nations, 
and  this  at  a  time  when  such  an  event  seemed 
impossible.  They  declared  also,  that  the  time 
was  at  hand  for  the  ruin  and  dispersion  of  the 
Jews ;  and  the  ruin  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  dis- 
persion of  the  Jews,  and  the  conversion  of  the 
world,  which  immediately  followed,  proved  at 
once  the  truth  of  their  predictions,  and  the  doc- 
trine which  they  taught ;  Rom.  xv.  9  ;  xi.  13. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  the  Resurrection  is 
the  foundation  of  religion  ? 

A.  Because  if  Christ  has  arisen,  then  the  wit- 
nesses must  be  believed  ;  the  truths  which  they 
taught  and  delivered  must  be  received.  The 
prophecies  which  foretold  the  Resurrection,  with 
all  the  other  truths  contained  in  the  inspired 
writings,  must  be  acknowledged  as  truth  ;  and 
these  admitted,  Christianity  is  beyond  all  doubt 
the  work  of  God. 

Q.  Why  did  Christ,  after  his  Resurrection,  not 
live  with  his  Apostles  in  the  world,  as  he  had 
done  before  his  death  ? 

A.  To  conceal  himself  from  the  Jews  and  the 
impious,  who  were  unworthy  of  his  presence. 
To  show  the  difference  between  his  mortal  and 
glorious  life,  and  to  make  his  Resurrection  a 
model  for  our  spiritual  resurrection  from  sin ;  to 
show  us  that,  when  we  rise  from  the  grave  of 
sin,  we  must  truly,  as  he  did,  shun  this  world, 
and  live  for  a  better ;  i  Cor.  xv.  3 ;  Rom.  vi.  4 ; 
Colos.  iii.;  St.  Thom.  T[  3,  quaest.  55,  art.  3,  in 
Corpore. 


SECTION  XIX.— THE   ASCENSION— A  GENERAL  NOTION    OF  THE  QUALITIES  OF  CHRIST  IN  HEAVEN. 


Q.  How  long  did  Christ  remain  on  earth,  after 
his  Resurrection  ? 

A.  He  remained  forty  days,  to  prove  the  truth 
of  his  Resurrection,  to  calm  the  minds  of  his 
Apostles,  to  cure  their  incredulity,  to  give  them 


all  necessary  power  and  instruction  in  their  all- 
important  mission  ;  on  the  fortieth  day,  he  armed 
them  with  all  power  to  teach  and  baptize  ;  prom- 
ised them  the  gift  of  miracles,  and  declared  he 
would  be  with  them  all  days,  even  to  the  consum 


5i6 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


mation  of  the  world ;  he  opened  their  eyes  that 
they  might  understand  the  Scripture,  and  prom- 
ised the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  should  teach 
them  all  truth.  After  this  he  blessed  them,  and 
before  their  eyes  ascended  to  heaven.  Two 
angels  appeared,  and  declared  that  Jesus  would 
come  again,  just  as  they  had  seen  him  depart; 
Mark  xvi.;  Luke  xxiv. 

Q.  Is  Christ  any  more  on  earth  ? 

A.  Not  visibly.  He  is,  however,  on  earth  in 
two  ways,  invisibly ;  on  the  Altar  and  by  his 
grace ;  Matt,  xxviii.  In  heaven,  he  sits  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  ;  Ps.  cix ;  Rom.  viii.  34 ;  Col. 
iii.  When  we  say  the  right  hand,  we  do  not 
mean  that  God  has  any  bodj',  but  that  Christ,  as 
God,  is  equal  to  his  Father ;  and  as  man,  he  is 
exalted  above  all  creatures ;  Eph.  i.  19.  In 
heaven,  he  is  seated  on  the  throne  of  his  empire, 
enjoying  eternal  repose  after  his  labors ;  ibid. 
His  ascension  is  the  triumph  of  human  nature — 
the  solid  foundation  of  our  hope — the  consumma- 
tion of  his  sacrifice. 

Q.  Why  the  above  replies  ? 

A.  Because  by  the  Ascension,  human  nature, 
united  to  the  Divinity,  is  placed  in  possession  of 
eternal  glory  ;  and  because  Jesus  entered  heaven 
as  our  precursor,  to  present,  without  ceasing,  to 
his  Father  the  blood  which  he  shed  for  us. 
The  triumph  of  Jesus,  in  his  Ascension,  is 
clearly   foretold   by   the   prophets;     Ps.   xxiii., 


Ivi.,  xxxiii.,  Ivii.;  Zach.  xiv.  3.  See  also 
Ps.  XV.,  which  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  apply 
to  Jesus  Christ ;  see  also  Ps.  cix.,  which  Christ 
applies  to  himself;  Matt.  xxii.  41.  The  Ascen- 
sion was  prefigured  by  the  entrance  of  the 
high  priest  once  every  year  into  the  holy  of 
holies,  carrying  in  his  hand  the  blood  of  the 
victims  immolated ;    Heb.  ix.  7. 

Q.  What  should  be  our  dispositions  towards 
Jesus,  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God  ? 

A.  We  should  subject  ourselves  wholly  to 
him ;  we  should  adore,  love,  and  thank  him ; 
we  should  sigh  after  him,  and  long  to  be 
united  with  him ;  Heb.  iv.  14,  16.  Jesus  is 
the  image  of  his  Father,  the  eternal  Word, 
the  power  and  the  wisdom  of  God.  He  is 
the  First  born ;  the  restorer  and  support  of 
all  creatures ;  all  things  subsist  in  him.  He 
is  our  Mediator,  Redeemer,  Advocate,  PontiflF, 
our  Victim,  Temple,  Altar;  our  Father, 
Brother,  Light ;  the  way  in  which  we  should 
walk,  and  the  light  to  guide  our  footsteps ; 
the'  tree,  of  which  we  are  the  branches.  He 
is  our  bread,  our  pastor,  our  doctor,  our  king, 
our  judge ;  in  fine,  he  will  be  one  day  the 
very  essence  of  our  eternal  happiness.  That, 
however,  this  may  be  the  case,  we  must  take 
him  as  our  model.  To  study  these  qualities 
of  Jesus  is  the  most  important  of  all  con- 
cerns ;    Phil.  iii.  8,  etc. 


SECTION  XX.— THE  QUALITIES  OF  JESUS  WITH  RELATION   TO   HIS  FATHER   AND   WITH 

RELATION  TO  HIS  CREATURES. 


Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  Jesus  is  the  image 
of  God  his  Father  ? 

A.  St.  Paul  says  so,  to  make  us  understand 
that  Jesus,  as  God,  is  a  perfect  resemblance  of 
his  Father,  as  by  nature  he  is  the  Son  of  God, 
and  is  God,  equal  to  his  Father ;  2  Cor.  iv.  4 ; 
Col.  i.  15.  Nor  is  Jesus  a  mere  superficial  image. 
He  is  the  figure  of  the  substance  of  God  the 
Father,  the  living  expression  of  his  nature,  both 
being  but  one  God  ;  Heb.  i.  3.     Jesus  is  said 


to  be  the  splendor  and  glory  of  his  Father, 
because,  as  the  light  streams  from  the  sun,  so 
the  glory  of  Jesus  expresses  perfectly  the  glory 
of  the  Father ;  for  the  divine  nature,  which  is 
the  source  of  that  splendor,  is  one  and  the  sam« 
in  both;  Heb.  i.  3. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  Jesus  is  the  etejual 
Word  of  God  the  Father? 

A.  Because  he  is  the  expression  of  the 
interior    thought    and    knowledge   of  God,  his 


THE   CATHOUC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


517 


Father ;  John  i.  i ;  Titus  i.  3.  Jesus  is  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  God,  because,  as  the  Word, 
he  is  the  ever-subsisting,  living,  expression  of 
God's  knowledge,  and  because  it  was  through 
him  that  the  omnipotence  and  wisdom  of  God 
the  Father  were  manifested  to  his  creatures ; 
I  Cor.  i.  24.  Jesus  is  the  first  born, 
because  he  was  not  created,  but  begotten 
by  the  Father  from  all  eternity ;  Col.  i.  15. 
God,  equal  to  his  Father ;  he  has  created  all 
by  his  power,  and  for  his  glory ;  John  i.  3 ; 
Col.  i.  16.  And,  in  the  same  light,  he  pre- 
serves all,  as  it  is  in  him  we  live,  move, 
and  have  our  being ;  Acts  xvii.  28 ;  Col.  i. 
17.  These,  and  a  thousand  other  qualities 
of  Jesus,  clearly  laid  down  in  Scripture, 
prove  his  Divinity  beyond  the  possibility  of 
doubt. 


Q.  Why  is  it  said  that  Jesus  is  the  restorer 
of  all  things  ? 

A.  Because  he  has  replaced,  or  will  replace, 
all  things  in  their  natural  order.  This  he 
has  already  so  far  done,  by  reconciling  man 
with  God,  delivering  him  from  the  power  the 
devil  had  once  over  him  ;  but  this  restoration 
will  not  be  completed  till  the  end  of  the 
world ;  Rom.  viii.  20.  Jesus  is  the  heir  of 
all  things,  because,  as  man,  he  is  the  master 
of  all ;  and  has  absolute  dominion,  as  an  heri- 
tage due  to  his  quality  as  Son  of  God ;  Heb. 
i.  2  ;  John  xiii.  3.  Jesus  is  just  by  excellence, 
because  he  is  the  source  and '  origin  of  all 
sanctity  and  all  justice.  Angels  and  men  are 
only  just  or  holy,  in  so  far  as  they  partici- 
pate in  his  holiness  and  justice;  Wisd.  ii.  12; 
Isa.  xli.  2  ;   Acts   iii.  14 ;   vii.  52 ;    John  ii.  i. 


SECTION   XXI.— THE   QUALITIES   OF  JESUS  WITH  RELATION  TO  MEN. 


Q.  Why  is  Jesus  called  our  Mediator,  Re- 
deemer, Saviour  ? 

A.  Because  he  has  made  our  peace  with  God, 
changed  the  sentence  of  eternal  death  which 
stood  against  us,  and  sealed,  by  his  blood,  our 
reconciliation  with  his  Father;  1  Tim.  ii.  5; 
Rom.  V.  10 ;  Eph.  ii.  14 ;  Col.  ii.  14.  He  is 
our  Redeemer,  because  he  has  rescued  us  from 
the  slavery  of  sin,  the  tyranny  of  the  devil,  and 
the  pains  of  hell,  and  has  opened  heaven  for  us  ; 
Job  xix.  25;  Isa.  xli.  14;  Luke  ii.  11;  John 
iv.  42;  Acts  V.  31  ;  Rom.  v.  i;  Eph.  v.  23; 
I  Tim.  iv.  10.  He  is  our  Advocate,  and  his 
wounds  plead  for  us;  Heb.  vii.  25  ;  i  John  ii.  i. 
He  is  our  Father  and  Pontiff.  He  offered,  in  one 
sacrifice,  the  reality  of  all  the  sacrifices  in  the 
old  law.  His  sacrifice,  could  alone  appease  the 
anger  of  his  Father;  Heb.  ii.  17;  iii.,  iv.,  etc. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  Jesus  is  our  head, 
our  brother,  o^r  light  ? 

A.  Because  the  Church  is  one  body,  with 
Jesus  Christ  as  its   head,   and   the    faithful  its 


members;  Col.  i.  18;  Eph.  i.  22.  Jesus  calls 
us  his  brethren ;  he  is  the  first  born  of  God 
by  nature:  we  are  born  of  God  by  his 
grace  and  adoption ;  Matt,  xxviii.  10  ;  John  iii. 
I .  The  prophets  call  him  our  light :  he  is  the  star  of 
Jacob,  the  rising  sun,  the  light  of  nations,  the  light 
which  enlighteneth  all  men;  see  Num.  xxiv. 
17;  Zach.  iii.  8;  vi.  12;  Luke  i.  78;  Mai.  iv. 
2;  Luke  ii.  32;  Isa.  xlii.  6;  John  viii.  12;  ix. 
5;  xii.  46  ;  Matt.  iv.  16;  Acts  xiii.  47. 

Q.  Are  there  other  titles  given  to  Jesus  in  the 
Scripture? 

A.  Yes ;  he  is  a  prophet  by  excellence,  be- 
cause he  is  the  great  master  and  teacher  of  men. 
He  was  the  subject  and  the  inspirer  of  all  other 
prophecies  and  prophets.  He  himself  prophesied, 
and  his  prophecies  were  fulfilled  to  the  letter; 
Dent,  xviii.  15.  He  is  the  Angel  of  the  Testa- 
ment, because  he  was  sent  by  God  to  form  a  new 
alliance  with  men ;  Heb.  iii.  i ;  John  1.  41 ;  xvii. 
3  5  XX.  21 ;  Mai,  iii.  i ;  Matt.  xi.  10;  Mark  i.  2  ; 
Luke  vii.  27.    Jesus  is  called  the  Way,  because 


5^8 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


we  can  approach  the  Father  ouly  through  him, 
and  can  enter  heaven  only  by  walking  in  his 
footsteps  ;  John  xiv.  5  ;  Matt.  xvi.  24  ;  Luke  ix_ 
23  ;  John  X.  27.  He  is  called  the  Corner  Stone, 
because,  to  all,  he  is  the  foundation  of  hope ; 
Matt.  xxi.  42  ;  Luke  xx.  17 ;  Acts.  iv.  11 ;  Eph. 
ii.  20  ;  Isa.  xxviii.i6  ;  i  Peter  ii.  6.  Jesus  is  the 
true  Vine,  and  we  are  the  branches,  because  our 
life  depends  on  our  intimate  connection  with  him ; 
John  XV.  I.  He  is  the  Truth :  we  follow  truth 
when  we  follow  him ;  and  error,  when  we  stray 
from  him ;  John  xiv.  6.  He  is  our  Life, 
because  we  live  spiritually  only  by  his  grace ; 
'  I  live  now,  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in 
me ; "  John  xiv.  6 ;  Col.  iii.  4 ;  John  xi. 
25 ;  Rom.  viii.  9 ;  Gal.  ii.  20 ;  2  Cor.  iv.  10.  He 
is  our  bread :  "  I  am,"  says  he,  "  the  living 
bread ;  he  that  eateth  this  bread,  shall  live  for- 
ever. My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood 
is  drink  indeed  ; ''  John  vi.  35.  He  is  also  our 
bread,  by  his  word  and  his  grace.  By  thus  feed- 
ing us,  watching  over  us,  defending  us,  and 
gathering  us  into  the  fold  of  his  Church,  he 
has  acquired  also  the  title  of  Pastor.  He  is  our 
Doctor,  ever  ready  to  soothe  and  heal  all  our 
spiritual  diseases;  Matt.  ix.  15;  Mark  ii.  19; 
Luke  V.  34  ;  Osee  ii.  19.  He  is  our  King,  raised 
above  all  creatures,  and  having  power  over  all ; 
Ps.  xxiii.  7  ;  John  xviii.  37  ;  Heb.  viii.  2  ;  i  Tim. 
vi.  15;  Matt,  xxviii.  18.  He  is  our  Judge:  he 
shall  come,  in  all  his  glory,  to  judge  the  living 
and  the  dead;  John  v.  11 ;  Acts  x.  41  ;  2  Tim. 
iv.  I.  He  is  the  author  and  preserver  of  our 
faith ;  to  him  we  owe  it,  and  to  him  we  are 
indebted  for  our  perseverance  in  it  to  the  end ; 
Heb.  xii.  2.  He  will  one  day  be  our  glory  and 
eternal  felicity  in  heaven,  because  eternal  life 
consists  in  knowing  the  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ,  whom  he  has  sent.  Eternal  bliss  con- 
sists in  seeing,  loving,  and  possessing  Jesus 
forever;  John  xvii.  3;  Apoc.  xxii.  4;  Col.  iii.  11. 

Q.  Is  Jesus  Christ  our  model  ? 

A.  Yes ;  he  has  declared  that,  if  any  one 
•would  come  after  him,  he  must  deny  him- 
self,    take     up     his     cross,  and     follow     him ; 


Matt.  xvi.  24 ;  and  again,  he  says  the  disciples 
ought  to  resemble  his  master;  that  his  followers 
would  be  persecuted,  as  he  was  persecuted  ;  Matt 
X.  24.  We  ought,  therefore,  to  renounce  this 
world,  and  attach  ourselves  to  Jesus.  We 
ought  to  live  according  to  his  maxims,  and  follow 
his  example;  Titus  ii.  12  ;  Phil.  ii.  5;  Heb.  xii. 
2  ;  John  ii.  6;  xiii.  15. 

Q.  What  are  the  traits  of  our  Saviour's  char- 
acter which  all  Christians  should  imitate  ? 

A.  All  should  imitate  his  detachment  of  heart 
from  this  world,  with  all  its  seductions,  and  his  at- 
tachment to  God ,  for  whose  glory  he  labored  dur- 
ing his  whole  life.  St.  Paul  comprehends  these 
two  grand  principles  of  all  religion  in  few  words  : 
"Jesus  Christ,"  he  says,  "came  to  teach  us  to 
renounce  impiety  and  worldly  desires,  and  to 
live  temperately,  justly,  and  piously,  hoping  for 
eternal  happiness;"  Titus  ii.  12. 

Q.  What  the  are  traits  which  each  individual, 
according  to  his  position  in  life,  should  imitate  ? 

A.  To  detail  these,  is  to  detail  the  whole 
morality  of  Religion,  which  we  have  attempted 
in  the  course  of  this  catechism ;  we  can  only 
touch  a  few  of  the  leading  heads :  Jesus  has  taught 
kings,  and  all  in  authority,  that  they  should  use 
their  power  only  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
good  of  their  subjects;  pastors  to  sacrifice  them- 
selves for  their  flock,  to  love  them  tenderly,  to  in- 
struct them,  to  unite  prayer  and  mortification 
with  the  labors  of  the  ministry — to  labor  in 
God  and  for  God,  and  to  despise  the  smiles  as 
well  as  the  frowns  of  this  world.  Thus  has 
each  condition  in  life  its  own  duties  to  per- 
form, in  imitation  of  Christ — masters,  servants, 
parents,  children,  the  rich,  the  poor,  the  afflicted, 
tempted,  humbled,  persecuted,  ought  all  to  cher- 
ish the  same  sentiments — to  form  the  same 
judgments,  as  Jesus  did ;  to  pray  as  he  did — 
to  act  as  he  did — to  sufiier  as  he  did ;  in  a 
word,  to  be,  as  far  as  we  miserable  beings  can, 
what  he  was ;  so  that  we  may  be  able  to  say 
with  St.  Paul,  "  I  live  now,  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me;"  Phil.  ii.  5;  Eph.  iv.  24;  Gal. 
ii.  19. 


THE   CATHOLIC  RELIGION   DEFINED. 


519 


SECTION   XXII.— DESCENT  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 


Q.  When  Christ  ascended  to  heaven,  what 
became  of  his  Apostles  and  disciples  ? 

A.  They  retired  into  Jerusalem,  according  to 
his  order,  and  remained  there  till  the  descent 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  Acts  i.  4.  They  lived  there 
in  retirement  and  prayer,  preparing  themselves 
to  receive  the  promised  Holy  Spirit. 

Q.  When  did  the  Holy  Ghost  descend  upon 
them  ? 

A.  On  the  tenth  day  after  the  Ascension,  about 
the  ninth  hour ;  a  day  on  which  the  Jews  cele- 
brated the  feast  of  Pentecost ;  Acts  ii.  i.  This 
day  was  chosen  to  make  the  relation  of  the  reality 
with  the  figure  more  striking.  The  Jews  had  re- 
ceived the  law  from  God,  engraven  on  stone, 
fifty  days  after  they  were  brought  out  of 
Egypt;  and  God  desired  that  his  Holy  Spirit 
should  engrave  his  new  law  upon  the  hearts 
of  men,  fifty  days  after  Jesus  had,  by  his 
Resurrection,  delivered  us  from  the  slavery  of 
our  enemies,  prefigured  by  the  Egyptians  ;  St. 
Aug.  de  Spirit,  et  lit.  c.  16,  n.  28. 

Q.  How  did  the  Holy  Ghost  descend  upon 
the  Apostles  ? 

A.  In  the  midst  of  a  noise,  as  if  of  mighty 
winds,  which  filled  the  house ;  cloven  tongues 
of  fire  appeared  on  each,  and  they  were  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost;  Acts  ii.  Thus  the 
third  person  of  the  blessed  Trinity  descended 
upon  them,  animated  them,  and  made  them 
his  dwelling;  John  xiv.  16,  17.  He  made  them 
new  men;  he  filled  them  with  lively  light, 
with  the  love  of  God,  with  zeal,  virtue,  power ; 
Luke  xxiv.  49 ;  Rom.  v.  4.  He  opened  the 
eyes  of  their  minds,  that  they  might  under- 
stand the  most  abstruse  truths  of  religion ; 
John  xvi.  13.  They  had  been  uneducated  and 
powerless ;  he  enabled  them  to  speak  strange 
tongues,  and  work  miracles ;  Acts  ii.  4. 

Q.  Did  the  Apostles  receive  the  Holy  Ghost 
only  for  themselves? 

A.  They  received  him  to  communicate  him, 
with  all  his   gifts    and   graces,    by  themselves 


and  their  successors,  to  all  faithful  followers 
of  Jesus;  Acts  viii.  15  ;  Rom.  v.  5  ;  viii.  9.  The 
faithful  received  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the  minis- 
try of  the  Apostles  or  their  successors,  both  in 
Baptism  and  Confirmation. 

Q.  What  effects  does  the  Holy  Spirit  pro- 
duce   in  the  hearts  of  those  who  receive  him? 

A.  The  love  of  God,  zeal,  power  and  virtue ; 
Rom.  V.  5 ;  viii.  9,  etc.  Extraordinary  gifts, 
such  as  miracles,  are  not  now  necessary,  as 
they  were,  before  religion  was  proved  and  estab- 
lished ;  I  Cor.  xiv.  22. 

Q.  Had  the  prophets  foretold  the  descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  ? 

A.  St.  Peter,  in  his  first  sermon  to  the  Jews, 
shows  them  that  Joel  foretold  this  event ;  Acts 
ii.  16 ;  Joel  ii.  28.  It  was  foretold  by  Isaiah 
xliv.  3  ;  by  Jeremiah,  xxxi.  33  ;  Heb.  x.  16 ;  and 
most  strikingly  by  Ezechial,  xxxvi.  26,  27.  Ac- 
cording to  all  these,  the  Holy  Spirit  was  to 
renovate  man,  to  shed  the  love  of  God  on 
every  heart ;  and  this  has  been  the  effect  pro- 
duced in  all  ages  on  the  Christian  body ;  Rom. 
V.  5 ;  viii.  9,  26,  etc. 

Q.  How  did  the  Apostles  act,  after  receiving 
the  Holy  Spirit  ? 

A.  They  preached  the  Gospel  first  to  the 
Jews,  then  to  the  Samaritans,  and  then  to  the 
Gentiles  scattered  over  the  whole  earth.  They 
announced  redemption,  reconciliation,  the  won- 
ders of  the  life,  death.  Resurrection  and  Ascen- 
sion of  Jesus,  to  all  men. 

Q.  Why  was  the  Gospel  first  announced  to 
the  Jews  ? 

A.  Because  they  were  the  people  of  God, 
with  whom  he  had  made  an  alliance,  and  to 
whom  the  Messiah  had  been  promised, — the 
people  who  were  the  depositaries  of  the  law, 
the  prophecies,  and  the  true  religion.  Eight 
thousand  were  converted  by  two  sermons  of 
St.  Peter.  The  other  Apostles  were  similarly 
engaged.  Great  numbers  were  converted ;  but 
multitudes  of  the  Jews,  as  had  been  foretold, 


5ao 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


remained  obstinate  and  incredulous;  Acts  ii.  41 ; 
iv.  4 ;  V.  14 ;  Rom.  xi.  The  converted  Jews 
led  exemplary  and  holy  lives.  They  had  one 
heart  and  one  soul ;  they  gave  all  to  the  poor ; 
they  were  fervent  in  their  attachment  to,  and 
rejoiced  when  they  suffered  for  Christ  ; 
they  passed  their  days  and  nights  in  prayer; 
Acts  iv.  32.  The •  obstinate  Jews  became  cruel 
persecutors  of  the  Apostles  and  their  followers ; 
Acts  iv.,  vi.,  viii.,  etc. 

Q.  Were  the  Jews  punished  for  their  ob- 
stinacy ? 

A.  God  subjected  them  to  all  the  scourges 
■  the  prophets  had  foretold.  He  abandoned  them 
to  their  blindness.  They  ceased  to  be  the 
people  of  God,  and  the  Gentiles  took  their 
place.  Their  city  was  taken,  sacked,  burnt, 
their  temple  destroyed,  their  country  ruined, 
multitudes  were  put  to  the  sword,  and  the 
rest  were  scattered,  as  Osee  had  foretold,  over 
the  whole  earth,  where  they  still  remain,  with- 
out king,  temple,  altar,  or  sacrifice ;  Osee  i.,  ii. ; 


Rom.  ix.  25 ;  Matt.  viii.  11  ;  Dan.  ix.  26 ;  Matt, 
xxiv.  2  ;  Mark  xiii.  2  ;  Luke  xxi.  5  ;  Osee  iii.  4 ; 
Dent,  xxviii.  28,  29. 

Q.  When  did  these  events  take  place? 

A.  Under  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  thirty- 
eight  years  after  the  death  of  Christ.  Their 
own  historian,  Josephus,  one  of  their  most  en- 
lightened priests,  has  recorded  the  circum- 
stances of  their  ruin,  which  he  himself  wit- 
nessed ;  Joseph.  Hist,  de  Bello  Jud.  God  did 
not  destroy  them  all,  but  dispersed  them  ;  be- 
cause, by  this,  they  carried  the  sacred  writings 
over  the  whole  earth.  Thus  they  bore  with 
them  the  prophecies  and  their  accomplishment. 
Conversions  were  the  consequence  ;  so  much  so, 
that  the  Emperor  Antoninus  forbade,  under 
dreadful  penalties,  the  reading  of  the  sacred 
books.  Besides,  the  blindness  and  obstinacy  of 
the  Jews  is  an  everlasting  proof  of  the  truth 
of  religion,  and  the  divinitj^  of  the  prophecies. 
The  Jews  will  yet,  however,  return  to  God ; 
Rom.  X.  xL 


SECTION    XXIII.— THE  PREACHING  OF  THE  GOSPEL  TO  THE  SAMARITANS  AND  THE  GENTILES. 


Q.  When  was  the  Gospel  preached  to  the 
Samaritans  ? 

A.  When  the  Jews  excited  the  first  persecu- 
tion against  the  Apostles  and  their  followers ; 
Acts  viii.  5 ;  xiii.  46 ;  Matt.  x.  5. 

Q.  How  did  the  Samaritans  receive  the 
Gospel  ? 

A.  A  great  number  received  it  with  joy ; 
Acts  viii.  5.  Those  who  rejected  it  were  in- 
volved, with  the  other  Jews,  in  their  common 
ruin ;  Josephus,  Bel.  Jud.  lib.  3,  c.  22,  n.  264. 

Q.  At  what  time  did  the  Apostles  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  Gentiles? 

A.  The  moment  the  Jews  rejected  it.  When 
the  Jews  had  imprisoned  some  of  the  Apostles, 
stoned  Stephen,  the  first  martyr,  and  suflEciently 
declared  their  obstinacy,  by  persecuting  the 
faithful,  God  signified  to  Peter  that  he  should 
preach  to  the  Gentiles,  and  Cornelius  was  the 


first  to  receive  the  light  of  truth  ;  Acts  x.,  xiii. 
46 ;  Rom.  X.  19.  The  Apostles  converted  first 
the  Gentiles  who  were  amongst  the  Jews,  and 
then  dispersed  over  the  whole  earth,  to  instruct 
and  baptize  all  nations  ;  Matt,  xxviii.  19  ;  Mark 
xvi.  15.  St.  Paul  was  especially  the  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles.  He  had  persecuted  the  Church  ; 
God  miraculously  converted  him — he  preached 
the  Gospel  with  signal  success  ;  he  was  remark- 
able for  his  zeal,  his  writings,  his  labors,  and  his 
sufferings;  Rom.  xi.  13;  xv.  16;  Gal.  i.  16;  i 
Tim.  ii.  7 ;  Acts  ix, ;  2  Cor.  x.,  xi.,  xii. 

Q.  Were  the  Apostles  very  successful  in 
preaching  to  the  Gentiles  ? 

A.  So  successful,  that  they  destroyed  idolatry 
over  the  earth,  and  established  the  knowledge 
and  worship  of  the  true  God.  These  fruits  they 
produced  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  mani- 
fested   in    their    preaching,    miracles,   virtues, 


THE   CA'J^HOUC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


52r 


sufferings,  and  death ;  like  torches  of  heavenly 
light,  they  appeared  every  where,  and  filled  the 
earth  with  the  light  and  charity  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  St.  Aug.  in  Ps.  xxx.  22.  The  disciples 
and  successors  of  these  Apostles  continued  the 
work  which  they  had  commenced,  until  every 
corner  of  the  world  was  blessed  with  the 
announcement  of  a  redeeming  Saviour ;  Aug.  in 
Ps.  Ixxxviii.  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xviii.  c.  50. 

Q.  Was  the  Christian  religion  received  in  the 
world  without  any  opposition  ? 

A.  No  ;  it  was  every  where  persecuted,  yet  it 
triumphed  over  every  opposition  ;  earth  and  hell 
were  leagued  against  it,  still  it  was  crowned  with 
success ;  a  fact  which  proves  beyond  doubt 
that  it  was  the  work  of  God.  This  triumph  of 
truth  over  error  and  idolatry  was  clearly  fore- 
told ;  Dan.  ii.  44,  45 ;  Ps.  ii. 

Q.  How  did  the  Apostles  and  their  disciples 
behave  in  the  midst  of  these  persecutions  ? 

A.  They  murmured  not ;  they  merely  showed, 
by  their  words  and  writings,  their  own  innocence, 
and  the  truth  of  the  religion  which  they  taught. 
They  suffered  for  truth,  with  invincible  and 
heroic  courage,  the  most  cruel  tortures,  and 
most  frightful  deaths ;  Apol.  S.  Justin,  Tertul. 
pro  Christ.  Relig. 


Q.  Who  raised  these  persecutions  ? 

A.  The  devil,  who  desired  to  maintain  his 
empire  over  man,  in  opposition  to  Jesus  Christ; 
Luke  xi.  21.  The  instruments  used  by  the 
devil,  were  unbelievers,  Jews,  and  Gentiles,  the 
kings,  emperors,  and  powers  of  the  earth. 
These  opposed  Christianity,  because  it  warred 
against  their  prejudices  and  passions;  men  did 
not  wish  to  be  disturbed  by  the  alarming  truths 
of  Christianity,  in  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  their 
vices  ;  and  kings  were  alarmed  lest  Christianity 
might  disturb  their  states ;  Bossuet  in  cap.  3, 
Apoc.  All  were,  however,  defeated ;  truth 
triumphed  ;  persecution  served  only  to  multiply 
Christians,  by  the  number  of  martyrs  it  made, 
and  by  the  effect  of  these  martyrdoms  on  the 
spectators.  This  was  so  much  the  case  that 
Tertullian  calls  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  the 
seed  of  Christianity. 

Q.  How  long  did  these  first  persecutions  con- 
tinue ? 

A.  During  300  years,  till  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantine,  who  embraced  Christianity.  Since 
then,  most  princes  of  the  earth,  following  his 
example,  have  placed  their  hope  in  the  Cross,, 
and  gloried  in  following  Jesus. 


SECTION  XXIV.— LIST   OF  THE  FIRST  PERSECUTIONS. 


Q.  Did  every  emperor,  from  the  time  of 
Christ  till  the  reign  of  Constantine,  persecute 
the  Church? 

A.  No ;  it  was  only  at  intervals.  God  calmed 
the  tempest  sometimes,  that  the  faithful  might 
rally  during  a  temporary  peace,  and  form  and 
establish  their  discipline.  There  were  at  most 
only  twelve  great  persecutions  during  the  300 
years ;  still,  there  was  scarcely  any  time  in 
which  persecution  was  not  carried  on  in  some 
corner,  in  consequence  of  the  Roman  law,  which 
forbade  the  introduction  of  any  new  religion. 

Q.  Who  were  the  emperors  who   carried   ou 


these  persecutions,  and  how  long  did  each  per- 
secution last  ? 

A.  Nero  was  the  first  who,  by  edict,  per- 
secuted the  Christians;  his  persecution 
lasted  from  the  year  64.  till  the  year  of 
the  tragical  end  of  this  impious  tyrant,  68. 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  at  Rome;  St.  Mark,  at 
Alexandria ;  SS.  Gervase  and  Protase,  at  Milan, 
and  SS.  Nazarius  and  Celseus,  were  put  to 
death  by  this  persecutor. 

Domitian  commenced  being  a  persecutor  in 
91  or  93,  and  continued  till  96,  when  he  died. 
During  this  time   Antipas    was  martyred,  and 


522 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


St.  John  was  cast  into  boiling  oil,  from  which 
escaping,  he  was  banished  to  Patmos,  where 
he  wrote  the  Apocalypse.  Trajan  was  the 
third  persecutor ;  he  began  in  the  year  lOO ; 
he  forbade  all  meetings,  and  his  underlings 
took  advantage  of  this  order  to  put  to  death 
many  Christians,  who  only  met  to  pray.  The 
emperor,  being  made  aware  that  he  required 
more  executioners,  such  being  the  numbers  of 
Christians  ready  to  die  for  the  faith,  stopped 
the  persecution.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the 
younger  Pliny  wrote  to  the  emperor,  describ- 
ing the  admirable  lives  of  the  Christians,  to 
which  letter  the  emperor  answered  that  Pliny 
should  not  seek  them,  but  merely  punish  those 
against  whom  he  received  informations.  It  was 
during  this  reign  that  St.  Ignatius  was  de- 
voured at  Rome  by  wild  beasts,  and  that  St. 
Simeon,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  was  there  crucified. 

Adrian,  in  125,  forbade  all  new  religfions, 
and  many  Christians  were  put  to  death.  This 
emperor  was,  however,  prevailed  upon  by 
Quadratus  and  Aristides,  as  well  as  by  Serenus 
Granius,  in  the  year  126,  to  cease  persecuting 
the  Christians.  During  this  persecution  at 
Rome,  St.  Eustachius  and  companions ;  St. 
Simphorosa  and  her  seven  children ;  and,  at 
Brescia,  St.  Faustinus  and  Jovites,  were  put  to 
death.  Under  Antoninus  Pius  there  were  many 
local  persecutions,  caused  rather  by  the  malice 
of  local  governors  or  popular  commotions,  than 
by  the  desire  of  that  prince;  at  Rome,  Pope 
Telesphorus  and  St.  Felicitas,  with  her  seven 
children,  were  put  to  death  about  the  year  152. 

The  sixth  persecution  began  under  Marcus 
Aurelius,  in  161,  and  ended  in  174;  under 
him  suffered  Justin,  Polycarp,  and  many  others. 
The  seventh  commenced,  under  the  emperor 
Severus,  in  202,  and  continued  till  the  death 
of  that  tyrant,  which  took  place  at  York,  in 
England,  in  211.  During  this  reign,  St. 
Ireneus,  and  a  multitude  of  others,  were 
martyred  for  Christ's  sake.  The  eighth  perse- 
cution took  place  under  Maximinus,  and  lasted 
from  235  till  238,  in  which  year  the  tyrant 
was  killed;   he  ordered   all   bishops   to   be  put 


to  death ;  but  his  magistrates  extended  this 
punishment  to  all  ecclesiastics  ind  many  of 
the  laity  suffered;  Pope  Pontian  died  in  exile 
during  this  reign,  and  multitudes  suffered. 
The  emperors  Decius,  Callus,  and  Volusianus 
persecuted  the  Church  from  249  till  253. 
The  first  of  these  tyrants  was  killed  in  251, 
and  the  other  two  in  253.  Pope  Fabian,  Ab- 
dou,  and  Sennon,  St.  Agatha,  Popes  Cornelius 
and  Lucius,  and  St.  Hyppolitus,  were  among 
the  victims  of  this  persecution. 

Valerian  was  at  first  favorable  to  the  Chris- 
tians ;  but,  at  the  solicitation  of  Marcian,  he 
commenced  the  tenth  persecution,  in  the  year 
257.  Under  him  were  martyred  Popes  Stephen 
and  Xistus,  SS.  Lawrence,  Satuminus,  Cyprian, 
and  a  host  of  others.  The  eleventh  persecu- 
tion commenced  under  Aurelian  in  273,  and 
ended  in  275,  by  the  violent  death  of  the  per- 
secutor. During  this  period,  Pope  Felix  and 
others  suffered  martyrdom. 

The  twelfth  '  persecution,  under  Dioclesian 
and  Maximian,  was  the  longest  and  most  vio- 
lent of  all.  It  commenced  in  286.  St.  Maurice, 
with  the  Theban  legion,  St.  Mark,  St.  Mar- 
cellinus,  St.  Sebastian,  St.  Denis,  and  whole 
myriads  of  others,  were  slaughtered  for  the 
faith.  This  cruel  persecution  lasted  under 
various  emperors  till  312,  when  Constantine, 
who  declared  himself  for  Christianity,  stopped 
its  progress.  Licinius,  however,  renewed  it  in 
320,  but  being  overcome  by  Constantine,  he  was 
ordered  to  be  strangled ;  and  in  323  perse- 
cution ceased.  It  would  be  vain  to  attempt  a  list 
of  those  who  suffered  for  Christ  during  these 
dreadful  persecutions ;  the  earth  M'as  deluged  with 
Christian  blood,  and,  as  if  God  would  prove 
the  truth  of  Christianity  from  the  signal 
punishments  he  inflicted  on  the  persecutors, 
we  have  it  recorded  by  Lactantius,  that  God 
punished  all  these  persecutors  with  the  most 
miserable  deaths ;  Lactan.  de  Mort.  Persecu- 
torum;  St.  Aug.  de  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xviii.  c.  Hi. 
n.  I,  2. 

Q.  Was  the  Church  persecuted  at  all  after 
this  ? 


IriE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


52^ 


A.  The  impious  prince,  Julian  the  Apostate, 
nephew  of  Constantine,  commenced  a  persecu- 
tion in  361,  which  continued  till  a  just  judg- 
ment of  God  put  an  end  to  his  wickedness  in 
363.  SS.  John  and  Paul,  Gordianus,  Basil, 
and  Theodoritus,  were  some  of  the  martyrs  of 
this  period. 

Sapor,  king  of  the  Persians,  at  the  instiga. 
tion  of  the  Magi  and  Jews,  commenced  one  of 
the  most  dreadful  of  all  the  persecutions  in 
343.     It  continued  till  the  death  of  that  prince 


in  380,  and  produced  an  infinite  number  of 
martyrs.  Since  that  time,  local  persecutions 
have  never  ceased,  caused  by  the  enmity  of 
infidels,  Jews,  or  heretics;  witness  the  sufier- 
ings  of  France  under  infidelity,  and  the  cruel- 
ties practised  on  Catholic  Ireland  by  heretical 
England.  Such  persecutions  will  continue  more 
or  less  violent,  until  the  dreadful  list  be  closed 
by  the  general  persecution  of  Antichrist,  im- 
mediately before  the  end  of  the  world ;  St.  Aug. 
Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xviii.  c.  52. 


CHAPTER  VL 
On  the  Church. 

SECTION   I.— THE   CHURCH  OF  CHRIST;   HER   VISIBILITY:    GENERAL   IDEA   OF  HER 

DISTINGUISHING  MARKS. 


Q.  What  do  you  call  that  society,  which  has 
embraced  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

A.  The  Christian,  the  Catholic,  or  simply 
the  Church.  The  faithful  were  called  Chris- 
tians for  the  first  time  at  Antioch,  to  which 
place  the  Apostles,  persecuted  by  the  Jews,  went 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  St.  Peter  established 
that  as  the  seat  of  his  apostleship  for  a  time, 
but  afterwards  transferred  it  to  Rome ;  Acts  xi. 
26 ;  St.  Aug.  lib.  ii.  contra  Petil.  The  word 
Christian  sigfuifies  disciple  of  Christ.  We  call 
by  this  name  all  who  are  baptized,  who  pro- 
fess to  believe  and  obey  Jesus  Christ.  The 
word  Church  signifies  a  congregation  or  society, 
which  word  is  also  used  for  the  place  where 
they  assemble. 

Q.  What  is  the  Church? 

A.  In  its  general  signification,  it  is  the  so- 
ciety of  the  faithful  and  their  pastors,  who, 
united  with  Jesus  Christ  as  their  chief,  form 
only  one  body.  In  this  sense,  the  happy  in 
heaven,  the  just  in  purgatory,  and  the  faithful 
on  earth,  belong  to  the  Church. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  precisely  by  the 
Christian  Church  ? 


A.  The  society  of  the  faithful,  who  profess 
the  same  Faith,  and  participate  in  the  same 
Sacraments,  under  the  authority  of  lawful  pastors, 
whose  visible  head  is  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  the 
successsor  of  St.  Peter,  and  Vicar,  on  earth, 
of  Jesus  Christ;  St.  Aug.  lib.  xix.  contra 
Faust.  We  are  the  faithful^  by  believing  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  obeying  him.  The  Church 
does  not  recognize  as  her  children  those  who 
alter  or  dismember  her  Faith.  By  the  Sacra- 
ments, we  are  united  to  one  another  and  to 
Jesus,  and  thus  make  one  body  ;  without  acting 
under  legitimate  pastors,  we  cannot  be  united, 
either  to  Christ,  or  amongst  ourselves ;  and  the 
Vicar  of  Christ,  who  is  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  is 
the  keystone,  under  Christ,  of  the  whole  fabric. 
He  is  the  source  and  bond  of  union  amongst 
the  pastors  of  the  Church.  Of  all  these  things 
we  have  much  to  say  afterwards. 

Q.  Is  this  society  visible  ? 

A.  Yes.  It  is  compared  to  a  gjeat  mountain, 
— to  a  city  on  the  top  of  a  mountain,  to  which 
all  nations  will  run ;  and  Christ  commands  all 
to  obey  this  society.  Now,  we  cannot  do  these 
things,  unless  the  Church  be  visible ;  Isa.  ii.  2 ; 


524 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


Dan.  ii.  35;  Mich.  iv.  i;  Matt,  xviii.  17.  St. 
Paul  says,  the  Holy  Spirit  has  appointed  Bishops 
to  govern  the  Church,  and  that  it  belongs  to 
the  Church  to  preach,  to  administer  Sacraments, 
to  judge,  to  punish  ;  evidently,  then,  it  must 
be  visible;  i  Tim.  iii.  15;  Acts  xx.  28;  Matt, 
xxviii.   19,  xviii.   17. 

Q.  Is  not  the  Church  a  society  merely  of 
the  elect,  who  are  known  only  to  God  ? 

A.  It  is  true  that  the  elect  are  in  the  Church, 
and  the  chief  portion  of  it ;  but  it  is  not  com- 
posed of  those  alone ;  for  the  Scripture  tells 
us  it  contains  both  chaff  and  good  grain — the 
good  and  the  bad ;    and   that   it  will   not  be 


purified  from  the  wicked,  until  the  end  of  the 
world. 

Q.  If  the  Church  be  visible,  why  say  "  I 
believe  in  the  Church;"  we  need  not  profess  to 
believe  in  what  we  see  ? 

A.  We  see  one  thing  and  believe  another ; 
we  see  the  visible  society,  and  believe  that  so- 
ciety to  be  the  Church  of  God. 

Q.  By  what  marks  can  we  distinguish  the 
true  Church  of  Christ  from  everj''  other  sect  ? 

A.  By  the  four  Scriptural  marks:  Unity, 
Sanctity,  Catholicity,  and  Apostolicity.  The 
Church  which  has  these  marks  is  true ;  every 
other  is  a  conventicle  of  error. 


SECTION  II.— THE  UNITY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 


Q.  Why  do  you  say  the  Church  is  one  ? 

A.  Because  the  faithful  who  compose  it  are 
one  body,  having  the  same  Head,  the  same 
Spirit  which  animates  the  body,  and  each 
member  of  it ;  the  same  faith,  same  hope,  and 
same  blessings  in  the  Sacraments.  We  have 
already  shown  that  Jesus  is  the  invisible  Chief, 
and  we  shall  yet  see  that  his  Vicar,  the  successor 
of  St.  Peter,  is  the  visible  head.  The  Spirit 
which  animates  the  body  of  the  Church,  is  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  which 
guides  the  members  and  unites  them  together, 
that  Spirit  which  Christ  declared  would  abide 
with  his  Church  till  the  consummation  of  the 
world  ;  Eph.  iv.  4  ;  John  xiv.  16.  St.  Paul  has 
declared,  that  the  Church  has,  in  her  children, 
only  one  Faith ;  Eph.  iv.  5  ;  and,  in  the  same 
place,  that  all  have  only  one  hope.  In  fine,  all 
the  members  of  the  Church  have  a  right  to 
participate  in  her  treasures,  which  are,  graces, 
the  Sacraments,  prayers,  and  good  works ;  see 
Controv.  Catech.  on  Unity. 

Q.  Whom  do  you  call  the  faithful  reigning 
with  Christ? 

A.  The  Church  triumphant,  which  is  com- 
posed of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the 
Angels,  and  the  Saints. 


Q.  What  do  you  call  the  society  of  souls 
who  suffer  in  purgatory  ? 

A.  The  Church  suffering,  so  called  from  the 
pains  she  endures  to  satisfy  the  justice  of  God. 
This  portion  of  the  Church  comprises  those 
who  have  died  in  a  state  of  grace,  but  who  are 
not  so  pure  yet,  as  to  be  fit  for  admission  into 
the  presence  of  God.  The  existence  of  this 
middle  state  we  shall  afterwards  prove. 

Q.  What  name  do  you  give  to  the  Church 
which  exists  still  on  earth  ? 

A.  The  Church  militant,  because  she  must 
war  constantly  against  the  world,  the  devil,  and 
the  flesh. 

Q.  Who  compose  the  society  of  the  Church 
militant  ? 

A.  Had  Adam  not  fallen,  all  men  were  to  be 
members  of  the  Church,  because  all  were  created 
for  eternal  happiness,  and  sin  only  could  deprive 
them  of  it ;  but  Adam  fell,  and  involved  all  in 
his  misfortunes.  God,  however,  still  merciful 
promised  a  Redeemer;  all,  therefore,  who  believed 
and  hoped  in  that  Redeemer,  and  lived  holy 
lives  according  to  the  natural  law,  belonged  to 
the  Church  militant. 

But,  after  the  vocation  of  Abraham,  God 
required    circumcision    in    all  Abraham's  male 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


525 


■desceu»?a.nts ;  and,  after  Moses,  the  Israelites 
were  obliged  to  practice  what  was  prescribed 
in  the  law.  There  were  Gentiles  who  were 
circumcised,  and  they  were  bound  to  ob- 
serve the  ivhole  law ;  and  others  who 
were  not  circumcised,  who  were  still  truly 
faithful,  provided  they  believed  in  one  God,  and 
hoped  in  a  coming  Redeemer.  It  was  on  this 
account,  that  there  was  a  place  for  the  Jews 
and  a  place  for  the  Gentiles  in  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem.  Now,  before  Christ,  all  these 
belonged  to  the  Church  militant. 

Since  tbv'^  coming  of  Christ,  the  wall  of  sepa- 
ration has  been  taken  away  ;  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles are  united  into  one  people  under  Christ, 
and  to  this  body  all  must  belong.  To  this 
end  two  things  \re  necessary ;  we  must  be 
baptized,  as,  withi.\'v  this,  we  cannot  receive  the 


remission  of  sin,  or  enter  heaven ;  and  we  must 
not  be  separated  from  the  Church  by  disobedi- 
ence, since  Christ  declares  those  who  disobey 
her,  as  heathens  or  publicans.  Thus,  the 
Church  militant  is  composed  of  all  the  faithful 
who  are  baptized,  and  not  excommunicated. 

Hence,  it  follows,  that  heathens  and  Jews  are 
not  members  of  the  Church,  as  they  are  not 
baptized ;  that  heretics,  schismatics,  and  apos- 
tates, are  not  of  the  Church,  because  they  have 
separated  themselves  from  her  ;  that  the  excom- 
municated are  not  her  members,  as  the  Church 
has  cut  them  off  from  her  body ;  that  baptized 
infants,  no  matter  by  whom  baptized,  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Church ;  and  that  all  baptized 
Christians,  the  good  as  well  as  the  wicked,  pro- 
vided they  be  not  excommunicated,  belong  to 
the  militant  Church  of  Christ, 


SECTION   III.— THE   UNION   OF  THE   MEMBERS  OF   THE  CHURCH  ;   THE  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 


Q.  Are  all  these  different  members  of  the 
•Church  united  amongst  themselves  ? 

A.  They  are  all  only  one  body,  of  which 
Christ  is  chief ;  so  that  it  is  true  to  say  that  they 
are  all  the  members  of  the  mystical  body  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  bonds  of  union  are,  a  partici- 
pation of  the  same  spirit,  a  dependence  on  the 
same  hand,  the  reception  of  the  same  graces,  the 
profession  of  the  same  faith,  the  same  hope,  the 
use  of  the  same  Sacraments,  obedience  to  the 
same  pastors,  and  the  same  visible  head. 

What  we  have  here  said  is  applicable  only  to 
the  Christian  Church,  as  existing  since  the  time 
of  Christ.  The  members  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
for  example,  were  united  by  their  dependence 
on  the  same  head,  Jesus  Christ,  and  their  hope 
in  the  promises,  which  we  have  seen  fulfilled ; 
and  all  the  faithful  of  every  age  had  the  same 
means  to  attain  their  end,  that  is,  the  applica- 
tion of  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ ;  for  no  one 
has  been,  or  .  ever  will  be  saved,  bxtt  through 
Christ  Jesus;  St.  Aug.  Epist.  157  or  89. 


Q.  What  do  you  call  the  union  which  exists 
between  the  members  of  the  Church  ? 

A.  We  call  it  the  Communion  of  Saints.  All 
the  members  of  the  Church  have  been  sancti- 
fied by  Baptism,  and  are  holy,  so  long  as  they 
preserve  that  grace,  or,  having  fallen,  recover  it 
by  penance ;  hence  St.  Paul  calls  the  faithful 
of  his  time.  Saints ;  Rom.  i.  7  ;  Cor.  i.  2. 

Q.  In  what  does  the  Communion  of  Saints 
consist  ? 

A.  In  the  union,  as  well  interior  as  exterior, 
which  exists  between  all  the  members  of  the 
Church,  and  in  the  communication  to  each 
other  of  spiritual  goods  which  are  their  prop- 
erty, such  as  their  mutual  participation  in 
prayers,  good  works,  graces,  and  Sacraments. 

Q.  Do  the  Saints  in  heaven  and  the  souls  in 
purgatory  participate  in  this  Communion  ? 

A.  Yes  ;  all  are  but  one  body,  and  so  all 
partake  of  the  same  blessings,  in  so  far  as  per- 
mitted by  their  respective    states  or  conditions. 

The  Saints  hold  communion  with  the  faithful 


526 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


on  earth,  by  procuring  for  us  blessings,  and 
presenting  our  prayers  to  God;  and  our  com- 
munion is  kept  up  with  the  souls  in  purgatorj?^, 
by  the  good  works,  the  prayers,  and  especially 
by  the  holy  Sacrifice,  which  we  offer  to  God  in 
their  behalf.  We  shall  prove  these  two  points 
in  detail  afterwards. 

Q.  How  is  this  communion  kept  up  amongst 
the  faithful  on  earth  ? 

A.  All  are  partakers  in  the  prayers,  good 
works,  graces  and  sacrifices  of  all ;  and  the 
graces  and  good  works  of  each  profit  all  the 
members  of  the  Church ;  St.  Aug.  de  Baptis. 
lib.  iii  c.  17,  and  Tract.  32  in  St.  Joan.  n.  7,  8. 

Q.  What  is  the  principle  of  tbis  mutual 
communication  of  spiritual  goods  or  blessings  ? 

A.  The  Holy  Spirit,  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which,  as  the  soul  enlivens  the  various 
members  of  the  body,  sheds  the  divine  and  life- 
giving  influence  of  his  graces  on  all  the  mem- 
bers of  his  mystical  body,  the  Church ;  Eph. 
iv.  15  ;  Rom.  xii.  4 ;  i  Cor.  vi.  15  ;  xii.  4,  etc. 

Q.  Do  Christians  in  mortal  sin  share  in  the 
advantages  derived  from  the  Communion  of 
Saints  ? 

A.  A  Christian  in  mortal  sin  is  spiritually 
dead  in  the  eyes  of  God ;  like  a  paralyzed  mem- 
ber, he  is  no  longer  enlivened  from  the  head, 
who  is  Jesus  Christ ;  still,  he  is  united  to  the 
Church  externally,  as  we  have  already  ex- 
plained ;    and,   internally,    by  faith  and   hope. 


He  is  not  entirely  separated  like  an  apostate. 
Hence,  he  still  receives  help,  both  interior  and 
exterior,  for  his  conversion,  especially  by  way  of 
prayer.  An  excommunicated  person  has  lost 
his  right  to  share  in  the  goods  and  blessings  of 
the  Church ;  but,  as  he  is  baptized,  both  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  Church  still  retain  their  right 
over  such  rebel  and  disinherited  child.  Infi- 
dels, Jews,  heretics,  schismatics,  apostates,  and 
the  excommunicated,  have  no  part  in  the  inte- 
rior or  exterior  communion  of  the  faithful. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  such  persons? 

A.  A  heretic  is  one  who  obstinately  holds  a 
doctrine  condemned  by  the  Church,  or  who 
refuses  to  believe,  as  an  article  of  faith,  what 
the  Church  has  defined ;  St.  Aug.  lib.  iv.  de 
Baptis.  A  schismatic  is  one  who  separates 
himself  from  the  Church,  by  refusing  to  hear 
or  obey  its  lawful  pastors ;  St.  Aug.  de  17 
quaest.  in  Matt,  quaest.  xi.  n.  i.  An  apostate 
is  one  who  externally  renounces  the  Catholic 
faith,  after  having  made  profession  of  it. 

Q.  Why  have  the  above  three  classes  no  part 
in  the  communion  of  the  faithful  ? 

A.  Because  they  attempt  to  destroy  the  unity 
of  the  Church,  either  by  refusing  to  obey  its 
pastors,  or  by  creating  a  division  in  the  one 
faith,  which  Christ's  true  Church  must  hold 
violate.  They  thus  exclude  themselves  from 
the  Church;  St.  Aug   de   Symb.  ch.  x.  n.  21. 


SECTION  IV.— THE  SANCTITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


Q.  Is  the  Church  holy? 

A.  The  Scripture  says  so  very  expressly, 
"  Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  gave  himself 
for  her,  that  she  might  be  without  spot  or 
wrinkle,  holy  and  without  blemish  ;  "  Eph.  v. 
25,  26,  27.  And  St.  Peter  confirms  this ;  i 
Peter  ii.  9.  This  holiness  applies  to  the  Church, 
both  on  earth  and  in  heaven.  The  Church  is 
purified   and   sanctified   here   by  Jesus  Chnst, 


and  this  sanctitj'  is  perfected  in  heaven  ;  Bossuet, 
Confer,  with  Claude. 

Q.  In  what  is  the  Church  holy  ? 

A.  In  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  her  head,  and  the 
source  of  all  sanctity ;  in  her  doctrine,  which 
is  holy ;  in  her  holy  laws,  worship,  ceremonies, 
Sacraments,  Sacrifice,  Saints,  and  public  acts  of 
everv  descrintion. 


THE   CATHOLIC   REUGION    DEFINED. 


527 


Q.  Why  do  you  say  she  is  holy  in  her  doc- 
trines ? 

A.  Because  she  teaches,  as  of  faith,  only 
what  she  has  learnt  from  Christ  by  his  Apostles, 
and  this  teaching  sanctifies  those  who  follow 
and  obey  it. 

Q.  How  do  we  know  that  the  Church  teaches 
only  what  she  learnt  from  Christ  and  the 
Apostles  ? 

A.  We  have  two  means  of  conviction  on  this 
point,  the  one  available  only  to  the  learned, 
the  other  open  to  all. 

Q.  What  is  the  first? 

A.  To  compare  each  dogma  of  the  Church 
with  the  holy  Scripture  and  the  traditions  of 
the  Church,  for  these  are  the  only  two  chan- 
nels by  which  doctrines  have  reached  us.  We 
shall  afterwards  establish  the  divine  authority 
of  these  two  sources  of  religious  truth.  To 
effect  this  comparison,  it  must  be  quite  clear  to 
all,  that  the  learned  only  are  qualified,  the 
simple  and  unlettered  being  utterly  incapable 
of  such  an  undertaking,  as  we  shall  see  when 
we  come  to  establish  the  authority  of  the 
Church. 

Q.  What  is  the  second  means   open  to  all  ? 

A.  To  consider  the  simple  and  precise  prom- 
ises made  by  Christ  to  his  Church,  that  his 
Holy  Spirit  would  be  with  her  and  teach  her  all 
truth  forever  ;  that  the  gates  of  hell  should  not 
prevail  against  her ;  that  he  himself  would  abide 
with  her  forever ;  John  xiv.  16;  xvi.  13;  Matt, 
xvi.  18 ;  xxviii.  18,  19,  20.  From  these,  it  is 
quite  evident  that  the  Church  which  has  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  teach  her  all  truth  diXiA  forever, 
cannot  teach  error.  Hence,  the  truths  taught  by 
Christ  and  his  Apostles  shall  be  forever  taught 
by  the  Church,  which  St.  Paul  says  is  the  pillar 
and  ground  of  truth  ;  i  Tim.  iii.  15. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  all  have  it  in  their 
power  to  be  convinced  that  the  doctrine  of  the 


Church  is  pure  and  holy,  by  merely  consider- 
ing the  above  promises  made  by  Christ? 

A.  Because  these  promises  are  so  simple,  and 
plain,  that  all  can  easily  understand  them.  The 
holiness,  the  perpetuity,  the  infallibility  of  the 
body,  and  doctrine  of  the  Church,  are  the  neces- 
sary and  inevitable  cousequence  of  these  prom- 
ises; gainsayers  on  this  point  must  be  amongst 
those  who  are  condemned  by  their  own  judg- 
ment; Titus  iii.  10,  II. 

Q.  Why  have  you  said  that  the  doctrine  of 
the  Church  renders  holy  all  who  follow  it? 

A.  Because  it  is  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  which 
is  ever  true  and  holy,  which  sanctifies  all  in 
truth,  which  enlightens  and  converts  souls ; 
John  xviii.  17;  Ps.  xviii.  8,  9.  Those  who  are 
out  of  the  Church  cannot  be  sanctified ;  because 
either  they  are  not  baptized,  and  hence  incapa- 
ble of  receiving  grace ;  or  they  have  voluntarily 
fallen  from  the  grace  of  baptism,  and,  by  sin, 
are  actually  enemies  of  God,  and  unworthy  of 
the  grace  which  sanctifies ;  John  iii.  3,5;  Titus 
iii.  10,  II.  To  the  latter  class  belong  infidels, 
heretics,  schismatics,  and  apostates,  who,  accord- 
ing to  St.  Jude,  by  separating  themselves  from 
God's  Church,  are  to  be  considered  as  judged, 
and  condemned ;  Jude,  19,  22. 

Q.  Are  all  who  are  in  the  Church  holy? 

A.  All  are  called  to  sanctity.  "  Many,"  says 
our  Saviour,  "are  called,  but  few  are  chosen;  " 
Matt.  XX.  16.  Many  dishonor  the  sanctity  of 
their  vocation,  by  the  corruption  of  their  lives. 
In  the  Church  there  are  living  and  dead  mem- 
bers. In  this  world  the  chaff  and  good  grain 
will  always  be  found  commingled ;  Matt.  iii. 
12;  xiii.  25;  xxii.  10.  Sinners  in  the  Church 
do  not  render  the  Church  unholy ;  their  sins 
are  their  own.  The  Church  teaches  holiness 
and  condemns  vice;  St.  Aug.  Lit.  55  or  119,  ad 
Januar.  n.  35. 


-S28 


THE   CATHOLIC    REUGION    DEFINED. 


SECTION   v.— THE  CATHOLICITY   OF   THE   CHURCH. 


Q.  What  means  the  word  Catholic  ? 

A.  It  means  universal,  and  is  applied  to  the 
Church,  because  she  exists  in  all  times  and  all 
places,  which  is  not  the  case  with  any  other 
religious  society. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  she  is  the  Church 
of  all  times  ? 

A.  Because  there  ever  has  been,  and  ever  will 
be,  a  society  of  the  truly  faithful  children  of 
God,  united  in  the  same  faith,  and  animated  by 
the  same  spirit,  under  the  direction  of  the  same 
head,  Jesus  Christ ;  and  this  society  we  call  the 
Church.  Since  the  fall  of  man,  all  who  have 
been  saved,  have  been  saved  in  this  society, 
through  Jesus  ;  for  there  is  no  other  name  under 
heaven  through  which  we  can  be  saved ;  Acts 
iv.  12 ;  and  this  Church,  now  guided  by  the- 
same  Christ  Jesus,  will  subsist  until  the  end  of 
the  world.  "  I  will  be  with  you,"  says  the 
Sa\'iour,  "  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation 
of  the  world." 

Q.  Why  have  you  said  that  the  Church  ex- 
tends itself  to  all  places  ? 


A.  Because  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  either 
has  been,  or  will  be,  announced  in  every  part 
of  the  universe ;  every  where  there  are,  or  there 
have  been,  or  will  be.  Catholics;  Ps.  ii.  8;  xxi. 
28;  Ivi.  6,  12;  Ixxi.  8;  St.  Aug.  Lit.  199,  or 
80  ad  Hesich.  From  these  texts,  it  is  clear  that 
the  prophet  foretold  the  universal  diffusion  of 
Catholic  truth.  The  Catholic  Church  has  ever 
been  the  most  extended  Christian  body  ;  in  every 
corner  of  the  globe  there  have  been  Catholics 
united  together  by  the  profession  of  the  same 
faith,  a  participation  of  the  same  sacraments, 
and  a  complete  subjection  to  the  same  head; 
all  heretical  societies  have  been  confined  to  time 
and  place ;  we  know  the  commencement  of  each, 
the  date  of  their  birth,  and  the  time  they  di.s- 
appeared  from  the  world.  No  heresy  lasted 
more  than  four  hundred  years  ;  the  ancient  her- 
esies have  long  since  been  forgotten,  and  the 
modern  are  hurrying  fast  to  the  same  oblivion. 
The  Catholic  Church  alone  has  existed  in  all 
times  and  all  places. 


SECTION   VI.— ON    THE   TITLE   OF  APOSTOLICITY   GIVEN   TO   THE   CHURCH. 


Q.  Why  do  you  call  the  Church  Apostolical  ? 

A.  Because  she  believes  and  teaches  what  the 
Apostles  believed  and  taught  ;  because  she  was 
founded  by  the  Apostles,  and  governed  ever  since 
by  their  lawful  successors ;  and  in  fine,  because 
she  has  received  her  authority  and  mission  from 
Christ  through  the  Apostles. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  the  Church  believes 
and  teaches  what  the  Apostles  taught  ? 

A.  Because  in  every  age,  back  to  the  apos- 
tolic times,  we  find  the  Church  teaching  what 
she  does  at  present.  When  we  say  the  Church 
was  founded  by  the  Apostles,  we  speak  of  the 
Church  since  the  time  of  Christ,  which,  though 
founded  on    Christ  as  the  corner    stone — Eph. 


ii.  20 — was  nevertheless  formed  into  a  body  by 
the  preaching  of  his  Apostolic  ministers,  a  body 
which  has  subsisted  ever  since,  and  will  subsist 
to  the  end  of  the  world,  according  to  the  express 
words  of  Christ :  "  I  will  be  with  you  all  days, 
even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world;  "  Matt, 
xxviii.  18,  19,  20;  see  St.  Aug.  Serm,  2,  in  Ps. 
ci.  n.  8,  9,  10. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  the  Church  is  gov- 
erned by  the  successors  of  the  Apostles  ? 

A.  St.  Paul  tells  us,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  has 
given  bishops  to  rule  the  Church  of  God ;  Acts 
XX.  28.  Now,  the  Church  is  governed  by  these 
bishops,  canonically  appointed,  and  succeeding 
one  another,  since  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  the 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION  DEFINED. 


529 


first  of  this  succession  being  the  Apostles  them- 
selves. This  succession  was  foretold  by  St.  Paul ; 
Eph.  iv.  II,  12,  13,  14.  St.  Paul  ordained  Titus, 
and  left  him  in  Crete  to  appoint  other  Bishops 
and  Priests,  and  thus  were  all  the  other  Apostles 
succeeded.  This  continued  succession  of  the 
Episcopacy,  which  connects  the  present  Bishops 
of  the  Church  with  the  Apostles,  is  one  of  the 
most  powerful  proofs  of  the  true  Church ;  wher- 
ever it  is  found,  there  is  truth ;  wherever  it  is 
wanting,  there  is  error ;  St.  Iren.  contra  Heres. 
c.  3 ;  Tertul.  Prescrip.  contra  Heres.  c.  32. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say  that  the  Church  has  re. 
ceived  her  orders  and  mission  through  the  Apos- 
tles from  Christ  ? 

A.  The  Church  cannot  subsist  without  minis- 
ters for  the  Word  and  the  Sacraments.  Now,  no 
one  can  assume  this  ministerial  power  of  himself; 
he  must  be  sent  by  God.  St.  Paul  says  so  ex. 
pressly :  "  How  can  they  preach  unless  they  be 
sent."  To  the  priesthood,  all  must  be  called  as 
Aaron  was ;  Heb.  v.  4,  5.  This  necessary  mis- 
sion and  power  was  therefore  given  by  Christ  to 
his  Apostles,  the  latter  transmitted  them  to  the 
next  generation  of  pastors,  and  so  on  down  to 
'■he  present  day.     "  As  my  Father  sent  me,  eveu 


so  I   send  you ;    whose  sins  you  shall  forgive, 
they  are  forgiven  ;"  John  xx.  21,  22. 

Q.  But  might  not  God  send  extraordinary  mis- 
sionaries, such  as  Luther,  etc.,  giving  them,  not 
the  ordinary  mission  derived  from  the  existing 
pastors,  but  an  extraordinary  mission  directly 
from  himself,  such  as  he  gave  to  St.  Paul,  or  to ' 
the  prophets  of  old? 

A.  If  Luther,  or  any  other,  had  received  such 
mission,  they  should  have  wrought  miracles,  or 
prophesied  truthfully,  like  St.  Paul  and  the 
prophets.  This,  however,  they  did  not  do.  But, 
besides  this,  any  such  mission  would  have  falsi- 
fied the  words  of  Christ,  for  Luther  and  his 
brother  heretics,  ver}'^  unlike  St.  Paul  or  the 
prophets,  preached  doctrines  contrary  to  those  of 
the  Church,  which  Christ  had  declared  should 
never  fall  into  error.  If,  therefore,  Luther 
preached  truth,  then  Christ  spoke  falsehood. 
Besides,  an  Apostle  tells  us,  that  even  if  an  angel 
from  heaven  were  to  announce  another  doctrine, 
we  should  not  believe  it ;  Gal.  i.  8,  9.  Hence  it 
is  quite  evident  that  God  did  not,  and  could  not, 
send  any  extraordinary  missionary  to  undo  what 
was  done  by  his  only-begotten  Son. 


SECTION   VII.— THE   CHURCH,    CALLED   ROMAN    AND   CATHOLIC,    IS  THE  ONLY   TRUE 

CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 


Q.  To  what  Church  do  the  four  above  marks 
of  truth  properly  belong  ? 

A.  These  marks  of  truth  are  to  be  found  only 
in  the  Church  called  Roman  and  Catholic.  She 
alone  is  Ojte,  Holy,  Catholic,  and  Apostolical. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  the  Roman  Church  ? 

A.  I  understand  that  society  of  Christians  who 
acknowledge  the  Bishop  of  Rome  as  their  visible 
head,  and  who  obey  him  in  that  capacity.  The 
Bishop  of  Rome  is  called  Pope,  which  signifies 
Father.  This  title  was  at  one  time  given  to  every 
bishop,  but  has  for  centuries  been  reserved  to  the 
chief  bishop,  because,  as  the  head  of  these  bishops, 
he  is  in  a  manner  the  father,  as  St.  Augustin  says, 


of  all  Christians ;  Epist.  43  or  162,  ad  Glorium 
n.  16. 

Q.  Why  is  the  Pope  chief  or  head,  more  than 
any  other  bishop  ? 

A.  Because  he  is  successor  to  the  see  of  Peter, 
who  was  head  of  the  Apostles  by  the  institution 
of  Christ ;  St.  Aug.  Ep.  52  or  165,  ad  Gener.  n.  2. 

Q.  Is  it  an  incontestable  truth  that  St.  Peter 
was  appointed  by  Christ  chief  of  the  Apostles  ? 

A.  As  often  as  the  Evangelists  give  a  cata- 
logue of  the  Apostles,  they  place  Peter  at  the 
head,  and  sometimes  call  him  the  first.  Christ 
said  to  Peter  only,  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this 
rock  I  will  build  my  Church  ;"  Matt.  x.  2  ;  xvL 


53° 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


i8,  19.  To  Peter  only  is  g^ven  the  power  to  feed 
both  the  lambs  and  sheep  of  Christ ;  John  xxi. 
15,  16,  17.  Peter  alone  is  ordered  to  confirm  his 
brethren  ;  and  Christ  expressly  prays  for  him  in 
a  special  manner,  "  that  his  faith  fail  not ;"  Luke 
xxii.  32. 

Q.  Is  it  certain  that  St.  Peter  was  at  Rome, 
established  his  see  there,  and  died  in  that  city  ? 

A.  As  certain  as  that  Caesar  lived  in  that  capi- 
tal. The  whole  world  attests  these  facts.  No 
wise  man  has  ever  doubted  their  truth.  Even 
Blondel,  a  Protestant,  admits  them  as  incontest- 
able facts  of  history.  The  successors,  therefore, 
of  St.  Peter  in  the  see  of  Rome,  have  succeeded 
to  his  authority,  or  primatial  jurisdiction  ;  for  all 
ages  have  admitted  Rome  to  be  the  head  of  all 
the  Churches,  and  its  bishop  the  head  of  all  the 
bishops,  because  he  succeeded  to  Peter,  the  Prince 
of  the  Apostles;  Cyp.  Ep.  52,  55;  Iren.  lib.  3, 
cap.  3  ;  Jerome,  Ep.  67,  ad  Damas.;  St.  Aug.  Ep. 
53  or  165,  ad  Gener. 

Q.  Are  Protestants  and  Greeks  of  the  Greek 
schism  really  schismatics,  by  withdrawing  them- 
selves from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Pope  ? 

A.  Most  certainly.  All  those  are  schismatics, 
who  withdraw  themselves  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  pastors  of  the  true  Church.  But  the  Prot- 
estants and  Greeks  did  so  ;  for  at  the  time  each 
of  these  separated,  the  Catholic  Church  had  all 
the  spiritual  marks  of  truth,  which  she  had  at 
the  time  of  the  Council  of  Constantinople.  She 
was  One^  Holy^  Catholic,  and  Apostolical ;  and 
there  was  no  other  Christian  body  in  the  world 
which  could  lay  the  slightest  claim  to  these  in- 
contestable marks  of  truth. 

Q.  What  if  Protestants  deny  that  those  marks 
of  truth  belonged  to  the  Roman  Church  at  the 
time  of  their  separation  from  her  ? 

A.  Either  these  marks  were  to  be  found  then 
in  the  Roman  Church,  or  in  some  other  Church 
then  existing,  for  the  Church  of  Christ  was  to 
exist  always.  To  say  it  fell,  or  did  not  exist  any 
where,  is  to  make  Christ  a  false  prophet,  for  he 
declared  that  he  would  be  with  his  Church  all 
DAYS,  and  that  his  Holy  Spirit  would  teach  her 
ALL  TRUTH  forever.     Now,  if  the  above  marks 


were  in  the  Roman  Church,  then  she  was  the 
true  Church,  and  those  were  schismatics  who 
separated  themselves  from  her.  But  if  the  marks 
of  truth  were  to  be  found  in  any  other  Church, 
then  point  out  that  other,  for  we  know  not  where 
to  find  it.  History  is  silent  on  the  subject. 
Surely  no  one  will  be  fool  enough  to  say  that 
Luther,  and  his  handful  of  wrangling  and  dis- 
united followers,  were  the  One^  Holy,  Catholic, 
and  Apostolic  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  Either, 
therefore,  the  Roman  Church  was,  at  the  time  of 
the  separation,  the  Church  of  Christ,  having  all 
the  marks  of  truth,  or  Christ  had  no  Church  on 
earth ;  but  the  latter  assertion  is  blasphemy  ; 
therefore,  the  former  must  be  admitted.  There- 
fore, all  who  separated  themselves  from  the 
Roman  Church  were  schismatics  ;  men  to  whom 
St.  Jude  alludes,  when  he  says,  "  In  the  last  time 
there  should  come  mockers,  walking  according  to 
their  own  desires  in  ungodliness ;  these  are  they 
who  separate  themselves,  sensual  men,  having 
not  the  Spirit ;"  Jude,  ver.  18,  19. 

Q.  Show  us  now,  briefly,  that  the  Protestant 
Church  is  not  One  ? 

A.  Protestants  admit,  and  Protestants  deny, 
the  Trinity,  the  divinity  of  Christ,  the  necessity 
of  Baptism,  the  Real  Presence,  the  existence  of 
free  will,  the  necessity  of  good  works,  the  neces- 
sity of  having  bishops  as  rulers.  Indeed  whether 
you  take  all  Protestants  as  one  body,  or  take 
each  congregation  separately,  you  will  scarcely 
find  two  nations,  two  ministers,  or  two  laics,  who 
hold  the  same  creed  in  every  point ;  therefore, 
they  are  not  one. 

Q.  Is  the  Catholic  Church  One  ? 

A.  She  is  one  in  her  faith.  The  same  articles  of 
faith,  the  same  principles  of  morality,  are  every 
where  taught  and  believed ;  the  same  Sacrifice 
every  where  offered,  the  same  seven  sacraments 
every  where  administered,  the  same  great  feasts 
and  fasts  every  where  observed.  She  is  one  in 
her  government.  The  laity  obey  the  priest,  the 
priest  obeys  his  bishop,  and  the  bishop  is  subject 
to  the  Pope.  In  the  Catholic  Church  we  have 
no  schisms,  no  divisions  ;  we  live  in  perfect  unity 
of  sentiment  and  affection. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


531 


Q.  Is  the  Protestant  Church  Holy  ? 

A.  She  has  taught  that  God  is  the  author  of 
sin,  that  man  must  sin,  that  good  works  are  use- 
less or  hurtful.  Her  founders  were  models  of 
immorality  ;  therefore  she  is  not  holy. 

Q.  Is  the  Catholic  Church  Holy  ? 

A.  She  is.  She  teaches  her  children  to  be- 
lieve all  that  God  has  revealed  ;  to  look  to  Jesus 
alone  for  mercy,  grace,  and  salvation  ;  to  practice 
the  virtues  commanded  and  recommended  in  the 
Gospel ;  to  receive  the  Sacraments  there  insti- 
tuted ;  to  believe  firmly,  to  hope  confidently,  and 
to  love,  with  fervor,  God,  and  every  fellow-crea- 
ture. Her  pure  doctrines,  and  heavenly  means, 
have,  in  every  age,  produced  Saints  so  incontest- 
ably  holy,  that  even  enemies  have  admitted  their 
sanctity. 

Q.  Is  the  Protestant  Church  Catholic  or  Uni- 
versal ? 

A.  She  has  never  been  able  to  filch  even  the 
title.  Fifteen  hundred  years  of  Christianity  had 
elapsed  before  even  her  name  or  herdoctrines  were 
known  in  the  world,  therefore  she  is  not  Catholic 
as  to  time.  As  a  Church,  she  is  not  spread  over 
all  nations ;  she  is  not  exclusively  the  Church 
of  one  nation,  or  even  one  parish,  under  heaven; 
therefore  she  is  not  Catholic  as  to  place.  Her 
doctrines,  and  discipline,  and  liturgy,  are  differ- 
ent in  every  different  country ;  therefore  she  is 
not  universal  as  to  the  truth  of  her  doctrine, 
which,  were  it  truth,  would  be  every  where  the 
the  same. 

Q.  Is  the  Roman  Church  Catholic  or  Univer- 
sal ? 

A.  Even  the  name  of  Catholic  has  ever  been 
hers  in  spite  of  every  enemy.  By  this  name  she 
is  now  known,  as  in  the  days  of  Pacian  and  Ter- 
tullian.  She  bears  not  the  name  of  any  man,  or 
any  country.  Because  she  is  the  Church  of 
every  man,  and  every  coiintry,  her  doctrine  has 
been  taught  every  where.  Jerome,  Augustin, 
Gregory,  taught  exactly  what  she  teaches  at 
present.  She  has  been  attacked  by  the  most 
powerful  enemies ;  doctrines  have  arisen,  and 
died ;  nations  have  changed  their  names,  their 
religion,  and   their   governments ;    her  doctrine 


has  remained  the  same,  because  the  truth  of  the 
Lord  remaineth  forever.  She  has  been  universal 
as  to  time.  Even  enemies  admit  that  she  has 
existed,  without  any  interruption,  since  time  of 
Christ.  Every  nation  under  heaven  attests  her 
universality  as  to  place.  Every  where  her  altars 
rise ;  every  where  her  pastors  disseminate  God's 
holy  word.  She  converted  the  world  from 
Paganism  to  Christianity.  Where  is  the  na- 
tion that  is  not  under  the  patronage  of  some 
Catholic  saint?  Where  the  city  that  is  not 
adorned  by  some  Catholic  cathedral  ?  Where 
the  humble  parish  which  is  not  enriched  with 
some  actual  proof,  or  some  hallowed  memorial, 
to  testify  that  it  was  once  Catholic  ? 

Q.  Is  the  Protestant  Church  Apostolical  ? 

A.  To  be  so,  she  should  have  a  perpetual 
succession  of  her  doctrines,  orders,  and  mission 
from  the  Apostles.  Now,  she  made  her  first 
appearance  in  15 17.  She  existed  nowhere  be- 
fore that  time.  Before  that  her  doctrines  could 
not  exist,  for  there  were  none  to  profess  them. 
As  she  had  no  existence,  she  had  no  pastors, 
hence  she  could  have  neither  orders  nor  mis- 
sion. She  came,  therefore,  1500  years  too  late 
to  have  any  connection  with  Christ  or  his 
Apostles. 

Q.  Is  the  Catholic  Church  Apostolical  ? 

A.  Her  society  we  can  trace  back,  as  a  re- 
ligious body,  with  congregations,  pastors,  lit- 
urgy, through  every  age,  to  that  blessed  society 
which  was  formed  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles. 
Her  doctrine  we  can  trace  to  the  same,  and 
no  other  source.  We  trace  her  orders  and 
mission  through  an  unbroken  line  of  bishops 
and  Popes,  to  the  time  of  Christ,  who  com- 
missioned the  first  pastors  of  the  Church. 

Q.  What  inference  would  you  draw  from  all 
you  have  said  as  to  the  marks  of  the  true 
Church  ? 

A.  Jesus  Christ  declares  that  his  Church  is 
one;  one  fold,  and  one  shepherd,  one  faith, 
one  Lord,  and  one  baptism.  That  she  is  holy : 
the  spouse  of  Christ,  a  purchased  people,  holy, 
and  without  blemish.  That  she  is  universal; 
that  she  shall  have   the  ends   of  the  earth  for 


538 


THE   CATHOUC  RELIGION   DEFINED. 


her  inheritance,  and  that  the  gospel  is  to  be 
preached  to  all  nations.  That  she  is  apostoli- 
cal: Christ  was  to  be  with  her  all  days,  even 
to  the  consummation  of  the  world.  These, 
then,  are  the  undoubted  marks  of  the  true 
Church  of  Christ.  But  the  Protestant  Church, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  neither  One,  nor  Holy, 
nor  Catholic,  nor  Apostolical ;  therefore  she 
evidently  is  not  the  true  Church  of  Christ. 
On  the  contrary,  the  Catholic  Church  is  clearly 
One  in  her  faith,  her  government,  her  liturgy ; 


Holy  in  her  head,  her  doctrines,  and  her 
saints ;  Catholic,  as  to  time,  place,  and  doc- 
trine; Apostolical,  as  to  her  society,'  doctrine, 
orders,  and  mission;  therefore,  either  she  is 
the  true,  infallible  Church  of  Christ,  or  God 
is  a  deceiver,  the  Scripture  is  not  his  word, 
reason  is  a  fancy,  and  religion  a  solemn  mock- 
ery. See  the  above  questions  treated  in  Con- 
troversial Catechism  more  at  length,  and  with 
the  necessary  authorities  from  Scripture. 


SECTION  VIH.— ON  THE  COMBATS  AND  STRUGGLES    OF   THE   CHURCH   AGAINST   HER   ENEMIES. 


Q.  Has  the  Church  been  so  favored  by  Christ 
that  she  has  no  enemy  to  encounter  ? 

A.  Her  existence  is,  and  has  been,  and  will 
be,  one  continued  combat ;  but  she  has  ever, 
and  shall  ever  triumph.  She  is  founded  on  a 
rock.  Torrents  of  persecution  may  threaten ; 
enemies  in  myriads  may  assail  her;  she  shall 
ever  laugh  to  scorn  their  impotent  assaults ; 
Matt.  vii.  25  ;  xvi.  18. 

Q.  Who  are  the  enemies  against  whom  she 
must  thus  continually  combat? 

A.  The  powers  of  hell,  iufidels,  Jews,  here- 
tics, schismatics,  excommunicated,  and  other 
wicked  persons ;  and,  besides  these  general  ene- 
mies, each  Catholic  has  his  own  peculiar  ene- 
mies, which  are  called  temptations ;  St.  Aug. 
Serm.  3,  in  Ps.  xxx. 

Q.  How  do  devils  assault  the  Church  ? 

A.  By  exciting  the  above  enemies  against 
her,  and  by  laboring  to  destroy  as  many 
Christians  as  they  can.  St.  Augustin  says  the 
Church  has  never  been  without  some  persecu- 
tion, general  or  particular,  according  to  that 
promise  of  Christ,  that  all  who  wish  to  live 
piously  shall  suffer  persecution ;  2  Tim.  iii. 
12,   13. 

Q.  How  does  the  Church  defend  herself 
against  these  persecutions  ? 

A.     By     patience,    confidence    in    God,    and 


prayer;  and  with  these  spiritual  arms,  aided 
by  the  truth  and  justice  of  her  cause,  she  is 
always  victorious.  She  may  seem  clouded  for 
a  time,  but  it  is  only  that  she  may  afterwards 
shine  with  greater  lustre. 

Q.  In  what  way  do  the  devils  attempt  to 
destroy  Christians  ? 

A.  By  engaging  them  in  error  and  corrup- 
tion, and  keeping  them  involved  in  these ; 
and  by  using  every  artifice  to  detach  their 
hearts  from  God,  and  attach  them  to  the 
world,  its  vices  and  delusions  ;  St.  Aug.  Serm. 
2,  in  Ps.  xxx.  Multitudes  fall  into  the  snares 
laid  for  them  by  the  devils,  and  are  lost.  To 
be  saved,  we  must  watch,  and  pray  unceasingly, 
live,  by  faith,  mortify  ourselves, — in  a  word, 
live  for  God,  and  walk  in  the  narrow  path, 
that  leads  to  life  eternal.  There  are,  however, 
many  who  will  not  lead  a  life  so  much  opposed 
to  the  corruption  and  perversity  of  their  nature ; 
who  prefer  present  to  future  enjoyment ;  who 
are  ever  promising,  without  ever  laboring,  to 
do  well ;  who  put  off  conversion  from  day  to 
day,  until  they  are  at  last  surprised  by  death, 
and  perish  eternally.  The  Church  laments 
the  ruin  of  so  many  souls.  She  prays  unceas- 
ingly for  the  conversion  of  the  wicked,  and 
the  perseverance  of  the  just.  She  instructs, 
exhorts,    reprehends,    corrects,    and    punishes ; 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


in  short,  she  labors  strenuously  for  the  salva- 
tion of  her  children ;  and  thus,  through  Jesus 
Christ,    secures    the    happiness    of    all    whose 


533 
Rom. 


names  are  written  in   the  book  of  life ; 

ix.    2;     2    Tim.    iv.    2;    Gal.  iv.   19;    2  Thess. 

iii.  14,  15- 


SECTION    IX.— COMBATS   OF    THE   CHURCH   AGAINST   INFIDELS,    JEWS,  HERETICS,  ETC. 


Q.  How  do  infidels,  Jews,  etc.,  assault  the 
Church  ? 

A.  By  combating  the  truth  of  Christianity. 

Q.  How  does  the  Church  confound  them  ? 

A.  By  pointing  out  the  accomplishment  of 
all  the  prophecies,  the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  sanctity  of  his  doctrine,  the  miraculous 
establishment  of  Christianity,  and  the  incontes- 
table miracles  wrought  in  every  age  to  establish 
the  truth  of  the  religion  of  Jesus. 

Q.  How  do  heretics  and  schismatics  attack 
the  Church? 

A.  By  denying  her  doctrines  and  rejecting 
her  authority,  by  perverting  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures to  support  their  errors,  by  asserting  that 
the  Church,  which  has  Christ  forever  with  her, 
had  fallen  into  error,  an  assertion  which  has 
been  in  the  mouth  of  all  heretics,  and  which 
induced  Tertullian  to  call  them  murderers  of 
truth  ;  Lib.  de  Crane  Jes.  Chr.  c.  5. 

Q.  Have  heresies  and  schisms  been  very 
numerous  ? 

A.  Every  age  has  produced  them,  and  we 
shall  have  them  to  the  end.  St.  Paul  tells  us 
that  they  are  a  necessary  evil;  i  Cor.  xi.  19. 
There  is  scarcely  one  article  of  faith  which 
has  not  been  denied  by  some  heretic  or  other. 

Q.  Why  does  God  permit  the  Church  to  be 
thus  persecuted    by  heretics  and   schismatics  ? 

A.  For  many  reasons,  viz.:  to  exercise  his 
justice  against  those  who  abandon  truth, 
and  his  mercy  towards  those  who  remain 
attached  to  him,  for  all  his  ways  are  mercy 
and  justice;  Ps.  xxiv.  10;  to  prove  by  trials 
those  who  are  firm  in  their  faith,  and  to  dis- 
tinguish them   from  those  who    love    error ;  i 


Cor.  xi.  19  ;  to  exercise  the  patience  and  charity' 
of  the  Church,  and  to  sanctify  the  elect ;  St. 
Aug.  de  Catechiz.  rudib.  c.  24 ;  to  give  occasion 
for  the  illustration  of  religious  truth,  and  the 
Holy  Scripture ;  St.  Aug.  lib.  i.  in  Gen.  c.  i ; 
to  make  pastors  more  vigilant,  and  value  more 
the  sacred  deposit  of  faith ;  St.  Aug.  de  Vera 
Relig.  c.  8,  n.  15  ;  in  fine  to  render  the  authority 
of  tradition  more  clear  and  incontestable. 

Q.  Why  this  last  reason  ? 

A.  Because  heretics  are  heretics  only  on 
some  points ;  and  hence,  when  we  find 
them  in  any  age  believing  a  true  dogma,  it 
must  be  clear  that  that  dogma  existed  in  the 
Church  before  the  birth  of  the  heresy  profess- 
ing it.  Thus  the  Church  uses  the  testimony 
of  the  Jews,  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  prophecies ;  of  the  Samaritans,  who 
separated  from  the  Jews  before  the  Babylonish 
captivity,  to  prove  that  the  Scriptures  are  more 
ancient  than  the  division  of  the  ten  tribes. 
Thus,  also,  she  uses  the  testimony  of  the  Nes- 
torians,  Eutychians,  etc.,  to  establish  the  holy 
sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  prayers  for  the  dead,  etc. 

Q.  In  what  way  does  the  Church  confound 
heretics  and  schismatics  ? 

A.  By  proving  each  assailed  dogma  from 
Scripture  and  divine  tradition,  and  by  showing 
from  the  promises  of  Christ  that  the  Church 
is  infallible,  and  that  novelty,  in  religion,  is 
error.  By  these  arms  the  Church  has  ever 
triumphed,  and  will  ever  triumph,  because  she 
is  the  pillar  of  truth ;  she  subdued  all  the 
ancient  heresies,  and  the  more  modern  will,  ere 
long,  share  the  same  fate;  i  Tim.  iii.  15. 


534 


TPE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


SECTION  X.— THE  PRINCIPAL   SECTS,  THE  FATHERS   WHO   REFUTED   THEIR   ERRORS,  AND   THE 

COUNCILS   WHICH   CONDEMNED   THEM. 


Q.  What  were  the  principal  heretics  of  the 
first  century  ? 

A.  Even  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  there 
arose  Simon  the  magician,  Menander,  the 
Nicolaites,  the  Cerinthians,  and  Ebionites. 
Simon  imagined,  that  he  could  buy  the  power 
to  give  the  Holy  Ghost ;  he  wished  to  be  con- 
sidered a  god ;  rejected  the  Old  Testament, 
denying  that  God  was  its  author ;  he  also 
denied  the  Resurrection.  He  was  confounded 
and  destroyed  by  St.  Peter ;  Arnobius,  lib.  2 , 
contra  Gent.  p.  50.  Menander  wished  to  pass 
for  the  Sa\'iour ;  he  pretended  by  his  false 
baptism  to  preserve  from  old  age  and  death ;  S. 
Just.  Apol.  n.  72.  The  Nicolaites  were  like 
Menander,  the  disciples  of  the  impious  Simon; 
and  Cerinthus  and  the  Ebionites,  amongst  other 
errors,  were  the  first  to  deny  the  divinity  of 
Christ ;  against  these,  according  to  St.  Jerome, 
St.  John  wrote  his  Gospel ;  Jerom.  Epist.  ad 
Heliodor. 

Q.  Who  were  the  heretics  of  the  second 
century  ? 

A.  Saturninus,  who  condemned  marriage,  and 
Basilides,  who  pretended  that  Christ  had  not  a 
real  but  an  imaginary  body,  and  that  he  did  not 
really  die.  These  two  heretics  were  refuted  by 
St.  Ireneus,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  others. 
The  Gnostics  followed,  adding  to  the  above 
errors  others  equally  shocking.  They  said  Christ 
was  only  a  mere  man ;  and  practised  abominable 
rites,  which  were  by  the  Pagans,  attributed  to  the 
whole  body  of  the  Christians,  and  used  as  a  pretext, 
to  excite  persecutions ;  see  Minucius  Felix,  in 
his  Octavius. 

The  Valentinians,  the  Cerdonians,  and  Mar- 
cionites,  were  offshoots  of  the  above,  and  taught 
the  same  errors  with  some  peculiar  variations ; 
they  had  numerous  followers,  and  were  opposed 
and  refuted  by  Tertullian,  Ireneus,  Justin, 
Epiphanius,  and  Clement  of  Alexandria.  Mon- 
tanus   pretended    he  was  the    Holy  Spirit,  and 


endeavored  to  pass  off  for  prophetesses  two  in- 
famous women,  whom  he  carried  about  with 
him.  He  forbade  marriage,  ordered  three  Lents 
to  be  observed,  and  pretended,  that  there  were 
a  great  number  of  sins  from  which  the  Church 
had  no  power  to  absolve.  Tertullian,  one  of  the 
ablest  writers  of  the  Church,  became  the  victim 
of  this  heresy — a  terrible  example  of  pride,  to 
all  the  children  of  God.  Tatian  condemned  mar- 
riage, forbade  animal  food  and  wine,  and  used 
water  for  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  His  errors 
were  refuted  by  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Ireneus, 
Origen,  Epiphanius,  and  many  others. 

Q.  What  were  the  sects  of  the  third  century  ? 

A.  The  Novatians  began  by  schism  ;  Novatian 
having  wished  to  have  himself  elected  Pope  in 
place  of  Cornelius,  who  was  lawfully  elected. 
It  was  on  this  occasion  that  St.  Cyprian 
distinguished  himself  by  various  letters  ad- 
dressed to  Pope  Cornelius,  and  by  his  admir- 
able work  on  the  unity  of  the  Church.  The 
Novatians  became  heretics,  by  maintaining  that 
the  Church  had  not  power  to  absolve  from 
great  crimes  committed  after  Baptism.  St. 
Cyprian,  St.  Pacian,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Basil, 
and  others,  wrote  against  this  heresy,  which 
was  finally  condemned  by  the  general  Council 
of  Nice. 

The  Sabellians  held  that  there  were  not  three 
persons  in  the  godhead;  that  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost  were  only  three  names  for  the 
same  person.  Paul  of  Samosata,  Bishop  of 
Antioch,  through  vanity  and  pride  fell  into  the 
same  error.  He  was  condemned  in  the  two 
celebrated  Councils  of  Antioch.  This  heresy 
was  opposed  by  St.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria, 
by  St.  Athanasius,  and  St.  Basil,  and  was  con- 
demned by  the  first  Council  of  Nice. 

The  Manicheans  held  that  there  were  two 
first  principles,  one  good,  the  other  bad;  that 
each  man  had  a  good  and  a  bad  soul.  They 
forbade  marriage,  they  denied    human    liberty, 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


535 


original  sin,  the  necessity  of  Baptism  or  faith, 
the  authority  of  the  Old  Testament.  St.  Au- 
gustin,  who  knew  them  well,  because  he  had 
been  one  of  their  sect  before  his  baptism,  ex- 
posed their  errors  in  a  most  powerful  manner. 
These  errors  had  long  before  been  foretold  and 
condemned  by  St.  Paul ;  i  Tim.  iv.  i ;  St.  Leo, 
serm.  15. 

The  Origenists  held  that  the  soul  of  Christ 
had  been  united  to  the  eternal  Word  before  the 
Incarnation  ;  that  the  soul  of  each  man  subsisted 
before  his  body,  and  was  infused  into  the  body 
as  into  a  prison,  in  punishment  of  former  sins ; 
that  Jesus  died  not  only  for  men,  but  for  the 
devils,  and  that  the  pains  of  hell  would  not  be 
eternal.  Many  deep  theologians  believe  that 
Origen  did  not  teach  these  errors,  but  that  his 
disciples  pretended  they  derived  them  from  him ; 
thus  attempting  to  give  importance  to  their 
sect,  by  claiming  as  its  founder,  a  man  who, 
for  learning,  was  the  wonder  of  his  age.  These 
errors  of  the  Origenists  were  opposed  by  St. 
Jerome,  Epiphanius,  and  others,  and  were  con- 
demned in  various  general  Councils,  especially 
in  the  fifth  general  Council,  held  at  Constanti- 
nople, under  Pope  Vigilius,  in  552. 

Q.  What  were  the  sects  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury ? 

A.  The  Donatists  were  first  schismatics,  then 
heretics.  Donatus  was  so  rash  as  to  consecrate 
Majorin,  to  the  prejudice  of  Cecilian,  the  law- 
ful bishop  of  Carthage,  and  thus  raised  altar 
against  altar,  cai:sing  a  -schism.  His  followers 
soon  added  heresy  to  the  schism  of  their  mas- 
ter. They  declared  Baptism,  and  other  Sacra- 
ments, administered  out  of  the  Church,  null — 
that  the  Church  existed  only  with  them.  They 
ordained  priests  and  bishops  for  themselves,  de- 
claring that  Catholic  ordinations  were  null  and 
void.  They  profaned  Churches,  and  the  Holy 
Eucharist;  they  broke  down  the  altars,  trampled 
the  holy  oils  under  foot ;  they  split  up,  like  every 
other  heresy  into  various  sects,  yet  remained  united 
against  Catholicism.  They  were  condemned  at 
Rome  in  313;  at  Aries  in  314.  The  emperor 
Honorius  ordered  a  conference  of  Catholic  and 


Donatist  bishops  in  411.  There  met  280 
Catholics  and  159  Donatists.  The  Catholic 
bishops  offered  to  divide  their  sees,  or  to  cede 
them  altogether  to  the  Donatists,  if  they  would 
quit  their  schism ;  but  nearly  all  refused,  and 
persisted  in  their  rebellion.  Their  followers, 
however,  diminished  after  this;  and  in  less 
than  a  century,  the  heresy  died  out.  St. 
Optatus  and  St.  Augustin  wrote  powerfully 
against  this  sect;  and  it  would  be  well  if  Pro- 
testants would  read  these  writings;  for  if  they 
did,  the  honest  amongst  them  would  abandon 
their  errors. 

Arius,  a  priest  of  Alexandria,  followed  Paul 
of  Samosata  in  his  errors  on  the  Trinity.  He 
pretended  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  truly  God, 
because,  as  he  said,  he  was  neither  coeternal 
nor  consubstantial  with  the  Father.  This 
heresy  is  much  the  same  as  the  modern  modi- 
fications of  it,  Socinianism  and  Unitarianism. 
The  Arians,  though  much  divided  amongst 
themselves,  were,  like  all  heretics,  united 
against  the  Church.  They  gained  over  to 
their  party  many  powerful  adherents,  and 
raised  horrible  persecutions  against  the  Church. 
The  errors  of  Arius  were  refuted  by  St.  Atha- 
nasius,  St.  Hilary,  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
St.  Basil,  and  a  host  of  others.  They  were 
condemned  in  many  Councils,  but  especially  in 
the  Council  of  Nice,  anno  325.  Macedonius 
denied  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  was 
refuted  by  St.  Basil,  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  St. 
Epiphanius,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Augustine  and 
many  others.  His  errors  were  condemned  by 
the  first  Council  of  Constantinople,  in  381. 

Eunomius  added  to  the  errors  of  Arius  other 
blasphemies.  He  pretended  that  God  was  not 
incomprehensible ;  that  he  knew  God  as  well 
as  God  knew  himself;  that  relics  were  to  be 
despised,  and  the  miracles,  wrought  at  the 
tombs  of  the  martyrs,  laughed  at.  He  refused 
to  baptize  in  the  name  -of  the  Trinity,  rejected 
the  authority  of  the  prophets  and  Apostles ; 
and  held  many  other  absurdities  and  immoral 
doctrines.  He  was  opposed  in  his  wicked 
career  by  St.    Basil,  St.    Gregory  of  Nyssa,  St. 


536 


THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION   DEFINED. 


John  Chrysostom,  St.  Epiphanius,  St.  Augustine 
and  Theodoret.  The  Emperor  Theodosius  made 
severe  laws  against  this  sect. 

Aerius  held  that  priests  were  equal  to  bishops. 
He  condemned  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  the 
fasts  and  abstinences  of  the  Church ;  he  for- 
bade Easter  as  a  feast.  St.  Epiphanius  and 
St.  Augustine  assailed  this  heresy,  which 
has  been  condemned  by  almost  every 
Council  held  in  the  Church.  Photinus  held 
like  Arius,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  God ; 
but  he  added  that  he  was  a  mere  man,  having 
no  existence  whatever  before  his  temporal  birth. 
This  heretic  was  refuted  and  anathematized  by 
the  same  Fathers  and  Councils  which  con- 
demned Arius.  The  Messalians  or  Euchites 
were  a  sort  of  enthusiasts  who  maintained  that 
baptism  was  useless,  that  prayer  alone  was 
useful.  They  prayed  or  slept  all  day ;  they 
pretended  to  revelations  from  heaven,  and  lived 
horrible  libertines.  St.  Epiphanius  and  Theo- 
doret refuted  their  errors,  which  were  con- 
demned by  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  Act  7. 

Lucifer,  Bishop  of  Cagliari,  refused  to  receive 
repenting  Arian  bishops  back  into  the  Church, 
and  thus  with  his  followers  became  schismatics. 
St.  Jerome,  who  refutes  them,  says,  they  wished 
also  to  rebaptize  all  converted  Arians;  and  St. 
Augustine  adds,  that  they  were  accused  of 
teaching  that  the  soul  is  material  and  begotten 
as  the  body.  Apollinaris  held  that  Christ  had 
no  human  soul,  that  the  Word  of  God  became 
one  and  the  same  substance  with  his  body,  and 
animated  it.  That  both  died  on  the  cross ; 
that  the  body  of  Jesus  was  not  formed  from 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  but  came  from  heaven ; 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  inferior  to  the  Son, 
and  the  Son  to  the  Father.  SS.  Jerome,  Atha- 
nasius,  and  others  opposed  this  heresy,  which 
was  condemned  at  Alexandria  in  362,  at  Rome 
in  373,  at  Antioch  in  378,  and  at  Constanti- 
nople in   381. 

The  Priscillianists  taught  a  compound  of  the 
errors  of  the  Gnostics,  Manicheans,  and  Sabel- 
lians.  They  labored  to  conceal  their  opinions, 
and    permitted   lies    and  perjury  for  that    pur- 


pose. Sulpicius  Severus  wrote  strongly  against 
them,  and  St.  Augustine  composed,  against 
them,  his  book  on  lies.  They  were  condemned 
at  Saragossa  in  380,  at  Toledo  in  400,  and  at 
Braga  in  569.  The  Jovinianists  believed  mar- 
riage more  holy  than  virginity,  and  declared 
man  after  baptism  impeccable.  They  believed 
all  sins  equal,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not 
born  of  a  virgin.  St.  Jerome,  St.  Ambrose,  and 
St.  Augustine,  combated  their  errors,  and  they 
were  condemned  at  Rome  in  390,  and  after- 
wards in  the  Council  of  Trent,  in  the  persons 
of  Protestants.  The  Collyridians  were  a  set  of 
Arabian  women  who  adored  the  Blessed  Virgin 
as  a  deity.  They  were  confuted  by  St.  Epiph- 
anius. 

Q.  What  were  the  heretics  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury ? 

A.  Vigilantius  rejected  the  invocation  of 
Saints  and  the  veneration  of  relics.  He  de- 
spised miracles  wrought  at  the  tombs  of  the 
martyrs ;  he  declared  virginity  nothing  better 
than  marriage.  His  errors  were  condemned  in 
those  of  Jovinian,  and  refuted  by  St.  Jerome. 
Pelagius  and  Celestiiis  were  the  leaders 
in  the  Pelagian  heresy.  They  held  that 
Adam  was  created  to  die,  whether  he  sinned 
or  not;  that  his  sin  injured  only  him- 
self; that  infants  are  born  without  original  sin; 
that  consequently  baptism  was  useless ;  that 
concupiscence  was  no  evil  ;  that  ignorance  or 
forgetfulness  were  in  no  case  sins  ;  that  death 
and  the  miseries  of  life  were  not  the  punish- 
ment of  sin ;  that  infants  who  die  without  bap- 
tism, enjoy  eternal  life,  but  not  in  heaven ; 
that  man's  liberty  is  as  strong  now  as  before 
the  fall ;  that  if  man  wished,  he  had  it  in  his 
OWN  power  to  control  all  passions ;  that  virtue 
was  not  the  gift  of  God.  Such  are  some  of 
the  gross  errors  of  Pelagianism.  St.  Germa- 
nus  and  St.  Augustine  labored  successfully  to 
destroy  this  heresy,  which  was  condemned  at 
Carthage  in  412,  at  Diospolis  in  415,  and  by 
Innocent  I.,  in  417.  Pope  Celestine  I.  con- 
firmed the  decisions  of  all  his  predecessors 
against    this    heresy,    and    in    the    Council  of 


THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION    DEFINED. 


537 


Ephesus,  anno  431,  two  express  canons  are 
directed  against  it. 

The  Semipelagian  sprang  from  the  ruins  of 
the  Pelagian  heresy.  It  held  that  man,  by  his 
own  power,  could  merit  the  first  grace  neces- 
sary to  salvation,  whilst  the  Church  holds  that 
such  grace  must  come  from  God.  St.  Augus- 
tine died  whilst  engaged  in  refuting  these 
heretics.  St.  Prosper,  St.  Fulgentius,  Popes 
Celestine,  Zozimus,  and  Gelasius,  condemned 
this  heresy  between  423  and  494.  It  was  con- 
demned also  by  various  Councils,  whose  deci- 
sions were  confirmed  by  Boniface  II. 

Nestorius  held,  that  there  were  two  persons 
in  Jesus  Christ.  That  the  Son  of  God  was  not 
united  hypostatically,  but  accidentally,  to  the 
Son  of  Man,  so  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the 
Son  of  God  only  by  adoption.  He  held  also  as 
a  necessary  consequence  that  the  Blessed  Virgin 
was  not  the  mother  of  God,  as  her  Son  was  not 
in  his.  own  person,  God.  This  blasphemer  was 
opposed  by  SS.  Proclus,  Cyril,  and  Pope  Celes- 
tine, whose  condemnation  of  Nestorius  was  re- 
ceived by  acclamation,  and  ratified  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Ephesus,  431. 

Eutiches  maintained  that  there  was  only  one 
nature  in  Christ,  as  there  was  only  one  Person, 
whilst  the  Church  has  always  taught  two  dis- 
tinct natures,  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  nature 
of  man.  This  heresy  gained  credit  from  Dios- 
corus  of  Alexandria,  who  declared  himself  its 
protector.  St.  Flavian,  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, had  it  condemned  in  a  Council  held  in 
that  city,  anno  449.  In  the  Council  of  Chal- 
cedon,  Eutiches  and  his  heresy  were  condemned, 
and  the  impious  Dioscorus  was  deposed. 

Q.  What  were  the  heresies  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury ? 

A.  The  Agnoetes  were  the  followers  of 
Themistius,  who  was  infected  by  the  Euty- 
chian  heresy.  They  attributed  ignorance  in 
many  things  to  Christ.  They  were  re- 
futed by  Eulogus,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria, 
whose  writings  were  approved  of  by  St. 
Gregory  the  Great.  The  heresy  of  the  Trithe- 
ists  consisted  in  the  admission  of  three  distinct 


natures  in  God.  This  heresy  was  refuted  by 
the  Eutychians  themselves,  and  very  soon  dis- 
appeared. The  Acemetes,  which  means  those 
who  never  sleep,  denied  the  Incarnation,  the 
birth  of  Jesus  of  a  virgin,  and  his  death.  They 
were  condemned  as  Nestorians  by  Pope  John 
II.  We  shall  pass  over  the  condemnation  of 
the  heresy  and  schism  of  the  Three  Chapters^ 
the  history  of  which  is  too  complicated  for  a 
work  of  this  description.  These  Three  Chap- 
ters were  the  writings  of  Theodorus,  Bishop  of 
Mopsuestus,  a  letter  of  Ibas,  Bishop  of  Edessa, 
and  the  writings  of  Theodoret,  Bishop  of  Cyr. 
These  three  writings  were  solemnly  condemned 
in  the  second  general  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople. 

Q.  What  were  the  errors  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury ? 

A.  The  Monothelites  maintained,  that  though 
there  were  two  natures  in  Christ,  he  had  only 
one  will,  which  was  the  divine,  and  not  the 
human  will.  This  heresy  was  supported  by 
Sergius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  Cyrus, 
Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  and  others.  It  was 
refuted  by  John  of  Alexandria,  Sophronius  of 
Jerusalem,  Arcadius,  Bishop  of  Cyprus,  St. 
Maximus,  Martyr,  the  Popes,  Severinus,  John 
IV.,  and  Agatho,  by  whom  it  was  con- 
demned in  the  Council  of  Constantinople, 
anno  680.  The  Paulicians  were  a  sect 
of  Manicheans  under  a  new  name.  Their 
leader  was  a  certain  Paul,  an  Armenian.  They 
were  guilty  of  every  abomination  ;  see  Bos.  Hist. 
Variat.  lib.  xi.  n.  13. 

It  was  in  this  age  that  Mahomet,  a  Cyrenean, 
aided  as  it  is  supposed  by  Sergius,  a  Nestorian 
monk,  formed  the  Mahometan  sect,  whose 
doctrines  are  a  monstrous  compound  of 
Judaism,  Christianity,  and  the  ancient 
heresies.  God,  according  to  Mahomet,  is 
the  author  of  evil  as  well  as  good ; 
man  has  no  free  will ;  there  is  only  one  person 
in  God ;  Jesus  was  only  crucified  in  appear- 
ance :  the  devils  will  be  saved.  He  maintained 
that  paradise  consists  in  carnal  pleasures ;  that 
these  are  not  sins;   that  man  may  have  many 


538 


THE  CATHOLIC   RELIGION   DEFINED. 


wives ;  that  circumcision  is  necessary,  and  bap- 
tism useless ;  that  the  Eucharist  is  idolatry, 
and  that  wine  is  forbidden.  God  has  permitted 
this  monstrous  evil  to  over-spread  all  the  East,  as 
a  punishment  for  the  crimes  of  Christians. 

Q.  What  heretics  appeared  during  the  eighth 
century  ? 

A.  The  Iconoclasts,  so  called  because  they 
destroyed  or  broke  images,  protested  against 
the  honor  which  the  Church  had  ever  given  to 
the  images  of  Christ  and  his  Saints.  The  Em- 
peror Leo  the  Isaurian,  a  Bishop  named  Con- 
stantine,  Constantine  Copronymus,  and  his  son 
Leo,  were  the  chief  support  of  this  heresy,  which 
made  great  havoc  in  the  Church.  This  heresy 
was  opposed  by  Gregory  II.,  St.  Germanus, 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  others ;  and 
was  condemned  in  the  second  Council  of  Nice, 
anno  787.  Felix,  Bishop  of  Urgel,  in  Spain, 
and  Elipandus,  Bishop  of  Toledo,  taught,  that 
Christ  was  the  Son  of  God  only  by  adoption ; 
a  whole  host  of  Fathers  opposed  this  blasphemy, 
which  was  condemned  at  Ratisbon  in  792,  at 
Frankfort   794,  and  at  Rome,  under  Leo  III., 

799- 

Q.  Who  were  the  heretics  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury ? 

A.  Sergius  and  Baanes  renewed  the  Paulician 
heresy,  to  which  they  added  some  new  errors. 
Claude,  Bishop  of  Turin,  renewed  that  of  Vig^l- 
antius  and  Aerius.  These  were  successfully 
opposed  by  Jonas,  Bishop  of  Orleans,  and  Dun- 
gale,  a  monk  of  Paris.  Gotescalk,  a  monk  of 
Soissons,  was  accused  of  teaching  the  errors  of 
the  Predestinarians ;  he  was  severely  punished 
by  Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  and  con- 
demned in  848  at  Mayence;  and  at   Querci  in 

849,  853. 

Photius,  the  nephew  of  St.  Tarasius,  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  was  intruded,  though  a  laic, 
into  the  See  of  Constantinople,  in  place  of  St. 
Ignatius,  the  lawful  Bishop,  who  was  driven 
from  his  See  by  the  impious  Bardas,  nephew 
of  the  Emperor  Michael  III.,  to  whom  St.  Igna- 
tius refused  communion,  because  he  was  living 
in  open   incest.     Photius   in  six  days  received 


all  the  orders  up  to  Patriarch,  from  Gregory 
of  Syracuse,  an  excommunicated  and  de- 
posed bishop.  Photius  was  excommunicated 
by  Nicholas  I.  He  then  commenced  to  teach 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  did  not  proceed  from  the 
Son,  an  error  opposed  to  the  uniform  and  per- 
petual doctrine  of  the  Church.  In  869  St. 
Ignatius  was  restored  to  his  See,  and  Photius 
was,  by  the  eighth  general  Council,  deposed  and 
excommunicated.  On  the  death  of  St.  Ignatius, 
Photius,  by  address,  got  himself  made  lawful 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  He  now  again 
began  to  teach  error,  and  was  deposed  by  John 
VIII.,  Adrian  HI.,  and  Stephen  V.  Still  he 
persisted  in  his  error,  until  he  was  driven  from 
his  See  by  the  Emperor  Leo  the  Wise,  and 
confined  to  a  monastery,  where  he  died.  His 
heresy  and  schism  did  not  die  with  him ;  they 
exist  amongst  the  Greeks  to  this  day.  John  Scotus 
taught  various  errors  on  Predestination  and  the 
Holy  Eucharist  during  this  century,  but  as  he 
had  no  followers,  we  shall  say  nothing  more 
about  him. 

During  the  tenth  century,  no  heresy  of  note 
made  its  appearance.  In  Italy,  the  Anthropo- 
morphites,  who  gave  God  a  body,  showed  them- 
selves for  a  time,  and  expired ;  and  Walafrid,  in 
Languedoc,  denied  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  was  ably  refuted  by  Durandus,  afterwards 
made  Bishop  of  Castres,  by  John  XXII. 

Q.  Who  were  the  heretics  of  the  eleventh 
century  ? 

A.  The  new  Manicheans  appeared  in  the 
city  of  Orleans,  led  by  two  canons,  who,  on  be- 
ing discovered,  were  condemned  and  degraded, 
in  a  Council  held  for  that  purpose. 

Berengarius,  Archdeacon  of  Angers,  dared  to 
teach  that  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  was  only 
figuratively  contained  in  the  Sacrament.  The 
whole  Church  rose  against  him.  He  was  con- 
demned in  a  Council  at  Rome,  in  1050 ;  in 
that  of  Paris  the  same  year;  and  in  that  of 
Florence,  1055,  iinder  Victor  II.  He  was  con- 
demned successively  in  1059,  1063,  TO75,  1078, 
and  1079.  He  retracted  his  error,  and  died 
penitent  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


539 


Michael  Cerularius,  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, in  1043,  wrote  against  the  Latin  Church, 
accusing  her  of  the  following  crimes,  viz. : 
Consecrating  in  unleavened  bread,  eating  stran- 
gled meats,  shaving  the  beard,  fasting  on  Satur- 
day, eating  meat  during  Quinquagesima  week, 
adding  the  word  Filioque  to  the  Symbol  of 
Nice,  allowing  two  brothers  to  marry  two  sis- 
ters, giving  the  kiss  of  peace  in  Mass  before 
the  Communion,  not  singing  the  Alleluia  in 
Lent,  not  honoring  images  and  the  relics  of 
the  Saints,  with  many  other  false  or  frivolous 
charges.  Such  were  the  pretexts  for  the  Greek 
schism.  Leo  IX.  sent  three  legates,  who  were 
honorably  received  by  the  Emperor,  Constan- 
tine  Monomachus.  These  conferred  often 
with  Michael  the  Patriarch,  but  without  ef- 
fect. They  at  last  excommunicated  him  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Sophia.  The  Emperor  banished 
Michael,  but  the  schism  was  not  destroyed.  Many 
of  the  Greeks  are  still  out  of  the  Church,  either 
through  Nestorianism,  or  Eutychianism,  or 
Monothelism,  or  Cerularianism. 

Q.  What  were  the  errors  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury? 

A.  Tanchelin  taught  that  Christ  did  not  insti- 
tute the  ministry  of  Bishops  and  Priests;  that 
the  reception  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  was  useless 
to  salvation.  The  life  of  this  monster  was  full 
of  infamy.  The  mob  followed  him  as  a  prophet, 
until  God  by  the  ministry  of  St.  Norbert,  Bishop 
of  Madgeburg,  destroyed  this  heresy.  Peter  of 
Bruis  renewed  the  heresy  of  the  Manicheans  at 
Nimes;  his  followers  were  called  Petrobusians. 
Peter  was  burnt  by  order  of  the  magistrates; 
and  his  followers,  from  whom  the  Albigenses 
sprung,  were  refuted  by  St.  Bernard  and  others, 
and  condemned  in  the  Council  of  Lateran,  under 
Innocent  II.,  in  1039.  These  heretics  were  also 
called  Henricians,  from  an  apostate  monk 
Henry,  who  led  them  after  the  death  of  Peter. 
Arnaud  of  Brescia  taught  the  errors  of  the 
Petrobusians,  with  other  errors  on  the  Euchar- 
ist, Baptism,  and  the  religious  state.  He 
was  opposed  by  the  same  Fathers,  and  con- 
demned in  the  same  Council.     St.  Bernard  also 


refuted  the  errors  of  Peter  Abailard  on  the 
Trinity  and  other  questions ;  and  Peter  was 
condemned  at  Soissons,  in  11 20;  at  Sens,  in 
1 140;  which  condemnations  were  confirmed  by 
Innocent  II.  Abailard  retracted  his  errors. 
Gilbert,  Bishop  of  Poictiers,  taught  some  errors 
on  the  Trinity,  which  were  refuted  by  St.  Ber- 
nard, and  condemned  in  the  Council  of  Rheims  ■ 
in  1 148,  where  he  retracted.  Eon  de  I'Etoile, 
an  ignorant  fanatic,  fancied  that  it  was  he  who 
was  to  come  and  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead ;  he  had  followers.  He  and  they  were 
condemned  at  Rheims  in  1148.  He  was  con- 
demned to  perpetual  imprisonment. 

The  Waldenses  were  the  followers  of  a  mer- 
chant of  Lyons,  called  Waldo ;  they  were  called 
the  poor  men  of  Lyons,  as  they  made  a  boast 
of  poverty.  They  attempted  to  preach  without 
a  mission,  or  orders  ;  they  held  some  doctrines, 
afterward  adopted  by  Protestants,  but  most  of 
their  creed  was  Catholic ;  see  Bossuet,  Hist. 
Var.  lib.  xi.  Reinerus,  who  had  been  one  of 
themselves,  refutes  their  errors,  which  were 
condemned  in  1163  at  Lombez,  in  11 78  at 
Toulouse,  in  the  third  Council  of  Lateran, 
under  Alexander  III.,  and  the  fourth  Council 
of  Lateran,  under  Innocent  III.  in  12 15. 

Q.  Inform  us  as  to  the  errors  of  the 
thirteenth  century  ? 

A.  The  Albigenses,  so  called  because 
they  inhabited  Albi,  and  High  Languedoc, 
professed  the  errors  of  the  Manicheans, 
and  a  compound  of  Petrobusianism  and 
Waldensism.  They  plunged  into  every  in- 
famy ;  yet  Protestants  own  them  as  their 
Fathers,  and  glory  in  their  shame.  Peter  of 
Castelnau,  and  St.  Dominic,  labored  with  great 
zeal  to  convert  these  madmen.  They  were  con-f 
demned  at  Avignon  in  1210,  at  Lavaur  in  1213, 
at  Montpellier  in  12 14,  in  the  fourth  Council  of 
Lateran  in  1215,  and  by  several  others,  up  to 
the  year  1246. 

Amalric,  or  Aimeri,  taught  several  errors  simi- 
lar to  the  Calvinistic  errors.  Besides  these,  he 
denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ;  he  declared 
heaven  and  hell  mere  chimeras  ;  that  our  heaven 


540 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


was  our  virtues,  and  our  hell  was  a  state  of  mor- 
tal sin;  that  the  word  of  God  was  not  to  be 
found  in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  more  than 
in  the  poets.  This  heretic  was  condemned  at 
Paris  in  1209,  and  in  the  fourth  Lateran  Coun- 
cil in  1215.  Joachim  of  Calabria  erred  on  the 
subject  of  the  Trinity,  and  was  condemned  in 
the  above  Council,  in  1215.  He  had  fanatical 
followers,  who  substituted  his  book  in  place  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  they  rejected.  They 
and  their  fancies  were  condemned  at  Aries,  in 
1260. 

The  Circumcellions,  who  appeared  in  Ger- 
many, were  a  kind  of  Donatists.  They  main- 
tained that  Bishops  and  Priests  forfeited  all 
spiritual  power,  by  mortal  sin ;  they  then 
declared  the  Pope,  Bishops,  and  Priests,  all  in 
a  state  of  mortal  sin ;  and  most  modestly 
claimed  all  power  to  themselves,  as  the  only 
people  free  from  sin.  This  insolent  folly  had 
been  long  before  condemned  in  the  persons 
of  the  Donatists.  The  Flagellantes  were  an 
assemblage  of  people,  who,  naked  to  the  middle, 
used  the  discipline  most  unmercifully.  In  the 
beginning,  they  broached  no  error ;  but  iu 
course  of  time  they  declared,  that  no  one  could 
receive  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins,  unless  he 
entered  their  confraternity ;  and  although  lay- 
men, they  confessed  and  absolved  one  another. 
They  passed  from  Italy  to  Germany,  and  from 
that  to  Hungary.  They  were  condemned  at 
Paris,  1349.  The  Beguards  and  Beguines  led 
horrible  lives,  and  believed  a  compound  of  the 
Manicheism  and  the  Albigensism ;  something 
like  the  Quietists  of  more  modern  times.  They 
■syere  condemned  in  the  general  Council  of 
Vienne,  under  Clement  V.,  in  131 1. 

Q.  What  heretics  appeared  in  the  fourteenth 
century  ? 

A.  The  Turlupins,  an  abominable  sect,  who 
appeared  in  Dauphine  and  Savoy.  They  adop- 
ted the  errors  of  the  Beguards,  and  maintained 
that  mental  prayer  alone  was  good  and  useful. 
They  went  naked  in  public,  and  gloried  in  the 
most  shameful  actions.  This  infamous  sect 
was    put    down    by  the    civil    law.     Raymond 


LuUe,  of  Majorca,  published  a  work,  full  of 
errors,  on  the  Trinity,  the  Attributes  of  God,  etc. 
Gregory  XI.  condemned  his  works,  to  which  con- 
demnation he  submitted.  There  was  also  a  second 
Raymond  Lulle,  who,  after  being  a  Jew,  became  a 
Christian;  he  wrote  several  works  on  magic, 
crammed  with  nonsense,  both  ancient  and  mod- 
ern. 

John  Wickliflfe,  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of 
Lincoln,  taught  many  errors  against  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Sacraments,  and  the  Church;  he 
was  partly  Donatist,  partly  the  precursor  of 
Calvin;  still  he  did  not  reject  either  confirma- 
tion, penance,  or  extreme  unction ;  he  h^ld  the 
Mass,  the  invocation  of  Saints,  and  tht  venera- 
tion of  relics  and  images;  he  was  condemned 
in  several  councils,  and  especially  in  the  general 
Council  of  Constance,  1414. 

During  the  fifteenth  century,  John  Hus,^ 
rector  of  the  University  of  Prague,  renewed 
the  heresy  of  WicklifiFe,  and  added  other  novel- 
ties. Protestants  boast  of  him  as  their  cham- 
pion, and  this  too,  whilst  they  admit  that  he 
held  the  real  presence,  transubstantiation,  pur- 
gatory, the  invocation  of  Saints,  and  the  seven 
Sacraments.  He  was  condemned  in  the  Council 
of  Constance ;  and,  by  the  secular  power,  was 
burnt  alive,  as  an  obstinate  heresiarch.  Jerome 
of  Prague  was  the  disciple  of  Hus,  and  had  the 
same  fate. 

With  the  heresies  of  the  sixteenth  century,. 
Christians  of  all  classes,  in  these  countries, 
ought  to  be  well  acquainted.  Commencing  with 
one  man,  they  multiplied  with  such  celerity 
that,  in  less  than  a  century,  they  became  almost 
innumerable,  all  difiiering  from  one  another — 
each  opposed  to  its  neighbor — yet,  like  every 
heresy,  all  united  against  truth,  and  waging  war 
with  God's  Church.  We  shall  take  no  special 
notice  of  these  Protestant  heresies  here,  as  the 
whole  object  of  this  and  every  other  work  on 
Faith  and  Morality,  written  by  Catholics,  is  by 
establishing  truth,  to  refute  modern  Protestant 
error.  Protestantism  was  condemned  by  several 
Popes,  and  finally  proscribed  in  the  General 
Council    of   Trent,   held    from    1545  till    1563. 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


541 


"Neither  shall  we  take  any  notice  here  of  the 
errors  of  Jansenius,  Quesnell,  or  their  adhei^ 
€nts,  first,  because  they  are  nearly  forgotten ; 
and,  secondly,  because  they  were  of  so  subtile  a 


description,  that  only  theologians  could  well 
understand  them ;  and  these  have  abundant 
opportunities  of  making  themselves  acquainted 
with  them  in  their  own  theological  works. 


SECTION  XI.— THE  STRUGGLES  OF  THE  CHURCH  AGAINST  BAD  CHRISTIANS. 


Q.  Has  the  Church  other  enemies  besides 
those  already  mentioned  ? 

A.  Yes;  she  has  to  contend  with  bad  Chris- 
tians, who  dishonor  her,  by  the  depravity  of  their 
morals,  and  cause  God  to  be  blasphemed  by  here- 
tics and  infidels;  Isa.  Hi.  5;  Rom.  ii.  24.  Chris- 
tians who  are  so  only  in  name,  and  who  corrupt 
others  by  their  bad  examples  and  scandals. 
The  heretic  and  the  unbeliever  attribute  the  dis- 
orders of  bad  Christians  to  the  Church,  of 
which  these  are  only  nominal  members,  and 
thus  thousands  are  kept  from  embracing  truth 
and  practising  virtue;  St.  Aug.  Serm.  2,  in  Ps. 
XXV.,  n.  14. 

Q.  How  does  the  Church  struggle  against  bad 
Christians  ? 


A,  By  prayer,  good  example,  instruction,  and 
chastisements,  and  here  her  labors  are  great ;  for 
many  enter  the  wide  gate  of  crime  and  disorder, 
which  leads  to  destruction ;  Matt.  vii.  13,  14;  Isa. 
ix.  3.  If  we  labor  not  to  enter  by  the  narrow 
gate,  by  lives  of  restraint  and  virtue,  we  shall 
assuredly  share  the  fate  of  the  multitude,  and 
fail,  on  the  great  accounting  day,  to  be  amongst 
the  few  that  are  chosen;  John  xv.  19;  John  i 
ii.  15,  16;  Rom.  xii.  2. 

Q.  Who  supports  the  Church  in  the  midst 
of  so  many  trials? 

A.  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  ever  with  his  spouse, 
who  governs  and  animates  her  by  his  Holy 
Spirit;  who  has  merited  for  her  all  she  enjoys, 
and  all  that  she  hopes  for. 


SECTION    XII.— ON   THE   ADVANTAGES  WE   DERIVE  FROM  THE   CHURCH. 


Q.  What  are  these  advantages  ? 

A.  Those  which  regard  the  Church  in  gen- 
eral, are  Unity,  Sanctity,  Catholicity,  and  Apos- 
tolicity;  those  which  regard  each  individual 
are,  both  for  this  life  and  the  next.  The 
former  may  be  reduced  to  the  communion  of 
Saints  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins ;  the  latter 
are  a  glorious  resurrection  and  eternal  life. 

Q.  By  what  means  do  we  begin  to  partici- 
pate in  the  blessings  of  the  Church? 

A.  By  the  remission  of  our  sins.  We  are 
all  born  children  of  wrath,  enemies  of  God, 
and  slaves  of  the  devil ;  Eph.  ii.  3 ;  iv.  18 ; 
Rom.  V.  10;  Heb.  ii.  14,  15.  We  become  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  and  children  of  God,  by 
the  reception    of  the   Sacrament,  which  remits 


this  guilt.  All  who  believe  in  God  require 
this  remission ;  Acts  x.  43.  It  is  by  a  Bap- 
tism of  water  that  God  ordinarily  remits  our 
original  guilt.  Jesus  sanctified  his  Church  by 
the  washing  of  water  and  the  Word  of  Life ; 
Eph,  V.  25,  26,  27.  God  can  and  does  sometimes 
remit  this  sin,  by  martyrdom,  or  when  Baptism  is 
ardently  desired,  and  cannot  be  had.  But  Baptism, 
in  one  of  these  ways,  is  always  necessary ;  Titus  ii. 
14.  In  the  blessings  of  the  Church  we  can  have  no 
share  until  we  become  members,  by  the  reception 
of  this  Sacrament,  which  is  the  door  to  all  her 
treasures. 

Q.  Why  have  /ou  said  that  this  remission 
of  sin  is  a  great  advantage  derived  from  the 
Church? 


548 


THE   CATHOLIC   RELIGION    DEFINED. 


A.  Because  the  Church  has  this  power  from 
Jesus  Christ,  and  it  ordinarily  and  properly 
belongs  to  her  alone.  We  know  this  from  the 
express  words  of  Christ,  "  Whose  sins  you  shall 
forgave,  they  are  forgiven;"  Matt,  xviii.  i8 ; 
John  XX.  23.  By  these  words,  Christ  gives 
power  to  his  Church  to  remit  sins,  without  any 
distinction,  and,  consequently,  by  Baptism  as 
well  as  by  Penance. 

Q.  How  do  we  know  that  this  power  is  the 
peculiar  property  of  the  Church  ? 

A.  It  can  belong  only  to  those  to  whom  God 
has  given  it,  for  it  is  not  derived  from  our- 
selves ;  but  Christ  gave  it  only  to  the  Apostles 
in  the  person  of  Peter,  "To  thee  I  will  give  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven;"  so  that  heaven 
is  opened  only  to  the  ministry  of  Christ's 
Church ;  no  such  power  ever  having  been  g^ven 
to  any  one  out  of  the  Church ;  St.  Aug.  Manuel, 
ad  Laurent,  c.  64,  n.  14. 

Q.  But  is  it  not  written  that  God  alone  can 
forgive  sin? 

A.  When  the  Church  forgives  it,  it  is  God 
who  forgives.  The  Church  acts  in  God's  name, 
and  by  his  power;  2.  Cor.  v.  20;  Eph.  vi.  20. 
This  power  is  committed,  not  to  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  but  to  the  Apostles  and 
their  lawful  successors,  and  to  canonically- 
ordained  priests  deputed  by  these. 

Q.  Is  there  auy  exception  to  the  above  ? 

A.  On  account  of  the  indispensable  necessity 
of  Baptism,  where  a  priest  cannot  be  had,  any 
one  who  intends  to  do  what  the  Church  does 
on  such  occasions,  can  baptize.  In  every  other 
case,  for  the  remission  of  sins,  two  conditions 
are  necessary  in  the  minister :  canonical  ordi- 
nation and  lawful  mission ;  hence,  Lutherans, 
jCalvinists,  heretics  of  all  kinds,  the  schismatic, 
the  excommunicated,  interdicted,  or  not  approved 
priests  or  bishops,  are  all  without  the  power  to 
forgive  sins.  In  the  hour  of  death,  however, 
if  an  approved  minister  cannot  be  found,  any 
ordained  bishop  or  priest  can  absolve  from  sin  ; 
the  Church,  for  the  greater  safety  of  her  chil- 
dren, granting  jurisdiction  to  all,  in  such  an 
extremity. 


Q.  When  do  the  ministers  of  the  Church 
forgive  sins? 

A.  As  often  as  they  administer  any  Sacra- 
ment, to  which  the  forgiveness  of  sin  is  attached. 
When  Baptism  is  administered  by  a  heretic  or 
an  infidel,  it  is  Jesus  Christ  who  acts — it  is  with 
his  permission,  and  in  his  name,  the  Sacrament 
is  conferred.  When  children  are  baptized  before 
the  use  of  reason,  all  their  sins  are  forgiven ; 
without  any  act  on  their  part ;  but,  in  the  case 
of  adults,  proper  and  previous  dispositions  are 
required,  which  we  shall  afterwards  explain. 

Q.  Is  it  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  the  ex- 
terior ministry  of  the  Church  for  the  remission 
of  every  kind  of  sin  ? 

A.  This  ministry  is  necessary  for  the  remis- 
sion of  original  and  all  mortal  sin,  except  in  a 
case  of  absolute  necessity.  It  is  not  so,  however, 
as  regards  venial  sins,  which  are  remitted  by 
prayer,  the  Sacrifice,  fasting,  contrition,  and  good 
works ;  see  Sacrament  of  Penance. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  when  you  say  sins  are 
remitted  ? 

A.  That  they  are  pardoned,  effaced,  and  cease 
to  exist  against  us.  Calvin  dared  to  teach,  that 
when  God  remits  sin,  he  does  not  destroy  it,  he 
merely  does  not  impute  it  to  us.  Now,  St.  Paul 
tells  us,  that  there  is  no  participation  between 
justice  and  injustice — no  concord  between  Christ 
and  Belial.  We  are  the  temples  of  God,  and 
when  our  sins  are  forgiven,  God  dwells  in  us  ;  2 
Cor.  vi.  14,  15,  16;  I  Cor.  iii.  17.  Christ  could 
not  then  dwell  in  our  hearts  if  sin  dwelt  there ; 
and,  hence,  our  sins  are  not  merely  hidden,  or 
not  imputed,  they  are  effaced.  We  have  turned 
to  God,  and  are  become  white  as  snow ;  St. 
Aug.  Serm.  2,  in  Ps.  xxxi. 

Q.  Are  our  sins  remitted  by  our  own 
merits  ? 

A.  We  can  merit  nothing  of  our.selves ;  we 
owe  all  to  Jesus  Christ. 

Q.  What  is  the  effect  of  the  remission  of 
our  sins  ? 

A.  The  Holy  Spirit  comes  to  dwell  in  our 
hearts ;  we  become  the  friends  and  heirs  of 
God    and    coheirs  of  Christ ;    Rom.  viii.  9-17, 


ST.  DE  LA  SALLE,     r 

Jean  Bapttste  De  La  Salle  was  bom  in  the  city  of  Rheinis,  April  30,  1651.  He  was  founder  of  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools.  After  a  long  life  of  great  activity  and  no  little  suffering,  he  departed  this  life,  in  profound  peace,  on  April  7,  1719.  At  liis 
death  the  Institute  comprised  twenty-seven  houses,  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  brothers,  and  nine  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighty-five  scholars.     How  grand,  how  magnificent  a  success,  was  suob  a  life  work!     He  was  canonized  May  24,  1900,  by  Pope  Leo  XIIL 


|he  Colonization  of  the  pounder 

of  the  Brothers  of  the 

Christian  Schools  ^  e^ 

May  24,  1900 


Published  with  the  Sanction  of  La  Salle  College,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  June,  1900 

One  Hundred  Thousand  Persons  witness  the  Impressive  Ceremonies  ^  ^  Pope.  Leo  XIIL  Presides  over 
the  Important  Function,  assisted  by  Three  Hundred  Patriarchs,  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  and 
Four  Cardinals    ^     jf-     jf-     j-     jf-     ,^     ^ 


His  Holiness,  Pope  Leo,  attired  in  his  state 
robes,  was  borne  on  the  Sedia  Gestatoria  at  the 
head  of  a  procession  composed  of  the  entire 
Papal  Court,  three  hundred  Patriarchs,  Arch- 
bishops and  Bishops  and  four  Cardinals.  Cheers 
arose  from  the  xnultitude  at  the  Pope's  appear- 
ance, but  the  applause  was  quickly  hushed  by 
the  guards.  The  Pope  took  his  seat  on  the 
pontifical  throne,  and  the  cardinals  and  other 
ecclesiastics  massed  around  him,  and  the  solemn 
ceremony  of  canonization  was  then  proceeded 
with.  The  Holy  Father,  after  the  usual  prayers, 
pronounced  the  canonization  and  intoned  the 
Te  Deum.  At  that  moment  the  bells  in  all 
the  churches  in  Rome  rang  out,  and  the  Pope 
solemnly  blessed  the  congregation  and  returned 
to  the  Vatican  amid  the  prolonged  cheering  of 
the  very  large  audience  assembled,  which  then 
left  the  cathedral  and  dispersed.  And  now  we 
find  that,  after  a  lapse  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-one  years,  Jean  Baptiste  De  La  Salle 
is  enrolled  in  the  Calendar  of  Saints. 

Life  and  Labors  of  De  La  Salle. 

It  was  in  the  city  of  Rheims,  April  30,  165 1, 
that  De  La  Salle  first  saw  the  light  of  the  sun. 


Before  entering  into  the  life  of  John  Baptist  it 
will  be  well  to  treat  briefly  of  how  a  Catholic 
regards  a  Saint,  as  to  his  power  and  functions 
in  heaven  as  mediator  and  intercessor  between 
God  and  man. 

Catholics  have  a  profound  veneration  for  those 
who  have  the  traces  of  Heaven  upon  them,  for 
such  traces  indicate  the  Saint.  It  may  be  asked, 
What  is  a  Saint  ?  By  what  evidences  are  we 
to  know  him?  These  questions  are  of  great 
importance  and  should  concern  us.  His  Emi- 
nence, Cardinal  Newman,  assures  us  that  none 
but  Catholics  can  fully  conceive  of  such  a  char- 
acter, and  even  among  Catholics  there  must  be 
a  degree  of  familiarity  with  the  workings  of  God 
in  His  Saints  to  enable  us  to  point  them  out 
here  below.  It  is  only  the  initiated  few  who 
can  point  out  and  say:  behold  one  in  whom 
God  dwells  and  delights  to  make  himself  known 
to  mortals.  Saints  are  of  a  growth  hidden  to 
ordinary  eyes,  and  yet  the  Church  is  never 
without  those  whose  lives  are  such  as  Saints 
lead.  The  Church  always  has  a  large  number 
who,  walking  in  the  way  of  the  commandments, 
go  to  make  up  the  number  saved  in  the  redeem- 
ing blood  of  Christ,  and  who,  by  their  lives  in 


(543) 


544 


THE   CANONIZATION    OF   DE   LA    SALLE. 


the  midst  of  the  world  and  its  temptations, 
attest  that  the  grace  of  God  is  all  powerful; 
that  those  who  choose  to  take  up  their  cross 
and  follow  the  Redeemer,  will  find  strength  in 
their  weakness,  light  in  darkness,  courage 
amidst  tribulations.  To  the  truly  Catholic 
heart,  the  term  Saint,  as  used  by  the  Church 
when  applied  to  her  canonized  children,  implies 
a  height  of  virtue,  a  depth  of  religious  convic- 
tion, an  extent  of  charity  before  which  ordinarily 
good  lives  pale. 

The  Saints  should  always  be  our  standards  of 
right  and  good;  they  are  raised  up  as  monu- 
ments and  lessons  to  us;  they  remind  us  of 
God;  they  introduce  us  into  the  unseen  world; 
they  point  out  for  us  the  way  which  leads  heaven- 
ward, hence  they  should  always  be  objects  of 
our  veneration  and  homage.  A  Saint,  in  what- 
ever sphere  he  becomes  such,  is  a  hero.  This 
demonstrates  that  nobility  of  character  must  be 
the  basis,  and  that  sublimity  of  purpose  must 
actuate  his  every  motive.  A  Saint  is  a  soldier 
of  the  cross,  whose  first  victories,  and  often  not 
bloodless  ones,  have  been  over  self,  which  he 
has  conquered.  A  Saint  is  a  hero  who  proves 
his  claim  to  the  title  by  faithfull)'  fulfilling 
the  promises  made  in  baptism,  by  renouncing 
the  world  with  all  its  charms,  ijts  allurements  and 
its  dangers.  Yet,  while  thus  heroic,  self-con- 
trolled, there  is  in  the  Saint  a  meekness  learned 
by  divine  imitation  of  Him  who  was  meek  and 
humble  of  heart;  there  is  a  gentleness  which 
must  be  the  outgrowth  of  love,  a  tenderhearted- 
ness which  makes  him  regard  the  whole  world 
as  his  family,  her  most  wayward  sons  as  his 
chosen  children.  In  the  life  of  the  Saint  we 
find  unbroken  cheerfulness,  the  standing  rule, 
"  Trials  that  would  render  others  sombre  and 
dejected,  have  no  other  effect  than  to  send  the 
Saint  into  the  arms  of  God  through  prayer. 
Monks  and  Saints  are  spoken  of  by  a  certain 
class  the  world  over  as  being  idlers.  Was 
St.  Paul  an  idler?  Did  St.  Francis  De  Sales 
squander  any  time?  Look  at  St.  Francis  Xavier 
and  the  thousands  who  followed  him  to  preach 
the    Gospel,  were    those    idle?     Certainly    not; 


so  far  from  this  they  persevered  in  vast  labors, 
preaching,  writing,  exhorting;  strengthening 
their  words  by  mighty  works  and  shedding  the 
last  drop  of  their  blood,  giving  up  to  the  very 
last  every  effort  of  their  strength  in  defence 
and  maintenance  of  the  standard  of  truth  and 
charity  which  they  established.  Such  is  the 
true  character  of  the  Saint,  such  the  picture  fur- 
nished in  after  years  by  the  child  which 
Divine  Providence  gave  the  world  in  the 
person  of  De  La  Salle.  The  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures tell  us  that  "  a  wise  son  maketh  the 
father  glad,  but  a  foolish  son  is  the  sorrow  of 
his  mother."  Taking  this  as  the  measure  of 
happiness  bestowed  on  the  parents  of  the  child, 
Jean  Baptiste  De  La  Salle,  their  measure  of 
blessedness  was  overflowing.  On  his  birthday 
John  Baptist  was  regenerated  in  the  waters  of 
baptism.  Mme.  De  La  Salle  loved  to  pray 
near  his  cradle.  While  still  a  babe  the  Chris- 
tian mother  used  to  give  her  first  born  the 
crucifix  to  kiss,  and  long  before  the  little  one 
had  learned'  the  meaning  he  experienced  the 
soothing  power  of  our  redemption.  The  pious 
mother  had  read  and  learned  what  SS.  Jerome 
and  Augustine  tell  us  of  the  passion  as  de- 
veloped in  earliest  years.  She  realized  that  it 
was  her  duty  as  a  Christian  mother  to  begin 
from  the  most  tender  years  to  train  her  child 
in  the  way  of  the  Cross.  Divine  Providence 
saw  fit  to  afford  little  De  La  Salle  a  fair  share 
of  the  cup  of  suffering,  as  from  his  birth  he 
was  delicate.  As  soon  as  reason  dawned  and  the 
child  could  walk  with  ease,  his  pious  mother 
led  him  to  the  Church.  At  once  his  heart 
was  charmed.  His  eyes  were  drawn  to  the  con- 
templation of  the  altar,  its  flowers  and  orna- 
ments, the  ascending  incense,  the  priests  in 
prayer ;  and  while  his  senses  were  thus  absorbed 
in  the  external  beauties  of  religion,  his  soul 
felt  an  undefined  charm  leading  him  to  learn 
that  God  alone  is  truly  good;  that  religion  alone 
can  delight  the  mind  and  ennoble  the  heart. 

Young  De  La  Salle  went  home  after  his  first 
visit  to  the  church  firmly  convinced  that  he,  a 
little  child,  was  in  God's  Holy  Temple,  and  that 


THE  CANONIZATION  OF  DE  LA  SALLE. 


545 


while  praying  there  he  was  conversing  with 
God.  On  reaching  home  his  only  conversation 
was  the  sights  he  had  beheld.  After  several 
visits  to  the  church,  young  De  La  Salle  was 
anxious  to  know  the  meaning  of  the  ceremo- 
nies and  what  they  represented.  The  clergy 
used  to  make  frequent  visits  to  his  father's 
house,  and  the  young  boy,  anxious  for  enlighten- 
ment in  the  sacred  mysteries  he  witnessed  in 
church,  astonished  them  by  the  depth  and  wis- 
dom of  his  questions,  and  they  took  great 
delight  in  instructing  him  as  they  saw  a  super- 
natural depth  in  his  j'oung  mind  that  astonished 
them.  It  was  after  such  visits  to  the  church, 
and  after  such  conversations  with  the  Reverend 
Clergy,  that  young  De  La  Salle  was  accustomed 
to  retire  to  his  room,  where,  with  the  greatest 
piety,  he  repeated  such  ceremonies  of  the  Church 
as  he  could  well  remember.  He  used  to  gather 
flowers  and  decorate  his  little  altar.  While 
pious  to  an  extreme  degree  he  loved  to  be  in 
the  midst  of  interesting  and  innocent  games. 
Even  in  his  old  age  >his  delight  was  to  see 
children  at  play;  he  loved  their  shouts  of  laughter, 
and  declared  that  "  where  there  was  plenty  of 
noise  there  were  few  sins." 

Youth,  when  worthy  of  its  years,  loves  fresh- 
ness and  openness  of  heart  and  soul;  generosity 
of  sentiment,  valor  in  juvenile  struggles,  sweet 
gayety,  kindly  manners,  pure  emotions,  are  all 
the  portion  of  the  truly  Christian  youth.  Such 
were  the  traits  which  all  admired  in  young  De 
La  Salle.  In  this  way  he  acquired,  even  as  a  boy, 
that  wonderful  influence  over  youth,  for  which 
in  all  his  after  years  he  was  so  distinguished. 
And  all  this  beautiful  combination  of  traits 
and  virtues,  which  in  others  could  be  but  the 
result  of  long  years  of  struggle,  De  La  Salle 
possessed  while  yet  under  seven  years  old ! 
Even  before  he  had  learned  to  read,  the  lives 
of  the  Saints  were  his  daily  food.  Among  his 
relatives  and  acquaintances  it  was  well  known 
that  the  shortest  way  to  reach  his  affection  was 
by  reading  to  him  some  narrative  of  the  lives 
of  the  Saints.  Thus  we  see  that  even  in 
his  early  days,  the  future  character  shone  forth, 


the  future  mission  was  indicated.  The  mother 
took  the  largest  share  in  this  Holy  work.  Herein 
was  a  piety  whose  perfume  filled  the  whole 
house.  Under  such  influences,  Jean  Baptiste 
grew  up,  inhaling  a  blessed  atmosphere  as  he 
waxed  stronger.  Thus  the  young  mother 
though  so  mild  and  gentle,  exercised  a  wonder- 
ful influence  by  the  wisdom  of  her  words,  the 
energy  of  her  acts,  and  the  soul-stirring  prin- 
ciple of  her  piety  gave  to  both  acts  and  words 
a  meaning  and  power  they  could  not  otherwise 
possess.  Thus  under  the  benign  influence  of 
prayer,  example  and  his  own  good  disposition, 
John  Baptist  grew  to  be  a  boy  of  seven  years. 
He  had  already  made  a  chapel  of  his  own  little 
room;  his  ambition  was  soon  to  be  satisfied  when 
he  would  be  allowed  to  enter  the  sanctuary  as 
an  altar  boy.  For  a  whole  year  he  had  been 
studying  the  responses  and  watching  his  more 
favored  companions  already  in  service,  and  ask- 
ing such  questions  as  would  enable  him  to  best 
fulfill  such  holy  functions.  Finally  he  was 
allowed  to  enter  the  holy  place  to  act  the  part 
of  altar  boy  to  the  Ministers  of  the  Most  High. 
He  appeared  rather  an  angel  than  a  child;  he 
was  pointed  out  as  the  model  of  the  sanctuary, 
the  child  who  was  to  realize  great  things,  since 
God  was  visibly  with  him,  guiding  his  actions 
and  giving  a  heavenly  cast  to  his  whole  ex- 
terior. Even  in  early  years  his  countenance  was 
inflamed  with  love  divine  and  moved  all  hearts. 
His  piety  was  not  satisfied  with  the  important 
duties  incumbent  on  the  true  altar  boy.  His  de- 
votion asked  for  more,  in  his  spare  moments, 
kneeling  at  the  feet  of  Mary's  favored  statue. 

We  have  thus  far  seen  De  La  Salle  among 
his  own  parents  and  friends,  showing  by  his 
conduct  what  the  future  man  was  to  be;  let  us  now 
follow  him  outside  the  paternal  mansion  to  the 
University  of  Rheims,  where  his  virtue  will  be 
put  to  the  test,  his  talents  fairly  measured  by 
comparison,  his  worth  proved  by  the  keen  test 
of  exposure.  The  University  was  at  that  time 
under  the  Presidency  of  Rev.  M.  Dozet,  a  rela- 
tive of  the  family.  Thus  guided,  under  the  eye 
of  a  watchful  relative,  John  Baptist  soon  became 


546 


THE   CANONIZATION   OF   DE   IvA   SALLE. 


the  favorite  with  all  his  professors.  They  used 
to  ask  one  another,  "  What  think  you  will  this 
child  be,  for  the  Lord  is  surely  with  him  ?  "  To 
his  new  professors  he  appeared  in  the  same 
light  as  he  had  formerly  done  to  his  parents 
and  relatives:  frank  and  sincere  in  word  and 
conduct;  neither  disguise  nor  evasion,  wonder- 
fully obedient,  while  manifesting  the  utmost 
firmness  of  character  in  carrying  out  the  orders 
he  received.  At  prayer  he  resembled  an  angel, 
of  whom  it  was  hard  to  say  whether  he  was 
more  amiable  than  pious.  We  can  easily  con- 
ceive that  he  excelled  in  both  since  he  copied 
each  from  the  same  divine  model.  A  partial 
revelation  of  John  Baptist's  course  was  shown  in 
the  manner  in  which  he  acted  when  urged  by 
his  worthy  father  to  study  profane  music.  When 
the  proposal  was  made  that  young  De  La  Salle 
should  take  up  the  study  of  profane  music,  he 
at  once  complied  with  his  father's  wishes  and 
strove  to  gratify  his  desire.  But  Providence 
wished  otherwise,  and  despite  all  his  eflforts  it 
soon  became  evident  that  his  tastes  were  strictly 
to  religious  music.  This  was  an  evidence  of  the 
higher  vocation  to  which  he  was  called.  In 
the  course  which  M.  De  La  Salle  wished  his 
son  to  pursue,  the  youth  soon  perceived  that 
while  religion  was  in  honor,  she  was  not  to  have 
the  first  place.  What  was  he  to  do  ?  Obedience 
required  him  to  comply,  and  yet  an  inner  voice 
told  him  that  he  was  not  to  be  of  this  world.  He 
resolved  to  place  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  her 
whose  Son  called  him  to  His  service.  He 
asks  her  to  petition  her  divine  Son  to  make 
known  to  him  His  will.  This  prayer  is  heard. 
The  hour  comes  when  the  father  apprises  him 
of  his  wishes,  then  in  words  which  he  speaks 
from  the  fullness  of  a  truly  filial  heart,  John 
Baptist  gives  his  father  to  understand  that 
such  hopes  may  not  be  cherished.  Parents  are 
often  pained  that  God  may  be  pleased.  In  this 
case,  De  La  Salle's  childlike  eloquence  won  his 
cause.  M.  De  La  Salle  renounced  all  worldly 
prospects  for  his  son,  while  the  latter  hastened 
to  thank  God  for  giving  so  easy  a  solution  to 
what  had  threatened  to  be  serious  in  its  conse- 


quences. The  first  step  which  young  De  La 
Salle  took  toward  embracing  the  ecclesiastical 
state  to  which  he  and  his  parents  had  now  de- 
cided he  should  devote  himself,  was  his  recep- 
tion of  the  tonsure.  This  he  received  on  the 
eleventh  of  March,  1662.  Young  De  La  Salle's 
tongue  only  spoke  what  his  heart  felt  when 
he  declared  that  he  took  God  for  his  portion 
and  desired  no  other  inheritance.  Once  a  cleric, 
his  piety,  his  modesty,  the  innocence  of  his 
morals,  all  shone  with  greater  lustre.  Among 
the  young  aspirants  to  holy  orders  he  was  a 
shining  light.  From  that  moment  he  devoted 
himself  with  redoubled  energy  to  his  studies. 
John  Baptist  was  now  at  an  age  when  the 
treasure  of  innocence  can  only  be  preserved  at 
the  price  of  sacrifice,  hence -he  became  extremely 
watchful  over  the  movements  of  his  own  heart; 
he  never  allowed  his  temper  to  ruffle  his  usual 
serenity,  and  his  victory  over  himself  was  com- 
plete because  he  never  made  sacrifices  by  halves. 
When  he  found  that  vigilance,  prayer  and 
struggle  were  to  be  but  a  (part  of  his  duty  when 
holy  purity  was  to  be  preserved,  he  never  for 
a  moment  hesitated  to  join  to  these  such  other 
means  as  religion  suggested,  and  our  divine 
Lord  Himself  has  declared  to  be  necessary. 
Hence  at  this  early  period  of  life,  he  employed 
those  severe  measures  against  his  own  body 
which  we  admire  in  the  Saints.  Cruel  scourg- 
ing kept  his  flesh  in  subjection,  while  he  de- 
clared that  "  the  only  safeguards  against  the 
pitfalls  of  sensuality  are  the  salutary  thorns  of 
penance  and  mortification."  This  constant  at- 
tachment to  holy  virtue,  and  his  success  in  pre- 
serving it,  he  attributed  to  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
to  whom  he  had  great  devotion.  His  purity  of 
body  gave  untold  brilliancy  to  his  mind,  ena- 
bling him  to  seize  upon  and  to  appreciate  the 
nicest  distinctions  in  disputed  points,  the  choicest 
thoughts  in  literary  gems.  Thus  gifted  he  was 
prepared  to  admire  great  men.  He  was,  more- 
over, ready  and  gratified  to  take  his  place 
among  those  to  whom  the  Christian  world  by 
which  he  was  surrounded,  looked  up  for  spirit- 
ual guidance.     At   this  time  the  University  of 


THE   CANONIZATION    OF  DE  LA   SALIvE. 


547 


Rheims  had  for  chancellor,  Pierre  Dozet.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  information  and  of  profound 
piety.  Finding  that  death  was  liable  to  surprise 
him  at  any  moment,  the  venerable  chancellor, 
who  had  been  Canon  over  fifty  years,  resolved 
to  put  the  youth  in  his  place.  Jean  Baptiste, 
although  wishing  to  decline  the  office,  felt 
constrained  through  obedience,  to  accept.  He 
assumed  charge  on  January  17,  1667,  being 
but  sixteen  years  old.  In  1670,  being  then 
nineteen  years  old,  De  La  Salle  went  to  Paris 
to  pursue  his  theological  studies  under  the  best 
masters.  These  he  found  in  the  Seminary  of 
St.  Sulpice,  where  he  remained  till  called  home 
by  the  death  of  father  and  mother,  within  a 
short  lapse  of  time.  At  death  M.  De  La  Salle 
conferred  his  children  to  the  care  of  Jean  Bap- 
tiste, who  could  not  refuse  this  legacy  of  love 
and  confidence.  Scarcely  had  he  undertaken  the 
difficult  duty  when  the  trial  of  life  was  upon 
him.  His  brother's  and  sisters'  fortunes  were 
in  his  keeping;  they  were  young  and  required 
to  be  educated  and  watched  over;  the  large 
estate  required  judicious  management.  Under 
these  trying  circumstances,  nature  pleading  with 
all  the  earnest  eloquence  of  truth,  he  had  re- 
course to  God  and  the  Blessed  Mother  in  prayer. 
The  divine  will  was  made  known  to  him,  and 
thus  all  his  perplexities  ended.  While  devoting 
himself  unreservedly  to  the  welfare  of  his  youth- 
ful wards,  he  resumed  his  studies,  and  at  the 
close  of  two  months  after  making  his  final 
resolve  he  received  sub-deaconship,  on  the  eve 
of  Trinity  Sunday,  1672.  In  1677  he  received 
deaconship,  after  which  he  spent  a  year  in  pre- 
paring for  the  dread  ceremony  which  was  to 
make  him  a  priest  forever.  During  these  six 
years  of  preparation  De  La  Salle  had  been  under 
the  constant  direction  of  Rev.  M.  Roland  as  a 
spiritual  director.  This  worthy  priest's  work 
was  accomplished.  He  had  led  De  La  Salle  into 
the  temple  and  placed  him  at  the  altar.  Eigh- 
teen years  after  his  ordination,  Jean  Baptiste 
De  La  Salle  closed  M.  Roland's  eyes  in  death. 
Their  last  glance  of  gratitude  was  given  when 
the  Founder  of  the  Christian  Brothers  promised 


to  be  a  friend  to  the  orphaned  daughters  of  the 
Holy  Child  Jesus.  Such  was  the  name  of  Rev. 
M.  Roland's  Institute. 

No  sooner  had  the  worthy  priest  breathed 
his  last  than  De  La  Salle  took  charge  of  the 
community.  By  his  zeal  and  prudence  the  In- 
stitute prospered,  but  he  ceased  not  to  labor  in 
their  behalf  until  the  Daughters  of  the  Holy 
Child  Jesus  were  solidly  established  where  they 
justly  considered  their  new  protector  a  second 
founder.  So  much  interest  in  their  welfare 
naturally  required  many  visits  to  the  convent. 
One  day,  as  he  approached  the  convent,  he  was 
met  by  two  travelers,  careworn  and  fatigued. 
One  was  of  mature  years,  the  other  young, 
apparently  the  elder's  servant.  In  them,  with- 
out knowing  it,  De  La  Salle  was  greeting  the 
first  laborers  in  a  vineyard  over  which  he  was 
soon  to  preside.  Primary  education  began  with 
the  Church.  Christ  was  Himself  a  teacher  of 
divine  truth  which  He  came  to  make  known 
to  men.  His  apostles  were  the  earliest  Chris- 
tian educators.  The  Church  and  School  have 
always  been  inseparable  for  the  people.  As 
time  rolled  on  and  revolution  followed  revolu- 
tion, the  Church  clung  to  her  divine  mission 
"  Go  and  teach!"  Her  sons  went  forth,  formed 
colonies  and  exchanged  the  comforts  of  home 
for  the  miasma  of  the  marsh  and  the  terrors 
of  the  forest.  Wherever  the  Church  arose  there 
were  found  men  laboring  for  the  betterment  of 
mankind  by  elevating  the  standard  of  intelligence 
among  the  youth.  In  the  schools  of  Alexandria 
the  Christian  system  absorbed  every  branch  of 
learning.  The  Roman  schools  were  on  an  humbler 
scale.  From  Rome  pass  over  to  Ireland.  There 
the  school  preserved  the  whole  world  from  fall- 
ing into  barbarism.  Columba  was  the  first  to 
lead  the  way  in  whatever  labors  the  monks 
engaged.  Ireland  was  regarded  as  the  chief 
seat  of  learning  in  the  entire  western  world. 
The  Church  has  accomplished  her  mission  in 
every  part  of  the  world,  whenever  and  wher- 
ever she  was  at  liberty  to  do  good,  her  first 
attention  was  devoted  to  the  children.  So 
prospered  affairs    until    the    dark    cloud  of   the 


548 


THE   CANONIZATION    OF   DE   LA   SALLE. 


miscalled  Reformation  came  to  break  up  long 
established  monastic  schools  and  to  banish  the 
teachers.  Gutenberg's  invention  of  printing 
and  Columbus'  discover}'  of  America,  both 
Catholic  achievements,  opened  a  new  field  for 
the  poorer  classes  to  receive  an  education  which 
was  denied  them  under  the  Reformation.  It 
was  the  mission  of  De  La  Salle  to  supply 
the  want  first  to  France,  after  which  he  would 
furnish  a  large  portion  of  the  teachers  to  the 
world.  When  De  La  Salle  undertook  to  form 
his  first  disciples,  primary  education  was  at  a 
low  ebb  in  his  native  country.  Before  study- 
ing their  own  language,  French  boys  were 
required  to  read  Latin.  This  the  Saint  changed, 
although  in  doing  so  he  was  opposed  by  all 
past  experience,  and  by  many  of  his  chief 
helpers  and  friends.  But  De  La  Salle  possessed 
an  educational  genius,  so  that  in  this  he  quietly 
pursued  his  own  course,  allowing  the  world  to 
talk.  Under  his  gentle  sway  the  children  of 
the  poor  were  to  be  his  favorites.  As  beauti- 
fully expressed  in  his  rule,  he  required  that 
the  Brothers  should  "  have  an  equal  affection  for 
all  the  children  under  their  care,  but  especially 
for  the  poor."  The  year  1684  may  justly  be 
termed  the  sad  year  in  the  history  of  France. 
Several  seasons  of  insufficient  crops  had  ren- 
dered provisions  scarce  and  dear.  From  all  the 
surrounding  cities  vast  crowds  gathered  into 
the  cities,  and  Rheims  had  the  appearance  of 
one  vast  pauper  house.  Most  of  the  middle 
and  lower  classes  were  reduced  to  penury,  as 
all  work  had  ceased.  Even  many  rich  people 
were  brought  to  a  state  of  misery.  Religious 
communities,  to  whom  want  had  hitherto  been  un- 
known, were  compelled  to  part  with  their  furni- 
ture in  exchange  for  bread.  De  La  Salle  see- 
ing misery  and  want  on  all  sides  resolved  to 
alleviate  it  as  far  as  was  in  his  power.  He 
determined  to  divide  his  large  fortune  which 
he  inherited  from  his  father,  into  four  parts: 
the  first  to  purchase  food  for  his  poor  scholars 
and  to  assist  the  Sisters  of  the  Child  Jesus; 
the  second  was  given  to  the  outside  poor;  the 
third    part  was    given   to  females    in    distress; 


the  fourth  was  distributed  among  the  bashful 
poor.  Not  content  with  having  become  as  poor  or 
even  poorer  than  his  children,  De  La  Salle 
gave  repeated  evidence  that  he  did  not  con- 
sider himself  greater  than  the  disciple.  On 
the  contrary  by  his  every  act  he  proved  that 
his  aim  was  to  become  the  servant  of  all.  When- 
ever a  Brother  fell  ill  he  hastened  to  take  his 
place  in  the  classroom,  where  he  was  distin- 
g^iished  from  all  others  by  the  gentle  gravity 
of  his  looks  and  words,  the  zeal  which  shone 
forth  as  characteristic  of  his  every  movement. 
De  La  Salle  was  the  special  friend  of  childhood, 
such  his  whole  life  demonstrates. 

Here  is  the  summary  made  by  the  Inspector 
General  of  Education  in  France,  who  says :  "The 
illustrious  founder  of  the  Brothers  of  the  Chris- 
tian Schools  was  the  pioneer  of  popular  educa- 
tion not  only  in  France  but  in  all  Europe. 
With  one  master-stroke  he  founded  seminaries 
for  country  teachers,  normal  institutes  for  city 
masters,  boarding  schools,  in  which  everything 
relating  to  commerce,  finance,  military  engineer- 
ing, architecture  and  mathematics  was  taught 
and  in  which  trades  could  be  learned.  Finally, 
an  institution  in  which  agriculture  was  taught 
as  a  science.  The  work  inaugurated  by  De 
La  Salle  and  the  devotion  which  he  manifested 
for  the  poor  who  flocked  to  his  classes,  suffi- 
ciently attest  his  charity.  Indeed,  his  whole 
life  may  be  classed  as  one  continued  practice  of 
this  sublime  virtue.  His  life  was  one  continu- 
ous act  of  union  with  God.  When  he  left  St. 
Sulpice  he  was  already  noted  for  his  love  of 
mental  prayer,  his  after  years  saw  him  con- 
stantly increasing  in  the  earnestness  with  which 
he  devoted  himself  to  this  holy  exercise.  His 
conversation  was  not  with  men,  but  as  far  as 
duty  would  allow,  with  God  and  the  angels. 
His  prayer  was  unremitting,  and  often  when  it 
was  thought  he  had  retired,  some  of  his  dis- 
ciples would  find  him  wrapped  in  the  delights 
of  contemplation,  and  again  lying  prostrate  on 
the  floor;  tired  nature  sank  to  rest. 

The  entire  designs,  conduct  and  proceed- 
ings of  the  servant  of  God  in  establishing  the 


THE   CANONIZATION   OF   DE   LA   SALLE. 


549 


Institute  of  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools  called  forth  unstinted  criticism.  To 
mere  worldly  men  it  was  incomprehensible  that 
teachers  should  live  in  comparative  silence  and 
retreat ;  the  spectacle  of  a  distinguished  canon 
or  a  doctor  of  divinity  dressed  in  the  modest 
garb  of  a  Brother,  was  more  than  even  many 
otherwise  religiously  inclined,  could  under- 
stand. The  extraordinary  zeal  shown  by  both 
founder  and  followers  was  adjudged  of  that 
class  which  the  apostle  describes  as  not  being 
within  bounds.  While  praising  his  extraor- 
dinary piety  there  was  left  the  sting  of  reproach, 
inasmuch  as  De  La  Salle  was  accused  of  wishing 
to  appear  more  devoted  to  his  mission  than 
those  who  were  willing  to  admit  the  excellence 
of  the  work  without  assuming  the  duties  of  a 
worker.  While  admitting  his  zeal  they  denied 
his  prudence,  while  endorsing  his  mission  they 
found  fault  with  the  missionaries.  Fortunately 
the  Holy  Founder  was  of  material  out  of  which 
Saints  are  made.  As  already  remarked,  he 
allowed  the  world  to  talk  while  he  pursued  his 
career.  As  in  the  case  of  all  those  who  had 
undertaken  great  works  for  God  before  him,  he 
was  not  surprised  at  the  censures  cast  upon  his 
motives.  He  was  spoken  of  as  a  person  with 
exaggerated  views  of  life,  headstrong  in  his  way 
of  effecting  the  good  he  sought  to  accomplish. 
But  here  their  opposition  exhausted  itself  It 
could  not  go  beyond  for  the  life  of  the  holy 
servant  of  God  was  such  as  disarmed  all  criti- 
cism. His  most  pronounced  enemies  were  forced 
to  admit  that  he  was  a  Saint,  yet  they  ceased  not 
to  say  that  he  was  a  most  independent  one.  His 
whole  life  was  one  series  of  concessions  where- 
by he  sought  to  procure  God's  glory  by  preserv- 
ing the  virtue  dearest  to  his  heart.  Where  he 
could  not  without  failing  in  his  duty  to  the 
mission  he  had  undertaken,  give  way  to  the 
wishes  of  others,  he  presented  his  own  views 
with  such  a  gentleness  of  manner  and  such  total 
absence  of  self  interest,  that  he  drew  his  oppo- 
nents to  his  way  of  thinking.  Where  bishops 
sought  to  change  articles  of  the  rule  or  other 
members  of  the   clergy  sought  to  interfere  in 


the  internal  administration  of  the  community,  he 
submitted  so  far  as  he  was  personally  concerned. 
When  as  a  matter  of  duty  he  opposed  innova- 
tions which  his  own  experience  and  the  spiritual 
light  with  which  he  was  favored  convinced  him 
that  he  was  in  the  right,  then  he  advanced  his 
reason  with  such  singleness  of  purpose,  showing 
that  no  other  motive  than  God's  glory  held 
sway  in  his  mind.  When  on  two  other  occa- 
sions, rather  than  create  any  trouble,  he  al- 
lowed his  opponents  to  have  their  way,  after  a 
short  experiment  developments  soon  proved  the 
wisdom  of  his  opposition.  Thus  when  a  certain 
pastor  urged  the  retention  of  a  certain  Brother, 
contrary  to  the  wish  of  the  holy  founder,  many 
of  the  faithless  religious  left  the  community,  so 
in  a  short  time  the  pastor  saw  the  imprudence 
of  his  course  and  willingly  yielded  to  De  La 
Salle,  thus  serving  the  best  interests  of  the  com- 
munity and  of  its  members  in  particular.  An- 
other mark  of  religious  wisdom,  is  that  he  who 
possesses  it  takes  everything  in  good  part  and 
is  a  declared  enemy  of  criticism  and  fault-find- 
ing. In  no  other  particular  has  the  servant  of 
God  more  fully  proved  his  claim  to  this  virtue. 
In  his  rule,  he  forbids  his  Brothers  to  speak  of 
anyone,  unless  it  be  to  say  something  to  his  ad- 
vantage ;  other  communities  are  never  to  be 
criticised  and  the  entire  drift  of  his  legislation 
in  the  chapter  on  silence,  recreation  and  kindred 
subjects  attests  his  wish  to  live  at  peace  with  all 
men  and  to  inculcate  those  salutary  lessons  in 
the  minds  of  his  pupils.  The  apostle  indicates 
"  simplicity  "  as  the  crowning  mark  of  the  truly 
wise  man.  Let  the  reader  recall  the  instance 
in  which  this  mark  has  been  seen  in  the  life  of 
this  truly  wise  man ;  no  other  proof  will  be 
necessary  to  convince  him  that  the  holy  De  La 
Salle  possessed  heavenly  wisdom.  His  sim- 
plicity as  a  youth  manifests  itself  in  the  gentle 
manner  in  which  his  piety  shone  in  his  own 
family ;  later,  simplicity  in  his  tastes  was  shown 
when  he  regulated  his  own  house  as  though  it 
was  a  convent.  His  modesty  was  not  less  re- 
markable. It  was  this  virtue  which  betrayed 
him  in  spite  of  his  desite  to  remain  unknown. 


550 


THE   CANONIZATION   OF   DE   LA   SALLE. 


Wherever  he  went  this  virtue  was  manifest  to 
everybody,  who  on  seeing  him  declared  that 
surely  the  Lord  was  nigh  ! 

The  Holy  Ghost  assures  us  the  countenance 
is  the  mirror  of  the  soul,  and  so  it  was  with  the 
Holy  Founder;  the  serenity  of  his  look,  the 
mildness  of  expression,  the  unassuming  candor 
which  was  shown  in  his  whole  exterior,  declared 
how  fully  he  practiced  the  virtue  of  modesty. 
His  language  added  to  the  edification  furnished 
by  his  looks,  while  the  modesty  of  his  dress,  his 
manner  of  walking,  his  suavity  of  expression, 
were  all  so  many  voices  which  proclaimed  aloud 
his  worth  and  elicited  universal  admiration. 
He  was  the  first  to  practice  what  he  commanded 
others,  as  prescribed  in  his  Rules;  and  thus,  as 
expressed  bj'  one  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  the  holy 
De  La  Salle  was,  in  his  external  conduct,  a 
reflex  of  the  ways  of  God.  His  looks  caused 
sinners  to  be  confused  and  filled  them  with  a 
horror  of  the  vicious  career  they  were  pursuing, 
which  feeling  is  often  the  key  to  conversion. 
Such  was  the  modesty  that  shone  upon  his 
countenance,  that  he  was  at  once  distinguish- 
able from  all  who  surrounded  him.  There  was 
something  so  tempered  with  sweetness  in  his 
gravity,  that  his  face  was  as  that  of  an  angel. 
He  made  it  a  rule  never  to  leave  the  house 
without  praying  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and 
examining  before  God  whether  it  was  absolutely 
necessary.  In  making  unavoidable  visits  he 
would  only  say  what  was  absolutely  incumbent 
on  him;  he  would  never  speak  of  worldly  mat- 
ters, and  would  not  spend  more  than  half  an 
hour  in  such  visits.  He  prayed  twenty  times 
a  day,  and  in  order  that  he  would  not  overlook 
this  self-imposed  devotion,  he  used  a  slip  of 
paper  and  after  each  prayer,  he  would  puncture 
the  paper;  but  should  he  at  any  time  fail  to 
perform  this  duty  he  would  recite  an  addi- 
tional prayer  and  prostrate  himself  and  kiss 
the  floor  for  each  failure  before  retiring  to  rest. 
What  a  profound  impression  De  La  Salle  made 
on  the    minds  of    all  with    whom   he   came  in 


contact,  yet  it  was  not  by  any  adornment  of 
dress,  for  his  spirit  of  poverty  led  him  to  choose 
all  that  was  of  least  value.  His  dress  was  of 
the  plainest  and  his  undergarments  of  the  most 
inferior  kind,  but  while  thus  given  to  poverty 
he  was  the  declared  enemy  of  uncleanliness. 
So  particular  was  he  in  this  respect  that  he 
made  it  a  rule  that  while  his  Brothers  should 
be  clad  like  poor  people,  he  enjoined  that  their 
clothing  should  be  neither  soiled  nor  torn. 

What  shall  we  say  of  his  obedience?  Of 
this  crowning  virtue  we  may  truly  say  that 
after  the  example  of  our  divine  Lord,  he  was 
obedient  unto  death.  All  through  life  his  study 
was  to  escape  dignit}'  and  to  seek  the  last 
place.  Repeatedly  he  asked  his  Brothers  to 
choose  another  superfor,  and  when  at  length 
his  request  was  granted,  he  became  more  sub- 
missive than  the  humblest  novice,  striving  to 
outshine  all  his  companions  in  the  practice  of 
every  virtue,  but  especially  obedience.  In  his 
constant  struggle  after  a  more  perfect  life  he 
was  animated  by  the  fixed  hope  that  being  an 
obedient  religious,  he  the  more  closely  resem- 
bled his    Lord    and    Master  whose    servant  he 


was. 


In  1717  the  Saint  laid  down  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment and  Brother  Bartholomew  was  elected 
Superior.  The  remainder  of  his  days  he  spent 
at  St.  Yon's,  living  in  prayer  and  retirement 
and  enduring  great  physical  suffering,  revising 
the  Rule,  writing  text-books  for  the  schools, 
and  drawing  up  that  priceless  heirloom  now 
known  as  "  Management  of  Christian  Schools," 
which  embodies  the  ripest  experiences  of  himself 
and  his  Brothers,  and  which  more  than  everything 
else  reveals  his  genius  as  an  educator.  He  died 
the  seventh  of  April,  17 19  (on  Good  Friday),  in 
the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  His  last  words 
when  asked  if  he  was  resigned  to  his  suffering 
were:  "Yes,  I  adore  in  all  things  the  designs 
of  God  upon  me."  These  words  epitomize  his 
life  and  reveal  the  spirit  by  which  his  whole 
career  was  actuated. 


|V[ea9^99  ^^  ^^®  Cerenpo^ies  at  JVIass. 


iTV  CTy  vTV  lTj  >Tj  I.TV  CT/  JO 

W  tJJ  W  QJ  ^J^  CD  CIS  to 

EING  an  exposition  of  the  Agony,  Death  and  Passion  of  our 
Divine  Lord  from  Holy  Thursday  night  until  forty  days 
after  His  resurrection,  when  He  gave  the  final  command 
to  the  Apostles  to  go  forth  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
world. 

smu  su  dU  kTi  a  cb  cr 

SB  5P  QJ  rj^  rj^  BP  W  ?tS 

1.  The  priest  going  to  the  altar  represents  Christ  going  to  Mount  Olivet. 

2.  The  priest  commencing  mass  represents  Christ  beginning  to  pray. 

3.  The  priest  saying  the  Confiteor  represents  Christ  falling  down  and  sweating  blood. 

4.  The  priest  going  up  and  kissing  the   altar   represents  Christ   being   betrayed    by  Judas  with 

a  kiss. 

5.  The  priest  going  to  the  Epistle  side  represents    Christ    being    captured^   bound    and    taken  to 

Annas. 

6.  The    priest    reading    the    Introit    represents    Christ    being    falsely    accused    by    Annas    and 

blasphemed. 

7.  The  priest  going  to  the  middle  of   the  altar  and  saying  the  Kyrie  Eleison  represents  Christ 

being  brought  to  Caiphas  and  there  three  times  denied  by  Peter. 

8.  The  priest  saying  the  Dominus  Vobiscum  represents  Christ  looking  at  Peter  and  converting  him. 

9.  The  priest  reading  the  Epistle  represents  Christ  being  brought  to  Pilate. 

10.  The  priest  saying  the  Munda  cor  meum  represents  Christ  being  taken  to  -Herod  and  mocked. 

11.  The  priest  reading  the  Gospel  represents  Christ  being  taken  to  Pilate  and  again  mocked. 

12.  The  priest  uncovering  the  chalice  represents  Christ  being  shamefully  exposed. 

13.  The  priest  offering  bread  and  wine  represents  Christ  being   cruelly  scourged. 

14.  The  priest  covering  the  chalice  represents  Christ  being  crowned  with  thorns. 

15.  The  priest  washing  his  hands  represents  Christ  being  declared  innocent  by  Pilate. 

16.  The  priest  saying  the  Orate  Fratres  represents  Christ  being  shown    by  Pilate   to   the    people 

with  the  words  Ecce  Homo. 

17.  The  priest  praj'ing  in  a  low  voice  represents  Christ  being  mocked  and  spit  upon. 

18.  The  priest  saying  the  Preface  and  the  Sanctus  represents  Christ   being   preferred   instead   of 

Barabbas  and  condemned  to  crucifixion. 

1551) 


552 


MEANING   OF   THE   CEREMONIES   AT   MASS. 


19.  The   priest   making   the    memento    for    the   living    represents  Christ  carrying    the   cross    to 

Mount  Calvary. 

20.  The  priest  continuing  to  pray  in  a  low  voice  represents  Christ  meeting  his  mother. 
ai.  The  priest  blessing  the  bread  and  wine  represents  Christ  being  nailed  to  the  cross. 

22.  The  priest  elevating  the  host  represents  Christ  being  raised  on  the  cross. 

23.  The  priest  elevating  the  chalice  represents  Christ  shedding  blood  from  the  five  wounds. 

24.  The  priest  praying  in  a  low  voice  represents  Christ  seeing  his  afflicted   mother  at  the  cross. 

25.  The  priest  saying  aloud  Nobis  quoquo  peccatoribus    represents    Christ    praying   on  the  cross 

for  men. 

26.  The  priest  saying  aloud  the  Pater  Noster  represents  Christ  saying    the   seven  words    on  the 

cross. 

27.  The  priest  breaking  and  separating  the  host  represents  Christ  giving  up  his  spirit. 

28.  The  priest  letting  a  portion  of  the  host  fall  into   the    chalice   represents    his    soul    going   to 

Limbo. 

29.  The  priest  saying  the  Agnus  Dei  represents  Christ  being  acknowledged  on  the  cross  as    the 

Son  of  God  by  many  bystanders. 

30.  The  priest  administering  Holy  Communion  represents  Christ  being  laid  in  the  sepulchre. 

31.  The  priest  cleansing  the  chalice  represents  Christ  being  anointed  by  pure  women. 

32.  The  priest  preparing  the  chalice  again  represents  Christ  arising  from  the  dead. 

33.  The  priest  sa3dng  the  Dominus  Vobiscum  represents  Christ  appearing  to  his  mother  and  the 

disciples. 

34.  The  priest  saying  the  last  prayers  represents  Christ  teaching  for  forty  days. 

35.  The  priest  saying  the  last  Dominus  Vosculum  represents  Christ  taking  leave  of  his  disciples 

and  ascending  to  heaven. 

36.  The  priest  giving  the  Benediction  to  the  people  represents   Christ   sending  down    the    Holy 

Ghost. 

37.  The  priest  saying  the  Ita  Missa  est  represents  Christ    sending   the    Apostles    into   all    parts 

of  the  world  to  preach  the  Gospel. 


mi^m'£^^>^mmmm 


*  *  *  Qems   of  Catholic    Knowledge.  -  -  •* 


BU 


GREAT  MINDS  OF  EUROPE  AND  AMERICA. 


OSl  iB  <&  £11  CIa  d^  ^I^  Cli  A  iSEl  Sr 

<x> w  <B V  f]^ rr^ Tj^ fnfn^^iM 


(553) 


Ji  Ji  Ji  Ji 


ROTESTANTISM 

UP  TO  DATE. 


By 

REV.    FATHER   VAUGHAN,    S.J. 

OS  CIS  oj  ^j^  r]^  rts  tJS  w 


All  knowledge,  to  be  practical,  must  be  defi- 
nite and  certain.  What,  for  instance,  would 
happen  if  merchants  on  'Change  should  lose 
all  definite  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  number ; 
or  should  captains  of  the  vessels  which  carried 
their  goods  lose  all  definite  knowledge  of  the 
charts  by  which  the}'  sailed  ?  Shipwreck  at 
sea,  ruin  at  home,  must  inevitably  be  the  result. 
By  the  same  laws  must  the  Church  be  governed. 

There  is  a  church  in  this  country,  the  church 
by  law  established,  the  Protestant  church.  So 
Protestants  know  their  religion  ?  Is  their 
knowledge  of  their  religion  definite  ?  And 
are  they  certain  about  the  truth  of  it?  I 
take  the  same  subjects  to  test  them  by  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Catholics  previously  considered — 
Confession,  the  Holy  Eucharist,  the  Mass,  the 
Invocation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the 
Saints.  The  laity  are  at  sixes  and  sevens  in 
the  Established  Church  about  all  these  matters. 
The  clergy  are  at  loggerheads  with  one 
another,  and  the  Bishops  are  in  a  hopeless 
muddle.  They  seem  to  say :  "  For  goodness' 
sake,  leave  me  alone." 

A    Divine   Institution,  or  a   Dial>oIical     Institution  ? 

Am  I  exaggerating?  If  you  think  so  it 
shows  that  you  do  not  know  what  is  going 
on.     For  six  months  the  pages  of  the  leading 


journal  in  England,  the  London  Times, 
were  flooded  with  letters  about  the  doc- 
trines I  had  taken,  and  after  six  months  they 
had  not  determined  what  was  the  teaching  of 
their  church  upon  any  single  one  of  those  sub- 
jects. There  was  an  article  by  a  very  learned 
man,  who  was  not  a  Catholic,  and  who  entitled 
his  article,  "  Does  the  Church  of  England 
Teach  Anything  ? "  I  need  not  tell  you 
what  his  answer  was.  About  confession, 
some  members  of  the  Established  Church 
said  it  was  a  Divine  institution,  others  that  it 
was  a  diabolical  institution.  It  could  not  be 
both.  Some  said  it  was  a  good  thing  to  go  to 
confession  if  they  went  to  an  old  man,  but  if 
they  went  to  a  young  man  it  was  an  immoral 
thing.  Some  said  confession  was  an  invention 
of  the  priests  to  extract  money  out  of  old 
ladies,  and  others  said,  on  the  contrary,  all 
their  children  went  to  confession  regularly  and 
took  to  it  like  ducks  to  water.  Some  said  the 
Blessed  Eucharist  was  a  mere  wafer,  others  that 
it  was  the  true  Body  and  Blood  of  Our  Lord — 
both  members  of  the  same  Church — and  if  the 
person  who  believed  it  to  be  a  wafer  were  to 
adore  it  it  would  be  idolatry  ;  and  if  the  other 
did  not  he  would  be  guilty  of  impiety.  What 
was  the  Mass  ?  It  was  a  "  blasphemous  fable 
and  a  dangerous  deceit,"  it  was  said,  and  yet 
they   have    High    Mass,   and    Low    Mass,   and 

(555) 


556 


PROTESTANTISM   UP   TO  DATE. 


Requiem  Masses  for  the  poor  souls  offered  up 
in  Protestant  churches. 

No  Definite  Knowledge  about  the  Doctrines  of  this 

Church. 

Why  do  not  the  Bishops  do  something  in 
this  case  ?  Because  they  say :  "  These  men 
in  the  High  Church  are  so  zealous,  so  good." 
Sir  William  Harcourt  says  that  if  a  publican 
were  to  make  excuse  that  he  had  served  a 
man  on  Sunday  at  a  forbidden  time,  because 
he  had  been  twice  to  church  that  day,  the  law 
would  prevent  him.  They  have,  then,  no  defi- 
nite knowledge  upon  any  single  one  of  these 
subjects.  Individuals  might  think  they  have 
definite  knowledge,  but  other  members  of  the 
Church,  having  exactly  opposite  views,  say  that 
they  have  definite  knowledge,  too.  But  let  them 
make  the  impossible  supposition  that  the  entire 
body  of  the  great  Establishment  has  definite 
knowledge  about  all  the  doctrines  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church — "  to  what  purpose  this  waste  ?  " 
What  v/ould  be  the  use  unless  they  were  cer- 
tain they  were  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 
Can  they  be  certain  that  their  doctrines  are 
those  taught  by  Jesus  Christ  ?  They  can 
not;  they  are  in  His  Church.  How  are 
they  to  find  out  for  certain  ? 

A  Parliament-Created  Church. 

•  What  is  the  Established  Church?  For 
the  last  six  months  you  had  had  it  dinned 
into  your  ears,  especially  by  its  great  cham- 
pions, that  it  is  a  department  of  the  State,  of 
government,  that  in  spite  of  the  Bishops  the 
laity  in  Parliament  created  this  Church,  that  it 
is  a  Church  bound  hand  and  foot  by  acts  of 
Parliament,  that  it  lives  upon  the  breath  of 
acts  of  Parliament,  that  its  bishops  owe  their 
appointment  to  the  Prime  Minister  of  Parlia- 
ment, that  its  prayer-book  is  an  act  of  Parlia- 
ment, that  as  Parliament  created  it,  so  Parlia- 
ment might  mend  it  or  end  it.  It  all  depends 
upon  the  majority  of  votes  as  to  whether  this 
Church  should  be  or  not  be.  It  gets  its  doc- 
trine from  Parliament 


Prayer-Book  an  Act  of   Parliament. 

But  someone  might  say  to  me :  *'  Not  so 
fast.  Father,  not  so  fast.  It  is  the  prayer- 
book  to  which  we  look  for  our  doctrine."  But, 
as  I  said  before,  is  not  their  prayer-book  an 
act  of  Parliament,  and  how  are  they  to  know 
what  even  Parliament  meant  when  it  issued 
that  book  when  the  High  Church  party 
twisted  it  into  one  sense,  the  Low  Church 
party  in  another,  and  the  Broad  Church  party 
in  another.  It  is  like  an  accordeon — they 
can  pull  it  as  they  like  and  play  on  it 
what  they  wish.  Appeal  to  the  Bishops  ? 
Yes,  but  there  is  a  party  declaring  that  they 
would  not  be  satisfied  with  the  decision  of  the 
Bishops.  The  Lords,  the  judges,  had  to 
declare  what  the  law  was.  The  Archbishops  ? 
The  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York 
(whose  names,  by  the  by,  at  a  great  Protes- 
tant demonstration  held  at  the  Albert  Hall  the 
other  day,  were  received  with  groans  and 
hisses  by  their  devout  worshipers )  declare 
that  every  one  has  an  indisputable  right  to 
appeal  against  them  to  the  Crown  in  questions 
where  they  feel  that  justice  is  not  done. 

Not  the"  Church  of   Christ. 

From  start  to  finish  the  Established  Church 
is  the  creation  of  Parliament.  Now,  that 
being  the  case,  the  only  thing  they  can  be 
certain  of  with  respect  to  the  State  Church 
is  that  it  is  not  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  it  could  not  have  been  and  never 
could  be,  because  it  was  the  creation  of  man — 
of  Protestants  and  Jews,  and  all  that  manner 
and  condition  and  sorts  of  men  gathered 
together  in  Parliament.  What  is  the  use  of 
having  definite  knowledge  about  this  religion 
if  the  only  thing  certain  about  it  is  that  it 
is  not  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ?  It  seems 
hard  to  say  so,  but  logically  I  can  see  nothing 
else  for  it.     Can  you  ? 

A  Church    That    Has   Declared    That    It   Does    Not 
Want  Unity. 

The  arguments  of  Protestants  themselves 
about  their  Church — I  refer  you  to  Sir  William 


PROTESTANTISM    UP   TO   DATE. 


557 


Harcourt,  Mr.  Samuel  Smith  and  others — were 
that  it  was  a  Parliamentary  Church,  governed 
by  Parliamentary  bishops,  having  acts  of  Par- 
liament to  live  upon.  I  say,  then,  that  it  is 
not  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  to  prove 
it  to  you  I  would  ask  you  what  did  our  Lord 
say  was  to  be  the  chief  mark  of  his  Church? 
It  was  to  be  one.  It  was  to  have  unity  in 
doctrine,  unity  in  worship,  unity  in  government. 
Has  the  Protestant  Church  this  unity?  No. 
Therefore,  it  has  not  the  lineaments  of  the 
Spouse  of  Christ,  the  spotless  bride,  into 
whose  face  He  breathed  life,  and  whose  "  spirit 
should  not  depart,  nor  out  of  her  seed,  nor 
out  of  her  seed's  seed,  for  henceforth  forever, 
saith  the  Lord."  Unity — why,  the  Established 
Church  has  set  its  face  against  unity.  It 
declares  that  it  does  not  want  unity. 

Its  "  Gift  of  Comprehensiveness." 

In  that  most  respectable  and  temperate  paper, 
the  Spectator^  I  read  that  week  that  it  was  the 
gift  of  comprehensiveness  which  made  the 
Established  Church  so  much  loved  and  have  so 
much  loyalty  shown  it  by  the  people  of  England, 
and  it  went  on  to  say  that  it  was  the  business 
of  the  bishops  to  remember  that  their  most 
sacred  duty  was  fo  see  to  the  comprehensiveness 
of  this  Church.  Imagine  St.  Paul  writing  such 
trash  !  As  if  a  Church  is  to  be  proclaimed  true 
by  the  measure  of  the  standing  room  it  can  find 
for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  notions,  views 
and  beliefs.  The  Established  Church  has  no 
idea  of  or  wish  for,  no  want  of  or  feeling  for  the 
want  of  unity  in  faith,  worship  or  government. 
Well,  I  say  that  this  Church  may  be  a  great 
national  institution,  it  may  be  highly  endowed, 
it  may  be  the  home  of  cultivated  men.  It 
may  be  true  that  many  of  them  are  in  earnest 
and  are  pious,  and  it  may  be  a  thing  of  which 
Englishmen  are  proud,  but  it  is  not  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

Church  of    England   Playing  to  the  Galleries. 

One    more  proof  to  show  that    my   country- 
men   have   altogether    shifted    their    centre    of 


gravity  from  the  true  Church  to  the  House  of 
Parliament.  During  the  past  months,  as 
bishop  and  clergy  and  laity  have  felt  it  prudent 
not  to  refer  to  the  chaotic  state  of  their 
Church,  they  have  all  been  appealing  to  the 
national  spirit  and  have  been  declaring  at 
public  meetings,  in  pulpits  and  on  platforms 
that  the  Church  of  England  is  the  true  Church, 
must  be  the  true  Church,  because,  forsooth, 
England  owns  the  biggest  empire  and  the 
biggest  navy  and  the  biggest  purse.  A  more 
offensive,  vulgar  or  ghastly  argument  for 
coarseness  I  do  not  think  I  ever  heard 
uttered.  And  yet  this  is  the  argument  that 
is  used,  and  they  say :  "  Look  at  poor 
Spain  and  look  at  rich  England ! "  And  I 
might  say:  "Look  at  poor  Lazarus  and  look 
at  rich  Dives."  England  is  rich,  and  when 
she  dies  will  be  carried  by  angels  to  heaven ;  but 
Catholic  Spain,  because  she  is  poor  and 
broken,  when  dead  must  be  buried  in  hell. 
This  is  their  argument.  Do  you  ( my  hearers) 
not  call  it  an  unworthy  argument  for  bishops 
to  hand  to  the  gallery,  for  parsons  to  tickle 
their  congregations  with  ? 

Not  the  Church  of    the  Poor. 

It  is  worthy  only  of  a  mob  orator.  I  am 
ashamed  of  my  countrymen  when  I  see  them 
put  their  foot  upon  the  supernatural  in  order  to 
cram  into  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  the 
idea  that  theirs  is  the  true  Church,  because 
their  mothers  have  a  heavy  purse  and  because 
England  sweeps  the  sea.  I  suppose,  then,  that 
the  Jews  are  despised  by  God  because  the 
Egyptians  triumphed  over  them.  I  suppose 
that  the  early  Christians  who  were  flung  into  the 
jaws  of  lions  were  doomed  to  hell,  and  Nero  and( 
his  crew  were  carried  in  their  chariots  to  heaven, 
because  they  had  wealth  on  their  side  and  the 
waters  of  the  Mediterranean  sweeping  around 
their  thrones.  When  our  Divine  Lord  came 
upon  earth  did  he  come  clothed  in  purple  and 
fine  linen  ?  Did  he  say  to  the  poor :  "  Blessed 
are  the  rich,  for  theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  ?  "     "  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  crush 


55« 


PROTESTANTISM   UP  TO  DATE. 


through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  poor  man 
to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ? "  Did  he 
say:  "And  the  rich  shall  have  the  Gospel 
preached  to  them  ? "  Show  me  where  the 
Church  of  the  poor  is.  That  is  the  Church 
of  the  poor  man  who  had  no  place  whereon  to 
lay  his  head.  He  was  stripped  of  his  clothes 
and  his  flesh  was  laid  open  so  that  his  bones 
were  numbered.  The  poor  man  who  was  lifted 
up  in  the  vigor  of  his  youth  and  beauty  and 
done  to  death,  a  failure  before  his  country,  the 


son  of  the  poor  woman  for  whom  he  had  worked 
hard,  so  that  the  sweat  rolled  down  from  his 
sacred  brow  that  he  might  keep  a  roof  over 
her  head.  You  Christians,  you  vulgar  fellow 
countrymen  who  trample  like  this  on  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  tickle  the  ears,  who  make  the 
Gospel  a  parody  and  a  fable,  and  who  turn  our 
Lord  into  a  ridicule — bishops  and  clergy  and 
laity  of  the  Established  Church,  you  are  not 
the  Church  of  Christ.  If  you  were  you  would 
despise  an  argument  from  filthy  lucre. 


BADLBSS    CHURCHBS. 


Disrrial  Failure  of  the  Feeble  Religion  of  Private  Judgnaent 


By  tlie 


REV.   B.   R.   DE  COSTA 


mmm>^}i^m^m 


There  being  only  one  God  and  one  religion, 
the  Church  must  be  the  teacher  of  that  one 
religion,  having  ample  authority  because  Christ 
is  her  head.  The  Body  takes  this  right  from 
the  Head.  What  was  a  headless  human  body  ? 
Simply  a  thing  for  the  undertaker  to  bury.  A 
headless  Church  also  was  a  corpse,  and  the  land 
is  full  of  these  cadavers  to-day.  Christless,  head- 
less religion  abounds.  It  runs  the  gamut  from 
Calvinism  to  Socinianism,  and  thence  on  to 
spiritualism  and  pantheism.  Any  thing  will  do 
duty  with  most  sects  for  Christianity,  except 
Christianity.  Men  who  do  not  even  believe  in 
God  ask  us  to  consider  them  Christians.  Scep- 
tical ingenuity  is  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  find 
substitutes,  not  only  for  the  Head  of  the  Church, 
but  for  the  Church  herself.  They  tell  us,  with 
Dean  Farrar,  that  the  Bible,  through  the  aid  of 
the  Spirit,  will  give  all  essential  truth;  yet,  by 
this  process,  men,  with  the  distinguished  Dean, 
find  that  nothing  is  essential,  or  that  what  is 
essential  with  one  is  non-essential  with  another. 

The   Bible  Cannot   Be  a   Oefiner. 

The  Bible  alone,  though  a  priceless  treasure, 
can  never  serve  the  individual  as  a  definer.  It 
is  the  office  of  the  Church  to  define  and  teach 


the  meaning  of  the  Bible.  Through  the  general 
councils  we  have  the  Church  interpretations, 
chiefly  expressed  in  the  ancient  creeds.  Yet 
zealots  would  force  upon  us  in  place  of  the 
Church  Catholic  the  headless  Church.  They 
ask  us  to  take  our  instruction  from  any  and 
every  corpse.  The  land  is  full  of  these  dead 
bodies,  which,  in  all  decency,  should  be  buried 
from  sight  Private  judgment  furnishes  as 
many  judgments  as  there  are  men  and  women 
in  the  world;  it  is  puerile  for  those  who  deify 
individual  opinion  to  pretend  to  believe  in  any 
Church.  God  and  mammon,  ego  and  the  Church, 
cannot  exist  together.  The  Church  must  be 
everything  or  nothing,  and  with  sectarian  bodies 
in  our  country  it  is  nothing  except  the  butt  of 
ridicule.  The  sooner  these  religionists  stop 
pretending  to  believe  in  any  Church  and  retire 
from  the  whole  Church  business,  the  better  it 
will  be  for  the  world. 

Absolute   Necessity  for  a  Church  that  Speaks 
with   Authority. 

The  Bible,  then,  cannot  be  a  definer.  We  read 
it  reverently  for  the  confirmation  of  what  has  al- 
ready been  defined,  and  to  establish  ourselves  in 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  What  the 


'559) 


56o 


HEADLESS   CHURCHES. 


world  needs  to-day  is  the  Church  that  speaks  with 
authority,  the  Church  that  knows  the  truth  and 
does  not  fear  to  tell  it;  the  Church  that,  under 
no  infidel  plea  illustrated  by  Matthew  Arnold's 
"Sweet  Reasonableness,"  will  tolerate  untruth, 
attempting  to  fill  the  world  with  her  own  empti- 
ness. If  a  religious  organization  does  not  know 
what  the  truth  is,  it,  of  course,  cannot  condemn 
untruth ;  but  in  that  case,  if  there  is  no  prospect 
of  improvement — and  there  certainly  is  none — 
had  it  not  better  retire  from  the  Church  busi- 
ness ?  On  this  principle,  at  a  conservative  esti- 
mate, nearly  one  hundred  and  forty  American 
denominations  would  pass.  The  Church  must 
have  her  true  place  in  the  world,  or  no  place  at 
all.  There  can  be  no  compromise  between  the 
Church  and  the  world.  The  infallible  Christ 
must  speak  through  the  Church.  The  Head 
must  control  the  Body.  The  great  general 
councils  must  be  recognized,  the  ancient  creeds 
honored,  and  all  Christians  must  rally  to  their 
support  in  one  universal  body.  Otherwise  dis- 
integration will  do  its  work  upon  every  organ- 
ization that  refuses  allegiance  to  the  central 
thought. 

Uncertainty  the  Prevailing  Characteristic  of 
Protestantism. 

Scoffers  may  mock,  but  only  at  last  to  show 
the  fate  of  scoffers.  To  say  that  uncertainty 
must  be  the  prevailing  characteristic  of  Chris- 
tianit)'  is  to  say  that  Christ  organized  his  Church 
and  sent  it  forth  into  the  world  like  some  ship 
sent  to  sea  without  ballast,  rudder  or  compass. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  too,  there  is  hardly  a  single 
private  judgment  religion  that  pretends  to  have 
commander  or  helmsman.  Everybody  on  board 
is  helmsman,  and  we  all  know  how  they  steer. 
People  do  not  seem  to  know  the  place  of  the 
Bible  in  religion. 

The  Church  Gave  Us  the  Bible ;   the   Bible  did  not 
Give   U5   the   Church. 

After  giving  the  Bible  the  Church  did  not 
abandon  her  authority,  but  was  more  and  more 
emphatic  in  her  claims,  as  was  the  Government 


of  the  United  States  after  writing  the  Constitu- 
tion. Church  authority  is  the  thing  we  need  to 
recognize  in  this  day ;  Christ  speaking  through 
his  Church.  The  same  Holy  Ghost  that  helped 
the  Church  write  the  New  Testament  presided 
in  the  great  councils,  and  is  ready  to  inspire 
the  Church  councils  to-day.  To  say  that  a 
divided  Christianity  is  inevitable,  similar  to  a 
gulf  as  broad  as  that  between  Gehenna  and 
Paradise,  is  to  deny  the  power  of  Christ,  thus 
rendering  his  Body  headless.  This  is  that  prac- 
tical atheism,  in  the  foul  slough  of  which  sec- 
tarianism is  wallowing  to-day.  The  real  situa- 
tion is  being  recognized  by  men  of  the  best 
intelligence  all  over  the  land,  who  are  asking 
for  authoritative  religion,  and  are  rapidly  coming 
to  believe  that  they  can  have  what  they  want. 

An  Unanswerable   Illustration. 

The  failure  of  feeble  religion  of  private  judg- 
ment now  has  an  illustration  that  is  simply 
unanswerable.  I  refer  to  the  case  of  a  single 
denomination  whose  Year  Book  shows  that  in 
seven  of  the  greatest  cities  in  the  United  States, 
having  over  500,000  inhabitants  each  and  con- 
taining 485  of  its  churches,  supported  at  the 
cost  of  several  millions  annually,  during  the 
past  year  instead  of  a  gain  there  has  been  a 
loss  of  693  members.  All  this  following  a 
special  effort  to  "  evangelize "  cities  by  a 
national  society  organized  for  the  purpose.  In 
another  group  of  seven  cities  and  eighty 
"  churches,"  after  holding  on  to  vast  quanti- 
ties of  dead  wood,  as  in  the  previous  case,  there 
is  a  loss  of  387.  Take  the  same  fourteen  cities 
and  inquire  what  has  been  the  result  of  teach- 
ing on  the  basis  of  authority  and  you  will  find 
that  vast  gains  have  been  made.  Does  not  this 
form  a  judgment  of  the  intelligence  of  this  coun- 
try on  the  whole  subject  ? 

An  Inspired  Church  Wanted. 

It  is  idle  to  say  that  understanding  men  ob- 
ject to  authority  in  religion.  What  they  really 
do  not  want  is  a  thousand  conflicting  authorities. 


HEADLESS   CHURCHES. 


561 


Men  are  as  anxious  for  authority  in  religion  as 
in  science,  in  government  or  finance.  When 
we  come  to  know  them  we  shall  find  that  au- 
thority is  what  they  hunger  for  and  thankfully 
accept  when  they  find  it.  The  demand  of  the 
day  is  for  the  inspired  Church,  the  Church 
whose  heart  is  in  touch  with  God.  This  is  the 
only  Church  that  will  be  able  to  command  the 
respect  and  obedience  of  America  in  the  days 
to  come. 

"  Broad  Church  "  Faltering  is  Doomed. 

The  "  Broad  Church  "  faltering  in  a  double 
sense  is  doomed.  The  headless  Church  will 
go  down  to  the  grave.  The  Church  that  hesi- 
tates is  lost.  The  Church  of  Christ  alone  can 
endure  and  conquer  through  a  conquering  faith. 
Still,  in  the  presence  of  crumbling  sects  and 
falling  denominations  one  asks  if  there  is  really 
a  future   in   store  for   Christianity.     I   answer, 


yes.  First,  however,  pseudo-Christianity,  al- 
ready in  the  toils  of  an  inexorable  revolution, 
must  accomplish  its  end.  Then  true  Chris- 
tianity will  stand  forth  in  majestic  power,  re- 
vealing her  real  character.  Then  men  will  see 
how  badly  the  sectarian  duped  them,  as  well 
as  himself,  and  discover  that  there  is  no  mid- 
dle place  for  the  foot  of  man  between  atheism 
and  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  Then 
the}'  will  recall  the  ancient  words,  "  Arise  and 
shine,  for  thy  light  is  come,"  and  as  they  con- 
template the  vision  they  will  ask  in  the  oft 
quoted  lines : 

Who  is  this  that  rises  with  wounds  so  splendid, 

All  her  brow  and  breast  made  beautiful  with  scars  ; 

In  her  eyes  a  light  and  fire  as  of  long  pain  ended, 
In  her  mouth  a  song  of  the  morning  stars  ? 

The  answer  will  be :  "  This  is  the  Catholic 
Apostolic  Church.  This  is  the  Church  of  the 
living  God,  the  Pillar  and  Ground  of  Truth." 


36 


HE  First  Prihst  of  America. 


Among  the  twenty-five  hundred  settlers  who 
came  to  San  Domingo  with  the  Governor  Ovando 
in  1502  was  a  young  man  of  twenty-eight  years, 
whose  father  had  sailed  with  Columbus  on  his 
first  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  and  who  had 
himself  seen  the  sailing  of  the  famous  Caravels 
from  Palos.  Bartholome  Casas,  or  Las  Casas,  had 
made  his  studies  in  the  University  of  Salamanca 
before  seeking  his  fortune  in  America.  His  father 
had  grown  wealthy  as  a  ship  builder,  and  a  bril- 
liant career  seemed  to  promise  itself  to  him  in 
San  Domingo.  He  was  a  trained  business  man 
as  well  as  a  scholar,  a  good  speaker  and  of  a  con- 
stitution, which  seemed  to  defy  alike  fatigue  and 
illness.  Whatever  work  came  to  his  hand  he 
threw  himself  into  with  untiring  energy,  and  at 
the  same  time  he  had  the  art  of  making  devoted 
friends  among  every  class  of  the  colonists,  from 
the  Governor  to  the  ticket-of  leave  man.  It  was 
a  surprise,  then,  when,  after  eight  years  of  active 
business,  Las  Casas,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six,  asked 
for  admission  to  the  priesthood. 

His  wish  was  readily  fulfilled.  San  Domingo 
had  been  made  a  diocese  soon  after  its  first  settle- 
ment, and  the  Bishop  accepted  the  gifted  candi- 
date and  ordained  him  with  much  solemnity  in 
1 5 10.  Las  Casas  was  the  first  man  to  receive 
Holy  Orders  on  American  soil,  and  it  was  made 
the  occasion  of  an  enthusiastic  celebration  by  the 
whole  Catholic  population  of  San  Domingo. 

It  was  not  to  shirk  labor  or  danger  that  Las 
Casas  had  become  a  priest,  and  his  energies  found 
plenty  of  employment  in  his  new  career.     After 


(562) 


eighteen  years'  experience  of  colonial  life  in  San 
Domingo,  the  Spanish  people  were  about  to  spread 
over  the  great  continent  which  Columbus  had 
given  to  Castile  and  Leon.  A  few  months  before 
the  ordination  of  Las  Casas,  Ojeda  had  sailed  to 
found  Darien,  the  first  permanent  settlement  on 
the  American  continent.  A  few  months  later 
Velasquez  was  sent  by  Diego  Columbus  to  occupy 
Cuba.  There  was  some  fighting  with  the  Indians 
of  that  island  at  first,  but  it  was  soon  ended  by 
the  swords  and  horses  of  the  civilized  invaders,, 
and  the  exploration  of  the  country  went  on 
rapidly.  Las  Casas  was  sent  as  chaplain  to  the 
little  army  of  Velasquez  in  Cuba,  and  shared  in 
its  toilsome  work.  In  company  with  the  captain, 
Naervaez,  and  a  hundred  soldiers,  he  made  the 
first  expedition  to  what  is  now  Havana,  and  took 
an  active  part  in  its  foundation. 

Four  towns  were  laid  out  by  Velasquez  at  the 
end  of  his  explorations,  Havana  and  Santiaga 
being  among  the  number.  A  large  part  of  the 
Indians  were  given  to  different  Spanish  settlers 
in  "  encomienda,"  a  kind  of  feudal  system  copied 
from  European  practice  in  the  middle  ages.  An 
Indian  village  was  assigned,  during  the  good 
pleasure  of  the  Royal  Government,  to  a  private 
individual  to  govern,  protect  and  develop,  and 
incidentally  to  collect  rent  and  service  from  the 
Indians.  The  system  was  quite  distinct  from 
personal  slavery,  which  also  existed  both  of  Ne- 
groes and  Indians  at  that  time.  The  Governor 
granted  an  Indian  village  near  the  site  of  the 
actual  city  of  Cienfuegos  to  Las  Casas  in  part- 


THE  FIRST  PRIEST  OF  AMERICA. 


563 


nership  with  a  friend,  Pedro  de  la  Reuteria.  They 
started  a  plantation  there  like  other  colonists,  with 
their  Indian  vassals  as  laborers.  The  duties  of 
Las  Casas  as  a  priest  among  the  scattered  and 
scanty  population  left  him  a  good  deal  of  leisure, 
and  active  occupation  was  a  necessity  for  his  na- 
ture. The  Indians  in  his  encomienda  were 
treated  with  kinduess,  but  the  scrupulous  Las 
Casas  confesses  that  he  devoted  himself  too  much 
to  mere  worldly  business  during  this  period. 

While  Las  Casas  was  thus  engaged  in  Cuba  a 
movement  in  behalf  of  the  Indians  under  Spanish 
rule  had  been  begun  in  San  Domingo.  The  first 
American  convent  of  the  Dominican  order  was 
founded  in  the  last  island  a  few  months  after  the 
ordination  of  Las  Casas,  and  its  rule  and  practice 
were  highly  'austere.  Besides  abstaining  from 
meat,  the  friars  in  San  Domingo  excluded  the 
ordinary  Spanish  provisions,  wine,  oil  andwheaten 
bread — from  their  refectory,  and  lived  in  the 
greatest  poverty.  There  were  several  excellent 
preachers  among  them,  and  the  thatched  chapel 
of  their  convent  attracted  large  audiences  and  fer- 
vent penitents.  The  Dominicans  were  shocked  at 
the  treatment  of  the  natives  from  their  first 
arrival.  The  community  consulted  together,  and 
Father  Montesinos,  as  the  result,  astonished  the 
public  of  San  Domingo  by  a  vigorous  condemna- 
tion of  their  treatment  of  the  Indians.  A  depu- 
tation at  once  went  to  the  convent,  and  complained 
of  the  preacher  as  crazy  to  the  Prior.  They  told 
him  that  if  his  community  held  the  same  senti- 
ments they  had  better  return  to  Spain.  The 
Prior  promised  an  answer  on  the  next  Sunday, 
when  Father  Montesinos  again  mounted  the  pul- 
pit, and  not  only  repeated  his  former  discourse, 
but  added  that  no  Dominican  priest  would  absolve 
any  man  who  made  incursions  on  the  Indians. 
The  colonial  authorities  took  up  the  matter,  and 
sent  an  agent  to  Spain  to  report  the  Inquisitor  to 
the^ount  as  a  stirrer  up  of  Sedition.  Pedro  de 
Cordova  sent  Father  Montesinos  to  Spain  to  plead 
the  cause  of  the  natives,  and  afterwards  went  him- 
self on  the  same  mission. 

Las   Casas,  with   all   his  sympathies   for  the 
Indians,  had   not  at  first  seen  the  injustice  of 


the  vassalage  imposed  on  them.  He  had  held 
Indian  vassals  himself  in  San  Domingo,  and  was 
once  refused  absolution  by  a  priest  of  some  order 
on  that  ground,  but  he  considered  it  a  mere  scruple 
on  the  confessor's  part.  When  settled  in  Cuba 
on  his  plantation,  the  thought  that  after  all  the 
friar's  doctrine  might  be  the  simple  truth  came 
strongly  upon  him.  He  had  to  prepare  a  sermon 
for  Whitsunday  in  15 14,  and  was  then  alone,  his 
friend  Releria  being  away  in  Jamaica  on  business. 
Certain  texts  in  Ecclesiasticus  struck  him  forci- 
bly, and  after  some  days'  reflection  he  decided  that 
the  whole  system  of  vassalage  and  slavery  of  the 
Indians  was  tyranny  and  injustice.  His  mind 
once  made  up  he  waited  on  Velasquez,  and  told 
him  his  conclusion,  adding  that  he  believed  it 
was  one  which  affected  the  salvation  of  Velasquez 
and  the  other  colonists  as  well  as  his  own.  He 
declared  that  he  felt  bound  in  conscience  to 
give  up  his  Indian  vassals,  and  only  asked  the 
Governor  not  to  publish  it  before  the  return  of 
Renteria. 

On  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  he  published 
it  from  the  pulpit,  and  warned  his  hearers  of  the 
danger  to  their  souls  if  they  retained  the  natives 
in  slavery.  Some  were  as  much  surprised  as  if 
he  had  told  them  it  was  sinful  to  work  their  oxen 
or  horses,  but  others  were  sincerely  affected  by 
his  discourse.  The  great  majority  treated  him  as 
a  well-meaning  crank. 

Renteria,  the  partner  of  Las  Casas,  was  of  a 
very  different  opinion  when  he  returned.  He  had 
made  a  retreat  in  a  Franciscan  community,  and 
the  decision  he  had  then  come  to  in  Jamaica  was 
the  same  as  that  formed  by  Las  Casas  on  his 
Cuban  ranches.  On  the  night  of  his  return  he 
astonished  his  partner  by  the  announcement  that 
he  intended  to  go  to  Spain  and  get  a  royal  license 
to  establish  schools  for  the  Indian  children,  where 
they  might  be  saved  from  the  destruction  which 
seemed  hanging  over  their  race.  Las  Casas,  in 
reply,  told  his  own  projects,  which  were  also  to 
go  to  Spain  and  seek  efficient  legal  protection  for  . 
the  abused  natives.  Renteria  begged  him  to  dO' 
so,  and  offered  his  whole  property  to  carry  out 
the  plan.     The  Indians  were  given  up,  the  stock 


564 


THE   FIRST  PRIEST   OF  AMERICA. 


and  farm  sold,  and  with  the  money  Las  Casas 
started  for  Spain  to  beg^n  a  lifelong  struggle  for 
justice  to  the  Indian  race. 

He  found  active  allies  in  the  Dominicans  of  San 
Domingo,  where  Pedro  de  Cordova  had  returned 
after  the  publication  of  the  Laws  of  Burgos. 

Father  de  Cordova  was  preparing  to  establish 
another  mission,  and  he  cordially  approved  the 
project  of  Las  Casas.  He  warned  him,  however, 
from  his  own  experience,  to  expect  little  from 
the  oflScials  then  in  charge  of  American  affairs, 
especially  Bishop  Fonseca,  the  President  of  the 
Council  of  the  Indies.  He  also  sent  Father 
Montesinos  with  him  as  one  not  unfamiliar  with 
the  waj'S  of  politics  in  Spain,  of  which  the  Ameri- 
can priest  had  no  experience.  They  sailed  from 
Ban  Domingo  in  15 15,  and  got  safely  to  Seville. 
Father  Montesino  introduced  Las  Casas  to  the 
"  Archbishop  of  that  city,  who  had  been  a  Domin- 
ican. The  Archbishop  gave  him  letters  of  intro- 
duction to  some  of  the  courtiers  and  to  Ferdinand 
himself.  The  chaplain  from  the  jungles  of  Cuba 
had  to  figure  in  the  highest  political  circles  of 
Europe. 

Las  Casas,  with  Archbishop  Beza's  letter,  got 
an  audience  with  Ferdinand  in  person,  and  laid 
a  statement  of  the  wrongs  of  the  Indians  and 
colonial  misgovernment  before  him  about  Christ- 
mas of  1515.  The  king  heard  him  attentively, 
and  promised  a  longer  hearing  at  a  later  day ;  but 
he  was  old  and  ill,  and  never  had  the  chance  to 
jive  it.  His  death  within  a  month  threw  back 
my  consideration  of  the  Indian  problem  for  the 
oresent.  Bishop  Fonseca,  the  President  of  the 
Council  of  Colonial  Administration,  was  much 
nore  of  a  politician  than  a  priest,  and  took  little 
nterest  in  humanitarian  projects.  At  an  inter- 
7iew  with  Las  Casas,  when  the  latter  told  how 
;even  thousand  Indians  had  perished  in  three 
aionths  in  consequence  of  some  Spanish  expedi- 
don,  Fonseca  rudely  said :  "  What  is  that  to  me 
or  the  king,  you  queer  fool  ?"  "  If  it  is  nothing 
to  you  or  to  the  king  that  all  these  souls  should 
perish,  to  whom  is  it,  then  ?  O  great  and  eternal 
God,"  was  the  answer,  and  with  that  Las  Casas 
left,  feeling  convinced  that  the  cause  of  right  had 


little  chance  in  the  Council  of  the  Indies  while 
Bishop  Fonseca  ruled. 

Fonseca's  influence,  however,  was  waning.  On 
the  death  of  Ferdinand  the  heir  to  the  crown  of 
Castile  was  his  grandson,  afterwai'ds  the  famous 
Charles  V.,  then  but  a  boy  of  sixteeu,  living  in 
his  native  Flanders.  Pending  his  coming  of  age, 
a  Regent,  with  royal  powers,  had  to  take  the 
government  of  Castile.  For  this  post  Ferdinand 
named  the  Primate,  Cardinal  Ximenes,  unques- 
tionably the  ablest  public  man  of  Europe. 

Ximenes  was  soon  convinced  of  the  ability  of 
the  priest  from  the  colonies,  and  he  empowered 
him  and  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies, 
a  skilled  lawyer,  to  draw  up  a  new  code  of  Indian 
administration.  At  the  request  of  Las  Casas 
Father  Montesinos,  the  fearless  preacher  of  San 
Domingo,  was  made  a  third  member  of  the  com- 
mittee. With  all  his  fervid  enthusiasm  Las  Casas 
was  eminently  practical  in  business  and  Ximenes 
likewise.  Las  Casas,  as  best  acquainted  with  the 
actual  state  of  things  in  America,  drafted  the 
heads  of  the  needed  reforms.  Father  Montesinos 
added  suggestions  drawn  from  his  own  experience 
in  the  Indies,  and  Dr.  Rubio,  the  lawyer  member, 
contributed  others  from  his  knowledge  of  Indian 
administration  at  home,  he  having  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Council  of  the  Indies. 

On  the  point  of  the  right  of  the  Indians  to 
freedom  the  Regent  was  thoroughly  decided. 
Las  Casas,  who  feared  at  first  to  assert  broadly  his 
own  judgment,  asked  at  a  meeting  once:  "  With 
what  justice  can  these  things  be  done,  whether 
the  natives  are  freemen  or  not  ?  "  "  Who  doubts 
they  are  free  ?  Of  course  they  are,"  was  the  em- 
phatic answer  of  the  Cardinal  Regent. 

The  work  to  be  done  and  quickly  was  of  its 
own  nature  enough  to  try  the  ablest  minds.  The 
first  settlement  of  the  West  Indies  had  been  un- 
dertaken with  the  best  intentions  for  the  welfare 
and  conversion  of  the  Indians.  To  give  the  native 
Americans  knowledge  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
to  raise  them  to  the  level  of  Europeans  in  Chris- 
tian colonization,  had  been  the  object  of  Isabella 
and  Columbus  as  it  was  of  Las  Casas.  He  might 
well  ask  if  it  were  likely  that  where  they  had 


THE  FIRST   PRIEST  OF  AMERICA. 


565 


failed  he,  a  simple  priest,  without  wealth,  rank 
or  political  experience,  could  succeed.  He  fully 
appreciated  the  difficulties  before  him,  but  he  felt 
that  duty  called,  and  through  fifty  years  he  con- 
tinued his  self-appointed  task. 

The  details  of  administration  determined, 
it  remained  to  find  competent  administrators. 
Ximenes  desired  Las  Casas  to  select  them,  but 
he  declined  on  the  ground  of  his  little  acquaint- 
ance with  European  public  life.  He  gave,  how- 
ever, a  statement  of  the  qualifications  required, 
and  Ximenes  read  it  and  decided  to  select  a  gov- 
erning commission  from  the  Jeronymite  friars. 
The  Jeronymite  commissioners  and  Las  Casas, 
who  was  appointed  to  the  new  office  of  Protector 
of  the  Indians,  sailed  from  Spain  with  full  powers 
and  reached  San  Domingo  before  the  end  of  the 
year  in  which  Ferdinand  died.  The  commis- 
sioners got  to  work  at  once,  but  their  progress 
was  somewhat  slow  for  the  zeal  of  Las  Casas. 
Las  Casas,  with  his  more  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  country,  felt  that  vigorous  and  immediate 
action  was  needed  to  save  the  Indian  population. 
While  the  officials  in  San  Domingo  professed 
obedience  to  the  new  laws,  kidnapping  of  Indians 
was  going  on  in  Trinidad  and  other  outlying 
points  with  their  connivance.  As  "  Protector  of 
the  Indians,"  Las  Casas  brought  charges  of 
specific  acts  of  tyranny  against  the  members  of 
the  Colonial  Council.  The  commissioners 
thought  his  action  hasty,  and  did  not  support  him. 
Las  Casas  consulted  with  Father  de  Cordova,  the 
Provincial  of  the  Dominicans,  and  also  with  the 
Supreme  Judge,  Zuazo,  both  men  who  shared  his 
own  views,  and  by  their  advice  he  determined  to 
return  to  Spain  five  months  after  his  arrival  in 
San  Domingo.  It  was  at  the  court  that  the  work 
must  be  done,  while  Ximenes  yet  ruled.  The 
system  of  grants  of  Indians  had,  he  felt,  to  be 
entirely  abolished,  and  imperative  laws  to  that 
effect  could  only  be  got  in  Spain.  The  commis- 
sioners went  on  with  the  work  of  gathering  the 
natives  into  settlements  to  some  extent,  but  Las 
Casas  sailed  for  Europe  and  got  to  Seville  by  July, 

1517- 

He  found  Ximenes  dying,  but  still  at  work 


like  a  young  man.  He  saw  Las  Casas,  but  before 
any  new  measures  could  be  prepared  the  end 
came,  and  the  great  cardinal  passed  awaj^  froir 
tlie  work  of  American  legislation  just  as  the 
young  King  Charles  landed  in  Corunna  on  hij 
first  visit  to  Spain.  The  death  of  Ximenes  was 
a  sore  blow  to  Las  Casas,  still  he  did  not  give  up 
With  a  firm  confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  cause 
he  had  taken  up,  he  continued  to  bring  it  before 
the  Council  of  the  Indies  and  his  friends  around 
the  court.  The  plan  of  sending  out  a  peaceful 
colony  of  Spanish  farmers  was  what  he  now  de- 
voted himself  to.  Bishop  Fonseca  declared  it 
impracticable,  and  Las  Casas  offered  to  get  three 
thousand  settlers  of  good  character  if  the  govern- 
ment would  guarantee  them  free  passage,  land 
and  a  year's  support  after  landing  in  San  Do- 
mingo. The  Bishop  declared  it  would  cost  as 
much  as  to  raise  an  army,  and  hot  words  passed 
in  the  council  between  him  and  Las  Casas. 

Finding  it  impossible  to  get  his  emigration  plan 
carried  out  under  the  management  of  the  govern- 
ment, the  unwearied  Las  Casas  devised  a  new 
project.  He  applied  for  a  grant  of  land  on  the 
South  American  continent,  to  be  settled  entirely 
under  his  own  authority.  Las  Casas  offered  to 
raise  a  revenue  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  at  the 
end  of  three  years,  to  be  increased  to  seventy-five 
thousand  in  ten,  and  to  further  build  three  forts 
in  that  time,  keep  the  Indians  in  peace,  and  estab- 
lish the  rule  of  Spain  through  the  province  which 
corresponded  nearly  with  the  actual  Republic  oi 
Venezuela.  It  was  then  wholly  unsettled  b}- 
white  men,  though  there  was  a  station  of  Spanish 
pearl  fishers  on  the  Island  of  Cubaqua,  neai 
Trinidad.  For  himself  Las  Casas  asked  nothing 
in  the  way  of  either  compensation  or  dignity. 

As  it  was,  he  met  with  opposition  on  every  hand. 
Some  of  his  clerical  friends  were  shocked  at  the 
worldly  details  of  the  project,  which  tliey  thought 
hardly  consistent  with  a  true  missionary  spirit, 
The  king's  confessor,  Father  Aguirre,  who  had 
always  supported  Las  Casas  in  his  work,  was  one 
of  these  friendly  critics.  Las  Casas  answered 
him  characteristically:  "Tell  me.  Father,"  said 
he,  "were you  to  see  our  Lord  in  captivity  and 


566 


THE  FIRST  PRIEST  OF   AMERICA. 


abused,  would  you  ask  his  liberty  from  his  cap- 
tors urgently?"  "Certainly,"  replied  Father 
Aguirre.  "  Then,"  continued  Las  Casas,  "  if  they 
would  only  release  him  for  a  price,  would  you  pay 
it,  if  in  your  power?"  "  By  all  means,"  said 
Aguirre.  "  Well,  then,  that  is  what  I  am  doing 
aow,"  was  the  final  argument.  "  I  see  our  Lord 
daily  maltreated  and  scourged  in  the  persons  of 
His  Indian  human  creatures.  I  have  asked  those 
in  power  to  grant  them  to  me  for  the  sake  of  the 
Holy  Gospel,  but  they  have  refused  unless  I  would 
pay  a  price  in  gold.  So  now  I  am  raising  that  price 
for  the  end  of  freeing  our  Lord  in  his  creatures." 
Las  Casas  was  left  to  begin  his  colony  with  what 
resources  he  could  raise  on  his  own  account.  He 
borrowed  from  friends,  bought  a  vessel,  collected  a 
aumber  of  prospective  settlers,  and  sailed  a  few 
months  after  the  signing  of  his  grant.  But  if  he 
had  conquered  the  obstacles  before  him  in  Spain, 
new  and  more  dangerous  ones  awaited  him  in 
.\merica.  The  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  had 
established  missions  near  Cumana  the  year  be- 
fore, and  were  living  unprotected  among  the  In- 
dians. They  had  succeeded  in  learning  the  lan- 
guage and  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  tribes 
around  them,  when  a  Spanish  vessel  from  Cubagua 
made  a  raid  to  seize  Indian  laborers  for  the  pearl 
fisheries.  The  Indians  broke  out,  destro3^ed  the 
two  convents,  killed  the  two  Dominicans  and  a 
Franciscan,  and  then  attacked  Cubagua  and  drove 
out  the  Spanish  settlers.  When  Las  Casas  and 
his  colonists  reached  Puerto  Rico  he  received  news 
of  this  outbreak  in  the  land  where  he  was  about 
to  try  his  plan  of  peaceful  colonization.  He  then 
had  to  leave  his  colonists  in  Puerto  Rico  while  he 
went  to  San  Domingo  to  demand  the  suspension 
of  hostilities  from  the  governing  body  there.  The 
Audience  did  not  openly  refuse ;  they  delaA^ed 
sending  the  necessary  orders,  and  they  further  de- 
clared the  vessel  belonging  to  Las  Casas  unsea- 
worthy,  and  so  prevented  him  going  on  to  Ven- 
ezuela. Finally,  they  proposed  to  give  him  two 
vessels,  and  put  the  soldiers  then  on  the  continent 
under  his  authority  on  his  giving  them  a  share 
in  the  profits  to  be  drawn  from  the  trading  con- 
cession within  his  province.     He  had  to  agree, 


very  reluctantly,  but  when  he  got  to  Puerto  Rico 
he  found  his  colonists  all  scattered.  The  expe- 
dition sent  to  Venezuela  did  its  part  to  make  his 
peaceful  colonization  project  impossible.  The 
soldiers  ravaged  the  country  and  sent  six  hundred 
Indian  prisoners  as  slaves  to  San  Domingo  in  de- 
fiance of  the  royal  orders.  When  finally  Las 
Casas  reached  Cumana  he  had  only  forty  or  fifty 
hired  men  to  aid  in  the  settlement  of  a  territory 
as  large  as  Germany  and  France  combined.  The 
Franciscans  had  restored  their  convent,  but  it  was 
the  only  settlement  on  the  main  land.  The  pearl 
fishers  of  Cubagua  did  everything  to  add  to  the 
already  enormous  difiiculties  of  the  task  of 
Christianizing  the  Indians.  They  brought  liquor 
to  the  Indians  and  kidnapped  them  for  work  in 
the  island.  Las  Casas  went  to  Cubagua,  showed 
the  Royal  Order,  and  demanded  that  these  in- 
cursions should  be  stopped,  but  the  officials  paid 
no  heed  to  him.  He  decided  to  go  to  San  Do- 
mingo for  redress,  and  sailed  in  a  merchant  vessel, 
which  was  wrecked  on  the  way,  and  it  was  only 
after  a  journey  of  many  days  through  the  swamps 
that  he  reached  the  capital.  Meantime  a  tribe  of 
Indians  attacked  his  new  settlement,  killed  his 
manager  and  one  of  the  Franciscans,  and  de- 
stroyed the  whole  of  the  stores  provided  with  so 
much  labor.  When  Las  Casas  reached  San  Do- 
mingo it  was  only  to  find  his  colonists  there  before 
him  and  all  hope  of  peaceful  intercourse  with  the 
natives  destroyed  for  the  time. 

The  blow  was  terrible  even  to  his  indomitable 
nature.  He  knew  that  his  own  purpose  was  right, 
but  he  doubted  whether  God  willed  its  success  or 
whether  he  was  the  instrument  chosen  to  carry  it 
out.  He  took  up  his  quarters  in  the  Dominican 
Convent,  where  he  was  sure  of  sympathy,  though 
his  former  ally.  Father  De  Cordova,  had  passed  to 
his  reward  while  Las. Casas  was  away.  A  young 
priest  of  remarkable  character.  Father  Betanzos, 
afterwards  the  Provincial  of  Mexico  and  one  of 
the  most  notable  men  of  that  country,  had  lately 
come  to  San  Domingo.  He  urged  Las  Casas  to 
enter  the  Dominican  Order,  and  after  long  reflec- 
tion he  took  the  solemn  vows  of  obedience  and 
absolute  poverty.     After  prominence  in  Courts 


THE   FIRST   PRIEST  OF  AMERICA. 


567 


and  favor  won  with  the  greatest  men  of  the  world, 
with  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  and  the  then  Pope 
Adrian,  he  found  no  more  suitable  course  than  to 
place  himself  under  absolute  obedience  to  the  will 
of  a  community  as  strict  in  its  mode  of  life  as 
La  Trappe.  Not  only  was  abstinence  from  meat 
perpetual,  but  also  from  oil,  wine  and  wheaten 
bread  in  the  community  of  San  Domingo.  Las 
Casas  was  nearly  fifty  wheu  he  entered  it,  and 
many  years  later,  when  a  Bishop  in  Central 
America,  he  continued  to  observe  all  the  austeri- 
ties of  the  rule. 

For  five  years  he  remained  almost  unnoticed  in 
his  convent  after  the  terrible  energetic  work  of 
former  days.  The  Dominican  authorities  con- 
tinued their  efforts  to  obtain  just  treatment  for  the 
Indians  in  the  meanwhile,  and  after  some  years 
they  called  Las  Casas  to  Spain  and  sent  him  again 
to  the  Court  of  Charles  V.  on  his  old  mission. 
Pizarro  was  then  conquering  Peru,  and  Las  Casas 
obtained  a  decree  forbidding  the  enslavement  of 
the  natives.  He  was  sent  out  shortly  afterwards 
to  Peru  to  notify  Pizarro  and  Almagro  of  this  law. 
On  the  way  he  passed  through  Mexico  and  took 
part  in  a  Chapter  of  the  Dominicans  there  to  set- 
tle some  disputes  over  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Su- 
perior in  San  Domingo.  From  Mexico,  with  two 
companions,  he  traveled  on  foot  to  Realejo,  in 
Nicarauga,  found  a  ship  there  and  sailed  to  Peru. 
Having  warned  the  Spanish  officials  there  of  the 
decrees  against  Indian  slavery,  he  returned  to 
Nicaragua,  where  he  founded  a  convent  and  de- 
voted himself  to  missionary  work  among  both 
Indians  and  Spaniards  for  the  next  four  years. 
He  was  sent  again  to  Peru  during  that  time,  but 
driven  back  by  storms,  and  he  was  called  to  San 
Domingo,  where  he  found  a  congenial  work. 

Charles  V.  sympathized  fully  in  the  work  of 
Indian  emancipation.  He  confirmed  by  public 
edict  the  agreement  for  the  perpetual  freedom  of 
the  Guatemalan  converts,  and  sent  titles  and  pres- 
ents to  their  chiefs,  somewhat  to  the  disgust  of 
the  settlers  there.  The  Spanish  Government 
called  a  special  Assembly  in  1542,  to  provide 
suitable  legislation  for  the  colonies,  which  now 
included  Peru  and  Mexico,  instead  of  being  con- 


fined to  a  few  islands  as  at  the  death  of  Ximenes. 
A  body  of  laws  known  as  the  *'  New  Laws  "  was 
enacted  and  received  the  signature  of  Charles  in 
1542.  Las  Casas  had  sixteen  measures  before 
this  body,  and  had  a  great,  possibly  the  greatest, 
share  in  shaping  its  decisions. 

An  iinexpected  burden  was  laid  on  Las  Casas 
as  soon  as  the  New  Laws  were  passed.  He  was 
nominated  Bishop  of  Cuzco,  in  Peru,  and  though 
he  declined  that  dignity  he  was  finally  obliged  by 
the  entreaties  of  the  Dominican  Superiors  to  ac- 
cept the  diocese  of  Chiapa,  in  Central  America. 
Again,  this  time  in  his  seventieth  year,  he  crossed 
the  Atlantic  in  1544.  Forty  Dominican  mis- 
sioners  accompanied  him  to  extend  the  work  he 
had  begun  of  conversion  and  civilization.  The 
Episcopal  dignity  made  no  change  in  the  austerity 
which  had  marked  his  life  as  a  Dominican.  He 
wore  the  plainest  dress,  touched  no  meat,  had  no 
personal  furniture  except  the  plainest  kind,  plate 
being  rigorously  excluded  from  his  table.  A 
library  was  his  chief  possession,  but  unfortu- 
nately it  was  lost  by  shipwreck  on  the  voyage  to 
Guatemala. 

His  reception  in  his  diocese  is  graphically  told 
by  Remesal,  the  historian  of  Guatemala  and 
almost  a  contemporary.  The  wealthy  colonists 
regarded  Las  Casas  as  the  main  agent  in  the 
hated  emancipation  laws.  They  called  him  a 
half  trained  student ;  made  abusive  verses  on  him, 
and  had  their  children  sing  them  around  his 
house,  and  even  fired  guns  at  his  windows  to  scare 
him.  To  his  demand  for  the  liberation  of  the 
slaves,  colonists  and  officials  turned  a  deaf  ear. 
He  had  to  go  to  Guatemala  and  appeal  to  the 
Judges  of  the  Audience  there  for  the  enforcement 
of  the  laws.  The  president  of  that  body  roundly 
abused  the  fearless  bishop,  and  told  him  he  was  a 
scoundrel  without  shame,  a  bad  man,  bad  friar, 
bad  bishop,  and  one  that  ought  to  be  hanged.  "  I 
deserve  all  your  lorship  says,"  was  the  half  sar- 
castic answer  of  Las  Casas,  who,  however,  still 
insisted  that  a  judge  should  be  sent  to  Chiapa  to 
enforce  the  law.  The  Audience  was  cowed  by  his 
courage,  and  promised  to  send  one. 

The  citizens  of  Ciudad   Real,  his  see,  deter- 


S68 


THE   FIRST   PRIEST  OF  AMERICA. 


mined  to  prevent  the  bishop's  return  by  force 
when  they  learned  of  this  last  measure.  When 
they  heard  the  judge  was  coming  to  take 
their  Indians  from  them,  the  prominent  citizens 
held  a  meeting,  and  resolved  that  they  had  no 
assurance  that  Las  Casas  was  really  their  bishop, 
as  he  had  never  shown  them  his  Bulls.  It  was 
further  resolved  that  if  he  were  their  bishop  he 
should  act  like  other  bishops,  and  if  not  they 
would  not  pay  him  any  temporalities.  The  final 
resolution  was  that  they  would  not  let  him  enter 
the  city  unless  he  would  let  them  be  absolved  like 
Christians  (Las  Casas  had  forbidden  his  priests 
to  admit  slaveholders  to  the  sacraments),  and  not 
try  to  take  away  their  slaves  or  fix  their  rents. 

The  Bishop  was  making  his  way  from  Guate- 
mala on  foot,  accompanied  by  a  Dominican,  Father 
Vicente,  and  a  couple  of  Spaniards,  besides  a 
negro  servant.  In  this  fashion  he  reached  a 
monastery  some  miles  from  Ciudad  Real,  where 
he  heard  news  of  the  proceedings.  The  monks 
begged  him  not  to  go  on,  as  he  might  be  killed. 
The  Bishop  would  not  stop.  "  If  I  don't  go  to 
Ciudad  Real,"  he  said,  "  I  banish  myself  from  my 
Church.  Men's  minds  change  every  hour,  and 
is  it  possible  that  God  will  be  so  hard  with  the 
men  of  Ciudad  Real  as  to  let  them  commit  such 
a  crime  as  murdering  me.  In  fine  Reverend 
Fathers,  I  am  going  to  my  diocese  trusting  in  the 
mercy  of  God  and  the  help  of  your  prayers." 
With  that  he  gathered  up  his  cassock  and  took 
the  road  again,  though  it  was  late  in  the  evening. 

He  traveled  all  night  and  caught  the  Indian 
sentinels  asleep.  They  naturally  did  not  share 
in  their  master's  feelings,  and  when  awakened 
they  begged  his  blessing  and  excused  their  work. 
He  reached  Ciudad  Real  at  dawn,  and  went 
straight  to  the  Church,  where  he  called  the  town 
councillors  to  meet  him.  They  came  with  the 
whole  white  population  in  very  bad'  humor. 
There  had  been  a  smart  shock  of  earthquake 
during  the  night,  and  some  declared  it  was  a 
sign  of  the  ruin  that  was  coming  on  them  with 
the  Bishop's  arrival.  They  got  to  the  Church, 
however,  but  when  the  Bishop  came  out  of  the 
sacristy  no  one  saluted  him,  and  a  notary  got  up 


and  read  the  resolutions  lately  adopted.  The 
Bishop  answered  with  firmness,  but  gently  and 
with  his  usual  eloquence.  All  this  was  before 
nine  in  the  tropical  morning,  but  by  midday  a 
change  had  come  over  the  public  mind  either  from 
the  Bishops'  eloquence  or  the  weight  of  the  lay 
brother's  hands.  The  Alcaldes  came  in  a  body  to 
apologize,  and  the  populace  at  large  accompanied 
them  to  beg  pardon.  They  went  further,  and  car- 
ried him  off  to  one  of  the  principal  houses,  regaled 
him  there  in  the  evening,  and  next  day  held  a 
tournament  in  honor  of  his  return. 

This  sudden  popularity  was  not,  however,  of 
long  duration.  When  the  judge  arrived  shortly 
afterwards  from  Guatemala,  he  told  Las  Casas 
respectfully  that  the  unpopularity  of  the  New 
Laws  was  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  he  was  re- 
garded as  their  chief  author.  He  begged  him  to 
leave  his  diocese  for  a  while  on  that  account  dur- 
ing the  prevailing  excitement  and  urged  him  to 
go  to  the  Synod  then  convened  at  Mexico.  Las 
Casas  yielded,  went  on  to  Mexico,  where  his  ar- 
rival nearly  caused  a  tumult,  and  attended  the 
Synod  there.  It  laid  down  some  very  emphatic 
principles  on  the  question  of  Indian  slavery. 
One  was  that  unbelievers  of  every  class  had,  in 
spite  of  their  unbelief,  absolute  right  over  their 
persons  and  property,  and  could  not  be  deprived 
of  this  right  b}^  Christians  without  grievous  sin. 
Another  was  that  the  Spanish  sovereigns  had 
been  granted  jurisdiction  in  America  by  the  Holy 
See  solely  in  order  that  the  Indians  might  be 
made  Christians  by  lawful  means,  not  to  increase 
the  power  or  revenues  of  Spain.  A  third  point 
was  that  this  grant  of  supreme  national  authority 
did  not  authorize  the  taking  from  the  Indian 
chiefs  of  any  class  their  properties  or  the  au- 
thority which  they  possessed  already.  These 
principles  are  in  striking  contrast  to  the  acts  of 
Edward  the  Sixth's  English  Parliament,  at  the 
same  time  touching  the  rights  of  Catholics  who 
refused  to  accept  the  Loyal  Supremacy  as  the  rule 
of  belief 

From  Mexico  Las  Casas  returned  to  Spain, 
where  he  resigned  his  bishopric.  His  episcopal 
career  was  only  four  years'  active  duration. 


THE  FIRST   PRIEST  OF  AMERICA. 


569 


Having  resigned  his  diocese,  Las  Casas  took  up 
his  residence  in  the  Dominican  Convent  at  Valla- 
dolid,  but  not  to  rest  there  in  quiet.  He  was  of- 
ficially recognized  as  "  Protector  of  the  Indians," 
and  no  important  measure  of  colonial  administra- 
tion escaped  his  energetic  attention.  When 
Philip  II.  succeeded  his  father  on  the  Spanish 
throne  a  measure  of  vital  importance  to  the  native 
race  was  proposed  b}'  an  agent  of  the  American 
grantholders.  These  grants  were  revoked  by 
Charles  V.  in  1542,  but  the  revocation  had  been 
suspended  in  consequence  of  the  rebellions  in 
Peru.  The  policy  of  the  government  was  to 
abolish  the  whole  system  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
the  wealthy  proprietors  were  anxious  to  have  the 
grants  made  perpetual.  For  this  they  offered  a 
sum  of  many  millions,  apparently  about  three 
years'  revenue  of  Spain,  to  Philip,  who,  at  the 
time,  was  confronted  with  an  empty  treasury  and 
a  formidable  war  with  France.  The  temptation 
to  establish  a  system  of  Russian  serfdom  in 
America  was  very  great,  and  Las  Casas  used  all 
his  energies  to  prevent  it.  Philip  was  in  England 
at  the  time,  and  Las  Casas  wrote  directly  to  his 
confessor  there, asking  that  his  letter  shouldbelaid 
before  the  king  himself.  It  was  a  document  such 
as  very  few  rulers  ever  have  addressed  to  them, 
and  a  strange  contrast  to  the  servile  addresses  of 
the  English  Parliament  to  its  sovereigns  at  the 
same  time.  Las  Casas  told  Philip  that  it  would 
be  in  the  highest  degree  rash  for  him  to  make 
any  decision  on  American  policy  in  England, 
where  he  had  no  means  of  learning  the  truth 
about  the  Spanish  colonies  from  reliable  sources. 
"  What  right,"  he  asks,  "  have  our  kings  to  wring 
taxes  from  the  toil  of  the  Indians  to  pay  their 
debts  ? "  "  What  an  atrocity  to  seek  to  forward 
the  interests  of  the  king  in  defiance  of  God's 
law."  A  few  sentences  in  the  same  letter  are 
remarkable  as  showing  how  strict  a  rule  Las  Casas 
applied  to  his  own  actions.  "A  few  days  since," 
he  wrote,  "  a  member  of  the  Council,  hearing  this 
proposition,  threatened  me  with  God's  justice,  and 
charged  me  with  not  half  doing  my  duty  if  I  did 
not  goand  protest  effectually  against  those  tyrants, 
even  if  I  had  to  beg  my  way  to  England  with  a 


stick  in  my  hand  and  a  beggar's  sack  on  my  back. 
What  would  he  have  said  had  he  seen  all  I  have 
during  the  last  sixty  years?"  This  was  strong 
language  for  a  bishop  of  over  fourscore  j-ears  to 
use  of  himself,  and  it  may  serve  to  explain  the 
severity  of  his  denunciations  in  his  "  Destruction 
of  the  Indies." 

Philip  received  this  bold  letter  well,  and  wrote 
in  reply  asking  further  information.  Charles  V., 
who  had  retired  to  a  monastery,  shared  the  opin- 
ion of  Las  Casas,  and  his  last  interference  in 
political  affairs  was  to  warn  his  son  against  sacri- 
ficing the  liberty  of  his  subjects.  The  proposal 
of  the  colonial  magnates  was  definitely  rejected, 
despite  the  deficit  in  the  treasury.  Spanish  honor, 
after  all,  has  not  been  an  empty  word. 

The  other  tasks  of  Las  Casas  during  the  last 
years  of  his  life  are  too  numerous  to  tell  here. 
He  published  his  famous  "Destruction  of  the 
Indies  "  in  1550,  and  dedicated  it  to  Philip  himself, 
in  spite  of  the  freedom  with  which  it  treated  royal 
and  feudal  rights.  Like  the  present  Sovereign 
Pontiff,  Las  Casas  retained  his  capacity  for  work, 
especially  literary  work,  to  the  age  of  over  ninety. 
He  wrote  the  last  chapters  of  his  great  history  of 
the  Indies  in  1561  at  eighty-seven,  and  three 
years  later  he  published  a  monograph  on  Peru, 
which  shows  all  the  energy  and  indefatigable  in- 
vestigation of  his  works  written  forty  years  ear- 
lier. His  correspondence  with  every  part  of 
Spanish-America  was  enormous  all  through  this 
time.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Central  America 
had  been  suppressed  for  motives  of  economy,  and 
the  bishop  informed  Las  Casas  that  in  conse- 
quence the  poor,  especially  the  Indians,  found  it 
impossible  to  get  legal  redress  for  the  wrongs  in- 
flicted by  the  wealthy.  Las  Casas  at  ninety-two 
journeyed  to  Madrid,  laid  the  case  before  the 
ministry,  and  pleaded  it  so  efiectually  that  the 
court  was  restored.  On  his  return  to  his  convent 
he  contracted  a  burning  fever,  and  passed  away 
among  his  Dominican  brethren  in  1564. 

There  were  many  notable  men  among  the  first 
conquerors  and  settlers  of  America,  but  none 
more  remarkable  in  every  way  than  America's 
first  Catholic  priest,  Bartolome  de  Las  Casas. 


LEDGES  ANt>  PERFOR\AANCES. 


The  evils  of  a  mis-spent  life  upon  Society  and  Individuals. 

(B  CD  CD  CCd  iSu  mumi 
rtfnins  rj^  rj^  re  m  v 

By  REV.  THOMAS  N.  BURKE,  O.  P. 

sn  ^  ^  tXd  tSU  susum 

W  OS  W  ^JJ  ^J^  OS  OtS  CB 


The  faith  that  worketh  great  things  is  admira- 
bly illustrated  by  the  example  recorded  in  St. 
John  iv.  46-53:  ■  "There  was  a  certain  ruler 
whose  son  was  sick  at  Capharnaum.  He  having 
heard  that  Jesus  was  come  from  Judea  into 
Galilee,  went  to  him,  and  prayed  him  to  come 
down  and  heal  his  son,  for  he  was  at  the  point 
of  death.  Jesus  therefore  said  to  him:  Unless 
you  see  signs  and  wonders  you  believe  not. 
The  ruler  saith  to  him :  Lord,  come  down  before 
that  my  son  die.  Jesus  saith  to  him :  Go  thy 
way,  thy  son  liveth.  The  man  believed  the 
word  which  Jesus  said  to  him,  and  went  his 
way.  And  as  he  was  going  down,  his  servants 
met  him :  and  they  brought  word,  saying  that 
his  sou  lived.  He  asked  therefore  of  them  the 
hour  wherein  he  grew  better.  And  they  said 
to  him  :  Yesterday  at  the  seventh  hour  the 
fever  left  him.  The  father  therefore  knew  that 
it  was  at  the  same  hour  that  Jesus  said  to  him  : 
Thy  son  liveth :  and  himself  believed  and  his 
whole  house." 

The  anxiety  of  the  ruler  of  Capharnaum  con- 
cerning the  life  of  his  son  reminds  me  of  the 
anxiety  justly  felt  by  many  a  parent  concern- 
ing the  welfare  of  one  or  more  children  addicted 
to  the  fearful  vice  of  intemperance  in  drinking, 
which  leads   so    many  persons  to  an  untimely 


and  fearful  death.  On  the  other  hand  we  read 
in  the  epistle :  "Be  not  drunk  with  wine, 
wherein  there  is  luxury."  I  will  therefore 
speak  about  drunkenness,  praying  to  our 
Saviour  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  to  open  our 
eyes,  that  we  may  understand  the  enormity  cf 
this  sin,  and  be  inspired  with  a  great  zeal  for 
banishing  it  from  amongst  us. 

Drunkenness  is  the  worst  species  of  gluttony. 
Let  us  look  at  its  dreadful  consequences. 

I.  Drunkenness  brutalizes  a  man.  When  one 
drinks  to  excess,  or  gets  drunk,  he  is  no  longer 
a  man,  but  a  beast ;  for  he  sinks  himself  to  the 
level  of  the  brutes  around  him.  Look  at  the 
drunkard  :  he  knows  not  what  he  says  or  does ; 
he  cannot  think  or  reason  like  a  man  ;  he  is 
even  lower  than  the  animals  that  serve  him,  for 
they  never  drink  to  excess,  but  keep  their 
appetites  within  the  bounds  of  nature.  He 
cannot  even  stand  as  the  beast  can.  See  him 
staggering  on  his  way,  his  body  shaken  with 
the  excess  of  drink,  his  head  swaying  heavily 
on  his  shoulders,  falling  first  to  one  side,  then 
to  another  ;  his  eyes  wild ;  his  looks  unmeaning ; 
his  tongue  babbling,  yet  scarcely  able  to  articu- 
late a  word. 

Now  he  falls,  and  rolls  in  the  mire  with  the 
swine,  which  are    not  so    degraded    as  he ;  for 


(570) 


PLEDGES   AND    PERFORMANCES. 


571 


they  have  the  use  of  their  limbs,  but  the  drunk- 
ard has  not.  See  him  assisted  to  his  home 
by  some  charitable  friend,  staggering  and  fall- 
ing on  his  way ;  foaming,  rolling  his  disgusting 
eyes,  and  exhaling  the  fetid  fumes  of  spirits 
and  beer.  Children  point  him  out  to  one 
another ;  they  follow  him,  mocking  and  laugh- 
ing at  him,  as  at  some  strange  being.  His 
acquaintances  look  after  him  as  he  totters 
home,  and  they  are  indignant  at  the  scene ;  his 
enemies  look  at  him  and  point  to  him  with  ridi- 
cule ;  his  friends  run  away  as  he  approaches, 
for  they  feel  ashamed  of  him  ;  and  his  children 
are  in  tears  and  his  wife  in  agony  when  they 
look  upon  him. 

And  what  a  scene  when  the  drunkard  enters 
his  house !  His  wife  is  on  the  threshold  to 
meet  him,  her  form  bowed,  her  face  haggard, 
her  body  shrunken  by  want.  There  she  stands, 
with  an  aflflicted  mind  and  a  broken  heart. 
Though  unable  to  stand,  the  drunkard  wishes 
to  return  to  the  public-house ;  but  the  wife 
supports  him,  and  with  a  gentle  pressure  draws 
him  inside  the  door.  Then  he  grows  wild  and 
infuriate  ;  he  curses,  he  blasphemes  ;  from  his 
lips  pour  forth  filth  and  obscenity ;  he  strikes 
at  everything  in  his  way — wife,  children  and 
servants:  he  has  no  fear  either  of  God  or  of 
man. 

"  Who  hath  woe  ?  asks  Solomon,  "  whose  father 
hath  woe  ?  who  hath  contentions  ?  who  falls 
into  pits  ?  who  hath  wounds  without  cause  ? 
who  hath  redness  of  eyes  ?  Surely  they  that 
pass  their  time  in  wine,  and  study  to  drink 
ofif  their  cups ; "  Prov.  xxiii.  29,  30.  Yes, 
the  woes  of  heaven  fall  thick  and  fast  upon 
the  drunkard.  They  are  written  on  his  face, 
they  are  seen  in  all  his  acts.  The  drunkard 
dishonors  himself  like  a  fool,  impoverishes  his 
family  like  a  robber,  degrades  his  relatives 
like  the  heartless,  disgraces  his  friends  like  the 
ungrateful,  brings  reproach  on  his  religion  like 
the  profane,  destroys  his  body  like  the  murderer, 
and  his  soul  like  an  infidel.  It  is  told  of  the 
ancient  Spartans,  that  in  order  that  their  children 
should  conceive  a  loathing  for  drunkenness  they 


were  in  the  habit  of  making  some  of  their  slaves 
drunk.  And  to  have  a  horror  of  this  beastly 
vice  you  have  only  to  look  at  the  drunkard 
tottering  to  his  house  supported  by  his  wife  on 
one  side  and  his  neglected  and  squalid  child 
on  the  other. 

2.  Drunkenness,  too,  entails  on  its  victim  many 
other  sorrows — injuries,  quarrels,  and  alterca- 
tions. To  what  are  we  to  attribute  the  quar- 
reling, the  injuries,  the  insults,  the  inhuman 
fights,  we  so  often  witness  ?  To  drunkenness. 
Where  do  disputes,  dissensions,  bickering  and 
riots  originate  ?  In  the  public-house.  See  the 
drunkard.  Begin  and  watch  him  till  he  ends 
his  career  of  intoxication.  He  has  sat  at  the 
table,  he  has  filled  his  glass  and  drained  it. 
Again  he  fills  his  glass,  and  challenges  his 
boon  companions  to  do  the  same ;  they  accept, 
and  drink  them  off ;  they  become  mirthful ;  a 
third  glass  is  taken,  and  the  mirth  maddens 
into  riot :  anger  springs  up,  and  those  who 
shook  hands  across  the  table  after  the  second 
glass  now  assail  one  another  with  the  most 
opprobrious  language,  consign  one  another  to 
damnation,  and  blaspheme  the  name  of  the 
living  God !  Next  they  proceed  to  blows :  a 
deadly  strife  takes  place,  and  the  frightful  con- 
sequence is  the  spilling  of  blood,  and,  but  too 
often,  the  loss  of  life. 

Drunkenness  leads  to  riotousness,  quarreling, 
insults,  inhuman  fights,  sudden  death.  Drunken- 
ness leads  to  evil  companions,  thefts,  robberies, 
plots,  murders,  to  prison,  to  the  gallows.  Drunk- 
enness points  to  weakness,  wretchedness,  melan- 
choly, wild  fancies,  black  horror,  madness. 
Follow  the  drunkard  into  the  bosom  of  his 
family,  look  at  him  carrying  distress  and  desola- 
tion into  his  home :  he  cries  and  screams  like 
an  enraged  animal ;  he  destroys  everything  that 
he  can  lay  his  hand  on.  The  sobs  and  lamen- 
tations of  his  wife,  the  tears  and  cries  of  his 
children,  so  far  from  moving  him  to  mercy  and 
pity,  only  fire  him  the  more  with  madness. 
Like  a  fury  he  flies  at  them,  armed  with  a 
poker  or  whatever  else  comes  in  his  way,  and 
deals    round    on  wife    and  children  murderous 


572 


PIvEDGES    AND    PERFORMANCES. 


blows.  In  vain  the  broken-hearted  wife  holds 
before  her  husband  their  innocent  child:  nothing 
can  check  his  madness,  nothing  can  stop  the 
savage  father ;  both  wife  and  child  become 
the  victims  of  his  brutality ;  for  through  a 
refinement  of  brutality  he  drags  the  wife  by 
the  hair,  throws  her  and  her  child  with  violence 
out  of  doors,  and  forces  her  to  seek  outside 
some  place  to  shelter  herself  and  her  infant 
from  the  cold  and  severity  of  the  night.  O 
Drunkenness,  such  is  thy  savage  work ! 

3.  Impurity  is  another  consequence  of  drunk- 
enness. The  wise  man  said  long  ago  in  the 
Book  of  Proverbs,  that  "  wine  is  a  luxurious 
thing,  and  drunkenness  riotous  "  (Prov.  xxi.  i) ; 
and  St.  Paul  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  his  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians  warns  us  against  "being 
drunk  with  wine,  in  which  there  is  luxury." 
Spirituous  liquors  inflame  the  already  unruly 
passion  of  lust,  and  when  our  reason  is  dis- 
turbed by  drinking  to  excess,  what  can  keep  us 
from  rushing  headlong  into  every  kind  of 
impurity  ?  Is  it  not  from  drunkenness  that 
flow  the  immodest  songs,  the  fearful  obscene 
words  that  strike  our  ears  from  morning  till 
night  ?  The  holiness  of  the  marriage  state, 
the  fidelity  of  wife  to  husband,  and  of  husband 
to  wife,  are  entirely  lost  sight  of  by  the 
drunkard. 

Look  at  a  woman  who  drinks  to  excess,  and 
see  to  what  a  miserable  state  she  is  reduced. 
She  was  once  fondly  attached  to  her  husband ; 
dear  to  her  friends,  beloved  by  her  relations, 
and  esteemed  by  all  her  acquaintances.  But 
look  at  her  now,  as  she  frequents  the 
whisky-shop.  See  the  face,  once  meek 
and  lovely  with  the  pure  beams  of  inno- 
cence, now  convulsed  by  all  the  pas- 
sions which  issue  from  the  infernal  pit. 
Listen  to  the  tongue  which  once  gave  expres- 
sion only  to  what  was  chaste  and  pure  and 
good,  but  which  now  pours  forth  impurity, 
obscenity,  and  ungodliness  in  torrents.  See 
her  coming  from  the  house  of  drunkenness  and 
hastening  to  the  den  of  infamy ;  or,  like  some 
unnatural  monster,  going   home  to  her  family 


to  suckle  her  children  with  her  vices.  Yet  a 
few  years  ago  she  was  a  stranger  to  almost 
every  house,  except  her  own  home  and  the 
church  !  Must  we  not  then  say  with  St. 
Jerome  that  drunkenness  feeds  and  stirs  up 
the  flames  of  impurity,  and  also  feeds  and  ex- 
cites the  flames  of  fire  when  cast  upon  it  ?  I 
can  never  believe,  says  a  Father  of  the  Church, 
that  an  intemperate  man  can  be  a  chaste  man. 
Was  it  not  this  vice  of  drinking  to  excess  that 
rendered  Sodom  so  impure  as  to  call  for  its 
destruction  by  fire  and  brimstone  ?  Lot  was 
not  guilty  of  incest  until  he  had  taken  the 
wine  presented  him  by  his  daughters ;  and  the 
Israelites  sinned  not  with  the  Moabites  until 
they  had  first  drank  intoxicating  liquors  with 
them. 

4.  "  Destruction  of  property  and  ruin  of  fam- 
ily," are  also  the  inevitable  consequences  of 
drunkenness.  Go  to  the  drunkard's  house  and 
see  the  havoc  that  there  meets  your  eyes. 
Look  for  a  moment  into  that  dwelling,  the  abode 
of  misery  and  want,  aye,  and  too  often  of  guilt. 
Its  walls  are  black  and  broken  from  neglect  and 
decay,  filth  and  ruin  fill  up  the  measure  of  its 
wretchedness,  and  not  a  piece  of  furniture  is 
there  to  relieve  its  dilapidated  appearance.  In 
a  corner  of  that  filthy,  dingy  apartment  the 
embers  of  a  scanty  fire  are  dying  out,  and  hang- 
ing over  those  embers  you  see  an  emaciated 
figure  :  there  is  no  mistaking  that  bowed-down, 
broken-hearted  creature.  Her  wrinkled  brow, 
her  pallid  cheek,  her  bloodless  lips,  her  trem- 
bling hands,  her  look  of  deep,  unutterable  agony 
and  despair,  too  clearly  point  out  the  wretched 
wife  of  the  drunkard.  Once,  before  the  altar 
of  God,  he  swore  to  love,  cherish,  and  defend 
her;  but  her  present  condition  shows  how  that' 
vow  has  been  fulfilled.  Her,  thoughts  turn  back 
to  by-gone  days,  when  she  was  happy  and  joy- 
ous under  her  father's  roof.  She  is  contrasting 
those  days  of  peace  arid  plenty  with  the  misery 
and  destitution  of  the  present  time,  and  she  shud- 
ders at  her  husband's  guilt.  Notwithstanding 
the  cruel  treatment  she  receives  at  his  hands, 
despite     the     kicks     and      blows      his      brutal 


PLEDGES   AND   PERFORMANCES. 


573 


temper  inflicts  on  her,  she  still  clings  to 
him,  and  with  anxious  care  tries  every  resource 
to  bring  him  back  from  his  desperate  courses, 
to  lead  him  away  from  those  companions  who 
are  luring  him  on  to  sure  destruction.  For 
the  sake  of  the  father  of  her  famished  chil- 
dren, she  bears  up  against  his  cruel  treatment. 
To  bring  her  husband  from  the  public-house, 
she  every  night  exposes  herself  to  insult  and 
indignity ;  and  for  her  pains  she  receives  from 
the  brutal  man  curses  and  blows. 

Visit  that  abode  again,  ascend  the  broken 
staircase  to  the  garret  dark  and  gloomy.  The 
rain  is  pouring  through  the  broken  roof,  and 
is  pattering  on  the  craz}'-  loft.  There  is  a 
damp,  unwholesome  air  around.  A  flickering 
light  shows  some  dark  object  in  the  comer. 
Go  near :  it  is  a  poor  creature  lying  on  the 
remains  of  a  straw  bed,  with  scarcely  a  rag  to 
protect  her  from  the  inclemency  of  the  night ;  and 
oh,  what  a  face  !  On  every  lineament  of  it,  want, 
misery,  wrong,  injustice,  crueltj^,  are  fearfully 
written.  Her  dying  eyes  are  looking  for  the 
last  time  on  the  shivering  skeletons  huddled 
aear  her  that  they  may  communicate  a  little 
warmth  to  each  other;  and  then,  after  a  look  up 
to  heaven,  and  a  prayer  breathed  forth  to  the 
Father  of  the  orphan,  that  he  may  protect  her 
wretched  offspring,  those  eyes  close  forever  in 
this  world,  and  the  children  are  alone  in  the 
world,  with  no  one  to  care  for  or  tend  them, 
for  their  mother  is  dead  and  their  father  is  a 
drunkard.  O  drunkards,  what  woe  and  misery 
and  wretchedness  and  g^ilt  do  you  not  entail 
on  yourselves  and    your  families! 

5.  "Loss  of  life,"  too,  follows  from  drunken- 
ness. St.  Chrysostom  thus  describes  the  effects 
of  intemperance :  "  paleness,  weakness,  laziness, 
folly."  The  drunkard  ruins  his  health,  short- 
ens his  days,  and  brings  himself  to  an  early 
grave.  Look  at  the  man  who  frequents  the 
rum-shop,  and  is  seen  there  at  all  hours,  who 
knows  no  pleasure  greater  than  drinking.  See 
the  appearance  he  presents  —  pale,  hanging 
cheeks  ;  red,  bleared  eyes  ;  livid  lips,  trembling 
hands,  a    body  swaying   to   and    fro,  and   legs 


weak  and  bending!  See  his  tottering  gait,  his 
faltering  steps,  as  he  passes  you  by.  Death 
has  already  marked  him  for  its  own ;  his  days 
are  numbered,  for  not  one  but  many  disorders 
prey  on  him,  and  will  soon  put  an  end  to 
his  existence.  And  how  can  it  be  otherwise  ? 
What  constitution  can  bear  up  against  the  inroads 
of  drunkenness  ?  The  most  eminent  medical  met 
tell  us  that  the  drinking  of  spirituous  liquors  has 
killed  as  many  thousands  as  there  are  stars  in 
the  sky,  and  that  more  have  died  by  this  slow, 
sure  poison  than  by  any  other  kind  of  poison,  and 
on  that  account  they  say  that  the  following 
inscription  might  be  justly  written  on  the  tomb 
of  every  drunkard  :     "  Here  lies  a  suicide." 

6.  The  final  and  most  alarming  result  of  drunk- 
enness is  "  an  unhappy  and  wretched  death," 
followed  by  "  the  everlasting  damnation  of  the 
soul."  The  drunkard  during  life  has  indulged 
in  every  excess,  has  violated  almost  every  com- 
mand of  God,  has  been  guilty  of  blasphemy, 
of  impurity,  quarreling,  fighting,  wasting  his 
means,  ruining  his  family,  making  outcasts  of 
his  wife  and  children.  After  such  a  career  of 
vice,  now  behold  his  closing  days.  There  he 
lies  on  the  bed  of  sickness  and  death,  the  victim 
of  his  own  folly  and  crime.  What  are  his 
thoughts  ?  What  are  those  thoughts  that  cause 
the  frightful  convulsions  of  his  frame,  that 
spread  over  his  face  that  fearful  livid  hue  ? 
What  are  the  thoughts  that  shake  his  with- 
ered body  ?  What  but  the  recollection  of  the 
past  and  the  dread  of  the  future  !  Behind  is 
horror,  before  is  despair  ! 

His  misspent  life,  his  ruined  name,  his  wasted 
energies,  his  folly,  his  crime,  his  guilt,  all  rush 
on  his  mind  in  a  terrible  array,  and  cannot  be 
shut  out.  At  that  awful  moment  the  power  of 
conscience  swells  its  voice  to  the  mightiest  of 
thunder,  and  it  is  that  which  convulses  him. 
With  cruel  distinctness  he  counts  over  the 
many  acts  of  cruelty  he  has  been  guilty  of 
towards  his  wife  and  unoff"ending  family.  In 
every  item  that  he  counts  up  he  reads  his  own 
condemnation.  Where  now  are  his  wife  and 
children?     Why  are  they  not  now  around  his 


574 


PLEDGES   AND   PERFORMANCES. 


bed  ?  Neither  wife  nor  children  has  he  now. 
The  wife  died  of  a  broken  heart ;  and  the  son, 
having  the  father's  wicked  example  before  him, 
grew  up  a  perfect  savage,  uncurbed  by  one 
salutary  precept,  bidding  defiance  equally  to 
the  laws  of  God  and  man,  every  day  sinking 
deeper  and  deeper  into  crime,  until  he  was 
jent  to  a  prison,  or  perhaps  expiated  his  guilt 
on  a  scaffold.  And  his  daughter,  whose  pres- 
ence would  now  be  a  blessing  to  him,  where 
is  she  ?  Lost !  forever  sunk  in  shame  beyond 
redemption.  That  dying  father  was  the  agent 
of  her  ruin,  for  b}--  his  brutality  and  savage 
treatment  he  forced  her  from  her  home,  drove 
her  an  outcast  on  the  world,  and  she  soon  be- 
came a  prey  to  the  lust  and  depravity  of  her 
seducer.  Neither  wife  nor  child  now  surrounds 
his  bed,  but  their  forms  seem  to  hover  round 
him  in  dreadful  shapes.  They  seem  to  mock 
and  laugh  at  his  mortal  agony,  and  grasp  at 
him  with  their  long  skinny  fingers. 

He  is  now  writhing  under  the  effects  of  de- 
lirium tremens^  and,  like  many  of  his  compan- 
ions who  have  gone  before  him,  he  cannot  avail 
himself  of  the  last  moments  of  life  to  turn  to 
God.  He  is  incapable  of  sorrow  and  repent- 
ance, for  his  mind  is  wandering  and  his  intel- 
lect is  a  perfect  ruin.  He  sees  in  imagination 
swarms  of  horrid  creatures  circling  round  his 
body,  and  threatening  to  devour  him.  So  dis- 
tempered is  his  brain  that  legions  of  devils 
appear  in  the  room.  Demons  of  hideous  shape 
dance  round  his  bed  and  hold  him  in  dreadful 
tortures.  He  shouts  in  frightful  accents  to 
those  about  him  to  save  him  from  those  infer- 
nal fiends,  who  want  to  take  his  soul  to  hell. 
He  rivets  his  eyes  on  a  comer  of  the  room,  and 
imagines  that  he  sees  his  ill-treated  wife  and 
neglected  children,  now  many  years  dead,  mock- 
ing at  him  in  his  agony,  and  reproaching  him 
with  his  former  neglect  and  inhuman  treatment, 
and  he  shouts  to  have  them  removed.  "  The 
finger  of  God  is  here."  His  justice  has 
at  last  overtaken  the  drunkard.  The  hour 
has  come,  and  the  tempest  of  God  bursts  ;  whilst 
the  drunkard  crawled  along  the  path  of  vice  un- 


concerned about  his  soul,  God  was  silent ;  but 
God  was  not  indifferent.  Though  silent,  he 
saw  all,  and  took  a  note  of  all ;  and  whilst  the 
drunkard  was  heaping  up  crime,  God  heaped 
vengeance.  Hear  him  speaking  by  the  mouth 
of  Isaias  :  "  I  have  been  silent,  I  have  held  my 
peace,  I  was  patient,  my  words  shall  break  forth 
as  one  in  labor,  I  will  scatter  them,  I  will  wrap 
them  up  together  in  a  whirlpool."  The  drunk- 
ard abandoned  God  during  life  ;  God  abandons 
him  at  death.  During  life  the  drunkard  lived 
regardless  of  God's  law,  and  in  his  last  hour 
God  is  regardless  of  him.  For,  says  St.  Paul, 
"  neither  idolaters  nor  drunkards  shall  possess 
the  kingdom  of  God." 

The  priest  of  God  is  sent  to  prepare  the 
drunkard  for  his  long  journey.  He  approaches 
his  bed ;  he  endeavors  to  infuse  some  religious 
comfort  into  his  guilty  heart ;  he  speaks  words 
of  consolation  to  him  ;  he  desires  him  to  rely  on 
the  mercies  of  Christ,  who  shed  his  blood  for 
him.  But  the  wretched  creature  is  stupefied  ;  he 
cannot  pray ;  he  knows  not  how  to  pray ;  he 
never  through  life  thought  of,  much  less  prac- 
tised, that  sweet  and  holy  duty.  He  is  now  rav- 
ing in  his  agony  ;  devils  surround  his  bed  ;  the 
father  and  mother  whose  heart  he  broke ;  the 
wife  and  children  whom  he  abused,  and  left  to 
starve — all  the  evils  of  his  life  start  up  before 
him  in  terrible  array,  and  pierce  his  brain  with 
madness.     He  shrinks  back  in  fright. 

The  tide  of  life  is  now  fast  ebbing  from  his 
heart ;  the  sweat  of  death  is  on  his  brow ;  his 
brain  reels,  darkness  comes  over  his  sight,  the 
last  sigh  is  quivering  on  his  lips ;  and  in  a 
desperate  struggle  the  soul  separates  from  the 
body,  and  the  drunkard  stands  alone  and  un- 
protected before  the  judgment-seat  of  God,  to 
answer  for  the  crimes  of  an  ill-spent  life. 


\\t  i{oI|;  (at[|oIic  (T[(irc[|. 


She  Is  the  Mother  and  the  Inspiration  of  Art. 


By  Rev.  THOMAS  N.  BURI^C,  O.  P. 


(c  cia  is  tSu  <^^  (u  en  c& 
tu  tjj  w  r]^  F]^  OS  w  ro 


The  Holy  Catholic  Church  is  the  spouse  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  described  to 
us  in  Scripture  as  being  endowed  with  a  two- 
fold beauty,  namely,  interior,  of  which  the 
Psalmist  says,  "  All  the  beauty  of  the  king's 
daughters  is  from  within,"  and  exterior,  of  which 
he  spoke  when  he  said,"  The  queen  stood  at  his 
right  hand,  in  golden  garb,  surrounded  with  vari- 
ety." We  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  that  the 
interior  beauty  and  ineffable  loveliness  of  the 
Church  consists,  above  all,  in  this,  that  she 
holds  enshrined  in  her  tabernacles  the  Lord, 
the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  as  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  his  mother,  held  him  in  her 
arms  in  Bethlehem,  as  the  cross  supported  him 
on  Mount  Calvary ;  that  she  possesses  his 
everlasting  truth  which  he  left  as  her  inherit- 
ance, and  which  it  is  her  destiny  not  only  to 
hold,  but  to  proclaim  and  propagate  to  all  the 
nations ;  and,  finally,'  that  she  holds  in  her 
hands  the  sacramental  power  and  agencies  by 
which  souls  are  sanctified,  purified,  and  saved. 
In  these  three  features  we  observe  the  beauty 
of  the  Church  of  God ;  in  these  three  we 
behold  how  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  is 
perpetuated  in  her ;  for  Christ  our  Lord  did 
not  forever  depart  from  earth,  but,  according 
to   his    own    word,    came    back   and  remained. 


"  I  will  not  leave  you  orphans,"  he  said,  "  but 
I  will  come  to  you  again,  and  I  will  remain 
with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation 
of  the  world."  We  see  in  these  three  won- 
derful features  of  the  Church's  interior  beauty 
how  she  is  truly  "  The  city  of  the  Living 
God,"  "  The  abode  of  grace  and  holiness ; " 
and,  therefore,  that  all  the  majesty,  all  the 
beauty,  all  the  material  grandeur  which  is  in 
our  power  to  invest  her  with,  it  becomes  our 
duty  to  give  to  her,  that  she  may  thus  appear 
before  the  eyes  of  men  a  fitting  tabernacle 
for  our  Divine  Lord  himself.  We  have  seen, 
moreover,  how  the  Church  of  God,  acting 
upon  the  instincts  of  her  divinely  infused  life 
and  perpetual  charity,'  has  always  endeavored 
to  attest  and  to  proclaim  her  faith  by  sur- 
rounding the  object  of  that  faith,  her  God, 
with  all  that  earth  holds  as  most  precious 
and  most  dear.  I  then  told  you  (if 
you  remember)  that  the  subject  for  our 
consideration  would  be  the  exterior  beauty 
of  the  Holy  Church  of  God — some  other 
features  that  belong  to  her,  distinct  from, 
though  not  independent  of,  the  three  great 
singular  graces  of  God's  abiding  presence,  of 
God's  infallible  truth,  and  of  the  unceasing 
stream  of   sacramental  grace  that,  through  her, 


(575) 


576 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


flows  onward ;  those  features  of  divine  external 
beauty  which  we  recognize  upon  the  face  of 
our  Holy  Mother,  the  Church.  Therefore, 
dearly  beloved,  the  things  that  are  indicated 
by  the  exterior  garb  with  which  the  prophet 
invested  the  spouse  of  Christ :  "  The  queen 
stood  on  thy  right  hand  in  golden  garb, 
surrounded  with  variety  " — every  choicest  gem, 
every  celestial  form  of  beauty  embroidered 
upon  the  heavenly  clothing  of  Heaven's 
Queen,  every  rarest  jewel  let  into  the  setting 
of  that  golden  garment,  every  brightest  color 
shining  forth  upon  her — what  is  this  exterior 
beauty  of  the  Church  ?  I  answer,  that  it 
consists  in  many  things — in  many  influences 
— in  the  many  ways  in  which  she  has  acted 
upon  societ}'.  Ever  faithful  to  the  cause  of 
God  and  to  the  cause  of  humanity ;  ever 
faithful  to  the  heavenly  trust,  after  more  than 
eighteen  hundred  years  of  busy  life,  she 
stands  to-day,  before  the  world ;  and  no  man 
can  fix  upon  her  virgin  brow  the  shame  of 
deception,  the  shame  of  cruelty,  the  shame  of 
the  denial  of  the  food  of  man's  real  life,  the 
Word  of  Truth.  No  man  can  put  upon  her 
the  taint  of  dishonor,  of  a  compromise  with 
hell  or  with  error,  or  with  any  power  that  is 
hostile  to  the  sovereignty  of  God  or  to  the 
interests  of  man.  Many  indeed,  are  the  ways 
in  which  the  Church  of  God  has  operated 
upon  society.  Of  these  many  ways  I 
have  selected  as  the  subject  for  our  illustra- 
tion, the  power  existing  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  attested  by  undoubted  his- 
torical evidence — the  power  which  she  exercised 
as  the  Mother  and  inspirer  of  the  fine  arts. 
And  here  let  me  first  of  all  say,  that,  besides 
the  useful  and  necessary  arts  which  occupy  men 
in  their  daily  life — the  arts  that  consist  in 
maintaining  the  essential  necessaries  and  in  pro- 
viding the  comforts  of  life — the  arts  that  result 
in  smoothing  away  all  the  difliculties  that  meet 
us  in  our  path  in  life,  as  far  as  the  hand  of 
man  can  materially  efiect  this — besides  these 
useful  and  necessary  arts, — there  are  others 
which  are  not  necessary  for  our  existence,  nor, 


perhaps,  even  for  our  comfort,  but  are  necessary 
to  meet  the  spiritual  cravings  and  aspirations 
of  the  human  soul,  and  that  fling  a  grace 
around  ourselves.  There  are  arts  and  sciences 
which  elevate  the  mind,  soothe  the  heart,  and  cap- 
tivate the  understanding  and  the  imagination  of 
man.  These  are  called  "  the  Fine  Arts."  For 
instance,  it  is  not  necessary  for  your  life  or 
mine,  that  our  eyes  should  rest  with  pleasure 
upon  some  beautiful  painting.  Without  that 
we  could  live.  Without  that  we  could  have  all 
that  is  necessary  for  our  existence,  for  our  daily 
comfort.  Yet,  how  refining,  how  invigorating, 
how  pleasing  to  the  eye,  and  to  the  soul  to 
which  that  eye  speaks,  is  the  language  that 
speaks  to  us  silently,  yet  eloquently,  as  from 
the  lips  of  a  friend,  from  works  of  architecture, 
or  sculpture,  or  painting.  It  is  not  necessary 
for  our  lives,  nor  for  the  comfort  of  our  lives, 
if  you  will,  that  our  ears  should  be  charmed 
with  the  sweet  notes  of  melodious  music ;  but  is 
there  one  amongst  us  that  has  not,  at  some  time 
or  other,  felt  his  soul  within  him  soothed,  and 
the  burden  of  his  sorrow  lightened,  the  pleasure 
he  enjo3'^ed  increased  and  enhanced,  when  music, 
with  its  magic  spell,  fell  upon  his  ear?  It  is 
not  necessary  for  our  lives  that  our  eyes  should 
be  charmed  with  the  sight  of  some  grand,  ma- 
jestic building;  but  who  amongst  us  is  there 
who  has  not  felt  the  emotion  of  sadness  swell 
within  him  as  he  looked  upon  the  green,  ivy- 
clad  ruin  of  some  ancient  Church?  Who  is 
there  amongst  us  that  has  not,  at  some  time  or 
other,  felt  the  softening,  refining,  though  sad- 
dened influences  that  creep  over  him  when, 
entering  within  some  time-honored  ruin  of  an 
abbey,  he  beheld  the  old  lance-shaped  windows, 
through  which  came  streams  of  sunshine  like 
the  "light  of  other  days,"  and  beheld  the  ancient 
tracery  on  that  which  stood  behind  the  high 
altar,  and  had  once  been  filled  with  legends  of 
angels  and  saints,  but  now  open  to  every  breeze 
of  heaven;  when  he  looked  upon  the  place  as 
that  in  which  his  imagination  pictured  to  him 
holy  bishops  and  mitred  abbots  oflSciating  there, 
and  oflferihg  up  the  unbloody  sacrifice,  while  the 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


577 


vaulted  arches  and  long  drawn  aisles  resounded 
with  the  loud  hosannas  of  the  long-lost  monastic 
song?  Who  is  there  amongst  us  who  has  not 
felt,  at  times,  elevated,  impressed,  aye,  filled 
with  strong  feelings  of  delight,  as  his  eye  roamed 
steadily  and  gradually  up  to  the  apex  of  some 
grand  cathedral,  resting  upon  niches  of  saints 
and  angels,  and  gliding  from  beauty  to  beauty, 
until,  at  length,  straining  his  vision,  he  beheld, 
high  amongst  the  clouds  of  heaven,  the  saving 
sign  of  the  Cross  of  Jesus  Christ,  upheld  in 
triumph,  and  flinging  its  sacred  shadow  over  the 
silent  graves  ?  It  is  thus  these  arts  called  the 
liberal,  or  the  Fine  Arts,  fill  a  great  place,  and 
accomplish  a  great  work  in  the  designs  of  God, 
and  in  the  history  of  God's  Holy  Church. 

My  friends,  the  theme  which  I  have  pro- 
pounded to  you  contains  two  grave  truths.  The 
first  of  these  is  this:  I  claim  for  the  Catholic 
Church  that  she  is  the  mother  of  the  arts ;  sec- 
ondly, I  claim  for  her  the  glory  that  she  has 
been  and  is  their  highest  inspiration.  What  is 
it  that  forms  the  peculiar  attraction,  that  creates 
the  peculiar  influence  of  art  upon  the  soul  of 
man,  through  his  senses?  What  is  it  that 
captivates  the  eye?  It  is  the  ideal  that  speaks 
to  him  through  art.  In  nature  there  are  many 
beautiful  things,  and  we  contemplate  them  with 
joy,  with  delight.  The  faint  blushes  of  the 
morning,  as  the  rising  sun  climbs  slowly  over 
the  eastern  hills,  filling  the  valleys  with  rosy 
light,  and  gladdening  the  face  of  nature — all 
this  is  grand,  all  this  is  beautiful.  But  in 
nature,  because  it  is  nature,  the  perfectlj?-  beau- 
tiful is  rarely  or  never  found.  Some  one  thing 
or  other  is  wanting  that  would  lend  an  addi- 
tional feature  of  loveliness  to  the  scene  which 
we  contemplate,  or  to  the  theme,  the  hearing 
of  which  delights  us.  Now,  the  aim  of  the 
Catholic  soul  of  art  is  to  take  the  beautiful 
wherever  it  is  found,  to  abstract  it  from  all 
that  might  deform  it,  or  to  add  all  that  might 
be  wanting  to  its  perfect  beauty — to  add  it  every 
feature  and  every  element  that  can  fulfill  the 
human  idea  of  perfect  loveliness,  and  to  fling 
over   all    the  still    higher    loveliness  which   is 


37 


caught  from  heaven.  This  is  called  "the  Ideal  " 
in  art.  We  rarely  find  it  in  nature.  We  seek  it 
in  highest  art.  We  look  upon  a  picture,  and  there 
we  behold  portrayed  with  supreme  power  all  the 
glory  of  the  light  that  the  sun  can  lend  from 
heaven;  all  theglory  of  material  beauty  chastened, 
refined,  and  idealized  by  the  artist's  inspiration, 
breathing  purest  soul,  enforcing  some  high 
lesson,  and  persuading  by  the  spiritual  influence 
which  pervades  the  whole  work.  Amongst  the 
ancient  nations — the  great  fountains  of  the 
ancient  civilization — Egypt,  Assyria,  Greece, 
and  finally,  Rome — during  the  four  thousand 
years  that  went  before  the  coming  of  the 
Redeemer,  these  arts  and  sciences  flourished. 
We  have  still  the  remains  of  the  Coliseum  for 
instance,  in  Rome,  combining  vastness  of  pro- 
portion with  perfect  symmetry,  and  the  mind  is 
oppressed  at  the  immensity  of  size,  whilst  the  eye 
is  charmed  with  the  beauty  of  proportion. 

But  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries — after 
the  foundation  of  the  Church  had  been  firmly 
laid,  after  the  promulgation  of  the  Christian 
religion — when  the  Roman  Empire  had  bowed 
down  her  imperial  head  before  the  glory  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ,  it  was  in  the  designs  of  God 
that  all  that  ancient  civilization,  all  these  ancient 
arts  and  sciences,  should  be  broken  up  and  perish. 
From  Egypt,  Syria,  and  the  far  East  they  came, 
and  their  glory  concentrated  itself  in  Greece — 
later,  and  most  of  all,  in  Rome.  All  the  wealth 
of  the  world  was  gathered  into  Rome.  All  the 
glory  of  earth  was  centralized  in  Rome.  What- 
ever the  world  knew  of  painting,  of  sculpture,  of 
architecture,  of  music,  was  found  in  Rome,  in 
the  highest  perfection  to  which  the  ancient  civili- 
zation had  brought  it.  Then  came  the  moment 
when  the  Church  was  to  enter  upon  her  second 
mission — that  of  creating  a  new  world  and  a  new 
civilization.  Then  came  the  moment  when  Rome 
and  its  ancient  empire  gravitated  to  a  climax 
by  its  three  hundred  years  of  religious  persecu- 
tion of  the  Church  of  God  and  her  crimes  were 
about  to  be  expiated.  Then  came  the  time  when 
God's  designs  became  apparent.  Even  as  the 
storm-cloud  bursts   forth  and  sweeps  the  earth 


578 


THE  HOLY  CATHOUC  CHURCH. 


in  its  resistless  force,  so,  my  dear  friends,  in 
these  centuries  of  whicli  I  speak,  from  the  fast- 
nesses of  the  North  came  forth  dreadful  hordes 
of  barbarians — men  without  civilization,  men 
without  religion,  men  without  mercy,  men  with- 
out a  written  language,  men  without  a  history, 
men  without  a  single  refining  element  of  faith 
amongst  them ; — and  down  they  came,  Goths  and 
Visigoths,  Huns  and  Vandals,  onward  sweeping 
in  their  resistless  and  almost  countless  thousands 
of  warriors,  carrying  slavery  and  destruction  in 
their  hands;  and  thus  they  swept  over  the 
Western  world.  Rome  went  down  before  them. 
All  her  glory  departed ;  and  so  the  civilization  of 
Greece  and  Rome  was  completely  destroyed. 
Society  was  overthrown,  and  reduced  to  the  first 
chaotic  elements  of  its  being.  Every  art,  every 
science,  every  most  splendid  monument  of  the 
ancient  world  was  destroyed ;  and,  at  the  close 
of  the  fifth  century,  the  work  of  the  four  thou- 
sand preceding  years  had  to  be  done  over  again. 
Mankind  was  reduced  to  its  primal  elements 
of  barbarism.  Languages  never  before  heard, 
barbaric  voices,  were  lifted  up  in  the  halls  of 
the  ancient  palaces  of  Italy  and  in  the  forum 
of  Rome.  All  the  splendors  of  the  Roman 
Empire  disappeared,  and,  with  them,  almost 
every  vestige  of  the  ancient  arts  and  civiliza- 
tion of  the  preceding  times.  No  power  of  earth 
was  able  to  withstand  the  hordes  of  Attila.  No 
army  was  able  to  make  front  against  them. 
All  went  down  before  them,  save  and  except 
one — one  organization,  one  power  in  the  world — one 
power  founded  by  Christ  and  compacted  by  the 
very  hand  of  God — founded  upon  an  immovable 
foundation  of  knowledge  and  of  truth — one 
power  which,  for  divine  purposes,  was  allowed 
a  respite  from  persecution  for  a  few  years,  in 
order  that  she  might  be  able  to  present  to  the 
flood  of  barbarism  that  swept  away  the  ancient 
civilization,  a  compact  and  well-formed  body, 
able  to  react  upon  them, — and  that  power 
was  the  Holy  Church  of  God.  She  boldly  met 
the  assault ;  she  stemmed  the  tide  ;  she  embraced 
and  absorbed  in  herself  nation  after  nation, 
million  after  million  of  those  rude  children  of 


the  Northern  shores  and  forests.  She  took 
them,  rough  and  barbarous  as  they  were,  to  her 
bosom ;  and,  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  century, 
the  Church  of  God  began  her  exterior,  heroic 
mission  of  civilizing  the  world,  aiid  laying  the 
foundations  of  modem  civilization  and  of  modern 
society.  So  it  went  on  until  the  day  when  the 
capitol  of  Rome  was  shrouded  in  flames,  and 
the  ancient  monuments  of  her  pride,  of  her 
glory,  and  of  civilization,  were  ruined  and  fell, 
and  almost  every  vestige  of  the  ancient  arts 
disappeared.  The  Church,  on  the  one  hand, 
addressed  herself,  first  and  most  immediately, 
to  the  Christianizing  of  these  Northern  nations. 
Therein  lay  her  divine  mission,  therein  lay  the 
purpose  for  which  she  was  created — to  teach 
them  the  truths  of  God.  Whilst  she  did  this 
she  carefully  gathered  together  all  that 
remained  of  the  traditions  of  ancient  Pagan 
science  and  art.  Whilst  all  over  Europe  the 
greater  part  of  the  nations  were  engaged  in  the 
war  between  Northern  barbarism  and  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  land  was  one  great  battle-field, 
overflowing  with  blood,  the  Church  gathered 
into  her  arms  all  that  she  could  lay  her  hands 
on,  of  ancient  literature,  of  ancient  science  and 
art,  and  retired  with  them  into  her  cloisters. 
Everywhere,  over  the  whole  face  of  Europe, 
and  in  Africa  and  Asia — everywhere  the  monk 
was  the  one  man  of  learning — the  one  man 
who  brought  with  him,  into  his  cloister,  the 
devotion  to  God  that  involved  the  sacrifice  of 
his  life — the  devotion  to  man  that  considers  a 
neighbor's  good,  and  makes  civilization  and 
refinement  the  purpose  and  study  of  his  life  I 
Where,  to-day,  would  be  the  literature  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome,  if  •  the  Church  of  God,  the 
Catholic  Church,  had  not  gathered  their  rem- 
nants into  her  cloisters  ?  Where,  to-day,  would 
be  (humanly  speaking)  the  very  Scriptures 
themselves,  if  these  monks  of  old  had  not  taken 
them,  and  made  the  transcribing  of  them,  and 
the  multiplying  copies  of  them,  the  business  of 
their  lives  ?  And  so,  all  that  the  world  has  of 
science,  of  art — all  that  the  world  has  of  tradi- 
tion, of  mtisic,  of  painting,  of  architecture — all 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


579 


that  the  world  has  of  the  arts  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  was  treasured  up  for  a  thousand  years 
in  the  cloisters  of  the  Catholic  Church  1 

And  now,  her  twofold  mission  began.  Whilst 
her  preachers  evangelized — whilst  they  followed 
the  armies  of  the  Vandal  and  the  Goth,  from 
field  to  field,  and  back  to  their  fastnesses  of 
the  North — whilst  they  converted  those  rude 
and  terrible  sons  of  the  forest  into  meek,  pure- 
minded  Christians,  upon  the  one  hand,  on  the 
other,  the  Church  took  and  applied  all  the 
arts,  all  the  sciences,  all  the  human  agencies 
that  she  had — and  they  were  powerful — to  the 
civilizing  and  refining  of  these  barbarous  men. 
Then  it  was  that  in  the  cloisters  there  sprang 
up,  created  and  fostered  by  the  Church  of  God, 
the  fair  and  beautiful  arts  of  painting,  music, 
and  architecture.  I  say  "  created "  in  the 
Church.  There  are  manj?-  amongst  you  as  well 
informed  as  I  am  in  the  history  of  our  civiliza- 
tion, and  I  ask  you  to  consider  that  amongst 
the  debris  of  the  ruin  of  ancient  Rome  and  of 
ancient  Greece,  although  we  possess  noble 
monuments  of  the  ancient  architecture,  we  have 
but  the  faintest  tradition  of  their  music  or  their 
paintings,  scarcely  anything.  I  have  visited  the 
ruined  cities  of  Italy,  I  have  stood  within  the 
walls  of  Ostium,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber, 
when,  after  hundreds  of  years,  for  the  first  time 
the  earth  was  removed,  and  the  ancient  temples 
were  revealed  again.  The  painting  is  gone, 
and  nothing  but  the  faintest  outline  remains. 
Still  less  of  the  music  of  the  ancients  have  we. 
We  do  not  know  what  the  music  of  ancient 
Greece  or  of  ancient  Rome  was.  All  we  know 
is,  that  among  the  ancient  Greeks  there  was  a 
dull  monotone,  or  chorus,  struck  into  an  alter- 
nating strain.  Of  their  sculpture  we  have 
abundant  remains ;  and,  indeed,  on  this  it  may 
be  said,  that  there  has  not  been  any  modern 
art  which  has  equaled,  scarcely  approached,  the 
perfection  of  the  ancient  Grecian  model.  But 
the  three  sciences  of  architecture,  painting,  and 
music  have  all  sprung  from  the  cloisters  of 
the  Church.  What  is  the  source  of  all  great 
modern  song?     When  the  voice  of   the  singer 


was  hushed  every vvnere  else,  it  resounded  in 
the  Gregorian  chant  that  pealed  in  loud  hosan- 
nas  through  the  long-drawn  aisles  of  the 
ancient  Catholic  mediaeval  churches.  It  first 
came  from  the  mind — it  came  from  out  the 
loving  heart  of  the  holy  pope,  Gregory,  himself 
a  religious,  and  consecrated  to  God  as  a  monk 
Whence  came  the  organ,  the  prince,  the  king 
of  all  instruments,  the  faithful  type  of  Chris- 
tianity— of  the  Christian  congregation  —  so 
varied,  yet  so  harmonious  ;  made  up  of  a  mul- 
titude of  pipes  and  stops,  each  one  differing 
from  the  other,  yet  all  blending  together  into 
one  solemn  harmony  of  praise,  just  as  yoU; 
who  come  in  here  before  this  altar,  each  one 
full  of  his  own  motives  and  desires — the  young, 
the  old — the  grave,  the  gay — rich  and  poor- 
each  with  his  own  desire  and  experience  of 
joy,  of  sorrow,  or  of  hope — yet,  before  this  altar, 
and  within  these  walls,  do  you  blend  into  one 
united  and  harmonious  act  of  faith,  of  homage, 
and  of  praise  before  God.  Whence  came  the 
king  of  instruments  to  you — so  majestic  in 
form,  so  grand  in  its  volume — so  S3'^mbolicaI 
of  the  worship  which  it  bears  aloft  upon  the 
wings  of  song?  In  the  cloisters  of  the  Bene 
dictine  monks  do  we  hear  it  for  the  first  time 
When  the  tired  Crusader  came  home  from  his 
Eastern  wars,  there  did  he  sit  down  to  refresh 
his  soul  with  sacred  song.  There,  during  the 
solemn  Mass  of  midnight,  or  at  the  Church's 
office  at  matins,  whilst  he  heard  the  solemn,, 
plaintive  chant  of  the  Church,  whilst  he 
heard  the  low-blended  notes  of  the  accom- 
panying organ,  skillfully  touched  by  the  Bene- 
dictine's hand — would  his  rugged  heart  be 
melted  into  sorrow,  and  the  humility  of  Chris- 
tian forgiveness.  And  thus  it  is  the  most 
spiritualizing  and  highest  of  all  the  arts  and 
sciences — this  heaven-born  art  of  music.  Thus 
did  the  Church  of  God  make  her  divine  and 
civilizing  appeal,  and  thus  her  holy  influence 
was  brought  out  during  those  stormy  and  ter- 
rible times  when  she  undertook  the  almost 
impossible  task  of  humbling  the  proud,  of 
purifying  the  unchaste,  of  civilizing  the  terrible, 


<8o 


THE   HOLY   CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 


he  fierce,  and  the  blood-stained  horde  of  bar- 
)arians  that  sv/ept,  in  their  resistless  millions, 
)ver  the  Roman  empire. 

The  next  great  art  which  the  Church  culti- 
'ated  in  her  cloisters,  and  which,  in  truth, 
vas  created  by  her  as  it  exists  to-day,  was  the 
trt  of  painting.  Recall  the  circumstances  of 
he  time.  Printing  was  not  yet  invented.  Yet 
he  people  had  to  be  instructed — and  not  only 
o  be  instructed  but  influenced;  for  mere 
nstmction  is  not  sufficient.  The  mere  appeal 
o  the  power  of  faith,  or  to  the  intellect  of 
nan,  is  not  sufficient.  Therefore  did  the 
'IJhurch  call  in  the  beautiful  art  of  painting; 
ind  the  holy,  consecrated  monk  in  his  cloister 
ieveloped  all  the  originality  of  his  genius  and 
)f  his  mind  to  reproduce  in  captivating  form 
—in  silent  but  eloquent  words,  the  mysteries 
)f  the  Church — the  mysteries  which  the  Church 
las  taught  from  her  birth.  Then  did  the 
uystery  of  the  Redemption,  the  Incarnation 
>f  the  Son  of  God,  the  angels  coming  down 
rom  heaven  to  salute  Mary — then  did  all 
hese  greet  the  eye  of  the  rude,  unlettered 
nan,  and  tell  him,  in  language  more  eloquent 
han  words,  how  much  Almighty  God  in  heaven 
oved  him.  But  it  was  necessary  for  this  that 
he  art  of  painting  should  be  idealized  to  its 
ery  highest  form.  It  was  necessary  to  the 
)ainter's  hand  to  fling  around  [Mary's  head  a 
x»mbined  halo  of  virginity  and  of  heavenly  mater- 
lity.  It  was  necessary  that  the  angelic  form 
iiat  saluted  her  should  have  the  transparency 
)f  heaven  and  of  its  own  spiritual  nature, 
bating,  as  it  were,  through  him,  in  material 
olor.  It  was  necessar}?^  that  the  atmosphere 
hat  surrounded  her  should  be  as  that  cloudless 
atmosphere  which  is  breathed  before  the  throne 
)f  the  Most  High.  It  was  necessary  that  the 
nan  who  looked  upon  this  should  be  lifted  up 
"rom  the  thoughts  of  earth  and  eugaged  wholly 
n  the  contemplation  of  objects  of  heaven. 
Therefore,  glimpses  of  beauty  the  most  tran- 
jcendent,  aspirations  of  heaven,  lifting  up  the 
3oul  from  all  earthliness — from  worldliness — 
▼ere  necessary.     To  obtain  this  the  monk  was 


obliged  to  fast  and  pray  while  he  painted. 
The  monk  was  obliged  to  lift  up  his  own 
thoughts,  his  own  imagination,  his  own  soul, 
in  contemplation,  and  view,  as  it  were,  the 
scene  which  he  was  about  to  illustrate,  with 
no  earthly  eye.  The  Church  alone  could  do 
this,  and  the  Church  did  it.  She  created  the 
art  of  painting.  There  was  no  tradition  in  the 
pagan  world  to  aid  him  ;  no  beauty — the  beauty 
of  no  fair  forms  in  all  the  fullness  of  their 
majestic  symmetry  before  his  eye  to  inspire 
him.  He  must  look  altogether  to  heaven  for 
his  inspiration.  And  so  faithfully  did  he  look 
up  to  heaven's  glories,  and  so  clear  was  the 
vision  that  the  painter-monk  received  of  the 
beauties  he  depicted  on  earth,  that  in  the 
thirteenth  century  there  arose  in  Florence  a 
Dominican  Monk,  a  member  of  owt  order, 
beatified  by  his  virtues,  and  called  by  the 
single  title  of  "The  Angelic  Painter."  He 
illustrated  the  Holy  Trinity.  He  put  before 
the  eyes  of  the  people  all  the  great  mysteries 
of  our  faith.  And  now,  after  so  many  ages — 
after  six  hundred  years  have  passed  away, 
whenever  a  painter,  or  lover  of  art  stands  before 
one  of  those  wonderful  angels  and  saints, 
painted  by  the  hand  of  the  ancient  monk,  now 
in  heaven,  it  seems  to  him  as  if  the  very 
angels  of  God  had  descended  from  on  high  and 
stood  before  the  painter,  while  he  fixed  their 
glory  in  colored  form,  as  they  appear  to  the 
eye  of  the  beholder.  It  seems  as  if  we  gazed 
upon  the  blessed  angelic  hosts,  and  as  if 
Gabriel,  standing  before  Mary,  mingled  the  joy 
of  the  meeting  with  the  solemnity  of  the  mes- 
sage which  the  painter  represents  him  as 
announcing.  It  seems  as  if  Mary  is  seen 
receiving  the  message  of  man's  redemption  from 
the  angel,  not  as  a  woman  of  earth,  but  as  if 
she  was  the  very  personification  of  the  woman  that 
the  inspired  Evangelist  at  Patmos  saw,  "  clothed 
with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and 
on  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars."  Michael 
Angelo,  the  greatest  of  painters,  gazed  in  won- 
der at  the  angels  and  saints  that  the  Domini- 
can monk   had    painted.     Astonished,  he  knelt 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


581 


down,  gave  thanks  to  God  and  said,  "  The 
man  that  could  have  painted  these  must  have 
seen  them  in  heaven  !" 

The  architecture  of  the  ancient  world,  of  Greece 
and  of  Rome,  remained.     It  was  inspired  by  a 
pagan  idea,  and  it  never  rose  above  the  idea  that 
inspired  it.     The  temples  of  Athens  and  of  Rome 
remain  in  all  their  shattered  glory,  and  in  all  the 
chaste    beauty  of   their    proportions.     Very  re- 
markable   are  they  as  architectural  studies  for 
this :  that    they    spread     themselves    out,    and 
covered  as  much  of  the  earth's  space  as  possi- 
ble ;    that  the  pillars  were  low  and  the  arches 
low ;  and    everything    seemed    to  cling  to  and 
tend    towards    earth.     For    this   was    the    idea, 
and  the  highest  idea,  of  architecture,  that  ever 
entered  into    the    mind    of  the  greatest  of  the 
men  of  ancient  civilization.     The  monk  in  his 
cloister,    designing    to    build    a    temple    and  a 
house    for    the    living    God,  looking    upon  the 
models  of  ancient    Greece    and    Rome,  saw   in 
them  a  grovelling  and  an  earthly  architecture. 
His  mind  was  heavenward  in  aspiration.     His 
thoughts,  his  affections,  were  all  purified  by  the 
life  which  he  led.     Out  of  that  upward  tendency 
of  mind  and  heart  sprang  the  creation  of  a  new 
style  of  Christian  architecture,  which  is  called 
the  Gothic ;  as  little  in  it  of  earth  as  may  be — 
just  sufficient  to  serve  the  purpose  of  a  super- 
structure.    The    idea  was    to    raise  it  as    high 
towards   heaven    as    possible — to  raise  a  monu- 
ment to  Almighty  God — a  monument  revealing 
in   every  detail    of  its   architecture  the  divine 
idea,  and    the    upward    tendency  of   the  regen- 
erated heart  of  the  Christian  man.     Now,  there- 
fore, let  every  arch  be  pointed ;  now,  therefore, 
let  every  pillar  spring  up  as  loftily  as  a  spire ; 
now,  let  every  niche  be  filled  with  angels  and 
saints — some    who    were    tried    in  love — others 
who  maintained  the  faith — teaching  the  lesson 
of  their  sanctity — now  pronouncing  judgment, 
now    proclaiming    mercy.     Now,    therefore,   let 
the   high    tower    be    uplifted  on  which  swings 
the    bell,  consecrated    by  the    blessing    of   the 
Church,  to  fling  out  upon  the  air  around,  which 
trembles  as  it  receives  its  message,  the  notes  of 


Christian  joy  and  of  Christian  sorrow!  And 
high  above  that  tower,  let  the  slender,  pointed 
spire  seek  the  clouds,  and  rear  up,  as  near  to 
heaven  as  man  can  go,  the  symbol  of  the  Crosf 
on  which  Christ  redeemed  mankind  !  The  peo 
pie  require  instruction ;  put  sermons  in  stones 
Let  the  material  edifice  be  an  epic  of  faith  anc 
of  praise  to  God.  Let  everything  that  the  eyt 
sees  be  symbolical  of  the  divine. 

' '  Shut  then  in  the  petals  of  the  flowers, 
Round  the  stems  of  all  the  lilies  twine, 
Hide  beneath  each  bird's  or  angel's  pinion, 
Some  wise  meaning  or  some  thought  divine. 
Place  in  stony  hands  that  pray  forever, 
Tender  words  of  peace,  and  strive  to  wind 
Round  the  leafj'  scrolls  and  fretted  niches 
Some  true  loving  message  to  your  kind. ' ' 

Such  is  the  Church's  idea ;  and  such  is  the  arch) 
tecture  of  which  she  is  the  mother !  Thus  wt 
behold  the  glorious  churches  of  the  middle  age£ 
Thus  we  behold  them  in  those  ancient  and  quainv 
towns  of  Belgium  and  of  France,  We  behold  01 
their  transepts,  for  instance,  a  tracery  as  fine  at 
if  it  were  wrought  and  embroidered  by  a  woman't 
hands,  with  a  strength  that  has  been  able  to  defj 
the  shocks  of  war  and  the  action  of  ages.  If  tht 
traveler  seeks  the  sunny  plains  of  Itaty,  ht 
climbs  the  snow-crowned,  solitary  Alps,  anc 
there,  after  his  steep  and  rugged  ascent,  ht 
beholds  on  one  side  the  vallej^s  of  Switzerland 
and  he  turns  to  the  land  of  the  noonday  sun 
and  sees  before  him  the  fair  and  widespread 
plains  of  Lombardy.  The  great  rivers  flov 
through  these  plains  and  look  as  if  they  wert 
of  molten  silver.  The  air  is  pure,  and  the  skj 
is  the  sky  of  Italy.  Majestic  cities  dot  tht 
plains  at  his  feet.  But  amongst  them  all,  at 
the  sun  flings  his  Italian  light  upon  the  scene— 
amongst  them  all,  he  beholds  one  thing  thaS 
dazzles  his  eyes  with  its  splendor.  There,  far 
away  in  the  plains,  within  the  gates  of  the 
vast  city  of  Milan,  he  sees  a  palace  of  white 
marble  rising  up  from  the  earth  ;  ten  thousand 
statues  of  saints  around  it ;  with  countless 
turrets,   and    a    spire    with    a    pinnacle    rising 


582 


THE   HOLY   CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 


towards  heaven,  as  if  in  a  riot  of  Christian 
jo3\  The  sun  sparkles  upon  it  as  if  it  were 
covered  with  the  rime  of  a  hoar-frost,  or  as  if 
it  were  made  of  molten  silver.  Possibly  his 
steps  are  drawn  thither,  and  it  pleases  him  to 
enter  the  city.  Never  before — never,  even  with 
the  eye  of  the  mind — had  the  traveler  seen  so 
gfrand  an  idea  of  the  sacred  humanity  of  Jesus 
Christ !  Here  he  reigns  !  Who  can  deny  the 
historical  facts  which  I  have  narrated  ?  Who 
can  deny  that  if,  to-day,  our  ear  is  charmed 
with  the  sound  of  music — our  eye  delighted 
with  the  contemplation  of  paintings— our  hearts 
within  us  lifted  up  at  the  sight  of  some  noble 
monument  of  architecture — who  can  deny,  with 
such  facts  before  him,  that  it  was  the  Church 
that  created  these — that  she  is  the  mother  of 
these — and  that  she  brought  them  forth  from 
out  the  chaos  and  the  ruin  that  followed  the 
destruction  of  the  pag^n  civilization  ?  But  whilst 
she  was  their  mother,  she  was  also  their  highest 
inspiration.  For,  remember,  that  the  zeal  in  art 
may  be  taken  from  earth,  or  drawn  from  heaven. 
Art  may  aspire  to  neither  more  nor  less  than  "  to 
hold  the  mirror  up  to  nature."  The  painter,  for 
instance,  may  aspire  to  nothing  more  than  to  ren- 
der faithfully,  as  it  is  in  nature,  a  herd  of  cattle,  or 
a  busy  scene  in  the  town.  The  musician  may 
aspire  to  nothing  more  than  the  pleasure  which 
his  music  will  give  to  the  sense  of  the  volup- 
tuous in  man.  The  architect  may  aspire  to 
nothing  more  than  the  creation,  in  a  certain 
space,  of  a  certain  symmetry  of  proportion,  and 
a  certain  usefulness  in  the  work  of  his  hands. 
They  may  "  hold  the  mirror  up  to  nature  ;  "  but 
this  is  not  a  perfect  idealization  of  art.  The 
true  ideal  holds  the  mirror  of  its  representation 
not  only  up  to  nature,  to  copy  that  nature  faith- 
fully, but — higher  still — to  God,  to  catch  one  ray 
of  divine  inspiration,  one  ray  of  divine  light, 
one  ray  of  heavenly  instruction,  and  to  fling  that 
pure,  heavenly  light  over  the  earthly  productions 
of  his  art.  This  pious  inspiration  is  only  to  be 
found  in  the  Catholic  Church.  It  is  found  in 
her  music — those  strains  of  hers  which  we  call 
the  "  Gregorian    chant," — which,  without   pro- 


ducing any  very  great  excitement  or  pleasure,  yet 
fall  upon  the  ear,  and  through  the  ear,  upon  the 
soul,  with  a  calming,  solemn  influence,  and  seem 
to  speak  to  the  afiections  in  the  very  highest  lan- 
guage of  worship.  Plaintively  do  .  they  fall — 
yes,  plaintively — because  the  Church  of  God  has 
not  yet  shown  over  the  earth  in  the  fullness  of 
her  glory — plaintively,  because  the  object  of  her 
worship  is  mainly  to  make  reparation  to  an  of- 
fended God  for  the  negligence  of  the  sinner — 
plaintively,  because  the  words  which  this  music 
breathes  are  the  words  of  the  penitent  and  the 
contrite  of  heart — plaintively,  because,  perhaps, 
my  brethren,  the  highest  privilege  of  the  Chris- 
tian here  is  a  holy  sadness,  according  to  the 
words  of  Him  who  said  :  "  Blessed  are  they  who 
mourn  and  weep,  for  they  shall  be  comforted." 

In  the  lapse  of  years,  the  Church  again 
brought  forth  another  method  and  gave  us  an- 
other school,  which  expresses  to-day  the  pious 
exultation,  the  riot  of  joy,  with  which,  on  Christ- 
mas da};^,  Palaestrina  sang  before  Pope  Marcellus, 
in  Rome.  Who  can  say — who  is  there  with 
trained,  sympathetic  ear  who  hears  them,  who 
cannot  say — that  the  inspiration  which  is  in  them 
is  altogether  of  heaven — heavenly ;  and  that  it 
lifts  up  the  soul  to  the  contemplation  of  heavenly 
themes,  and  to  the  triumph  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  highest  inspiration  came  through  faith. 

Let  us  turn  to  the  art  of  painting.  So  long 
as  this  noble  art  was  in  the  hands  of  the  monk 
— the  man  of  God — so  long  had  we  masterpieces 
of  painting,  such  as  have  never  been  equaled 
by  any  that  since  came  forth — masterpieces  by 
men  who  fasted  and  prayed,  and  looked  upon 
their  task  as  painters,  to  be  a  heavenly  and  a 
holy  one.  We  read  of  the  blessed  Angelico,  the 
Dominican  painter,  whose  works  are  the  glory 
of  the  world  to-day — we  read  of  him,  that  he 
never  laid  his  brush  to  a  painting  of  the  Mother 
of  God,  or  of  our  Lord,  except  on  the  day  when 
he  had  been  at  Holy  Communion.  We  read  of 
him  that  he  never  painted  the  infant  Jesus,  or  the 
Crucifixion,  except  on  his  knees.  We  read  of 
him  that  whilst  he  brought  out  the  divine  sor- 
row in  the  Virgin  Mother,  for  the  Saviour  on  the 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


583 


cross — whilst  he  brought  out  the  God-like  tribu- 
lation of  him  who  suffered  there — he  was 
obliged  to  dash  the  tears  from  his  eyes — the 
tears  of  love — the  tears  of  compassion — which 
produced  the  high  inspiration  of  his  genius. 
Nay,  the  history  of  this  art  of  painting  teaches 
us  that  all  the  great  masters  were  eminent  as 
religious  men,  and  that  when  they  separated  from 
the  Church,  as  we  see,  their  inspiration  left  them. 
The  finest  works  that  Raphael  ever  painted  were 
those  which  he  painted  in  his  youth,  whilst  his 
heart  was  yet  pure,  and  before  the  admiration  of 
the  world  had  made  him  stain  the  integrity  of 
his  soul  by  sin.  The  rugged,  the  almost  omnipo- 
tent genius  of  Michael  Angelo,  was  that  of  a 
man  deeply  impressed  with  faith,  and  most  earn- 
estly devoted  to  the  practice  of  his  religion. 
When,  over  the  high  altar  of  the  Sistine  Chapel, 
he  brings  out  all  the  terrors  of  the  Divine  Judg- 
ment, which  he  puts  there  in  a  manner  that 
makes  the  beholder  tremble  to-day — the  Lord, 
in  the  attitude,  not  of  blessing,  but  of  sweeping 
denunciation  over  the  heads  of  the  wicked — he 
took  good  care,  by  prayer,  by  frequenting  the 
sacraments,  by  frequent  confession  and  com- 
munion, and  by  the  purity  of  his  life,  to  avert 
the  judgments  that  he  painted  from  falling  on  his 
own  head.  The  most  glorious  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory of  architecture  was  precisely  that  in  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  when  there 
arose  the  ministers  of  York ;  of  Westminster ; 
of  Notre  Dame,  in  Paris  ;  of  Rouen  ;  and  all  the 
wonderful  old  churches  that,  to-day,  are  the  as- 
tonishment of  the  world,  for  the  grandeur  and 
majesty  of  their  proportions,  and  the  beauty  of 
design  they  reveal.  These  Churches  sprung  up 
at  the  very  time  that  the  Church  alone  held  un- 
disputed sway ;  when  all  the  arts  were  in  her 
hands,  and  when  the  architects  who  built  them 
were  nearly  all  consecrated  sons  of  the  cloister. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  we  do  not  know 
the  name  of  the  architect  that  built  St.  Patrick's, 
or  Christ  Church,  in  Dublin.  We  do  not  know 
the  name  of  the  architect  that  built  West- 
minster Abbey,  nor  anj^  one  of  these  great  and 
mighty  mediaeval  churches  throughout  Europe. 


We  know,  indeed,  the  name  of  the  architect 
who  built  St.  Paul's,  in  London,  and  of  him 
who  built  St.  Peter's,  in  Rome.  They  were 
laymen.  The  men  who  built  the  marvelous 
mediseval  churches  were  monks,  and  are  now 
in  the  dust ;  and,  in  their  humility,  they  brought 
the  secret  of  their  genius  to  the  grave,  and  no 
names  of  theirs  are  emblazoned  on  the  annals 
of  the  world's  fame. 

Thus  we  see  the  highest  inspiration  of  the 
arts — music,  painting,  and  architecture — came 
from  the  Catholic  Church,  and  that  the  most 
attractive  of  them  all  were  created  in  her  clois- 
ters. The  greatest  painters  that  ever  lived  had 
come  forth  from  her  bosom,  animated  by  her 
spirit.  The  greatest  churches  that  ever  were 
built  were  built  and  designed  by  her  consecrated 
children.  The  grand  strains  of  ecclesiastical 
music,  expressing  the  highest  ideas,  resounded 
in  her  cathedral  churches.  The  world  had  grown 
under  her  fostering  care.  Young  republics  had 
sprung  up  under  the  Church's  hand  and  guid- 
ance. The  Italian  republics — the  republics  of 
Florence,  of  Pisa,  of  Venice,  of  Genoa — all 
gained  their  municipal  rights  and  rights  of 
citizenship  (rights  that  were  established  for  pro- 
tection, and  to  insure  equality  of  the  law)  under 
the  Church's  protection.  Nay,,  more.  The 
Church  was  ever  willing  and  ready,  both  by 
legislation  and  by  action,  to  curb  the  petty 
tyrants  that  oppressed  the  people  ;  to  oblige  the 
rugged  castellan  to  emancipate  his  slaves.  The 
Church  was  ever  ready  to  send  her  highest  rep- 
resentatives, archbishops  and  cardinals,  into  the 
presence  of  kings,  to  demand  the  people's  rights ; 
and  the  very  man  who  wrung  the  first  principles 
of  the  British  Constitution  from  an  unwilling 
and  tyrannical  king,  was  the  Catholic  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury — the  only  man  who  would  dare 
to  do  it,  for  (and  well  the  tyrant  knew  it)  he 
could  not  touch  the  archbishop,  because  the  arm 
of  the  Church  was  outstretched  for  his  protection. 
Society  was  formed  under  her  eyes  and  under 
her  care.  Her  work  now  seemed  to  be  nearly 
completed,  when  the  Almighty  God,  in  His 
wisdom,  let  fall  a  calamity  upon  the  world.   And 


584 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


I  think  you  will  agree  with  me — even  such 
amongst  you  (if  there  be  any)  who  are  not 
Catholics — that  a  calamity  it  was.  A  calamity 
fell  upon  the  world  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
which  not  only  divided  the  Church  in  faith,  and 
separated  nations  from  her,  but  which  introduced 
new  principles,  new  influences,  new  and  hostile 
agencies,  which  were  destructive  of  the  most 
sacred  rights.  I  am  speaking  to  you  rather 
as  an  historian  than  as  a  priest ;  and  I  ask 
you  to  consider  this :  We  are  accustomed 
to  hear  on  every  side  that  Protestantism  was  the 
emancipation  of  the  human  intellect  from  the 
slavery  of  the  pope.  To  that  I  have  only  to 
answer  this  one  word  :  Protestantism  substituted 
the  uncertainty  of  opinion  instead  of  the  certainty 
of  faith  which  is  in  the  Catholic  Church.  Prot- 
estantism declared  that  there  was  no  voice  on 
earth  authorized  or  empowered  to  proclaim  the 
truth  of  God ;  that  the  voice  that  had  proclaimed 
it  for  fifteen  hundred  years  had  told  a  lie ;  that 
the  people  were  not  to  accept  the  teaching  of  the 
Catholic  Church  as  an  authoritative  and  time- 
honored  law,  but  that  they  were  to  go  out  and 
look  for  the  faith  for  themselves — and  in  the 
worst  way  of  all.  Every  man  was  to  find  a  faith 
for  himself;  and  when  he  had  found  it  he  had 
no  satisfactory  guarantee,  no  certainty,  that  he 
had  the  true  interpretation  of  the  truth.  If  this 
be  emancipating  the  intellect — if  this  changing 
of  certainty  into  uncertaint}',  dogma  into 
opinion,  faith  into  a  search  after  faith,  be 
emancipation  of  the  intellect — then  Christ  must 
have  told  a  lie  when  he  said :  "  You  shall  know 
the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free  1" 
The  knowledge  of  the  truth  he  declared  to  be 
the  highest  freedom ;  and,  therefore,  I  hold, 
not  as  a  priest,  but  simply  as  philosopher,  that 
the  assertion  is  false  which  says  that  the  work 
of  Protestantism  was  the  emancipation  of  the 
intellect.  All  the  results  of  modem  progress — 
all  the  scientific  success  and  researches  that 
have  been  made — in  a  word,  all  the  great  things 
that  have  been  done,  are  all  laid  down  quietly 
at  the  feet  of  Protestantism  as  the  efi"ects  of 
this  change  of  religion.     In   England   nothing 


is  more  common  than  for  good  Protestants  to 
say,  that  the  reason  why  we  are  now  in  so 
civilized  a  condition  is  because  Martin  Luther 
set  up  the  Protestant  religion.  Protestantism 
claims  the  electric  telegraph.  The  Atlantic 
cable  does  not  lie  so  much  in  a  bed  of  sand 
as  on  a  holy  bed  of  Protestantism  that 
stretches  from  shore  to  shore !  They  forget 
that  there  is  a  philosophical  axiom  which  says  : 
"One  thing  may  come  after  another,  and  yet  it 
may  not  be  caused  by  the  thing  that  went 
before."  If  one  thing  comes  after  another  it 
does  not  follow  that  it  is  the  effect  of  the  other. 
It  is  true  that  all  these  things  have  sprung  up 
in  the  world  since  Protestanism  appeared.  It  is 
perfectly  true  that  the  many  have  learned  to 
read  since  Protestantism  gained  ground.  But 
why?  Is  it  because  the  Catholic  Church  kept 
the  people  in  ignorance  ?  No ;  it  was  because  of 
a  single  want.  It  was  about  the  time  Protestant- 
ism sprung  up  that  the  art  of  printing  was  in- 
vented. Of  course  the  many  were  not  able  to 
read  when  they  had  no  books.  The  Catholic 
Church,  as  history  proved,  was  even  far  more 
zealous  than  the  Protestant  new-born  sect  in 
multiplying  copies  of  the  Scripture,  and  in 
multiplying  books  for  the  people.  One  of  the 
reproaches  that  is  made  to  us  to-day  is,  that 
we  are  too  busy  in  the  cause  of  education. 
Surely,  if  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  mother 
of  ignorance,  that  reproach  cannot  be  truly 
made.  Now,  Protestants  are  making  a  noise, 
and  saying  that  the  Church,  in  every  country 
and  on  every  side,  is  planning  and  claiming  to 
educate !  But  all  this  is  outside  of  my  question. 
My  question  deals  with  the  fine  arts. 

Now,  mark  the  change  that  took  place! 
Protestantism,  undoubtedly,  weakened  the 
Church's  influence  upon  society.  Undoubtedly, 
it  took  out  of  the  Church's  hands  a  great  deal 
of  that  power  which  we  have  seen  the  Catholic 
Church  exercise,  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years,  upon  the  fine  arts.  They  claim,  or  they 
set  up  a  rival  claim,  to  foster  the  arts  of  music, 
of  architecture,  and  of  painting,  so  that  these 
may  no    longer  claim    to  receive    their    special 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


585 


inspiration  from  the  Church,  which  was  their 
mother  and  their  creator,  and  through  which 
they  drew  their  heavenly  genius.  Well,  the 
arts  were  thus  divided  in  their  allegiance,  and 
thus  deprived  of  their  inspiration,  by  the  insti- 
tution of  this  new  religion.  I  ask  you  to  con- 
sider, historically,  whether  that  inspiration  of 
art,  that  high  and  glorious  inspiration,  that 
magnificent  ideal,  was  not  destroyed  the  moment 
it  was  taken  from  under  the  guidance  and  inspi- 
ration of  the  Catholic  Church?  I  say  that  it  was 
destroyed;  and  I  can  prove  it.  Since  the  day 
that  Protestantism  was  founded,  architecture  has 
decayed  and  fallen  away.  No  great  cathedral 
has  been  built.  No  g^eat  original  has  appeared. 
No  new  idea  has  been  expressed  from  the  day 
that  Luther  declared  schism  in  the  Church,  and 
warred  against  legitimate  authority.  No  Protest- 
ant has  ever  originated  a  noble  model  in  modern 
architecture.  It  has  sunk  down  into  a  servile 
imitation  of  the  ancient  grovelling  forms  of 
Greece  and  Rome.  Nay,  whenever  the  ancient 
Gothic  piles — majestic  and  inspiring  Christian 
churches — fell  into  their  hands,  what  did  they 
do?  They  pulled  them  down,  in  order  to  build 
up  some  vile  Grecian  imitation,  or  else  they 
debased  the  ancient  grandeur  and  purity  of  the 
Gothic  cathedral,  by  mixing  in  a  wretched  imita- 
tion of  some  ancient  heathen  or  pagan  temple. 

As  to  the  art  of  painting:  the  painter  no 
longer  looked  up  to  heaven  for  his  subject.  The 
painter  no  longer  considered  that  his  pious  idea 
was  to  instruct  and  elevate  his  fellow-man. 
The  painter  no  longer  selected  for  his  subjects 
the  Mother  of  God,  or  the  sacred  humanity  of 
our  Lord,  or  the  angels  and  saints  of  heaven. 
The  halo  of  light  that  was  shed  upon  the 
brush  of  the  blessed  Angelico;  the  halo  of 
divine  light  that  surrounded  the  virgin's  face 
as  it  grew  under  the  creative  hand  of  the  young 
Christian  painter  of  Urbino,  disappeared.  The 
highest  ambition  of  the  painter  now  is  to 
sketch  a  landscape  true  to  nature.  The  high- 
est excellence  of  art  seems  now  to  be  to  catch 
the  colors  that  approach  most  faithfully  to  the 
flesh-tints  of  the    human   body.     And    it   is    a 


remarkable  fact,  my  friends,  that  the  art  of 
animal  painting — painting  cows  and  horses 
and  all  these  things — began  with  Protestant- 
ism. One  of  the  very  first  animal  painters  was 
Roos,  a  German  Protestant,  who  came  to  Rome, 
and  the  reproach  of  his  fellow-painters  was, 
"  There  is  the  man  that  paints  the  cows 
and  horses."  Even  sacred  subjects  were  dealt 
with  in  this  debased  form — in  this  low  and 
empty  inspiration.  Look,  for  instance,  at  the 
Magdalens,  at  the  Madonnas  of  Rubens.  Ru- 
bens, himself,  was  a  pious  Catholic ;  yet  his 
paintings  displayed  the  very  genius  of  Protest- 
antism. If  he  wanted  to  paint  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  he  selected  some  corpulent  and  gross- 
looking  woman,  in  whom  he  found  some  ray 
of  mere  sensual  beauty  that  struck  his  eye,  and 
he  put  her  on  the  canvas,  and  held  her  up 
before  men  as  the  Virgin,  whose  prayer  was  to 
save,  and  whose  power  was  above  that  of  the 
angels.  The  artist  who  would  truly  represent 
her  on  canvas  must  have  his  pencils  touched 
with  the  purity  and  grandeur  of  heaven. 

Music.  Music  lost  its  inspiration  when  it 
fell  from  under  the  guidance  of  the  Church. 
No  longer  were  its  strains  the  echoes  of  heaven. 
No  longer  is  the  burden  of  the  hymn  the 
heavenly  aspiration  of  the  human  soul,  tending 
towards  its  last  and  final  beatitude.  Oh,  no! 
but  every  development  that  this  high  and 
heavenly  science  receives,  is  a  simple  degrada- 
tion into  the  celebration  of  human  passion ; 
into  the  magnifying  of  human  pride ;  into  the 
illustration  of  all  that  is  worst  and  vilest  in 
man  ;  and  the  highest  theme  of  the  musician 
to-day  is  not  the  "Dies  Irse;"  it  is  not  the 
"  Stabat  Mater,"  the  wailing  voice  of  the  Vir- 
gin's sorrow ;  it  is  not  the  "  Alleluia,"  to  pro- 
claim to  the  world  the  glories  of  the  risen  God; 
no,  the  highest  theme  of  the  musician,  to-day, 
is  to  take  up  some  story  of  sensual,  and  merely 
human,  love ;  to  set  that  forth  with  all  the 
charms  and  all  the  meretricious  embellishments 
of  art.  Thus  do  we  behold  in  our  own  experi- 
ence of  to-day,  how  the  arts  went  down,  and 
lost    their    inspiration,  as   soon    as    there    were 


586 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


taken  from  them  the  g'enius  and  the  inspiring 
influence  of  the  Church  that  created  them,  and, 
through  them,  civilized  the  world,  and  brought 
to  us  whatever  we  have  of  civilization  and  re- 
finement in  this  nineteenth  century.  Thank 
God,  the  reign  of  evil  cannot  last  long  upon 
this  earth.  It  is  one  of  the  mysterious  circum- 
stances that  the  coming  of  our  Lord  developed. 
Before  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  an 
evil  idea  seemed  to  be  in  the  nature  of  man. 
It  propagated  itself,  it  found  a  home  and  an 
abiding  dwelling  amongst  the  children  of  men. 
But,  since  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God, 
since  the  Eternal  Word  of  God  vouchsafed  to 
take  a  human  soul,  a  human  body,  human  sen- 
sibilities, and,  I  will  add,  human  genius — since 
that  time,  the  base,  and  the  vile,  and  the 
ephemeral,  and  the  degraded,  may  come ;  may 
debase  art  and  artists ;  may  spoil  the  spirit  of 
art  for  a  time — but  it  cannot  last  very  long. 
There  is  a  native  force,  a  nobleness  in  the  soul 
of  man  that  rises  in  revolt  against  it.  And  to- 
day, even  to-day,  the  hour  of  revival  seems  to 
be  coming — almost  arrived — is  already  come. 
The  three  arts  of  painting,  of  music,  and  archi- 
tecture, seem  to  be  rising  with  their  former 
inspiration,  and  seem  to  catch  again  a  little  of 
the  departed  light  that  was  shed  on  them  and 
flowed  through  them,  from  religion.  Archi- 
tecture revives,  and  the  glories  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  though  certainly  they  may  not  be 
eclipsed,  are  almost  equaled  by  the  glories  of 
the  nineteenth.  But  a  short  distance  from  here, 
you  see,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  rising  in  its 
wonderful  beauty,  that  which  promises  to  be, 
and  is  to  be,  of  all  the  glories  of  this  country, 
the  most  glorious — the  great  cathedral,  and 
again  in  the  neighboring  city  of  Brooklyn,  the 
fair  and  magnificent  proportions  of  that  which 
will  be,  in  a  few  years,  the  glory  of  that  adja- 
cent shore,  when  on  this  side  and  on  that,  each 
tower,  and  spire,  and  pinnacle  upholding  an 
angel  or  saint,  the  highest  of  all  will  uphold  the 
Cross  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Music  is  reviving  again — catching  again  the 
pure  spirit  of  the  past.     A  taste  for  the  serene, 


the  pure,  the  most  spiritual  songs  of  the  Church, 
is  every  day  gaining  ground,  and  taking  hold 
of  the  imagination.  Painting,  thank  God,  is 
reviving  again ;  and  of  this  you  have  here 
abundant  proof.  Look  around  you.  No  gross, 
earthly  figure  stands  out  in  the  bare  propor- 
tions of  flesh  and  blood.  No  vile  exposure  of 
the  mere  flesh  invites  the  eye  of  the  voluptu- 
ous to  feast  itself  upon  the  sight.  The  purity 
of  God  is  here.  The  purity  of  the 
Church  of  God  overhangs  it,  and  the  story 
of  these  scenes  will  go  home  to  your  hearts  and 
to  the  hearts  of  your  children,  as  the  story  that 
the  blessed  Angelico  told  in  Florence  six  hun- 
dred years  ago.  Thanks  be  to  God  it  is  so ! 
Thanks  be  to  God  that  when  I  lift  up  my  eyes 
I  may  see  so  much  of  the  purity  of  the  face 
down  which  flow  the  last  tears  of  blood  !  When 
I  lift  up  mine  eyes  here  it  seems  to  me  as  if 
I  stood  bodily  in  the  holy  society  of  these  men. 
It  seems  to  me  that  I  see  in  the  face  of  John 
the  expression  of  the  highest  manly  sympathy 
that  comforted  and  consoled  the  dying  eyes  of 
the  Saviour.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  behold  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  whose  maternal  heart  consented 
in  that  hour  of  agony  to  be  broken  for  the  sins 
of  men.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  behold  the 
Magdalen,  as  she  clings  to  the  Cross,  and  re- 
ceives upon  that  hair  with  which  she  wiped 
his  feet,  the  drops  of  his  blood.  It  seems  to 
me  that  I  behold  that  heart,  humbled  in  pen- 
ance and  inflamed  with  love — the  heart  of  the 
woman  who  had  loved  much,  and  for  whom  he 
had  prayed.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  travel  step 
by  step  to  Calvary,  and  learn,  as  they  unite  in 
him,  every  lesson  of  suffering,  of  peace,  of 
hope,  of  joy,  and  of  divine  love  I 

Thank  God,  it  is  fitting  in  a  Dominican 
Church  that  this  should  be  so !  It  is  fitting 
in  a  temple  of  my  order  that,  when  I  look 
upon  the  image  of  my  Holy  Father  over  that 
entrance,  in  imagination,  and  without  an  effort, 
I  travel  back  to  the  spot  where  I  had  the 
happiness  to  live  my  student's  days,  and  where, 
in  the  very  cell  in  which  I  dwelt,  I  beheld 
from  Angelico's  own  hand  a  glorious  specimen 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


587 


of  his  art.  These  are  the  gladness  of  our 
eyes,  the  joy  of  our  hearts.  They  give  us 
reason  to  rejoice  with  him  who  said:  "I  have 
loved,  oh  Lord,  the  beauty  of  thy  house,  and 
the  place  where  thy  glory  dwelleth."  They 
give  us  reason  to  rejoice,  because  they  are  not 
only  fair  and  beautiful  in  themselves,  but  they 
are  also  the  guarantee  and  the  promise  that 
the  traditions  of  ecclesiastical  painting,  sculp- 
ture, architecture,  and  music,  in  this  new  coun- 
tr}^,  will  yet  come  out  and  rival  all  the  glories 
of  the  nations  that  for  centuries  and  centuries 
have  upheld  the  Cross.  They  are  a  cause  of 
gladness  to  us,  for,  when  we  shall  have  passed 
away,  our  children  and  our  children's  children 
shall  come  here,  and,  in  reviewing  these  pic- 
tures, will  learn  to  feel  the  love  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Amongst  the  traditions  of  one  of  the 
old  cities  of  Belgium,  there  is  one  of  a  little 
boy  who  grew  up,  visiting  every  day  the  cathe- 
dral of  the  city.  One  day  he  stood  with  won- 
dering and  child-like  eyes  before  a  beautiful 
painting  of    the    Infant  Jesus.     According    as 


time  went  on,  and  reason  grew  upon  him,  his 
love  for  the  picture  became  greater  and  greater ; 
and  when  he  became  a  man,  his  love  for  it 
was  so  great  that  he  spent  his  days  in  the 
cathedral  as  organist,  pealing  forth  the  praises 
of  the  Son  of  God.  His  manhood  went  down 
into  the  vale  of  years,  but  his  love  for  the 
picture  was  still  the  one  child-love — the  youngj 
love  and  passion  of  his  heart.  And  so  he 
lived,  a  child  of  art,  and  died  in  the  odor  of 
sanctity  of  God.  And  that  art  had  fulfilled 
its  highest  mission,  for  it  had  sanctified  the 
soul  of  a  man.  Oh,  may  these  pictures  that 
we  look  upon  with  so  much  pleasure— may 
they  teach  to  you,  and  to  your  children  after 
you,  the  lesson  they  are  intended  to  teach,  of 
the  love,  of  the  charity,  of  the  mercy  of 
Jesus  ;  that,  loving  him  and  loving  the  beauty 
of  his  house,  and  catching  every  gleam  that 
faith  reveals  of  her  higher  beauty,  and  every- 
thing that  speaks  of  him  forever,  you  may 
come  to  behold  him  as  he  shines  in  the  un- 
created light  and  majesty  of  his  glory  1 


he  Groupings  of  Calvarg. 

The  resst  of  the  Annunciation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 
Bg  Rev.  THOMAS  N.  BURKE,  O.  P. 


There  were  many  classes  of  men  surround- 
ing our  Blessed  Lord  on  that  fearful  and 
terrible  journey,  when,  starting  from  the  court 
of  his  condemnation,  he  turned  his  face 
toward  Calvary,  and  set  out  upon  the  dolorous 
"  Way  of  the  Cross."  The  men  who  condemned 
him,  sitting  in  that  tribunal,  were  not  satisfied 
with  that  sentence ;  but,  in  the  eagerness  of  their 
revenge,  they  would  fain  \vitness  his  execution — 
following  out  the  expressed  word  of  the  Evan- 
gelist, that  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  followed 
our  Lord,  and  fed  their  revengeful  eyes  upon 
the  contemplation  of  his  three  hours  of  agony 
on  the  Cross.  The  immediate  agents  of  this 
terrible  act  of  execution  were  the  Roman 
soldiers  of  the  cohort,  who  had  scourged  him, 
who  had  crowned  him  with  thorns,  and  who 
accompanied  him  with  stolid  indifference 
to  the  place  of  his  execution.  They  were 
pagans.  They  were  men  who  had  never  heard 
the  name  of  God.  They  were  men  who,  had 
they  heard  it,  must  have  heard  it  in  a  language 
which  they  scarcely  understood,  and  which  was 
the  medium  of  the  common  record  of  what 
were  called  "  the  wonders  " — that  is,  of  the 
miracles  of  Christ.  But  it  scarcely  stirred  up 
in  them  even  a  natural  curiosity ;  and,  there- 
fore, they  brought    him  to    execution,    as    they 


would  have  dragged  an}'  other  criminal,  with 
this  one  exception,  that,  by  a  strange,  diabolical 
possession,  they  looked  upon  this  man  of  whom 
they  knew  nothing — upon  this  man  who  had 
never  injured  them  in  word  or  in  deed — with 
intense  abhorrence,  and  hated  him  with  an 
inexplicable  hatred.  They  thus  typified  the 
nations  who  know  not  the  Lord  of  Truth.  In 
paganism,  in  the  darkness  and  wickedness  of 
their  infidelity,  they  know  not  the  name  of  God. 
When  that  name  is  pronounced  in  their  pres- 
ence, it  falls  upon  their  ears  rather  as  the 
name  of  an  enemy  than  that  of  a  friend.  They 
cannot  explain  why  they  hate  him.  No  more 
can  we  explain  the  hatred  of  the  Roman 
soldiers.  The  missionary  goes  forth  to-day  in 
all  the  power  of  the  priesthood  of  Christ.  He 
stands  in  the  presence  of  the  people  of  China, 
or  of  Japan.  As  long  as  he  speaks  to  them 
of  the  civilization,  of  the  immense  military 
power,  of  the  riches  and  of  the  glory  of  the 
country  from  which  he  comes,  they  hear  him 
willingly  and  with  interested  ears.  As  long  as 
he  reveals  to  them  any  secret  of  human  science, 
they  make  use  of  him,  they  are  glad  to  receive 
him.  Thus  it  is,  we  know,  that  some  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  held  the  very  highest  places 
at  the  court  of  the  Emperor  of  China.     But  as 


(588) 


THE  GROUPINGS   OF  CALVARY. 


589 


soon  as  ever  the  missionary  mentions  the  name 
of  Christ,  they  not  only  refuse  to  hear  him,  but 
they  are  stirred  up,  on  the  instant,  with  dia- 
bolical rage ;  hate  and  anger  flash  from  their 
eyes ;  and  they  lay  hold  of  the  messenger  who 
bringeth  them  the  message  of  peace,  and  love, 
and  of  eternal  life,  and  they  imagine  they  have 
not  fulfilled  their  duty  until  they  have  shed  his 
heart's  blood  upon  the  spot.  Oh,  how  vast  the 
crowd  of  those  who,  for  centuries,  have  thus 
greeted  the  Son  of  God  and  every  man  who 
speaks  in  his  name  !  Think  of  the  outlying 
millions,  to  whom,  for  eighteen  hundred  years 
and  more,  the  Church — the  messenger  of  God — 
has  preached  and  appealed,  but  in  vain !  Behold 
the  class  that  was  represented  round  the  Cross, 
lifting  up  indifferent,  stolid,  or,  if  anything, 
scowling  faces,  amid  the  woes  of  him  who,  in 
that  hour  of  his  agony  and  of  his  humilia- 
tion, mingled  his  prayers  for  forgiveness  with 
the  last  drop  of  blood  that  flowed  through  his 
wounds  from  his  dying  heart ! 

There  is  another  class  there.  It  is  made  up 
of  those  who  knew  him  well,  or  who  ought  to 
have  known  him.  They  had  seen  his  mira- 
cles ;  they  had  witnessed  his  sanctity ;  they 
had  disputed  with  him  upon  the  laws,  until 
he  had  convinced  them  that  his  was  the  wis- 
dom that  could  not  belong  to  man,  but  to  God. 
He  had  silenced  them.  He  had  answered  every 
argument  that  foolhardy  and  audacious  men 
made  to  him.  He  had  reduced  them  to  such 
shame  that  no  man  ever  dared  to  question  him 
again.  But  he  interfered  with  their  interests 
and  their  pride.  That  pride  revolted  against 
submitting  to  him.  That  self-love  and  self- 
interest  prompted  the  thought  that  if  he  lived, 
his  light  would  outshine  theirs,  and  their  influ- 
ence with  the  people  would  be  gone.  These 
were  the  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees.  They 
were  the  leaders  of  the  people.  They  were  the 
magistrates  of  Jerusalem.  They  were  the  men 
whose  loud  voice  and  authoritative  tones  were 
heard  in  the  Temple.  They  were  the  men  who 
walked  into  that  house  as  if  it  was  not  the 
house  of  God,  but  their  house.     They  were  the 


men  who  walked    fearlessly  up  to  the  altar,  to 
speak  words    of   blasphemous    pride,   and    call 
them  prayers.    They  were  the  men  who  despised 
the  humble  Publican  making  his  act  of  contri- 
tion.    They  were  the  men  who  lifted  their  vir- 
tuous   hands  and    hypocritical    eyes    to  heaven 
to  lament  over  the  weakness  of  human  nature. 
They  were  the  men  who  hated    Christ,  because 
they  could    not  argue   with   him — because  they 
could  not  uphold  their  errors  against  his  truth — 
because  they  could  not  hold  their  own,  but  were 
struck  dumb  at  the  sight  of  his  sanctity  and  the 
sound  of  his  powerful  voice.    What  did  they  do  ? 
They    began  to  tell    lies  to  the    people     They 
began  to  tell  the  people  how  he  was  an  impostor 
and  a  blasphemer.     They  began  to  mislead  the 
people — to    destroy    the    estimate    that    people 
might  make  of  Jesus  Christ.     They  endeavored 
to  find  false  witnesses  to  bring  them  to  swear 
away  first  his  character  and  then  his  life.    Ah  ! 
need  I  say  whom  they  represent  ?     Need  I  tell 
a  people  in  whose  memories  is  fresh    to-day  the 
ever-recurring  lie  that    is    flung    in  the  face  of 
the   Catholic    Church — the   ever-recurring  false 
testimony    that    is    brought    against     her — the 
burning    of  her  churches,    the    defiling  of  her 
alters,  the  outrages  on  her  priests,  the  insults 
heaped  upon  her  holy  nuns,  the  people  inflamed 
against  the  very  name  of  Catholicity  itself,  so 
that    the  word    might  be  fulfilled   of  him  who 
said :  "They  shall  cast  out  your  very  name  as 
evil  for  my  sake ;"  the  men  who  made  the  very 
name  of    a  monk,  or  a  friar,  or  a  Jesuit  mean 
something  awfully  gross,  or  sensual,  or  material ! 
These  men  were  naturally  worldly  and  deceitful.  I 
need  not   point  out    to    you  that,  in  the  midst 
of  you,  and  every  day ;  from  their  pulpits,  from 
their  conventicles,    through    their    daily  press ; 
every  day  we  are  made  familiar    with    the  old 
lie,    shifted    and    changed,    tortured,  distorted, 
and  twisted,  and  the    false    testimony  brought 
out   in    a    thousand  forms   of    falsehood.     And 
there  were  others  believed  in  Christ;  who  knew 
him;  who  had  enjoyed  his  conversation  and  his 
friendship,  and  who  were  afraid  to   be  seen  in 
his  company  in  that  dark  hour,    and  upon  that 


590 


THE  GROUPINGS   OF   CALVARY. 


hill  of  shame.  Where  were  the  Apostles  ? 
Where  were  the  Disciples  ?  They  had  fled 
from  their  Master  because  it  was  dangerous  to 
be  seen  with  him.  Judas,  the  representative  of 
the  man  who  sells  his  religion  and  his  God  for 
this  world ;  who  sells  his  conscience  in  order 
to  fill  his  purse ;  who  sells  everything  that  is 
most  sacred  when  that  demand  is  made  upon 
him  for  temporal  profit  and  pelf;  who  sells  his 
iniquity  by  a  bad  communion  in  order  to  save 
appearances ;  and,  whilst  with  one  hand  he  was 
taking  money  from  the  Pharisees,  with  the 
other  hand  he  was  taking  Christ  to  his  breast ; 
the  man  who  played  a  double  part ;  the  man 
who  did  not  wish  to  break  utterly  with  his 
Lord,  nor  to  sacrifice  the  good  opinion  of  his 
fellow-apostles  ;  and,  therefore,  he  received  dam-  . 
nation  to  himself  in  a  bad  communion — he  does 
not  dare  to  climb  the  rugged  steep  of  Calvary; 
but  he  stands  afar  off,  and  beholds  a  terrible 
sight ;  he  sees  passing  before  his  eyes  his  Lord, 
his  Master,  in  whose  innocence  he  believes, 
though  he  has  betrayed  him ;  his  Lord,  his 
Master,  torn  with  scourges  from  head  to  foot, 
crowned  with  thorns,  covered  with  blood ;  his 
Lord  and  his  Master,  who  had  so  often  spoken  to 
him  words  of  friendship  and  of  love,  passed 
before  the  eyes  of  the  renegade  and  traitor.  As 
he  looked,  and  his  eyes  caught,  for  an  instant, 
the  countenance  of  that  figure,  tottering  along 
in  weakness  and  in  pain — the  sight  brought 
back  remembrance  of  the  days  that  were  gone, 
with  no  glimmering  of  hope,  no  light  of  con- 
solation to  his  soul,  but  only  the  feeling  that 
he  had  betrayed  his  God,  and  that  he  held 
then  in  his  infamous  purse  the  money  for 
which  he  had  sold  his  soul  and  his  conscience. 
He  stood  aghast  and  pale.  He  tore  his  hair, 
and  uplifted  his  despairing  hands.  He  found 
that  he  could  not  live  to  see  the  consummation 
of  his  iniquity ;  and  before  the  Saviour  had 
sent  forth  the  last  cry  for  a  redeemed  world, 
the  soul  of  the  suicide  Judas  had  gone  down 
to.  hell  I  "It  were  better  for  him  had  he  never 
been  bom !"  Does  he  represent  any  class  ? 
Are  there  not  in  this  world  men  who  are  almost 


glad  to  have  something  to  barter  with  the 
world,  when  they  give  up  their  holy  faith  and 
religion  in  order  to  clutch  this  world's  posses- 
sions ?  Have  we  not  read  in  the  history  of  the 
nations — in  the  history  of  the  land  from  which 
most  of  us  sprang — have  we  never  read  of  men 
selling  their  faith  for  this  world's  riches  and 
this  world's  honors  ?  Have  we  never  read,  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  of  men  who,  in  order 
to  save  appearances,  approached  the  holy  altar 
and  received  the  holy  communion?  Ofmonarchs 
who,  in  order  to  stand  well  with  their  Catholic 
subjects,  made  a  show  of  going  to  holy  com- 
munion? And  of  sycophants  and  courtiers  who, 
in  order  to  please  a  king,  in  a  fit  of  piety  or 
a  fit  of  repentance,  went  to  holy  communion  ? 
But  time  will  not  permit  me  to  linger  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  many  classes  of  the  worldly- 
minded;  the  false  friend,  the  bitter,  though 
conscious,  enemy,  the  heartless  executioners ; 
the  men  who  surrounded  him  then,  exact 
counterparts  of  those  whom  we  meet  to-day. 

But  there  was  one  there, — and  it  is  to  that 
one  that  my  thoughts  and  my  heart  turn  this 
night.  There  was  one  there  who  was 
destined  to  be,  through  all  ages,  and 
unto  all  nations,  a  type  of  what  the 
true  Christian  man — the  friend  of  Christ, 
must  be ;  a  true  representative  of  the  part  that 
he  must  play,  in  the  sacrifice  that  from  time 
to  time  he  must  make,  to  test  the  strength  and 
tenderness  of  his  love.  There  was  one  there, 
young  and  beautiful,  who  did  not  flinch  from 
his  Master  and  Lord  in  that  hour ;  who  walked 
by  his  side ;  who  shared  in  the  reproaches  that 
were  showered  upon  the  head  of  the  Son  of  God, 
and  took  his  share  of  the  grief  and  the  shame 
of  that  terrible  morning  of  Good  Friday.  There 
was  one  there  whom  the  Master  permitted  to 
be  there,  that  he  might,  as  it  were,  lean  upon 
the  strength  of  his  manhood  and  the  fearless- 
ness of  his  love.  That  one  was  John  the 
Evangelist.  Behold  him,  as,  with  the  virginal 
eyes,  he  looks  up  as  a  man  to  his  fellow-man 
on  the  Cross  !  Behold  him  as  he  seems  to  say: 
"  Oh,  Master,  Oh,  Lover  of  my  soul  and  heart  i 


THE  GROUPINGS   OF   CALVARY. 


591 


can  I  relieve  you  of  a  single  sorrow  by  taking 
it  up  and  making  it  my  own  ?"  This  was  Jolin. 
Consider  who  he  was,  and  what.  Three  graces 
surrounded  him  as  he  stood  at  the  foot  of  the 
Cross.  Three  divine  gifts  form  a  halo  of  heavenl}^ 
light  around  his  head.  They  were  the  grace 
of  Christian  purity,  the  grace  of  divine  love, 
and  the  manliness  of  the  bravery  that  despises 
the  world,  when  it  is  a  question  of  giving  tes- 
timony of  love  and  of  fidelity  to  his  God  and 
his  Saviour — three  noble  gifts,  with  which  the 
world  is  so  ill-supplied  to-day !  Oh,  my  breth- 
ren, need  I  tell  you  that  of  all  the  evils  in 
this  our  day,  there  is  one  which  has  arrived 
at  such  enormous  proportions  that  it  has 
received  the  name  of  "  The  Social  Evil !" — the 
evil  which  finds  its  way  into  every  rank  and 
every  grade  of  society  ;  the  evil  which,  raising 
its  miscreated  head,  now  and  again  frightens 
us,  and  terrifies  the  very  world  by  the  evidence 
of  its  widespread  pestilence;  the  evil  that, 
to-day,  pollutes  the  heart,  destroys  the  soul  of 
the  young,  and  shakes  our  nature  and  our 
manliness  to  its  very  foundations,  and  brings  down 
the  indignant  and  the  sweeping  curse  of  God 
upon  whole  nations  I  Need  I  tell  you  that  the 
evil  is  the  terrible  evil  of  impurity — the  unre- 
strained passion,  the  foul  imagination,  the  debased 
and  degraded  cravings  of  this  material  flesh  and 
blood  of  ours,  rising  up  in  rebellion,  and  declar- 
ing, in  its  inflamed  desires,  that  nothing  of 
God's  law,  nothing  of  God's  redemption  shall 
move  it ;  that  all,  all  may  perish,  but  it  must 
be  satiated  and  gorged  with  that  food  of  lust, 
of  which,  the  Scripture  says,  "  the  taste  is 
death?"  Of  this  I  have  already  spoken  to  you, 
and  also  of  the  opposite  virtue,  the  "  index " 
virtue,  as  it  is  called — the  virtue  of  virtues ; 
of  that  I  have  also  spoken  to  you ;  that  by 
which  lost  man  is  raised  up  to  the  very  per- 
fection of  his  spiritual  nature ;  by  which  the 
Divine  eflFulgence  of  the  highest  resemblance  to 
Christ  is  impressed  upon  the  soul ;  by  which 
the  fragrance  and  brightness  of  the  Virgin, 
and  of  the  Virgin's  Son,  seems  to  shine  even 
in  the  body  of   man  as  well    as    in  the  spirit. 


"  filling  the  whole  being,"  says  St.  Ephrem, 
"  with  the  odor  of  its  sweetness."  Such  virtue 
of  angelic  purity  did  Christ,  our  Lord,  come 
to  establish  upon  earth.  Such  virtue  did  he  lay 
as  the  foundation  of  his  Church,  in  a  chaste  and  a 
virginal  priesthood;  in  the  foundations  of  society, 
in  a  chaste  and  pure  manhood  ;  preserving  the 
integrity  of  the  soul  in  the  purity  of  the  body. 
Such  virtue  belonged  to  John,  "  the  disciple  of 
love ;"  and  it  belonged  to  him  in  its  highest 
phase  ;  for,  as  the  Holy  Fathers,  and  the  inter- 
preters of  the  Church's  traditions  from  the  very 
beginning,  and  notably,  St.  Peter  Damascus,  tell 
us, — John  the  Evangelist  was  a  virgin  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave.  No  thought  of  human  love 
ever  flashed  through  his  mind.  No  angry 
uprising  of  human  passion  ever  disturbed  the 
equable  nature  of  his  heavenly  tempered  soul 
and  body.  He  was  the  youngest  of  all  the 
Apostles ;  and  he  was  little  more  than  a  youth 
when  the  virgin-creating  eyes  of  Christ  fell  upon 
him.  Christ  looked  upon  him,  and  saw  a  vir- 
ginal body,  fair  and  beautiful  in  its  translucent 
purity  of  innocence.  He,  the  Creator  and  Re- 
deemer, saw  a  soul  pure,  and  bright,  and 
unstained ;  a  soul  just  opening  into  manhood, 
and  in  the  full  possession  of  all  its  powers  ;  and 
a  tender,  yet  a  most  pure  heart,  unfolding  itself 
even  as  the  lily  bursts  forth  and  unfolds  its 
white  leaves  to  gather  in  its  cup  the  dews  of 
heaven,  like  diamond  drops,  in  its  heart  of  purest 
whiteness.  So  did  our  Lord  behold  the  fair  soul 
of  John.  Jesus  Christ  spoke  in  that  virgin  ear 
the  words  of  invitation ;  and  into  that  virgin  soul 
he  dropped  those  graces  of  Apostleship,  and  of 
love,  and  of  tenderness,  and  of  strength,  that 
lying  there  amongst  those  petals  of  glory, 
brought  forth  in  the  soul  of  the  young  man  all 
that  was  radiant  of  most  Christ-like  virtue.  A 
virgin — that  is  to  say,  one  who  never  let  a 
thought  of  his  mind  nor  an  affection  of  his 
heart,  stray  from  the  highest  form  of  Divine 
love ;  thus  was  he  before  he  had  beheld  the 
face  of  his  Redeemer.  But  when  to  that 
virginal  purity,  which  naturally  seeks  the  love 
of  God  in  its  highest  form,  that  God  made  him- 


592 


THE  GROUPINGS   OF   CALVARY. 


self  visible  in  the  shape  of  the  sacred  humanity 
of  our  Lord;  when  the  Virgin's  King,  the 
Prince,  and  the  leader  of  the  Virgin's  choir  in 
heaven,  presented  himself  to  the  eyes  of  the 
young  Apostle,  oh,  then,  with  the  instinct  of 
purity,  his  heart  seemed  to  go  forth  from  him 
and  to  seek  the  heart  of  Christ.  And  so  it  was 
for  three  years,  under  the  purifying  eyes  of  our 
Lord.  He  lived  for  three  years  in  the  most 
^  intimate  communion  of  love  with  his  Master; 
distinguished  from  all  the  other  Apostles,  of 
whom  we  do  not  know  that  ever  one  of  them  was 
a  virgin,  but  only  John ;  distinguished  from 
them  by  being  admitted,  through  his  privileged 
virginal  purity,  into  the  inner  chambers  of  the 
heart  of  Christ.  Thus,  when  our  Lord  appeared 
to  the  Apostles  upon  the  waters,  all  the  others 
shrank  from  him,  terrified ;  and  they  said  to  each 
other,  "It  is  a  ghost!  It  is  an  appearance!" 
John  looked,  and  instantly  recognized  his  Mas- 
ter, and  said  to  Peter,  "Don't  be  afraid!  It  is 
the  Lord ! "  Whereupon  St.  Jerome  says :  "  What 
eyes  were  those  of  John,  that  could  see  that 
which  others  could  not  see?  Oh,  it  was  the  eye 
of  a  virgin  recognizing  a  virgin  ! "  So/us  virgo 
virginem  agnoscit.  So  it  was  that  a  certain  tacit 
privilege  was  granted  to  John,  as  is  seen  in  the 
conduct  of  the  Apostles  themselves.  Peter,  cer- 
tainly, was  honored  above  all  the  others  by 
getting  precedence  and  supremacy;  by  being 
appointed  the  Vicar  and  representative  of  his 
Master;  in  other  words,  "the  Head  of  the 
Apostles."  Nay,  more,  the  heart  of  Peter  was 
sounded  to  the  verj'^  depths  of  its  capacity  and 
of  its  love,  before  Christ  our  Lord  appointed 
him  as  his  representative.  Three  times  did  he 
ask  him,  "Lovest  thou  me?"  Again,  in  the 
presence  of  John,  "Lovest  thou  me,  Peter,  more 
than  these?"  More  than  these,  more  than  the 
men  who  are  present  before  me,  and  of  whom 
I  speak  to  you.  And  Peter  was  confirmed  in 
that  hour,  and  rose,  by  Divine  grace,  to  a 
height  in  the  sight  of  his  Divine  Master, 
greater  than  any  ever  attained  by  man.  It  is 
not  the  heart  of  the  man  loving  the  Lord,  but 
it   is   the  heart    of  the  Lord    loving   the  man. 


So  Peter  was  called  upon  to  love  his  Lord  more 
than  the  others.  But  the  tenderest  love  of  his 
Divine  Master  was  the  privilege  of  John.  He 
was  the  disciple  "whom  Jesus  loved."  And 
well  did  his  fellow- Apostles  know  it.  What  a 
privilege  was  not  that  which  was  given  to 
John  at  the  Last  Supper  because  of  his  virginal 
purit}'-?  There  was  the  Master,  and  there  were 
the  disciples  around  him.  There  was  the  man 
whom  he  had  destined  to  be  the  first  pope — 
the  representative  of  his  power,  and  head  of  his 
followers.  Did  Peter  get  the  first  place?  No! 
The  first  place  of  love,  the  place  next  to  the 
left  side,  nearest  the  dear  heart  side,  was  the 
privilege  of  John.  And — oh !  ineffable  dignity 
vouchsafed  by  our  Saviour  to  his  virgin  friend ! 
— the  head  of  the  disciple  was  laid  upon  the 
breast  of  the  Master,  and  the  human  ear  of 
John  heard  the  pulsations  of  the  virginal  heart 
of  Christ,  the  Lord  of  earth  and  heaven!  Be- 
tween those  two,  in  life,  you  may  easily  see 
in  this  and  other  such  traits  recorded  in  the 
Gospel ;  between  these  two — the  Master  and  the 
disciple  whom  he  loved;  there  was  a  silent 
intercommunion — an  intensity  of  tender  love 
of  which  the  other  Apostles  seem  not  to  have 
known.  Out  of  this  veiy  purity  of  John  sprang 
the  love  of  his  Divine  Lord  and  Master.  It 
was  after  his  resurrection  that  our  Lord  asked 
Peter,  "  Dost  thou  love  me  more  than  these  ? " 
Before  the  suffering  and  death  of  the  Son  of 
God,  Peter,  not  yet  confirmed  in  love,  wavered 
in  his  allegiance  and  denied  his  Master;  John's 
love  knew  no  change.  Peter's  love  had  first  to 
be  humbled,  and  then  purified  by  tears,  and 
the  heart  broken  by  contrition  before  he  was 
able  to  assert:  "Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things: 
thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee!"  But  in  the 
love  of  St.  John  we  find  an  undoubting,  an 
unchanging  love.  What  his  Master  was  to 
him  in  the  hour  of  his  glory,  the  same  was 
he  in  the  hour  of  his  shame.  He  beheld  his 
Lord,  shining  on  the  summit  of  Tabor  on  the 
day  of  his  transfiguration ;  yet  he  loved  him  as 
dearly  when  he  beheld  him  covered  with  shame 
and    confusion  on   the    Cross!     What  was    the 


THE  GROUPINGS   OF  CALVARY. 


593 


nature  of.  that  love?  Oh,  my  friends,  think 
what  was  the  nature  of  that  love!  It  had 
taken  possession  of  a  mighty  but  an  empty 
heart.  Mighty  in  its  capacity  of  love  is  the 
heart  of  man — the  heart  of  the  young  man — 
the  heart  of  the  ingenious,  talented,  and  en- 
lightened youth.  Would  you  know  of  how 
much  love  this  heart  is  capable?  Behold  it 
in  the  saints  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Behold 
it  in  every  man  who  gives  his  heart  to 
God  wholly  and  entirely.  Behold  it  even  in 
the  sacrifices  that  3'oung  hearts  make  when 
they  are  filled  with  merely  human  love. 
Behold  it  in  the  sacrifice  of  life,  of  health,  of 
everything  which  a  man  has,  which  is  made 
upon  the  altar  of  his  love,  even  when  that  hu- 
man love  has  taken  the  base,  revolting  form  of 
impurity.  But  measure,  if  you  can,  the  ardor 
of  pure  love  for  Jesus  Christ.  I  address  the 
heart  of  the  young  man,  and  he  cannot  see  it  1 
The  truth  lies  here,  that  the  most  licentious 
and  self-indulgent  sinner  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  has  never  yet  known,  in  the  indulgence 
of  his  wildest  excesses,  the  full  contentment, 
the  complete  enjoyment,  the  mighty  facult}-  of 
love  which  is  in  the  heart  of  man,  and  which 
God  alone  can  satisfy. 

Such  was  the  heart  which  our  Lord  called 
to  him.  Such  was  the  heart  of  John.  It  was 
a  capacious  heart.  It  was  the  heart  of  a  young 
man.  It  was  empty.  No  human  love  was 
there.  No  previous  afifectiou  came  in  to  cross 
or  counteract  the  designs  of  God  in  the  least 
degree,  or  to  take  possession  of  the  remotest 
corner,  even,  of  that  heart.  Then,  finding  it 
thus  empty  in  its  purity,  thus  capacious  in  its 
nature,  the  Son  of  God  filled  the  heart  of  the 
young  Apostle  with  his  love.  Oh,  it  was  the 
rarest,  the  grandest  friendship  that  ever  ex- 
isted on  this  earth ;  the  friendship  that  bouud 
together  two  virgin  hearts — the  heart  of  the 
beloved  disciple,  John ;  the  grand  virgin  love 
which  absorbed  John's  afiections,  filling  his 
young  heart  and  intellect  with  the  beauty  and 
the  highest  appreciation  of  his  Lord  and  Mas- 
ter, filling  his  senses  with  the  charms  inef- 
38 


fable  produced  by  the  sight  of  the  face  of  the 
Holy  One.  He  looked  upon  the  beauty  of  that 
sacred  and  Divine  humanity ;  and  he  saw  with 
the  penetrating  eyes  of  the  intellect  the  full- 
ness of  the  Divinity  that  flashed  upon  him. 
He  had  listened  to  the  words  of  the  Divine 
Master,  and  sweeter  were  they  than  the  music 
which  he  heard  in  heaven,  and  which  he  de- 
scribes in  the  Apocalypse,  where  he  says  :  "  I 
heard  the  sound  of  many  voices,  and  of  harp- 
ers harping  upon  many  harps."  Far  sweeter 
than  the  echoes  of  heaven  that  descended  into 
his  soul  on  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  was  the  noble, 
manly  voice  of  his  Lord  and  Master — now 
pouring  forth  blessings  upon  the  poor — now 
telling  those  who  weep  that  they  shall  one  day 
be  comforted— now  whispering  to  the  widow  of 
Naim,  "Weep  no  more  ;  "  now  telling  the  peni- 
tent Magdalen,  "  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee 
because  thou  hast  loved  much  I  "  now  thunder- 
ing in  at  the  temple  of  Jeruselem,  until  the 
very  walls  resounded  to  the  God-like  voice  of 
him  who  said  :  "  It  is  written  that  my  house 
is  a  house  of  prayer,  but  you  have  made  it  a 
den  of  thieves ;  "  it  was  still  the  loftiest  music 
and  melody — the  harmonious  roll  of  the  voice 
of  God — as  it  fell  upon  the  charmed  ears  of 
the  enraptured  Evangelist — the  young  man  who 
followed  his  Master  and  fed  his  soul  upon  that 
Divine  love.  Out  of  this  love  sprang  that  in- 
separable fellowship  that  bound  him  to  Christ. 
Not  for  an  instant  was  he  voluntarily  absent 
from  his  Master's  side.  Not  for  an  instant  did 
he  separate  himself  from  the  immediate  society 
of  his  Lord.  And  herein  lay  the  secret  of  his 
love;  for  love,  be  it  human  or  Divine,  craves 
for  union,  and  lives  in  the  sight  and  in  the 
conversation  of  the  object  of  its  affection.  Con- 
sequently, of  all  the  Apostles,  John  was  the  one 
who  was  always  clinging  around  his  Master — 
always  trying  to  be  near  him — always  trying 
to  catch  the  loving  eyes  of  Christ  in  every 
glance.  This  was  the  light  of  his  brightness 
— the  Divine  wisdom  that  animated  him  ! 

How  distinct  is   the    action   of  John,  in    the 
hour  of  the  Passion,  from  that  of  Peter  I     Our 


594 


THE  GROUPINGS   OF   CALVARY. 


Divine  Lord  gave  warning  to  Peter ;  "  Peter," 
he  says,  "before  the  cock  crows  j^ou  will  deny 
me  thrice."  No  wonder  the  Master's  voice 
struck  terror  into  the  heart  of  the  Apostle. 
And  yet,  strange  to  say,  it  did  not  make  him 
cautious  or  prudent.  When  our  Lord  was  taken 
prisoner,  the  Evangelist  expressly  tells  us  that 
Peter  followed  him.  Followed  him  ?  Indeed, 
he  followed  him ;  but  he  followed  him  afar  oflf. 
"  Petrus  autem  sequebatiir  eum  a  longeP  He 
waited  on  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd.  He 
tried  to  hide  himself  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night.  He  tried  to  conceal  his  features,  lest 
any  man  might  lay  hold  of  him,  and  make  him 
a  prisoner,  as  the  friend  of  the  Redeemer.  He 
began  to  be  afraid  of  the  danger  of  acknowl- 
edging himself  to  be  the  servant  of  such  a 
Master.  He  began  to  think  of  himself,  when 
every  thought  of  his  mind  and  every  energy  of 
his  heart  should  have  been  concentrated  upon  his 
Lord.  He  followed  him ;  but  at  some  distance. 
Ah !  at  a  good  distance.  John,  on  the  other 
hand,  rushed  to  the  front.  John  wanted  to  be 
seen  with  his  Master.  John  wanted  to  take  the 
Master's  hand,  even  when  bound  by  the  thongs, 
that  he  might  receive  the  vivifying  touch  of 
contact  with  Christ.  John  wanted  to  hear 
every  word  that  might  be  said,  whether  it  were 
for  or  against  him.  John  wanted  to  feast 
his  eyes  upon  every  object  which  engaged  the 
attention  of  his  Lord,  and  by  whose  look  it  was 
irradiated — a  type,  indeed,  of  a  class  of  Chris- 
tian men,  seeking  the  society  and  presence  of 
their  Master,  and  strengthened  by  that  seeking 
and  that  presence.  He  is  the  type  of  the  man 
who  goes  frequently  to  holy  communion,  pre- 
paring himself  by  a  good  confession,  and  so 
laying  the  basis  of  a  sacramental  union  with 
God,  that  becomes  a  large  element  of  his  life — 
the  man  who  goes  to  the  altar  every  month — 
the  man  who  is  familiar  with  Christ,  and  who 
enters  somewhat  into  the  inner  chambers  of 
that  sacred  heart  of  infinite  love ;  the  man  who 
knows  what  those  few  minutes  of  rapture  are 
which  are  reserved  for  the  pure ;  for  those  who 
not  only  endeavor  to  serve    God,  but  to    serve 


him  lovingly  and  well.  Those  are  the  men 
who  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  John ;  those  are 
his  representatives.  Peter  is  represented  by  the 
man  who  goes  to  holy  communion  once  or 
twice  in  the  year — going,  perhaps,  once  at 
Easter  or  Christmas,  and  then  returning  to  the 
world  again.  God  grant  that  neither  the  world, 
nor  the  flesh,  nor  the  devil  will  take  possession 
of  the  days,  or  weeks,  or  years  of  the  rest  of 
his  life!  he  who  gives — twice  in  the  year,  per- 
haps— an  hour  or  two  to  earnest  communion 
with  God,  and  for  all  the  rest  only  a  passing 
consideration,  flashing  momentarily  across  the 
current  of  his  life.  And  what  was  the  conse- 
quence ?  John  went  up  to  Calvary,  and  took  the 
proudest  place  that  ever  was  given  to  man. 
Peter  met,  in  the  outer  hall,  a  little  servant- 
maid,  and  she  said  to  him,  "  Thou  also  wast 
with  Jesus  of  Nazareth."  The  moment  that 
the  child's  voice  fell  upon  his  ear,  he  denied 
his  Master,  and  he  swore  an  oath  that  he  did 
not  know  him. 

Now  we  come  to  the  third  grand  attribute  of 
John ;  and  it  is  to  this,  my  friends,  that  I 
would  call  your  attention  especially.  Tender 
as  the  love  of  this  man  was  for  his  Master — 
his  friend — mark  how  strong  and  how  manly 
it  was,  at  the  same  time.  He  does  not  stand 
aside.  He  will  allow  no  soldier,  or  guard,  or 
executioner,  to  thrust  him  aside,  or  put  him 
away  from  his  Master.  He  stands  by  that  Mas- 
ter's side,  when  he  stood  before  his  accusers  in 
the  Praetorium  of  Pilate.  He  comes  out.  John 
receives  him  into  his  arms,  when,  fainting  with 
loss  of  blood,  he  returns,  surrounded  by  soldiers, 
from  the  terrific  scene  of  his  scourging ;  and, 
when  the  Cross  is  laid  upon  the  shoulders  of 
the  Redeemer,  with  the  crowd  of  citizens  around 
him — at  his  right  hand,  so  close  that  he  might 
lean  upon  him,  if  he  would,  is  the  manly  form 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist.  Oh,  think  of  the 
love  that  was  in  his  heart,  and  the  depth  of 
his  sorrow,  when  he  saw  his  Lord,  his  Master, 
his  friend,  his  only  love,  reduced  to  so  terrible 
a  state  of  woe,  of  misery,  and  of  weakness ! 
This    was    the    condition  of   our    Divine  Lord, 


THE  GROUPINGS   OF   CALVARY. 


595 


wlien  they  laid  the  heavy  cross  upon  his 
shoulder.  How  the  Apostle  of  Love  would  have 
taken  that  painful  and  terrible  crown,  with  its 
thorns,  from  oflF  the  brows  to  which  they  ad- 
hered, and  set  the  thorns  upon  his  own  head, 
if  they  had  only  been  satisfied  to  let  him  bear 
the  pains  and  the  sufferings  of  his  Master  and 
his  God !  Oh,  how  anxious  must  he  have  been 
to  take  the  load  that  was  placed  upon  the  un- 
willing shoulders  of  Simon  of  Cyrene!  Oh, 
how  he  must  have  envied  the  man  who  lifted 
the  cross  from  off  the  bleeding  shoulders  of  the 
Divine  Victim,  and  set  it  on  his  own  strong 
shoulders,  and  bore  it  along  up  the  steep  side 
of  Calvary!  With  what  gratitude  must  the 
Apostle  have  looked  upon  the  face  of  Veronica, 
who,  with  eyes  streaming  with  tears,  and  on 
bended  knees,  upheld  the  cloth  on  which  the 
Saviour  imprinted  the  marks  of  his  Divine  coun- 
tenance !  Yet,  who  was  this  man  ?  who  was 
this  man  who  received  the  blow  as  the  crimi- 
nal who  was  about  to  be  executed  ?  Who  is 
this  man  who  takes  the  place  of  shame  ?  Who 
is  this  man  who  is  willing  to  assume  all  the 
opprobrium  and  all  the  penalty  that  follows 
upon  it  ?  He  is  the  only  one  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles  that  is  publicly  known.  We  read  in 
the  gospels  that  the  Apostles  were  all  poor  men, 
taken  out  of  the  crowd  by  our  Lord.  The  only 
one  amongst  them  who  had  made  some  mark, 
who  was  noted,  who  was  remembered  for  some- 
thing or  another,  was  St.  John.  And  by  whom 
was  he  known  ?  He  was  known,  says  the 
Evangelist — to  the  high-priest.  He  was  so  well 
known  to  him,  and  to  his  guards,  and  to  his 
officers,  and  to  his  fellow-priests,  that  when 
our  Lord  was  in  the  house  of  Annas,  John  en- 
tered as  a  matter  of  course ;  and  when  Peter, 
with  the  rest,  was  shut  out,  all  that  John  had 
to  do  was  to  speak  a  word  to  the  doorkeeper 
and  bring  in  Peter.  He  was  well  known  to 
the  chief  magistrates — well  known  to  the  men 
in  power — well  known  to  the  chief  senators. 
"Oh,  John  I  John !  be  prudent !  Remember  that 
you  are  a  noted  man,  so  that  you  will  be  set 
down  by  the  men  in  power,  for  shame  perhaps, 


or  indignity,  or  even  death,  if  you  are  seen 
with  Jesus  Christ  in  this  hour.  Consult  your 
own  interests.  Don't  be  rash.  There  is  no 
knowing  what  may  happen  you."  Oh,  this  is 
the  language  of  the  world.  This  is  the  lan- 
guage which  we  hear  day  after  day.  "  Pru- 
dence and  caution  !"  "  No  necessity  to  parade 
our  religion!"  "No  necessity  to  be  thrusting 
our  Catholicity  before  the  world !  "  "  No  neces- 
sity to  be  constantly  unfurling  the  banner  on 
which  the  Cross  of  Christ  is  depicted — the 
Cross  on  which  he  died  to  save  the  souls  of 
men."  "  No  necessity  for  all  this.  Let  us  go 
peacefully  with  the  world!  Let  us  worship  in 
secret.  Let  us  go  on  Sunday  to  Mass  quietly ; 
and  let  the  world  know  nothing  about  it ! " 
Oh,  how  noble  the  answer  of  him  whom  all 
the  world  knew !  How  noble  the  soul  of  him 
who  stood  by  the  Lord,  when  he  knew  he 
was  a  noted  man,  and  that,  sooner  or  later, 
his  fidelity  on  that  Good  Friday  morning 
would  bring  him  into  trouble!  Ah,  how  glori- 
ous the  action  of  the  man  who  knew  he  was 
compromising  himself!  that  he  was  placing 
his  character,  his  liberty,  his  very  life  in 
jeopardy !  That  he  was  suffering,  perhaps,  in 
the  tenderest  intimacy  and  friendship !  That 
he  was  losing  himself,  perhaps,  in  the  esteem 
of  those  worldly  men  who  thought  they  were 
doing  a  wise,  a  proper,  and  a  prudent  thing 
when  they  sent  the  Lord  to  be  crucified.  He 
stands  by  his  Master.  He  says,  in  the  face 
of  this  whole  world,  "  Whoever  is  his  enemy, 
I  am  his  friend.  Whatever  is  his  position 
to-day,  I  am  his  creature ;  and  I  recognize 
him  as  my  God!"  And  so  he  trod,  step  by 
step,  with  the  fainting  Redeemer,  up  the  rug- 
ged sides  of  Calvary.  We  know  not  what 
words  of  love  and  of  strong  manly  sympathy 
he  may  have  poured  into  the  afflicted  ear  of 
Christ.  We  know  not  how  much  the  drooping 
humanity  of  our  Lord  may  have  been  strength- 
ened and  cheered  in  that  sad  hour  by  the 
presence  of  the  faithful  and  loving  John  I 
Have  you  ever  been  in  great  affliction,  my 
friends  ?      Has    sorrow    ever    come    upon    you 


596 


THE  GROUPINGS   OF  CALVARY. 


with  a  crushing  aud  an  overwhelming  weight  ? 
Have  you  ever  lacked  heart  and  power  in  great 
difficulty,  and  seen  no  escape  from  the  crush- 
ing weight  of  anxiety  that  was  breaking  your 
heart  ?  Do  you  not  know  what  it  is  to  have 
even  one  friend — one  friend  on  whom  you  can 
rely  with  perfect  and  implicit  confidence — one 
friend  who,  you  know,  believes  in  you  and 
loves  you,  and  whose  love  is  as  strong  as  his 
life  ?  One  friend  who,  you  know,  will  uphold 
you  even  though  the  whole  world  be  against 
you  ?  Such  was  the  comfort,  such  the  conso- 
lation that  it  was  the  Evangelist's  privilege 
to  pay  to  our  Lord  on  Calvary.  No  human 
prudence  of  argument  dissuaded  him.  He 
thought  it — and  he  thought  rightly — the  su- 
preme of  wisdom  to  defy,  to  despise,  and  to 
trample  upon  the  world,  when  that  world  was 
crucifying  his  Lord  and  Master.  Highest  type 
of  the  man,  saying  from  out  the  depths  of  his 
own  conscience,  "I  am  above  the  world!"  Let 
every  man  ask  himself  this  night,  and  answer 
the  question  to  his  own  soul :  "  Do  I  imitate 
the  purity,  do  I  imitate  the  love,  do  I  imitate 
the  courage  or  the  bravery  of  this  man,  of 
whom  it  is  said  that  he  was  '  the  disciple  whom 
Jesus  loved  ?  '  "  He  got  this  reward.  He  got 
this  reward  exceeding  great.  Ah,  how  little 
did  he  know — great  as  his  love  was — how  little 
did  he  know  the  gift  that  was  in  store  for 
him — and  that  should  be  given  him  by  his 
dying  Lord !  Little  did  he  know  of  the  crown- 
ing glory  that  was  reserved  to  him  at  the  foot 
of  the  Cross.  How  his  heart  must  have  throbbed 
within  him  with  the  liveliest  emotions  of  de- 
light, mingled  in  a  stormy  confusion  with  the 
greatness  of  his  sorrow,  when,  from  the  lips 
of  his  dj'ing  Alaster,  he  received  the  command  : 
"Son,  behold  thy  Mother!" — and  with  eyes 
dimmed  with  the  tears  of  anguish  and  of  love, 
did  he  cast  his  most  pure,  most  loving,  and 
most  reverential  glance  upon  the  forlorn  Mother 
of  the  d5nng  Son !  What  was  his  ecstasy 
when  he  heard  the  voice  of  the  dying  Master 
say  to  Mary:  "Oh,  mother,  look  to  John,  my 
brother,  my  lover,  my  friend !     Take  him  for 


thy  son  !  "  To  John  he  says  :  "  Son,  I  am 
going  away,  I  am  leaving  this  woman  the  most 
desolate  of  all  creatures  that  ever  walked  the 
earth.  True,  she  is  to  me  the  dearest  object 
in  heaven  or  on  earth.  Friend,  I  have  nothing 
that  I  love  so  much !  Friend,  there  is  no  one 
for  whom  I  have  so  much  love  as  I  have  for 
her !  And  to  you  do  I  leave  her !  Take  her 
as  your  mother.  Oh,  dearly  beloved ! "  John 
advanced  one  step — the  type  and  the  prototype 
of  the  new  man  redeemed  by  our  Lord — the 
man  whose  glory  it  was  to  be — that  he  was 
Mary's  Son !  He  advances  a  step  until  he 
comes  right  in  front  of  his  dying  Lord, 
and  he  approaches  Mary  the  Mother,  in 
the  midst  of  her  sorrow,  and  flings  him- 
self into  her  loving  arms.  And  the  newly- 
fond  son  embraces  his  heavenly  mother,  whilst 
from  the  crucified  Lord  the  drops  of  blood  fall 
down  upon  them  and  cement  the  union  be- 
tween his  Church  and  his  Holy  Mother,  in 
which  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  is  made 
perfect  by  completest  adoption  and  brotherhood 
with  the  Son  of  God. 

The  scene  at  Calvary  I  will  not  touch  upon, 
or  describe.  The  slowly  passing  minutes  of 
pain,  of  anguish,  and  of  agony  that  stretched 
out  these  three  terrible  hours  of  incessant  suf- 
fering— of  these  I  will  not  speak.  But,  when 
the  scene  was  over ;  when  the  Lord  of  Glory 
and  of  Love  sent  forth  his  last  cry,  when  the 
terrified  heart  of  the  Virgin  throbbed  with 
alarm  as  she  saw  the  centurion  draw  back  his 
terrible  lance  and  thrust  it  through  the  side  of 
her  Divine  Son  ;  when  all  this  was  over  and 
when  our  Lord  was  taken  down  from  the  Cross, 
and  his  body  placed  in  Mary's  arms — after  she 
had  washed  away  the  blood-stains  with  her 
tears — after  she  had  taken  ofiF  the  crown  of 
thorns  from  his  brow,  and  when  they  had  laid 
him  in  the  tomb — the  desolate  mother  put 
her  hands  into  those  of  her  newly-found  child, 
St.  John,  and  with  him  returned  to  Jerusalem. 
The  glorious  title  of  "  The  Child  of  Mary " 
was  now  his :  and  with  this  precious  gift  of 
the    dying    Redeemer    he    rejoiced    in    Mary's 


THE  GROUPINGS   OF   CALVARY. 


597 


society  and  in  Mary's  love.  The  Virgin  was 
then,  according  to  tradition,  in  her  forty-ninth 
year.  During  the  twelve  years  that  she  survived 
with  John,  she  was  mostly  in  Jerusalem,  whilst 
he  preached  in  Ephesus,  one  of  the  cities  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  founded  there  a  church,  and 
held  the  chair  as  its  first  Apostle  and  Bishop. 
He  founded  a  church  at  Philippi,  and  a  church 
at  Thessalonica,  and  many  of  the  churches  in 
Asia  Minor.  His  whole  life,  for  seventy  years 
after  the  death  of  his  Divine  Lord,  was  spent 
in  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  and  in  the 
establishing  of  the  Church.  But  for  twelve 
years  more  the  Virgin  Mother  was  with  him, 
in  his  house,  tenderly  surrounding  him  with 
every  comfort  that  her  care  could  supply.  Oh, 
think  of  the  raptures  of  this  household  1  Every 
glance  of  her  virginal  eyes  upon  him  reminded 
her  of  him  who  was  gone — for  John  was  like 
his  Divine  Master.  It  was  that  wonderful  resem- 
blance to  Christ  which  the  highest  form  of 
grace  brings  out  in  the  man.  Picture  to  your- 
selves, if  you  can,  that  life  at  Ephesus,  when 
the  Apostle,  worn  down  by  his  apostolic  preach- 
ing, fatigued  and  wearied  from  his  constantly 
proclaiming  the  victory  and  the  love  of  the 
Redeemer,  returned  to  the  house  and  sat  down, 
whilst  Mary  with  her  tender  hand  wiped  the 
sweat  from  his  brow,  and  these  two,  sitting  to- 
gether, spoke  of  the  Lord,  and  of  the  mysteries 
of  the  life  in  Nazareth ;  and  from  Mary's  lips 
he  heard  of  the  mysteries  of  the  thirty  years 
of  love  in  the  lowly  house  of  Nazareth,  and  of 
how  Joseph  had  died  and  Jesus  had  labored 
for  her  in  his  stead.  From  Mary's  lips  he  heard 
the  secrets — the  wonderful  secrets  of  her  Divine 
Son,    until,  filled  with    inspiration,  and    rising 


to  the  grandest  and  most  glorious  heights  of 
divinely  inspired  thought,  he  proclaimed  the 
Gospel  that  begins  with  the  wonderful  words, 
"  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,"  denoting 
and  pointing  back  to  the  eternity  of  the  Son 
of  God.  Picture  to  yourselves,  if  you  can, 
how  Mary  poured  out  to  John,  years  after  the 
death  of  our  Lord,  her  words  of  gratitude  for 
the  care  with  which  he  surrounded  her,  and  of 
all  her  gratitude  to  him  for  all  that  he  had  done 
in  consoling  and  upholding  her  Divine  Child  in 
the  hour  of  his  sorrow  !  Oh,  this  surpasses  all 
contemplation.  Next  to  that  mystery  of  Divine 
Love,  the  life  in  Nazareth  with  her  own  Child, 
comes  the  life  she  lives  in  Ephesus  with  her 
second,  her  adopted  son,  St.  John  the  Evangelist. 
He  passed  to  heaven,  first  amongst  the  virgins, 
says  St.  Peter  Damen, — first  in  glory  as  first  in 
love,  enshrined  to-day  in  the  brightest  light  that 
surrounds  the  virgin  choirs  of  heaven  !  Now, 
now  he  sings  the  songs  of  angelic  joy  and 
angelic  love  ;  and  he  leaves  to  you  and  to  me — 
as  he  stands,  and  as  we  contemplate  him  upon 
the  Hill  of  Calvary — the  grand  and  the  instruc- 
tive lesson  of  how  the  Christian  man  is  to  behave 
toward  his  Lord  and  his  God  ;  living  in  Christian 
purity — in  the  Christ-given  strength  of  Divine 
love — and  in  the  glorious  world-despising  as- 
sertion of  the  divinity  and  of  the  love  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  which,  trampling  under  foot  all  mere 
human  respect,  lives  and  glories  in  the  friend- 
ship of  God,  and  in  the  possession  of  his  holy 
faith  and  the  practice  of  his  holy  religion — not 
blushing  for  him  before  man  ;  and  thus  gaining 
the  reward  of  him  who  says :  "  And  he  that 
confesses  me  before  men,  the  same  will  I  con- 
fess before  my   Father  in  heaven." 


HRIST     ON     CALVARY. 


Significance  of  the  Dag  o?  Atonemerpt,  aipd  of 
our  Saviour's  Sorrow. 

Bg  Rev.  THOMAS  N-  BUJ^K;E,  O.  P. 


8El*8B^lJ(S8B* 


"  All  you  that  pass  this  way,  come  and  see,  if  there  be  any  sor- 
row like  unto  iny  sorrow." 

These  words  are  found  in  the  Lamentations 
of  the  prophet  Jeremiah.  There  was  a  festival, 
dearh'^  beloved  brethren,  ordained  by  the 
Almighty  God,  for  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh 
month  of  the  Jewish  year;  and  this  festival 
was  called  the  "  Day  of  Atonement."  Now, 
amongst  the  commandments  that  the  Almighty 
God  gave  concerning  the  "  Day  of  Atonement," 
there  was  this  remarkable  one  :  "  Every  soul," 
said  the  Lord,  "  that  shall  not  be  afflicted  on 
that  day,  shall  perish  from  out  the  land."  The 
commandment  that  he  gave  them  was  a  com- 
mandment of  sorrow,  because  it  was  the  day  of 
the  atonement.  The  day  of  the  Christian  atone- 
ment is  come — the  day  of  the  mighty  sacrifice 
b}'  which  the  world  was  redeemed.  And  if,  at 
other  seasons,  we  are  told  to  rejoice,  in  the 
words  of  the  Scripture,  "  rejoice  in  the  L)rd  ; 
I  say  to  you  again,  rejoice,"  to-day,  Avith  our 
holy  mother,  the  Church,  we  must  put  oflF  the 
garments  of  joy,  and  clothe  ourselves  in  the 
robes  of  sorrow.  And  now,  before  we  enter 
upon  the  consideration  of  the  terrible  sufferings 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ — all  that  he  endured 
for  our  salvation — it  is  uecessarj',  my  dearly 
beloved  brethren,  that  we  should  turn  our 
thoughts  to  the  victim  whom  we  contemplate 
this   night,  dying   for   our   sins.     That  victim 


was  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God.  When  the  Almighty  God,  after 
the  first  two  thousand  years  of  the  world's  his- 
tory, resolved  to  destroy  the  whole  race  of  man- 
kind, on  account  of  their  sins,  he  flooded  the 
earth ;  and,  in  that  universal  ruin,  he  wiped 
out  the  sin  by  destroying  the  sinners.  Now, 
in  that  early  hour  of  God's  first  terrible  visi- 
tation, the  water  that  overwhelmed  the  whole 
world,  and  destroyed  all  mankind,  came  from 
three  sources.  First  of  all,  we  are  told,  that 
God,  with  his  own  hand,  drew  back  the  bolts 
of  heaven,  and  rained  down  water  from  heaven 
upon  the  earth.  Secondly,  we  are  told,  that  all 
the  secret  springs  and  fountains  that  were  in 
the  bosom  of  the  earth  itself,  burst  and  came 
forth — "  the  fountains  of  the  great  abyss  burst 
forth,"  says  Holy  Writ.  Thirdly,  we  are  told, 
that  the  great  ocean  itself  overflowed  its  shores 
and  its  banks,  and  the  sea  uprose  until  the 
waters  covered  the  mountain-tops.  In  like 
manner,  dearl}?^  beloved  brethren,  in  the  inunda- 
tion, the  deluge  of  suffering  and  sorrow  that 
came  upon  the  Son  of  God,  made  man,  we  find 
that  the  flood  burst  forth  from  three  distinct 
sources.  First  of  all,  from  heaven,  the  Eternal 
Father  sending  down  the  merciless  hand  of 
justice,  to  strike  his  own  Divine  Son.  Secondly, 
from  Christ  our  Lord  himself  As  from  the 
hidden    fountains    of  the    earth,  sending   forth 


(598) 


CHRIST   ON   CALVARY. 


599 


their  springs,  so,  from  amid  the  very  heart  and 
soul  of  Jesus  Christ — from  the  very  nature  of 
his  being — do  we  gather  the  greatness  of  his 
suflFering.  Thirdly,  from  the  sea  rising — that 
is  to  say,  from  the  malice  and  wickedness  of 
man.  Behold,  then,  the  three  several  sources 
of  all  the  sufferings  that  we  are  about  to  con- 
template. A  just  and  angry  God  in  heaven; 
a  most  pure  and  holy  and  loving  Man-God 
upon  earth,  having  to  endure  all  that  hell 
could  produce  of  most  wicked  and  most  demo- 
niac rage  against  him.  God's  justice  rose  up — 
for,  remember,  God  was  angry  on  this  Good 
Frida}'^ — the  Eternal  Father  rose  up  in  heaven, 
in  all  his  power — he  rose  up  in  all  his  justice. 
Before  him  was  a  victim  for  all  the  sins  that 
ever  had  been  committed ;  before  him  was  the 
victim  of  a  fallen  race ;  before  him,  in  the  very 
person  of  Jesus  Christ  himself,  were  represented 
the  accumulated  sins  of  all  the  race  of  man- 
kind. Hitherto,  we  read  in  the  Gospel,  that, 
when  the  Father  from  heaven  looked  down 
upon  his  own  Divine  Child  upon  the  earth, 
he  was  accustomed  to  send  forth  his  voice  in 
such  language  as  this :  "  This  is  my  beloved 
Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."  Hitherto,  no 
sin,  no  deformity,  no  vileness  was  there,  but 
the  beauty  of  heaven  itself  in  that  fairest  form 
of  human  body — in  that  beautiful  soul,  and  in 
the  fullness  of  the  divinity  that  dwelt  in  Jesus 
Christ.  Well  might  the  Father  exclaim  :  "  This 
is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased  I" 
But,  to-day — oh,  to-day !  the  sight  of  the 
beloved  Son  excites  no  pleasure  in  the  Father's 
eyes,  brings  forth  no  word  of  consolation  or  of 
love  from  the  Father's  lips.  And  why  ?  Because 
the  all-holy  and  all-beloved  Son  of  God,  on 
this  Good  Friday,  took  upon  him  the  garment 
of  our  sins — of  all  that  his  Father  detested 
upon  this  earth ;  all  that  ever  raised  the  quick 
anger  of  the  Eternal  God ;  all  that  ever  made 
him  put  forth  his  arm,  strong  in  judgment  and 
in  vengeance — all  this  is  concentrated  upon  the 
sacred  person  of  him  who  became  the  victim 
for  the  sins  of  men.  How  fair  he  seems  to  us, 
when  we   look    up  to    that    beautiful   figure  of 


Jesus — how  fair  he  seemed  to  his  Virgin  Mother, 
even  when  no  beauty  or  comeliness  was  left 
in  him — how  fair  he  seemed  to  the  Magdalen, 
again,  who  saw  him  robed  in  his  own  crimson 
blood.  The  Father  in  heaven  saw  no  beauty, 
no  fairness  in  his  Divine  Son,  in  that  hour; 
he  only  saw  in  him  and  on  him  all  the  sins 
of  mankind,  which  he  took  upon  himself  that 
he  might  become  for  us  a  Saviour.  Picture  to 
yourselves,  therefore,  first,  this  mighty  fountain 
of  Divine  wrath  that  was  poured  out  upon  the 
Lord !  It  was  the  Father's  hand — the  hand  of 
the  Father's  justice — outstretched  to  assert  his 
rights,  to  restore  to  himself  the  honor  and  the 
glory  of  which  the  sins  of  all  men,  in  all  ages, 
in  all  climes,  had  deprived  him.  Picture  to 
yourselves  that  terrible  hand  of  God  drawing 
back  the  bolts  of  heaven,  and  letting  out  on  his 
own  Divine  Son  the  fury  of  this  wrath  that 
was  pent  up  for  four  thousand  years !  We 
stand  stricken  with  fear  in  the  contemplation 
of  the  anger  of  God,  in  the  first  great  punish- 
ment of  sin,  the  universal  deluge.  All  the 
sins  that  in  every  age  roused  the  Father's 
anger  were  actually  visible  to  the  Father's  eyes 
on  the  person  of  his  Divine  Son.  We  stand 
astonished  and  frightened  when  we  see,  with 
the  eyes  of  faith  and  of  revelation,  the  living 
fire  descending  from  heaven  upon  Sodom  and 
Gomorrha ;  the  balls  of  fire  floating  in  the  air, 
thick  as  the  descending  flakes  in  the  snowstorm ; 
the  hissing  of  the  flames  as  they  came  rushing 
down  from  heaven,  like  the  hail  that  comes 
down  in  the  hailstorm ;  the  roaring  of  these 
flames,  as  they  filled  the  atmosphere ;  the 
terrible,  lurid  light  of  them ;  the  shrieks  of 
the  people,  who  are  being  burned  up  alive ;  the 
lowing  of  the  tortured  beasts  in  the  fields ;  the 
birds  of  the  air  falling,  and  sending  forth  their 
plaintive  voices,  as  they  fall  to  earth,  their 
plumage  scorched  and  burned.  All  the  sins 
that  Almighty  God,  in  heaven,  saw  in  that 
hour  of  his  wrath,  when  he  rained  down  fire — 
all  these  did  he  see,  on  this  Good  Friday  morn- 
ing, upon  his  own  Divine  and  adorable  Son. 
All    the    sins    that   ever  man    committed  were 


6oo 


CHRIST  ON    CALVARY. 


upon  him,  in  the  hour  of  his  humiliation  and 
.  of  his  agonj',  because  he  was  trul}'  man ; 
because  he  was  a  voluntar}'  victim  for 
our  sins ;  because  he  stepped  in  between  our 
nature,  that  was  to  be  destroyed,  and  the 
avenging  hand  of  the  Father,  lifted  for  our 
destruction ;  and  these  sins  upon  him  became 
an  argument  to  make  the  Almighty  God  in 
heaven  forget,  in  that  hour,  every  attribute  of 
his  mercy,  and  put  forth  against  his  Son  all  the 
omnipotence  of  his  justice.  Consider  it  well ;  let 
it  enter  into  your  minds,  the  strokes  of  the 
Divine  vengeance  that  would  have  ruined  you 
and  me,  and  sunk  us  into  hell  for  all  eternity, 
were  rained  by  the  unsparing  hand  of  omnipo- 
tence, in  that  hour,  upon  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  second  fountain  and  source  from  which 
came  forth  the  deluge  of  his  sorrow  and  his  suf- 
fering, was  his  own  Divine  heart,  and  his  own 
immaculate  nature.  For,  i-emember,  he  was  as 
truly  man  as  he  was  God.  From  the  moment 
Mary  received  the  Eternal  Word  into  her  womb, 
from  that  moment  Christ,  the  Second  Person  of 
the  Blessed  Trinity,  was  as  truly  man  as  he  was 
God ;  and  in  that  hour  of  his  Incarnation,  a 
human  body  and  a  human  soul  were  created 
for  him.  Now,  first  of  all,  that  human  soul 
that  he  took  was  the  purest  and  most  per- 
fect that  God  could  make — perfect  in  every 
natural  perfection — in  the  quickness  and  compre- 
hensiveness of  its  intelligence — in  the  large 
capacity  for  love  in  its  human  heart — in  the 
g^eat  depth  of  its  generosity  and  exalted 
human  spirit.  Nay,  more,  the  very  body  in 
which  that  blessed  soul  was  enshrined  was  so 
formed  that  it  was  the  most  perfect  body  that 
was  ever  given  to  man.  Now,  the  perfection 
of  the  body  in  man  lies  in  a  delicate 
organization — in  the  extreme  delicacy  of 
fabric,  muscle,  and  nerve ;  because  they 
make  it  a  fitting  instrument  in  order  that 
the  soul  within  may  inspire  it.  The  more 
perfect,  therefore,  the  human  being  is,  the  more 
sensitive  is  he  to  shame,  the  more  deeply  does 
he  feel  degradation,  the  more  quickly  do  dis- 
honor and  humiliation,  like  a  two-edged  sword, 


pierce  the  spirit.  Nay,  the  more  sensitive  he 
is  to  pain,  the  more  does  he  shrink  away 
naturally  from  that  which  causes  pain ;  and 
that  which  would  be  pain  to  a  grosser  organi- 
zation is  actual  agony,  is  actual  torment,  to 
the  perfect  man,  formed  with  such  a  soul  that 
at  the  very  touch  of  his  body  the  sensitive 
soul  is  made  cognizant  of  pleasure  and  of  pain, 
of  joy  and  of  sorrow.  What  follows  from  this  ? 
St.  Bouaventure,  in  his  "  lyife  of  Christ,"  tells 
us  that  so  delicate  was  the  sacred  and  most  perfect 
body  of  our  Lord,  that  even  the  palm  of  his 
hand  or  the  sole  of  his  foot  was  more  sensi- 
tive than  the  inner  pupil  of  the  eye  of  any 
ordinary  man ;  that  even  the  least  touch  caused 
him  pain ;  that  every  ruder  air  that  visited  that 
Divine  face  brought  to  him  a  sense  of  exqui- 
site pain  that  ordinary  men  could  scarcely 
experience.  Add  to  this  that  in  him  was  the 
fullness  of  the  Godhead,  realizing  all  that  was 
beautiful  on  earth ;  realizing,  with  infinite  ca- 
pacity, the  enormity  of  sin  ;  realizing  every  evil 
that  ever  fell  upon  nature  in  making  it  acces- 
sible to  sin  ;  and,  above  all,  taking  in,  to  the 
full  extent  of  its  eternal  duration,  the  curse, 
the  reprobation,  and  damnation  that  falls  upon 
the  wicked — oh,  how  many  sources  of  sorrow 
are  here?  Here  is  the  heart  of  the  man — 
Jesus  Christ — here  is  the  fullness  of  the  infi- 
nite sanctity  of  God — here,  the  infinite  horror 
that  God  has  for  sin.  For  this  man  is  God ! 
Here,  therefore,  is  at  once  the  indignation,  the 
infinite  repugnance,  the  actual  sense  of  horror 
and  detestation  which,  amounting  to  an  infinite, 
passionate  repugnance,  absorbed  the  whole 
nature  of  Jesus  Christ  in  one  act  of  violence 
against  that  which  is  come  upon  him.  Now, 
every  single  sin  committed  in  this  world  comes 
and  actually  effects,  as  it  were,  its  lodgment  in 
the  soul  and  spirit  of  Jesus.  At  other  times, 
he  may  rest,  as  he  did  rest,  in  the  Virgin's 
arms — for  she  was  sinless ;  at  other  times  he 
may  allow  sin  and  the  sinner  to  come  to  his 
feet  and  touch  him ;  but  by  that  very  touch, 
she  was  made  as  pure  as  an  angel  of  God. 
But    to-day,    this     infinitely    holy     heart — this 


CHRIST   ON   CALVARY. 


6oi 


infinitely  tender  heart,  must  open  itself  to  re- 
ceive— no    longer   simply  to  purify,  but  to  as- 
sume and  atone  for  all  the  sins  of  the  world. 
The  third  great  source  of  his  suffering  was 
the  rage    and    the    malice  of  men.     They  tore 
that  sacred  body ;  they  forgot  every  instinct  of 
humanity;    they    forgot    every    dictate,    every 
ordinance  of  the  old  law,  to  lend  to  their  out- 
rages all  the  fury  of  hell,  when  they  fell  upon 
him,  as  'ftie  Scripture  says,  "  like  hungry  dogs 
of  chase  upon  their  prey."     He  is  now  approach- 
ing the  last    sad    day  of  his   existence  ;    he  is 
now  about  to  close  his  life  in  sufferings  which 
I    shall    endeavor  to    put    before    you.      But, 
remember,  that  this  Good  Friday,  with  all    its 
terrors,  is  but  the  end  of  a   life  of  thirty-three 
years    of   agony  and   of  suffering!     From   the 
moment   when   the    Word    was    made    flesh  in 
Mary's    womb,    from    the   moment    when    the 
Eternal  God  became  man,  even    before  he  was 
born,  the  cross,  the  thorny  crown,  and  all  the 
horrors  that  were  accomplished  on  Calvary  were 
steadily  before  the  eyes  of  Jesus.     The   Infant 
in  Bethlehem  saw  them  ;  the  Child  in  Nazareth 
saw  them;  the  Young  Man,  toiling  to  support 
his  mother,    saw   them;    the    Preacher    on  the 
mountain-side  beheld  them.     Never,  for  a  single 
instant,  were  the  horrors  that  were  fulfilled  on 
Good    Friday  morning    absent    from    the  mind 
or    the    contemplation    of  Jesus    Christ.      Oh, 
dearly  beloved  brethren,  well   did  the  Psalmist 
say  of  him,  "  My  grief  and  my  sorrow  is  always 
before  me ;"    well  the  Psalmist  said,  "  I   have, 
during   my    whole    life,    walked    in    sorrow;    I 
was  scourged  the  whole  day !"     That  day  was 
the  thirty-three  years  of  his  mortal  life.     Pic- 
ture to  yourselves  what  that  life  of  grief  must 
have  been.     There  was    the    Almighty  God  in 
the  midst  of   men,  hearing    their  blasphemies, 
beholding   their    infamous    actions,    fixing    his 
all-pure    and    all-holy  eyes    on  their  licentious- 
ness, their    ambition,    their    avarice,    their   dis- 
honesty,   their    impurity.     And    so    the    very 
presence    of  those   he   came    to  redeem  was   a 
constant  source  of  grief  to  Jesus  Christ.     More- 
over,   he   knew    well    that    he   came   into    the 


world  to  suffer,  and  only  to  suffer.  Every 
other  being  created  into  this  world  was  created 
for  some  joy  or  other.  There  is  not,  even  in 
hell,  a  creature  whom  Almighty  God  intended, 
in  creating,  for  a  life  and  an  eternity  of  misery ; 
if  they  are  there,  they  are  there  by  their  own 
act,  not  by  the  act  of  God.  Not  so  with  Christ. 
His  sacred  body  was  formed  for  the  express 
and  sole  purpose  that  it  might  be  the  victim 
for  the  sins  of  man,  and  the  sacrifice  for 
the  world's  redemption.  "  Sacrifice  and  obla- 
tion," he  said,  "thou  wouldst  not,  O  God: 
but  thou  hast  prepared  a  body  for  me." 
"Coming  into  the  world,"  says  St.  Paul,  "he 
proclaimed,  '  for  this  I  am  come,  that  I  may  do 
thy  will,  O  Father.' "  The  Father's  will  was 
that  he  should  suffer;  and  for  this  was  he  cre- 
ated. Therefore,  as  he  was  made  for  suffering, 
as  that  body  was  given  to  him  for  no  purpose 
of  joy,  but  only  of  suffering,  expiation,  and  of 
sorrow,  therefore,  it  was  that  God  made  him 
capable  of  a  sorrow  equal  to  the  remission  he 
was  about  to  grant.     That  was  infinite  sorrow. 

And  now,  dearly  beloved,  having  considered 
these  things,  we  come  to  contemplate  that  which 
was  always  before  the  mind  of  Christ — that 
from  which  he  knew  there  was  no  escape — that 
which  was  before  him  really,  not  as  the  future 
is  before  us,  when  we  anticipate  it  and  fear  it, 
but  it  comes  indistinctly  and  confusedly  before 
the  mind ;  not  so  with  Christ :  every  single 
detail  of  his  Passion,  every  sorrow  that  was  to 
fall  upon  him,  every  indignity  that  was  to  be 
put  upon  his  body — all,  in  the  full  clearness 
of  their  details,  were  before  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  the  thirty-three  years  of 
his  life. 

As  the  sun  was  sloping  down  towards  the 
western  horizon  on  the  evening  of  the  vigil  of 
the  Pasch,  behold  our  Divine  Lord  with  his 
Apostles  around  him;  and  there,  seated  in  the 
midst  of  them,  he  fulfilled  the  last  precept  of 
the  law,  in  eating  the  Paschal  lamb ;  and  (as  we 
saw  last  evening)  he  then  changed  the  bread 
and  wine  into  his  own  body  and  blood,  and  fed 
his  Apostles  with    that  of  which   the   Paschal 


6o2 


CHRIST  ON  CALVARY. 


lamb  was  but  a  figure  and  a  pi'omise.  Now,  tbey 
are  about  to  separate  in  this  world.  Now,  tbe 
greatest  act  of  the  charity  of  God  has  been 
performed.  Now,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  liv- 
ing and  palpitating  in  the  heart  of  each  and 
every  one  of  these  twelve.  Now — horror  of 
horrors! — he  is  gone  into  the  heart  of  Judas! 
Arising  from  the  table,  our  Lord  took  with  him 
Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  and  he  turned 
calmly  and  deliberately  to  enter  the  Red  Sea 
of  his  Passion,  and  to  wade  through  his  own 
blood,  until  he  landed  upon  the  opposite  shore 
of  pardon  and  mercy  and  g^ace,  and  brought 
with  him,  in  his  own  sacred  humanity,  the 
whole  human  race.  Calmly,  deliberately,  tak- 
ing his  three  friends  with  him,  he  went  out 
from  the  supper-hall,  as  the  shades  of  evening 
were  deepening  into  night,  and  he  walked  out- 
side the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  where  there  was  a 
garden  full  of  olive  trees,  that  was  called  Geth- 
semane.  The  Lord  Jesus  was  accustomed  to 
go  there  to  pray.  Many  an  evening  had  he 
knelt  within  those  groves ;  many  a  night  had 
he  spent  under  the  shade  of  these  trees,  filling 
the  silent  place  with  the  voice  of  his  cries  and 
prayer,  before  the  Lord,  his  Father,  to  obtain 
pardon  and  mercy  for  mankind.  Now,  he  goes 
there,  now,  for  the  last  time ;  and  as  he  is 
approaching — as  soon  as  ever  he  catches  sight 
of  the  garden — as  soon  as  the  familiar  olives 
present  themselves  to  his  eyes,  he  sees — what 
Peter,  and  James,  and  John  did  not  see — he 
sees  there,  in  that  dark  garden,  the  mighty 
array,  the  mighty,  tremendous  array  of  all  the 
sins  that  ever  were  committed  in  this  world,  as 
rf  they  had  taken  the  bodily  form  of  demons 
of  hell.  There  they  were  now,  waiting  silently, 
fearfully,  with  eyes  glaring  with  infernal  rage ; 
and  he  saw  them.  And  amongst  them  was  he, 
the  Lord  God,  to  go?  Amongst  them  must  he 
go?  No  wonder  that  the  moment  he  caught 
sight  of  that  garden,  he  started  back,  and  turn- 
ing to  the  three  Apostles,  he  said:  "Stand  by 
me  now,  for  my  soul  is  sorrowful  unto  death." 
And,  leaning  upon  the  virgin  bosom  of  John,  who 
was  astonished  at  this  sudden  and  awful  trial  of 


ng  them, 
mmouing 


his  Master,  he  murmured  unto  him,  "My  soul 
is  sorrowful  unto  death!  Stand  by  me,"  he -says, 
"and  watch  with  me,  and  pray!  The  man — the 
man,  proving  his  humanity,  which  belonged  to 
him  as  truly  as  his  divinity ;  the  man,  turning 
to  and  clinging  to  his  friends,  gathering  them 
around  him  at  that  terrible  moni«|t  when  he 
was  about  to  face  his  enemies,  h^^Ks,  "Stand 
by  me!  stand  by  me!  and  support iH^nd  watch 
and  pray  with  me!"  And  then,  W 
alone  he  enters  the  gloomy  place, 
all  the  courage  of  God,  summoning  to  his  aid  all 
the  infinite  resources  of  his  love,  summoning  the 
great  thought  that  if  he  was  about  to  be  destroyed, 
mankind  was  to  be  saved,  he  dashes  fearlessly 
into  the  depths  of  Gethsemane;  and  when  he 
was  as  far  from  his  Apostles  as  a  man  could 
throw  a  stone,  there,  in  the  dark  depths  of  the 
forest,  the  Lord  Jesus  knelt  down  and  prayed. 
What  was  his  prayer?  Oh,  that  army  of  sins 
was  closing  around  him  1  Oh,  the  breath  of  hell 
was  on  his  face!  There  did  he  see  the  busy 
demons  marshaling  their  forces — drawing  closer 
and  closer  to  him  all  the  iniquities  of  men. 
"Oh,  Father!"  he  cries— "Oh,  Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  chalice  pass  away  from  me!" 
But  he  immediately  added,  "  Not  my  will  but 
Thine  be  done ! "  Then  turning — for  the 
Father's  will  was  indicated  to  him  in  the  voice 
from  heaven,  with  the  first  tone  of  anger  upon 
it,  the  first  word  of  anger  that  Jesus  ever  heard 
from  his  Father's  lips,  saying:  "It  is  my  will 
to  strike  thee!  Go!"  He  turned;  he  bared 
his  innocent  bosom ;  he  put  out  his  sinless 
hands,  and,  turning  to  all.  the  powers  of  hell, 
allowed  the  ocean- wave  of  sin  to  flow  in  upon 
him  and  overwhelm  him.  The  lusts  and  wick- 
edness of  men  before  the  flood,  the  impurities 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  the  idolatries  of  the 
nations,  the  ingratitude  of  Israel — all  the  sins 
that  ever  appeared  under  the  eyes  of  God's 
anger — all — all ! — like  the  waves  of  the  ocean, 
coming  in  and  falling  upon  a  solitary  man 
who  kneels  alone  on  the  shore — all  fell  upon 
Jesus  Christ.  He  looks  upon  himself,  and  he 
scarcely  recognizes  himself  now.     Are  these  the 


CHRIST   ON    CALVARY. 


605 


hands  of  the  Son  of  God,  scarcely  daring  to 
uplift  themselves  in  prayer,  for  they  are  red 
with  ten  thousand  deeds  of  blood  ?  Is  this  the 
heart  of  Jesus,  frozen  up  with  unbelief,  as  if 
he  felt  what  he  could  not  feel — that  he  was 
the  personal  enemy  of  God  ?  Is  this  the  sacred 
soul  of  Jesus  Christ,  darkened  for  the  moment 
with  the*eriprs  and  the  adulteries  of  the  whole 
world  ?  ^»*lhe  halls  of  his  memory  nothing 
but  the«^ideous  figures  of  sin ! — desolation, 
broken  hearts,  weeping  eyes,  cries  of  despair, 
dire  blasphemies  ; — these  are  the  things  he  sees 
within  himself ;  that  he  hears  in  his  ears  !  It 
is  a  world  of  sin  around  him.  It  is  a  raging 
of  demons  about  him.  It  is  as  if  sin  entered 
into  his  blood.  Oh,  God  !  he  bears  it  as  long 
as  a  suffering  man  can  bear.  But,  at  length, 
from  out  the  depths  of  his  most  sacred  heart — 
from  out  the  very  divinity  that  was  in  him — the 
fountains  of  the  great  deep  were  moved,  and 
forth  came  a  rush  of  blood  from  every  pore. 
His  eyes  can  no  longer  dwell  on  the  terrible 
vision.  He  can  no  longer  look  upon  these  red 
scenes  of  blood  and  impurit3^  A  weakness 
comes  mercifully  to  his  relief.  He  gazes  upon 
the  fate  that  God  has  put  upon  him ;  and  then 
he  falls  to  the  earth,  writhing  in  his  agony ; 
and  forth  from  every  pore  of  his  sacred  frame 
streams  the  blood !  Behold  him !  Behold  the 
blood  as  it  oozes  out  through  his  garments, 
making  them  red  as  those  of  a  man  who  has 
trodden  in  the  wine-press  !  Behold  him,  as  his 
agonizing  face  lies  prone  upon  the  earth  !  Be- 
hold him,  as,  in  the  hour  of  that  terrible  agony, 
his  blood  reddens  •  the  soil  of  Gethsemane  I 
Behold  him,  as  he  writhes  on  the  ground — one 
mass  of  streaming  blood — sweating  blood  from 
head  to  foot — crying  out  in  his  agony  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world !  A  mountain  of  the 
anger  of  God  is  upon  him.  Behold  him  in 
Gethsemane,  O  Christian  man !  Kneel  down 
by  his  side  I  Lie  down  on  that  blood-stained 
earth,  and  for  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  whisper 
one  word  of  consolation  to  him  !  For,  remem- 
ber that  you  and  I  were  there — were  there, 
and    he    saw  us — even  as    he  sees  us    in    this 


hour,  gathered  under  the  roof  of  this  church. 
He  saw  us  there  in  our  quality  of  sinners,  with 
every  sin  that  ever  we  committed — as  if  it  were 
a  stone  in  our  uplifted  hand  flung  down  upon 
his  defenceless  form !  When  Acan  was  con- 
victed of  a  crime,  Joshua  gave  word  that  every 
man  of  the  Jewish  nation  should  take  a  stone 
in  his  hand,  and  fling  it  at  him ;  and  all  the 
people  of  Israel  came  and  flung  them  upon 
him,  and  put  him  to  death.  So  every  son  of  man 
from  Adam  down  to  the  last  that  was  born  on 
this  earth — every  son  of  man — every  human 
being  that  breathed  the  breath  of  God's  crea- 
tion in  this  world,  was  there,  in  that  hour,  to 
fling  his  sins,  and  let  them  fall  down  upon  Jesus 
Christ.  All,  all — save  one.  There  was  one 
whose  hand  was  not  lifted  against  him.  There 
was  one  who,  if  she  had  been  there,  could  be 
only  there  to  help  him  and  to  console  him.  But 
no  help,  no  consolation  in  that  hour !  There- 
fore, Mary,  the  only  sinless  one,  was  absent.  He 
rises  after  an  hour.  No  scourge  has  been  yet 
laid  upon  that  sacred  body.  No  executioner's 
hand  has  profaned  him  as  yet.  No  nail  had 
been  driven  through  his  hands.  And  yet  the 
blood  covered  his  body — for  his  Passion  began 
from  that  source  to  which  I  have  alluded — his 
own  Divine  spirit !  His  Passion — his  pain — 
began  from  within.*  He  rises  from  the  earth. 
What  is  this  which  we  hear?  There  is  a  sound,, 
as  of  the  voices  of  a  rabble.  There  are  hoarse 
voices  filling  the  night.  There  are  men  with 
clubs  in  their  hands,  and  lanterns  lighted.  They 
come  with  fire  and  fury  in  their  eyes,  and  the 
universal  voice  is,  "Where  is  he?  Where  is 
he  ?  "  Ah,  there  is  one  at  the  head  of  them  !  You 
hearhis  voice.  "  Come  cautiously !  I  see  him.  I 
will  point  him  out  to  yovi  I  There  are  four  of 
them.  There  He  is,  with  three  of  his  friends. 
When  you  see  me  take  a  man  in  my  arms  and 
kiss  him,  he  is  the  man  I  Lay  hold  of  him  at 
once,  and  drag  him  away  with  you,  and  do  what 
you  please!"  Who  is  he  that  says  this?  Who 
are  they  that  come  like  hell-hounds,  thirsting 

*  Vide  Nnvman,  "  Mental  Sufferings  of  Our  Lord   in  His  Paa- 


6o4 


CHRIST   ON   CALVARY. 


for  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  ?     That  come  with 
the   rage  of  hell  in  their  blood,  and   in  their 
mouths?     They  are  come  to  take  him  and  to 
tear   him   to   pieces!     Who   is   this   that  leads 
them  on  ?     Oh,  friends  I     Oh,  friends  and  men  ! 
it  is  Judas,  the  Apostle !   Judas,  who  spent  three 
years  in  the  society  of  Jesus  Christ!     Judas,  that 
was  taught  by  him  every  lesson  of  piety  and  vir- 
tue,  by   word   and   by   example.      Judas,   who 
received  the  priesthood.   Judas,  upon  whose  lips, 
even  now,  blushes  the  sacred  blood  received  in 
Holy  Communion!     Oh,  it  is  Judas!     And  he 
has  come  to  give  up  his   Master,  whom  he  has 
sold  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  He  went,  after  his 
unworthy  communion,  to  the  Pharisees,  and  he 
said:  "What  will  you  give  me,  and  I  will  sell, 
betray  to  you? — give  him   up?"     He  put    no 
price  upon  Jesus.     He  thought  so  little  of  his 
Master  that  he  was  prepared  to  take  anything 
they  would  offer.     They  offered  him  thirty  small 
pieces  of  silver ;  and  he  clutched  at  the  money. 
He  thought  it  was  a  g^eat  deal,  and  more  than 
Jesus   Christ  was  worth !      Now   he   comes    to 
fulfill  his  portion  of  the  contract,  and  he  points 
the  Lord  out  by  going  up  to  him,  putting  his 
traitor  lips  upon  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
stamping  upon  that  face  the   kiss  of  a   false- 
hearted,   a  wicked    and    a   traitorous    follower. 
Behold  him  now.     The  Son  of  God  sees  him 
approach.     He  opens  his  arms  to  him.    Judas 
flings  himself  in  his  Master's  arms,  and  he  hears 
the  gentle  reproach — Oh,  last  proof  of  love ! — Oh, 
last  opportunity  to  him  to  repent — even  in  this 
hour! — "Judas,  is  it  with  a  kiss  thou  betrayest 
the  Son  of  Man  ?  " 

Now,  the  multitude  rushes  in  upon  him  and 
seizes  him.  We  have  a  supplement  to  the  Gos- 
pel narrative  in  the  revelations  of  many  of  the 
Saints  and  of  holy  souls,  who,  in  reward  for  their 
extraordinary  devotion  to  the  Passion  of  our 
Lord,  were  favored  with  a  closer  sight  of  his  suf- 
ferings. Now,  we  are  told  by  one  of  these, 
whose  revelations,  though  not  yet  approved,  are 
tolerated  by  the  Church,  that  when  our  Divine 
Lord  gave  himself  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies, 
they  bound  his  sacred  arms  with  a  rope,  and 


rushed   toward   the    city,    dragging  along  with 
them,    forcibly    and    violently,    the     exhausted 
Redeemer.     Exhausted,  I  say,  for  his  soul  had 
just  passed  through  the  agony  of   his  prayer, 
and  his  body  was  still  dripping  with  the  sweat 
of   blood.     Between    that    spot    and   Jerusalem 
flowed   the   little   stream  called    the    Brook  of 
Kedron.     When  they  came  to  that  little  stream 
our   Saviour   stumbled,  and   fell   over  a   stone. 
They,    without    waiting    to   give   hi^   time   to 
rise,  pulled  and  dragged  him  on  with  all  their 
might.     They    literally    dragged   him    through 
the  water,  wounding  and  bruising  his  body  by 
contact  with  the  rocks  that  were  in  the  river's 
bed.     It   was    night   when    they   brought   him 
into  Jerusalem.     That  night  a  cohort  of  Roman 
soldiers  formed  the  body-guard  of  Pilate.     They 
were  called  archers ;    men  of  the  most  corrupt 
and   terrible  vices ;    men  without   faith  in  God 
or  man;  men  whose  every  word  was  either  a 
blasphemy  or  an  impirrity.      These  men,  who 
were  only  anxious  for  amusement,  when  they 
found  the  prisoner  dragged  into  Jerusalem   at 
that  hour,  took  possession  of  him  for  the  night, 
and  they  brought  him  to  their  quarters ;  and 
there  the  Redeemer  was  put,  sitting  in  the  midst 
of  them.     During  the  whole  of  that  long  night, 
between  Holy  Thursday  and  Good  Friday  morn- 
ing, the  soldiers  remained  sleepless,  employed  in 
loud    revel,   in    their   derision   and    torture  of 
the  Son  of  God.     They  struck  him  on  the  head. 
They  spat  upon  him.     They  hustled  him  with 
scorn  from  one  to  another.     They  bruised  him. 
They  wounded  him  in  every  conceivable  form. 
Here,  silent  as  a  lamb  before  the  shearer,  was 
the  Eternal  Son  of  God,  looking  out,  with  eyes 
of  infinite  knowledge  and  purity,  upon  the  very 
vilest  of  men  that  all  the  iniquity  of  this  earth 
could  bring  around  him. 

He  was  brought  before  the  high-priest.  He 
was  asked  to  answer.  The  moment  the  Son  of 
of  God  opened  his  lips  to  speak,  the  moment  he 
attempted  to  testify,  a  brawny  soldier  came  out 
of  the  ranks,  stepped  before  our  Divine  Lord, 
and  saying  to  him,  "  Answerest  thou  the  high- 
priest    thus?"  drew  back  his  clenched,  mailed 


CHRIST   ON    CALVARY. 


605 


hand,  with  the  full  force  of  a  strong  man,  fling- 
ing himself  forward,  struck  Almighty  God 
in  the  face!  The  Saviour  reeled,  stunned  by 
the  blow.  The  morning  came.  Now  he  is 
led  before  Pilate,  the  Roman  governor,  who 
alone  has  power  to  sentence  him  to  death, 
if  he  be  guilty ;  and  who  has  the  obligation 
to  protect  him  and  to  set  him  at  liberty,  if  he 
be  innocent.  The  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees 
were  there,  the  leaders  of  the  people ;  and  the 
rabble  of  Jerusalem  was  with  them  ;  and  in  the 
midst  of  them  was  the  silent,  innocent  victim, 
who  knew  that  the  sad  and  terrible  hour  of 
his  crucifixion  was  upon  him.  Brought  before 
Pilate,  he  is  accused  of  this  crime  and  that. 
Witnesses  are  called;  and  the  moment  they 
come — the  moment  they  look  upon  the  face  of 
God — they  are  unable  to  give  testimony  against 
him.  They  could  say  nothing  that  proved  him 
guilty  of  any  crime :  and  Pilate,  enraged, 
turned  to  the  Pharisees,  and  said :  "  What  do 
you  bring  this  man  here  for?  Why  is  he 
bound  ?  Why  is  he  bruised  and  maltreated  ? 
What  has  he  done  ?  I  find  no  crime,  or 
shadow  of  a  crime  in  him."  He  is  not  only 
innocent,  but  the  judge  declares  before  all  the 
people,  that  the  man  has  done  nothing  what- 
ever to  deserve  any  punishment,  much  less 
death.  How  is  this  sentence  received?  The 
Pharisees  are  busy  amongst  the  people,  whis- 
pering their  calumnies,  and  prompting  them 
to  cry  out,  and  say :  "  Crucify  him  1  Crucify 
him!  We  want  to  have  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
crucified  I  We  want  to  do  it  early,  because 
the  evening  will  come  and  bring  the  Sabbath 
with  it !  We  want  to  have  his  blood  shed ! 
Quick  !  Quick  !  Tell  Pilate  he  must  condemn 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  or  else  he  is  no  friend  to 
Caesar !  "  The  people  cry  out :  "  Let  him  be 
crucified!  If  you  let  him  go  you  are  no 
friend  of  Caesar !  "  What  says  Pilate  ? 
"  Crucify  your  King  I  He  calls  himself  '  King 
of  the  Jews.'  You,  yourselves,  wished  to  make 
him  your  King,  and  you  honored  him.  Am  I 
to  crucify  him  whom  you  would  have  for 
King  ?     Am  I  to   crucify  your  King  ?  "     And 


then — then,  in  an  awful  moment,  Israel  declared 
solemnly  that  God  was  no  longer  her  King; 
for  the  people  cried  out :  *'  He  is  not  our 
King !  We  have  no  King  but  Caesar  !  "  We 
have  no  King  but  Csesar !  The  old  cry  of 
the  man  who,  committing  sin,  says:  "I  have 
no  King  but  my  own  passions ;  I  have  no 
King  but  this  world ;  I  have  no  King  but  the 
thoughts  of  money,  or  of  honors,  or  of  indul- 
gence !  "  So  the  Jews  cried  :  "  He  is  no  King 
of  ours ;  we  have  no  King  but  Caesar  I  "  Pilate, 
no  doubt  in  a  spirit  of  compromise,  said  to 
himself,  "  I  see  this  man  cannot  escape.  I  see 
murder  in  these  people's  eyes !  They  are  de- 
termined upon  the  crucifixion  of  this  man, 
and,  therefore,  I  must  try  to  find  out  some 
way  or  another  of  appealing  to  their  mercy." 
Then  he  thought  to  himself,  "  I  will  make  an 
example  of  him.  I  will  tear  the  flesh  off  his 
bones.  I  will  cover  him  with  blood.  I  will 
make  him  such  a  pitiable  object  that  not  one 
in  all  that  crowd  will  have  the  heart  to 
demand  further  punishment,  or  another  blow 
for  him."  So  he  called  his  oflScers,  and  said : 
"  Take  this  man,  and  scourge  him  so  as  to 
make  him  frightful  to  behold ;  let  him  be  so 
mangled  that  when  I  show  him  to  the  people 
they  may  be  moved  to  pity  and  spare  his  life, 
for  he  is  an  innocent  man."  In  the  cold, 
early  morning,  the  Lord  is  led  forth  into"  the 
court-yard  of  the  Prastorium,  and  there  sixty 
of  the  strongest  men  of  the  guard  are  picked 
out, — chosen  for  their  strength ;  and  they  are 
told  off  into  thirty  pairs,  and  every  man  of 
the  sixty  has  a  new  scourge  in  his  hand. 
Some  have  chains  of  iron ;  some,  cords  knotted, 
with  steel  spurs  at  the  end  of  them ;  others, 
the  green,  supple  twig,  plucked  from  the 
hedge  in  the  early  morning, — long,  and  supple, 
and  terrible,  armed  with  thorns.  Now,  these 
men  come  and  close  around  our  Lord.  They 
strip  him  of  his  garments ;  they  leave  him  per- 
fectly naked,  blushing  in  his  infinite  modesty 
and  purity,  so  that  he  longs  for  them  to  be- 
gin in  order  that  they  may  robe  him  in  his 
blood.     They  tie   his   hands  to  a  pillar ;   they 


6o6 


CHRIST   ON   CALVARY. 


tie  him  so  that  he  cannot  move,  nor  shrink  from 
a  blow,  nor  turn  aside.  And  then  the  two  first 
advance ;  they  raise  their  brawny  arms  in  the 
air;  and  then,  with  a  hiss,  down  come  the 
scourges  upon  the  sacred  body  of  the  Lord  I 
Quicker  again  and  quicker  these  arms  rise  in 
the  air  with  these  terrible  scourges.  Each 
stroke  leaves  its  livid  mark.  The  flesh  rises 
into  welts.  The  blood  is  congealed,  and  pur- 
ple beneath  the  skin.  Presently,  the  scourge 
comes  down  again,  and  it  is  followed  by  a  quick 
spurt  of  blood  from  the  sacred  body  of  our 
Lord — the  blows  quickening,  and  without  pause, 
and  without  mercy ;  the  blood  flowing  after 
every  additional  blow, — till  these  two  strong 
men  are  fatigued  and  tired  out, — until  their 
scourges  are  soddened,  and  saturated,  and  drip- 
ping with  his  blood,  do  they  strike  him, — and 
then  retire,  exhausted,  from  their  terrible 
labor ; — in  comes  another  pair — fresh,  vigorous, 
fresh  arms  and  new  men — come  to  rain  blows 
upon  the  defenceless  body  of  the  Lord,  upon  his 
sacred  limbs — upon  his  sacred  shoulders.  Every 
portion  of  his  sacred  body  is  torn:  every  blow 
brings  the  flesh  from  the  bones,  and  opens  a  new 
wound  and  a  new  stream  of  blood.  Now  he  stands 
&nkle  deep  in  his  own  blood,  hanging  out 
from  that  pillar,  exhausted,  with  head  droop- 
ing, almost  insensible.  He  is  still  beaten,  even 
when  the  very  men  who  strike  him  think,  or 
suspect,  that  they  may  have  killed  him.  It  was 
written  in  the  Old  Law,  "If  a  man  be  found 
guilty,"  says  the  Lord  in  Deuteronomy,  "let 
him  be  beaten,  and  let  the  measure  of  his  sin 
be  the  measure  of  his  punishment ;  yet,  so  that 
no  criminal  receive  more  than  forty  stripes, 
lest  thy  brother  go  away  shamefully  torn  from 
before  thy  face!"  These  were  the  words  of 
the  law.  Well  the  Pharisees  knew  it !  And 
there  they  stood  around  in  the  outer  circle, 
with  hate  in  their  eyes,  fury  upon  their  lips; 
and  even  when  the  very  men  who  were  dealing 
out  their  revenge  thought  they  had  killed  the 
victim  they  were  scourging,  still  came  forth 
from  these  hardened  hearts  the  words  of  encourage- 
ment:"  Strike  him  still !  Strike  him  still ! "   And 


there  they  continued  their  cruel  task  until  sixty 
men  retired,  fatigued,  and  worn  out  with  the 
work  of  the  scourging  of  our  Lord. 

Now,  behold  him,  as  senseless  he  hangs 
from  that  pillar,  one  mass  of  bruised  and  torn 
flesh ! — one  open  wound,  from  the  crown  of  his 
head  to  the  soles  of  his  feet! — all  bathed  in 
the  crimson  of  his  own  blood,  and  terrible  to  behold! 
If  you  saw  him  here,  as  he  stood  there  ;  if  you 
saw  him  now,  standing  upon  that  altar, — there 
is  not  a  man  or  woman  amongst  you  that 
could  bear  to  look  upon  the  terrible  sight. 
They  cut  the  cords  that  bound  him  to  the 
pillar ;  and  the  Redeemer  fell  down,  bathed  in 
his  own  blood,  and  senseless  upon  the  ground. 
Behold  him  again,  as  at  Gethsemane ;  now,  no 
longer  the  pain  from  within,  but  the  pain  from 
the  terrible  hand  of  man — the  instrument 
of  God's  vengeance.  Oh,  behold  him!  Mary 
heard  those  stripes  and  yet  she  could  not  save 
her  Son.  Mary's  heart  went  down  with  him 
to  the  ground,  as  he  fell  from  that  pillar  of  his 
scourging!  Oh,  behold  him,  you  mothers !  You 
fathers,  behold  the  Virgin's  Child,  your  God — 
Jesus  Christ !  The  soldiers  amused  themselves 
at  the  sight  of  his  sufferings,  and  scoffed  at  him 
as  he  lay  prostrate.  Recovering  somewhat, 
after  a  time  he  opened  his  languid  eyes  and  rose 
from  that  ground, — rose  all  torn  and  bleeding. 
They  throw  an  old  purple  rag  around  his 
shoulders,  and  they  set  him  upon  a  stone.  One 
of  them  has  been,  in  the  meantime,  busily 
engaged  in  twisting  and  twining  a  crown  made 
of  some  of  those  thorns  which  they  had  pre- 
pared for  the  scourging, — a  crown  in  which 
seventy-two  long  thorns  were  put,  so  that  they 
entered  into  the  sacred  head  of  our  Lord.  This 
crown  was  set  upou  his  brow.  Then  a  man 
came  with  a  reed  in  his  hand  and  struck  those 
thorns  deep  into  the  tender  forehead.  They 
are  fastened  deeply  in  the  most  sensitive  organ, 
where  pain  becomes  maddening  in  its  agony. 
He  strikes  the  thorns  in  till  even  the  sacred 
humanity  of  our  Lord  forces  from  him  the  cry  of 
agony !  He  strikes  them  in  still  deeper ! — 
deeper !     Oh.,  my  God !     Oh,  Father  of  Mercy  I 


CHRIST   ON   CALVARY. 


607 


And  all  this  opens  up  new  streams  of  blood  ! 
— new  fountains  of  love !  The  blood  streams 
down,  and  the  face  of  the  Most  High  is  hidden 
under  its  crimson  veil.  Now,  now,  indeed,  Oh 
Pilate, — Oh  wise  and  compromising  Pilate, — 
now,  indeed,  you  have  gained  your  end !  You 
have  proved  yourself  the  friend  of  Csesar.  Now, 
there  is  no  fear  but  that  the  Jews,  when  they 
see  him,  will  be  moved  by  compassion!  They 
bring  him  back  and  they  put  him  standing 
before  the  Roman  governor.  His  rugged  pagan 
heart  is  moved  within  him  with  horror  when 
he  sees  the  fearful  example  they  have  made  of 
him.  Frightened  when  he  beheld  him,  he 
turned  away  his  eyes ;  the  spectacle  was  too 
terrible.  He  called  for  water  and  washed  his 
hands.  *'  I  declare  before  God,"  he  says,  "  I 
am  innocent  of  this  man's  blood!"  He  leads 
him  out  on  the  balcony  of  his  house.  There 
was  the  raging  multitude,  swaying  to  and  fro. 
Some  are  exciting  the  crowd,  urging  them  to 
cry  out  to  crucify  him ;  some  are  preparing  the 
Cross,  others  getting  ready  the  hammer  and 
nails,  some  thinking  of  the  spot  where  they 
would  crucify  him  !  There  they  were,  arguing 
with  diabolical  rage.  Pilate  came  forth  in  his 
robes  of  ofi&ce.  Soldiers  stand  on  either  side  of 
him.  Two  soldiers  bring  in  our  Lord.  His 
hands  are  tied.  A  reed  is  put  in  his  hand  in 
derision.  Thorns  are  on  his  brow.  Blood  is 
flowing  from  every  member  of  his  sacred  body. 
An  old,  tattered  purple  rag  is  flung  over  him. 
Pilate  brings  him  out,  and,  looking  round  on 
the  multitude,  says :  "  Ecco  Jiomo  !  Behold  the 
man !  You  said  I  was  no  friend  to  Csesar. 
You  said  I  was  afraid  to  punish  him  !  Behold 
him  now!  Is  there  a  man  amongst  you  who 
would  have  the  heart  to  demand  more  punish- 
ment?" Oh,  heaven  and  earth!  Oh,  heaven 
and  earth !  The  cry  from  out  every  lip,  from 
out  every  heart,  is  :  "  We  are  not  yet  satisfied  ! 
Give  him  to  us !  Give  him  to  us !  We 
will  crucify  him  !  "  "  But,"  says  Pilate,  "  I  am 
innocent  of  his  blood ! "  And  then  came  a 
word — and  this  word  has  brought  a  curse  upon 
the   Jews  from   that    day  to  this.     Then    came 


the  word  that  brought  the  consequences  of  their 
crime  on  their  hard  hearts  and  blinded  intel- 
lects. They  cried  out,  "  His  blood  be  upon  us 
and  upon  our  children  !  Crucify  him!"  "But," 
says  Pilate,  "  here  is  a  man  in  prison ;  he  is  a 
robber  and  a  murderer!  And  here  is  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  whom  I  declare  to  be  innocent !  One 
of  these  I  must  release.  Which  will  you  have — 
Jesus  or  Barabbas  ?  "  And  they  cried  out 
"  Barabbas  !  give  us  Barabbas !  But  let  Jesus 
be  crucified ! "  Here  is  compared  the  Son  of 
God  to  the  robber  and  the  murderer.  And 
the  robber  and  murderer  is  declared  fit  to  live, 
and  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  declared 
fit  only  to  die  !  The  vilest  man  in  Jerusalem 
declared  in  that  hour  that  he  would  not  asso- 
ciate with  our  Ivord,  and  that  the  Son  of  God 
was  not  worthy  to  breathe  the  air  polluted  by 
this  man!  So  Barabbas  came  forth,  rejoicing 
in  his  escape ;  and,  as  he  mingled  in  the  crowd, 
he,  too,  threw  up  his  hands  and  cried  out, 
"  Oh,  let  him  be  crucified !  Let  him  be  cruci- 
fied !  "  He  is  led  forth  from  the  tribunal  of 
Pilate.  And,  now,  just  outside  of  the  Prefect's 
door,  there  are  men  holding  up  a  long,  weighty, 
rude  cross,  that  they  had  made  rapidly ;  for 
they  took  two  large  beams,  put  one  across  the 
other,  fastened  them  with  great  nails,  and  made 
it  strong  enough  to  uphold  a  full-grown  man. 
There  is  the  cross !  There  is  the  man  with 
the  nails !  And  there  are  all  the  accompani- 
ments of  the  execution.  And  he  who  is 
scarcely  able  to  stand — he,  bruised  and  afllicted — 
the  Man  of  Sorrows,  fainting  with  infirmity,  is 
told  to  take  that  cross  upon  his  bleeding, 
wounded  shoulders,  and  to  go  forward  to  the 
mountain  of  Calvary.  Taking  to  him  that 
cross,  holding  it  to  his  wounded  breast,  putting 
to  it  in  tender  kisses  the  lips  that  were  distil- 
ling blood,  the  Son  of  God,  with  the  cross  upon 
his  shoulders,  turns  his  faint  and  tottering 
footsteps  toward  the  steep  and  painful  way  that 
led  to  Calvary.  Behold  him  as  he  goes  forth ! 
That  cross  is  a  weight  almost  more  than  a 
man  can  carry;  and  it  is  upon  the  shoulders 
of  one  from  whom  all    strength  and  manliness 


6o8 


CHRIST   ON    CALVARY. 


are  gone.  Behold  the  Redeemer,  as  he  toils 
painfully  along,  amid  the  shouts  and  shrieks 
of  the  enraged  people.  Behold  him  as  he  toils 
along  the  flinty  way,  the  soldiers  driving  him 
on,  the  people  inciting  them,  every  one  rushing 
and  hastening  to  Calvary,  to  witness  the  execu- 
tion. John,  the  beloved,  follows  him.  A  few 
of  his  faithful  followers  toil  along.  But  there 
is  one  who  traces  each  of  his  blood-stained 
footsteps ;  there  is  one  who  follows  him  with  a 
breaking  heart ;  there  is  one  whose  very  soul 
within  her  is  pierced  and  torn  with  the  sword 
of  sorrow.  Oh,  need  I  name  the  Mother,  the 
Queen  of  Martyrs !  In  that  hour  of  his  mar- 
tyrdom, Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  followed 
immediately  in  his  footsteps,  and  her  whole 
soul  went  forth  in  prayer  for  an  opportunity 
to  approach  him,  to  wipe  the  blood  from  his 
sacred  face.  Oh,  if  they  would  only  let  her 
come  to  him,  and  say,  "  My  child,  I  am  with 
you !  "  If  they  would  only  let  her  take  in  her 
womanly  arms,  from  off  the  shoulders  of  her 
dear  Son,  that  heavy  cross  that  he  cannot  bearl 
But,  no  I  She  must  witness  his  misery ;  she 
must  witness  his  pain.  He  toils  along;  he 
takes  the  first  few  steps  up  the  rugged  side 
of  Calvary.  Suddenly  his  heart  ceases  to  beat ; 
the  light  leaves  his  eyes;  he  sways,  for  a 
moment,  to  and  fro ;  the  weakness  and  the  sor- 
row of  death  are  upon  him ;  he  totters,  falls  to 
the  earth  ;  and  down,  with  a  heavy  crash,  comes 
the  weighty  cross  upon  the  prostrate  form  of 
Jesus  Christ !  Oh,  behold  him,  as  for  the  third 
time,  he  embraces  that  earth  which  is  sanctified 
and  redeemed  by  his  love !  Mary  rushes  for- 
ward ;  Mary  thinks  her  child  is  dead ;  she 
thinks  that  terrible  cross  must  have  crushed 
him  into  the  earth.  She  rushes  forward  ;  but 
with  rude  and  barbarous  words  the  woman  is 
flung  aside.  The  cross  is  lifted  up  and  placed 
on  the  shoulders  of  Simon  of  Cyrene ;  and 
with  blows  and  blasphemies,  the  Saviour  of  the 
world  is  obliged  to  rise  from  that  earth,  and, 
worn  with  the  sorrows  and  afflictions  of  death, 
faces  the  rugged  steep  on  the  summit  of 
which  is  the  place  destined  for  his  crucifixion. 


Arrived  at  the  place,  they  tear  off"  his  gar- 
ments ;  they  take  from  him  the  seamless  gar- 
ment which  his  mother's  loving  hands  had 
woven  for  him  ;  they  take  the  humble  clothing 
in  which  the  Son  of  God  had  robed  himself — 
saturated,  steeped  as  it  is  in  his  blood  ;  and  in 
removing  them  they  open  afresh  every  wound, 
and  once  again  the  saving  blood  of  Christ  is 
poured  out  upon  the  ground.  With  rude, 
blasphemous  words,  the  God-man  is  told  to  lie 
down  upon  that  cross.  Of  his  own  free  will  he 
stretches  his  tender  limbs,  puts  forth  his  hands 
and  stretches  out  his  feet  at  their  order.  The  ex- 
ecutioners take  the  nails  and  the  hammer, 
and  they  kneel  upon  his  sacred  bosom ;  they 
press  out  his  hands  till  they  bring  the 
palms  to  where  they  made  the  holes  to  fit  the 
nails.  They  stretch  him  out  upon  that  cross, 
even  as  the  Paschal  Lamb  was  stretched  out 
upon  the  altar ;  they  kneel  upon  the  cross  ;  they 
lay  the  nails  upon  the  palms  of  his  hands. 
The  first  blow  drives  the  nail  deep  into  his 
hands,  the  next  blow  sends  it  into  the  cross. 
Blow  follows  blow.  They  are  inflamed  with  the 
rage  of  hell.  Earnestly  thejr  work — and  hell 
delights  in  the  scene — tearing  the  muscles  and 
the  sinews  of  his  hands  and  feet.  Rude,  terrible 
blows  fall  on  these  nails,  and  re-echo  in  the 
heart  of  the  Virgin,  until  that  heart  seems  to 
be  broken  at  the  foot  of  the  cross.  And  now, 
when  they  have  driven  these  nails  to  the  heads, 
fastening  him  to  the  wood,  the  cross  is  lifted 
up  from  the  ground.  Slowly,  solemnl}^,  the 
figure  of  Jesus  Christ,  all  red  with  blood,  all 
torn  and  disfigured,  rises  into  the  air,  until  the 
cross,  attaining  its  full  height,  is  fixed  into  its 
socket  in  the  earth.  The  banner  of  salvation 
is  flung  out  over  the  world ;  and  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Redeemer  of  mankind, 
appears  in  mid-air,  and  looks  out  over  the  crowd 
and  over  Jerusalem,  over  hill  and  valley,  far 
away  towards  the  sea  of  Galilee,  and  all  around 
the  horizon ;  and  the  dying  eyes  of  the  Saviour 
are  turned  over  the  land  and  the  people  for 
whom  he  is  shedding  his  blood.  Uplifted  in 
mid-air — the  eternal  sacrifice  of   the  Redeemer 


CHRIST   ON    CALVARY. 


609 


for  everlasting — hanging  from  these  three  ter- 
rible nails  on  the  Cross — for  three  hours  he 
remained.  Every  man  took  up  his  position. 
Mary,  his  mother,  approaches,  for  this  is  the 
hour  of  her  agony ;  she  must  suffer  in  soul 
what  he  suffers  in  body.  John,  the  disciple  of 
love,  approaches,  and  takes  his  stand  under  his 
Master's  outstretched  hands.  Mary  Magdalen 
rushes  through  the  guards,  to  the  feet  of  her 
Lord  and  Master;  they  are  now  bathed  with 
other  tears — with  the  tears  of  blood  that  save 
the  world;  the  feet  which  it  was  her  joy  to 
weep  over !  And  now  she  clasps  the  cross,  and 
pours  out  her  tears,  until  they  mingle  with  the 
blood  which  flows  down  his  feet.  There  are  the 
Pharisees  and  the  Scribes,  who  had  gained 
their  point ;  they  come  and  stand  before  the  cross  ; 
they  look  upon  that  figure  of  awful  pain  and 
misery ;  thej'  see  those  thorns  sunk  deeply  into 
that  drooping  head  with  no  love  in  their  hearts  ; 
they  see  the  agony  expressed  in  the  eyes  of 
the  victim  who  is  dying ;  and  then,  looking  up 
exultingly,  they  rejoice  and  say  to  him :  "  You 
said  you  could  destroy  the  Temple,  and  build 
it  up  in  three  days ;  now,  come  down  from  the 
cross,  and  we  will  believe  in  and  worship  you." 
The  Roman  soldier  stood  there,  admiring  the 
courage  with  which  the  man  died.  The  third 
hour  is  approaching.  The  penitent  thief  on  his 
right  hand  had  received  his  pardon.  A  sudden 
gloom  gathers  round  the  scene.  Before  we  come 
to  the  last  moment,  I  ask  you  to  consider  Jesus 
Christ  as  your  God.  I  ask  you  to  consider  the 
sacrifice  that  he  made,  and  to  consider  the  circum- 
stances under  which  he  approached  that  last 
moment  of  his  life.  All  he  had  in  the  world 
was  some  little  money  ;  it  was  kept  to  give  to  the 
poor ;  Judas  had  that,  and  he  had  stolen  it. 
Christ  had  literally  nothing  but  the  simple 
garments  with  which  he  had  been  clothed ;  these 
the  soldiers  took,  and  they  raffled  for  them  under 
his  dying  eyes.  What  remained  for  him  ?  The 
love  of  his  mother;  the  sympathy  of  John  ?  But 
he,  uplifted  on  the  cross,  said  to  Mary,  "Woman, 
behold  thy  son  !"  And  to  John  he  said,  "  Son, 
behold  thy  mother !"  "  Thus  I  give  one  to  the 
39 


other;  let  that  love  suffice ;  and  leave  me  all  alone 
and  abandoned  to  die."  What  remained  to  him  ? 
His  reputation  for  sanctity,  for  wisdom,  and  for 
power  ?  His  reputation  for  sanctity  was  so  great, 
that  the  people  said :  "This  man  never  could  do 
such  things  if  he  had  not  come  from  God."  And 
as  to  his  wisdom,  his  reputation  for  wisdom  was 
such  that  we  read,  not  one  of  the  Pharisees  or 
doctors  of  the  law  had  the  courage  to  argue  with 
him.  His  reputation  for  power  was  such  that 
the  people  all  said :  "  This  man  speaks  and 
preaches,  not  as  the  Pharisees,  but  as  one  having 
power."  Christ  had  sacrificed  and  given  up  his 
reputation  for  sanctity,  for  he  was  crucified  as  a 
blasphemer  and  a  teacher  of  evil.  His  reputa- 
tion for  wisdom  was  sacrificed  in  the  course  of 
his  Passion,  when  Herod  declared  that  he  was  a 
fool.  Clothed  in  a  white  garment  in  derision, 
he  was  marched  through  the  streets  of  Jeru- 
salem, from  Herod's  palace  to  Pilate's  house, 
dressed  as  a  fool ;  and  men  came  to  their  doors 
to  point  the  finger  of  scorn  and  laugh  at  him, 
and  reproached  each  other  for  having  listened 
to  his  doctrine.  His  reputation  for  power  was 
gone.  They  came  to  the  foot  of  the  cross 
and  said :  "  Now,  if  you  have  the  power, 
come  down  from  that  cross  and  we  will  believe 
you."  Now,  all  the  man's  earthly  possessions 
are  gone ;  his  few  garments  are  gone ;  Mary's 
love  and  her  sustaining  compassion  are  gone; 
his  reputation  is  gone ;  he  is  one  wound,  from 
head  to  foot ;  the  anger  of  man  has  vented 
itself  upon  him.  What  remains  for  him  ? 
The  ineffable  consolations  of  his  divinity ;  the 
infinite  peace  of  the  God-head,  the  Father ! 
Oh,  Man  of  Sorrow  I  Oh,  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
cling  to  that !  Whatever  else  may  be  taken 
from  you,  that  cannot  be  taken  away.  Oh, 
Master,  lean  upon  thy  God-head  I  Oh,  cruci- 
fied, bleeding,  dying  Lord,  do  not  give  up  that 
which  is  thy  peace  and  thy  comfort — thy  joy 
in  the  midst  of  all  this  suffering!  But  what 
do  I  see !  The  dying  head  is  lifted  up ;  the 
drooping  eyes  are  cast  heavenwards  ;  an  expres- 
sion of  agony  absorbing  all  others  comes  over 
the  dying  face,  and  a  voice  breaks    forth  from 


6io 


CHRIST  ON    CALVARY. 


the  quivering,  agonized  lips  :  "  My  God !  My 
God  !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me !  "  The  all- 
sufficient  comfort  of  the  divinity  and  the 
sustaining  power  of  the  Father's  love  are  put 
away  from  him  in  that  hour!  A  cloud  came 
between  Jesus  Christ  upon  the  cross,  the 
victim  of  our  sins,  and  the  Father's  face  in 
heaven ;  and  that  cloud  was  the  concentrated 
anger  of  God  which  came  upon  his  Divine  Son, 
because  of  our  sins  and  our  transgressions. 
Not  that  his  divinity  quitted  him.  No ;  he 
was  still  God ;  but  by  his  own  act  and  free 
will,  he  put  away  the  comfort  and  the  sustaining 
power  of  the  divinity  for  a  time,  in  order  that 
every  element  of  sorrow,  every  grief,  ever}' 
misery  of  which  the  greatest  victim  of  this 
earth  was  capable,  should  be  all  concentrated 
upon  him  at  the  hour  of  his  death.  And 
then,  having  used  these  solemn  words,  he 
awaited  the  moment  when  the  Father's  will 
should  separate  the  soul  from  the  body.  Now, 
Mary  and  John  have  embraced  ;  Judas  is  strug- 
gling in  the  last  throes  of  his  self-imposed 
death  ;  Peter  has  wept  his  tears.  The  devil  for 
a  moment  triumphs ;  and  the  man-God  upon 
the  cross  awaits  the  hour  and  the  moment  of  the 
world's  redemption.  The  sun  in  the  heavens  is 
withdrawn  behind  mysterious  clouds ;  and  though 
it  was  but  three  o'clock  in  the  day,  a  darkness 
like  that  of  midnight  came  upon  the  land.  Men 
looked  upon  each  other  in  horror  and  in  terror. 
Presently  a  rumbling  noise  was  heard ;  and  they 
looked  around  and  saw  the  hills  and  the  moun- 
tains tremble  on  their  bases;  the  very  ground 
seemed  to  rock  beneath  them ;  it  groans  as 
though  the  earth  were  breaking  up  from  its 
centre ;  the  rocks  are  splitting  up,  and  round 
them  strange  figures  are  flitting  here  and  there; 
the  graves  are  opened,  and  the  dead  entombed 
there  are  walking  in  the  dark  ways  before  them. 
What  is  this  ?  Who  is  this  terrible  man  that 
we  have  put  up  on  that  cross  ?  The  earth 
quakes ;  darkness  is  still  upon  it ;  perfect  silence 
reigns  over  Calvary,  unbroken  by  the  cry  of  the 
dying  Redeemer — unbroken  by  the  voice  of  the 
scoffers — unbroken  by  the  sobs  of  the  Magdalen. 


Every  heart  seems  to  stand  still.  Then,  over 
that  silence,  in  the  midst  of  that  darkness,  is 
heard  the  loud  cry,  "  Oh,  Father,  into  thy  hands 
I  commend  my  spirit !  "  The  head  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  droops :  the  Man  upon  the  Cross  is 
dead ;  and  the  world  is  saved  and  redeemed ! 
The  moment  the  cry  came  forth  from  the  dying 
lips  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  devil,  who  stood  there, 
knew  that  it  was  the  Son  of  God  who  was  cruci- 
fied, and  that  his  d^y  was  gone.  Howling  in 
in  despair  he  fled  from  the  Redeemer's  presence 
into  the  lowest  depths  of  hell.  The  world  is 
saved.  The  world  is  redeemed.  Man's  sin  is 
wiped  out.  The  blood  that  washed  away  the 
iniquity  of  our  race  has  ceased  to  flow  from  the 
dead  and  pulseless  heart  of  Jesus.  Wrapt  in 
prayer,  Mary  bowed  down  her  head  under  the 
weight  of  her  sorrows.  The  Magdalen  looked 
up  and  beheld  the  dead  face  of  her  Redeemer. 
John  stretched  out  his  hands  and  looked  upon 
that  face.  The  Roman  soldier  lays  hold  of  his 
lance,  under  some  strange  impulse.  Word 
comes  that  the  body  was  to  be  taken  down  ;  they 
did  not  know  whether  our  Lord  was  dead ;  there 
might  yet  some  remnant  of  life  remain  in  him  ; 
the  question  was  to  prove  that  he  was  dead,  and 
this  man  approaches.  As  a  warrior,  he  puts  his 
lance  in  rest,  rushes  forward  with  all  the  strength 
of  his  arm,  and  drives  the  lance  right  into  the 
heart  of  the  Lord  !  The  heavy  cross  sways  ;  it 
seems  as  if  it  was  about  to  fall ;  the  lance  quivers 
for  an  instant  in  the  wound ;  the  man  draws  it 
forth  again  ;  and  forth  from  the  heart  of  the 
dead  Christ  streamed  the  waters  of  life  and  the 
blood  of  redemption.  The  soldier  drew  back  his 
lance,  and  the  next  moment,  on  his  knees,  before 
the  Crucified,  with  the  lance  dripping  with  the 
blood  of  the  Lord  still  in  his  hand,  he  cried 
out,  "  Truly,  this  man  was  the  Son  of  God !" 
Then  the  earthquake  began  again  ;  the  dead 
were  seen  passing  in.  fearful  array,  turning 
the  eyes  of  the  tomb  upon  the  faces  of  those 
Pharisees  who  had  crucified  the  Lord.  And 
the  people,  frightened,  became  conscious  that 
they  had  committed  a  terrible  crime,  when  they 
heard    Longinus,  the    Roman    soldier,  cry  out, 


CHRIST   ON   CALVARY. 


6ii 


"  This  Man  is  truly  the  Son  of  God,  whom 
you  have  crucified."  Then  came  down  from 
Calvary  the  crowds,  exclaiming,  "Yes,  truly, 
this  is  the  Son  of  God."  And  they  went  down 
the  hillside,  weeping  and  beating  their  breasts. 
Oh,  how  much  we  cost !  Oh,  how  great  was 
the  price  that  he  paid  for  us !  Oh,  how  gen- 
erously he  gave  all  he  had — and  he  was  God 
— for  your  salvation  and  mine !  It  is  well  to 
rejoice  and    be  here ;    it   is    well   to  come   and 


contemplate  the  blessings  which  that  blessed, 
gracious  Lord  has  conferred  on  us.  It  is,  also, 
well  to  consider  what  he  paid  and  how  much 
it  cost  him.  And  if  we  consider  this,  then, 
with  Mary,  the  mother,  and  Mary,  the  Mag- 
dalen, and  John,  the  Evangelist  and  friend — 
then  will  our  hearts  be  afSicted.  For  the  soul 
that  is  not  afflicted  on  this  day,  shall  be  wiped 
out  from  the  pages  of  the  Book  of  Life. 


r^m 


/ 


^ 


'_— ('Sr-AIfcl**!  . 


